The Future of Employee Engagement and Social Good in Companies

BY Wanly Chen | October 10, 2023

Companies are expanding their social corporate responsibility (CSR) initiatives at rapid rates. An estimated 90% of companies on the S&P 500 index published a CSR report in 2019, compared to just 20% in 2011.

From increased employee engagement and retention rates to more loyal consumers, CSR programs and initiatives yield great benefits for companies internally and externally. In a recent From Day One webinar, David Grubman, VP of CSR sales at the CSR platform WizeHive. asked leaders their thoughts and predictions for the future of the rising field.

Increased Demand From Incoming Generations

A recent Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey indicated that 55% of millennials and 46% of Gen Z members believe that environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives are important in companies. With millennials and Gen Z employees making up the majority of the workforce in coming years, these employees will fuel the demand for ESG and CSR initiatives.

The demand for ESG and CSR initiatives, however, begins far before employment, says Alex Budak, a UC-Berkeley faculty member, social entrepreneur and author of Becoming a Changemaker. At Berkeley, Budak notices that the conversation about social change is a shared core value for his students, pointing to a key generation shift in how companies are being evaluated.

“[Social impact] is a huge determining factor for students. I remember when I was first entering the job field and social impact was something that mattered to me, but not to many of my peers,” Budak said. “Now, I can’t remember the last time someone didn't think about it. Now, they want companies that have that. It’s table stakes today in order to be a competitive company. Whereas maybe a few years ago, you didn’t have to.”

In 2022, a groundbreaking 14.3 million volunteer hours were recorded, a 61% increase from the previous year. The growth of CSR participation is already evident, with employees’ demands fueling the growth, says Ben Sampson, co-founder and CEO of WeHero, now part of WizeHive. “Employers are going to continue putting demand and pressure on programs like this and we know that is going to continue. We also know that there’s going to be increasing regulatory demand and pressure for companies to do this.”

Leveraging AI in CSR Initiatives

When AI emerged on university grounds at UC-Berkeley, Budak did not fret over students using it. Instead, he wanted students to embrace it.

The efficiency of AI not only allows students to have extra time to engage in social impact work but also develop deeper research into these programs, Budak said.

The full panel of speakers, clockwise from top left: Ben Sampson of WizeHive, Alex Budak of UC Berkeley, moderator David Grubman of WizeHive and Tessa Edwards of Edwards Social Impact Consulting (Image by From Day One)

“We use ChatGPT as a tool to help us source changemakers. It’s amazing what it comes out with,” Budak said. “There are opportunities to use artificial intelligence to conduct deeper research and find some of those hidden gems that are doing wonderful community-based work, but aren’t getting elevated to the same standard as the big name organizations.”

In companies, the use of AI is also becoming more common to help increase workflow efficiency. In a 2022 study on AI usage in global companies, 50% of respondents reported they had adopted AI in at least one business area.

Companies can also leverage AI in their CSR efforts to generate new opportunities for employees. With the integration of AI into employees’ location, interests, and calendars, the technology will soon be able to help identify better fit opportunities for employees in a fraction of the time, Tessa Edwards, consultant at Edwards Social Impact Consulting, predicts.

“The possibilities of the predictive tools of AI can help companies determine which volunteer program resonates best with their employees or what time of year would be best,” Edwards said. “On the individual level, AI may be able to look at employees’ calendars and say, “Here is an event, I see you're available on this day. Can you join it?” Even though those are little operational pieces, I do think that those nudges make an impact on an individual employee.”

Increase in Micro-Actions

Worldwide, work-life balance is a priority for Gen Z and millennials, with roughly 30% of Gen Z and millennials in full-or part-time work reporting they are very satisfied with their work-life balance, compared to 20% in 2019.

This, however, may pose a challenge when engaging these employees to volunteer. “They’re very protective of their time and they’re very mindful of that,” Sampson said.

“Volunteering used to be like a standard donation or working at your local food bank, but the ways that people are donating and giving back in those formats are changing dramatically,” Sampson said. “Today, instead of a full day of volunteering, people are doing micro-actions which are small acts of kindness. [We need] to be able to track and measure the impact of those in the number of ways that people can give back and volunteer.”

Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, WizeHive, for sponsoring this webinar.

Wanly Chen is a writer and poet based in New York City.

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HR’s Evolving Role in Employee Engagement Through Corporate Social Impact

In a recent survey on corporate social responsibility (CSR), a staggering 93% of employees believe companies must lead with good purpose. Today’s employees want their companies to do well in society.The research points to major benefits for companies with both CSR and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives. With both consumers and employees evaluating companies based on their corporate impact work, companies must do more.During From Day One’s August virtual conference, Ben Sampson, co-founder and CEO of WeHero, now part of WizeHive, led a thought leadership spotlight session on the topic, titled “HR’s Evolving Role in Employee Engagement Through Corporate Social Impact.” At WizeHive, a grants and scholarships management software, Sampson sits with leaders to discuss how to develop impactful and engaging CSR and ESG strategies.Working With LeadershipEstablishing and continuing CSR and ESG initiatives requires tangible investing that is contingent on leadership’s support. Leaders need to see the value of such programs and their impact, a task that leans heavily on HR leaders, Sampson said.In companies with successful CSR and ESG initiatives, increased employee retention and satisfaction are a few benefits that companies reap. In a study by the Society for Human Resource Management, researchers found 86% of workers who work for organizations with ESG-related goals said they were proud to work at their company and reported an increased affinity and loyalty to their companies.When an employee leaves, companies can spend up to 33% of their salary to replace and train a new worker. With employees quitting at an all-time high in the last few years, HR leaders have had to learn and adopt new strategies such as implementing CSR and ESG initiatives to attract and retain their employees.Ben Sampson, co-founder and CEO of WeHero (part of WizeHive), led the thought leadership spotlight (company photo)“We know that the average employee volunteers about 52 hours per year, and we know there’s 35% lower turnover when we have really successful programs in place for social impact and volunteerism,” Sampson said. “The average cost of turnover per employee in the US is around $15,000. We know that for every hour that an employee volunteers, that saves companies an average of $110.”The benefits of having CSR and ESG initiatives are beyond just the workplace. Nearly 90% of American consumers are likely to switch brands supporting a good cause, showing that CSR and ESG initiatives are not only beneficial for retaining and attracting talent but also for attracting consumers. When developing CSR and ESG strategies, HR leaders need to emphasize how it can be a win-win situation for the company. “The closer you align the social impact goals with the business goals, the more buy-in and support you will get from leadership,” Sampson said.Engaging With EmployeesEmployee engagement is also important in successful CSR and ESG initiatives. When engaging with employees, early activation may help in building long-term engagement, Sampson says.“This is, for example, a new cohort of employees that are coming in and engaging with them right out the gate about social impact programs,” Sampson said. “If you do that successfully, it'll be much easier to engage them throughout the rest of their tenure at the company.”By activating employee engagement early, employees are more likely to engage with future volunteer opportunities as well as become volunteer or social impact ambassadors, Sampson said. Doing so can help grow and scale CSR and ESG efforts.“Volunteer or social impact ambassadors are actively promoting volunteer and engagement social impact efforts throughout the company by building programs and events and providing input,” Sampson said. “It’s your employee base that you've strategically planned and engaged with that's taking these programs forward and making a huge amount of impact.”Measuring ImpactTo ensure continual investment in CSR and ESG initiatives, HR leaders need to measure its impact and effectiveness. Through proper documentation, HR leaders are equipped with strong statistical data that supports the benefits of CSR and ESG initiatives.“We can correlate the data that you’re getting from social impact within the company to engagement, retention, and attracting new talent. It becomes a really powerful use case for leadership to get more funding and support for this,” Sampson said. “Even if you don't have a CSR or an ESG team, we’re seeing CSR and ESG teams being built as a result of having this data.”In addition to tracking volunteer hours and the number of programs, Sampson recommends surveying employees after a volunteer engagement experience. This data allows HR leaders to understand the employee’s thoughts on the experience and their company.“I always recommend that you survey employees after the volunteer engagement experiences, about the importance not just of the volunteer engagement effort, but how it relates to how they feel about their company and their brand,” Sampson said. “Questions like ‘Are you more excited to work for your company as a result of this program? How often do you want to have these opportunities to volunteer and engage in it?’ can provide incredibly valuable data.”Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, WizeHive, for sponosoring this thought leadership spotlight. Wanly Chen is a writer and poet based in New York City. 

