Planning Impactful Fall Employee Engagement Activities

Discover the latest trends and innovative approaches in employee volunteering.
Learn from real-world examples and success stories to inspire and inform your organization’s community engagement efforts.
Explore strategies to make volunteer efforts inclusive and accessible to all employees.

Guest Speakers

Jennifer Nash, SVP, Corporate Activation, Points of Light
Michelle Dee, COO, Jersey Cares

Top Takeaways

Start now. Although the second half of the year seems far away, for your sake and for your community partners’ sake, remember that meaningful impact takes time to plan. Think about the steps you can be taking now so that you offer a mix of varied opportunities that align with both employee and community needs.
Trust your partners. Nonprofit leaders understand community issues and how volunteers can best support them. Your volunteer champions and ambassadors can ensure colleagues are ready and able to serve.
Co-create solutions. Know the interests, skills and capacity of your volunteers, and work together with your nonprofit partners to put them to best use to meet community needs.
Infuse learning and deep thinking. No matter what type of activities you plan, ensure that volunteers comprehend the community issue they’ll be addressing and provide time post-project for reflection.
Be flexible but strategic. Understand the reasons behind the goals you’re setting yet stay adaptable and open to new ideas.

Resources to support your planning

Innovative Approaches to Engaging All Employees in Social Impact Webinar

From staff stationed at manufacturing plants and retail outlets to call centers, night shifts and those on the move, engaging employees who don’t sit at a computer most of the day can pose unique challenges. Watch this interactive webinar centered around the universal topic of involving employees traditionally referred to as “hard-to-reach” in your company’s social impact initiatives.

Our panelists delve into the various obstacles faced when attempting to connect with these frontline and other “non-wired” employees and explore ways to overcome them. Together we uncover successful practices and innovative solutions that have proven effective in fostering meaningful engagement.

Hear from these CSR leaders:

Gary Levante – senior vice president, corporate responsibility & communications, Berkshire Bank
Sylvia Stevens-Edouard – senior director, community relations, Liberty Mutual
Megan Zamora – senior manager, global responsibility, Starbucks

Key Takeaways:

The challenges of engaging a wide variety of work roles, environments, and work shifts in corporate employee volunteer programs cross all industries and company sizes. Most companies have a segment of the workforce that can be harder to engage, whether it’s bank tellers, remote workers, manufacturing employees, reporters, sales reps, or clinical teams.
Be ready to make the business case for the additional effort that might be required to engage these groups; the wins definitely outweigh the potential downsides and data can help you tell that story.
Including all employees in your social impact programming must start with vocal and visible support from senior leadership and a clear connection to corporate values from day one.
Be intentional when designing programs and strategies to engage your “harder to reach” employee populations, including understanding employee motivations and operational barriers. Start small and stay flexible.

Download the accompanying learning brief, “Making Social Impact Accessible for All Employee Roles and Settings.”