Wanly Chen August 18, 2023

Elevate Employee Engagement: Smart Strategies for Thriving Teams on a Budget

Employees crave meaningful experiences. But with limited time and budgets, how can companies build more purpose into the work experience? Fifteen minutes at a time, says Ben Sampson.Sampson is chief evangelist of social impact and employee engagement at WizeHive, which offers software platforms for managing scholarships and workplace giving, as well as immersive volunteer experiences via WeHero. At a From Day One’s webinar, Sampson spoke to the idea of how turnkey volunteering can increase employee engagement on a budget. Kelly Bourdet of Apparata Media interviewed.Coming from a volunteer background, Sampson knew how engaging it can be to help others.  One thing led to another, and he eventually co-founded WeHero to help facilitate opportunities for employees to engage in volunteering experiences through their workplace. “We're constantly looking at what employees need,” he said. More and more, he’s learned that employees want to work for a company with purpose. They want to go to work and feel like it makes a good social impact. Some potential employees even ask about those opportunities during hiring. On the flip side, employees are also extremely conscious of their time. “How can we be time sensitive to get employees engaged in our companies, and give them a good experience of continuously engaging over and over again?” Sampson asked. In the past, companies would typically ask employees to go out and find their own volunteer opportunities, then spend time out of the office. While employees love giving back, putting the burden of doing all the legwork doesn’t fit within time constraints or even company budgets. The key, Sampson and his team have learned, is meeting the company and the employees where they are and giving back their most valuable resource: their time.Journalist Kelly Bourdet interviewed Ben Sampson of WizeHive during the From Day One webinar (photo by From Day One)Companies big or small, hybrid or in-office, local or global, all can better engage through impact experiences. Having WizeHive take care of the burden of logistics allows employees to enjoy the process of volunteering without a lot of extra time while maximizing their impact. “Bite size volunteer opportunities make a lot of impact,” Sampson said. “Maybe that's building a water filter for 15 minutes out of your workday, maybe that is answering a video call from someone that’s visually disabled that needs help finding the bus stop. Volunteering can be a great way for engaging employees in a low-cost mechanism.”At one company with an office and a warehouse, Sampson says the warehouse personnel generally didn’t have the time to participate in volunteer projects. So they set up a station where all employees could put together backpacks with supplies for kids during lunch or a break. Warehouse employees felt more included and engaged.“They even got to see the kids picking up the backpacks, so that was really special,” Sampson said. Even though the project took very little time and employees didn’t even need to leave the workplace to do it, the project still had a big impact on the community.One thing to focus on when rolling out opportunities is showing the clear path to impact. What will be the result of putting in their time? Virtual events are especially popular, Sampson says, as more people can participate in them and they fit most budgets. Sampson’s team can also help match people with specific skills to volunteer opportunities. Doing transcription work for the Smithsonian or Ancestry are just two examples of something people can do that have a clear path of impact—saving pieces of history and helping people connect with ancestors. Leadership buy-in is crucial for success, Sampson says. Companies where leadership is engaged and participating in impact projects correlate highly with employee participation and engagement as well. Mercedes is one company where the CEO works alongside employees during their volunteer experiences, connecting employees with leadership and allowing them to see each other outside the typical work setting.But sometimes getting that leadership buy-in can be challenging. “What is something the HR side can use to argue for the value?” Bourdet asked Sampson.To understand what’s most important to that leader, likely profitability for the company, then offering metrics or other reasons why volunteerism is the answer. If that leader is focused on employee retention, Sampson has a metric for that. “What are the costs of employee turnover? For a lot of businesses that we work with, it’s millions of dollars.” So, if employee engagement improves through these impact projects, it could save the company money. For one company they were working with, Sampson predicted a $26 million savings over 12 months, if done effectively. “There is so much positive emotion when people volunteer.” One employee who was able to volunteer for the first time told Sampson, “It’s cool that my employer has given me the opportunity to do this.” Now that’s employee engagement. Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, WizeHive, for sponsoring this webinar.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.

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How to Build a Grassroots CSR Program in Your Workplace

One of the few consolations of the Covid-19 pandemic is that it powered a surge in global volunteerism. According to the United Nations, the Red Cross received hundreds of thousands of new volunteers around the world, and received so many requests to volunteer, they didn’t have the time or the staff to respond to all of them. At the same time, the pandemic changed the shape of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and quickly deepened the importance of corporate volunteerism and giving, said Sasha DeMarre, solutions architect at CyberGrants, a company that builds corporate giving and philanthropy software. DeMarre works closely with the companies that use their platform and sees firsthand how CSR programs are built, maintained, and grown. “[Covid] has made it so much more employee-driven,” she said. “Volunteerism is obviously quite popular–it’s a great way for people to give back.” I had the chance to interview DeMarre and her colleague Rob Livada, the SVP of solution architecture, about CSR programs and how they’ve changed since 2020 for a From Day One webinar titled, “Giving Your Employees a Better CSR Experience with the Right Technology.” We started by talking about the foundations of CSR. For companies who haven’t been involved before, where to begin? Begin With Employees DeMarre recommended asking your staff what they see and do in their communities. “Employees are likely already donating and volunteering, doing different acts of kindness, so we need to harness that if we’re going to engage them in our corporate programs.” This lets the workforce influence the direction of the program, which increases engagement. Livada said to start small. Don’t worry about budgets or dollar-matching yet, just be ready to power grassroots action. “It’s okay to launch just a simple volunteerism program so that your employees can just start engaging with each other,” said Livada. “Your employee base will start to tell you what is most important to them, then you can take that feedback and you can enhance and you can grow your program so that it’s growing alongside your company or your ecosystem.” Speaking about the CSR experience, clockwise from upper right: Rob Livada and Sasha DeMarre of CyberGrants and moderator Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza (Image by From Day One) Don’t miss opportunities to get workers involved right out of the gate. Make CSR part of the onboarding process by giving an overview of the program, directions and ideas for how employees can get involved, and a tour of your CSR software. Some CyberGrants clients even provide paid volunteer hours and pre-loaded charitable spending accounts to employees on their first day. “If you give people two hours to volunteer their first week, then you can get them engaged. The first time you get somebody engaged is the hardest to do, then you can get them to come back more frequently,” Livada said. Companies can engender excitement for their social involvement by encouraging employees to talk about their personal experiences. DeMarre and Livada talked about the success of social sharing platforms—like Slack and intranets—that allow participants to highlight the ways they give back and the causes they support. It’s important, said DeMarre, “to give employees a space to share those stories without a huge corporate message behind it.” The goal of these programs, however, shouldn’t be employee recognition. In fact, offering cash incentives like gift cards or bonuses is usually counterproductive. Ultimately, the recognition employees want is awareness of their passions. “They don't necessarily want a gift card or a pat on their back,” DeMarre said. “They usually just want light to be shed on that cause or that nonprofit they were aligned behind.” Making the Initiatives Sustainable Longevity and adaptability of CSR must be considered too. Programs must be consistent enough to keep employees involved in annual events, like holiday gift drives or prom dress drives, but flexible enough to respond to local or global disasters, like the war in Ukraine. Livada and DeMarre said communication plans have to prepare for both eventualities. There has to be a regular promotion of ongoing activities and a plan to quickly notify staff of ways they can pitch in during moments of crisis, plus a way to record all of it. In fact, Livada argued that speed and agility have defined CSR for the last two years. “There’s a big shift to making sure that you’re responding rapidly to anything that’s happening in the world.” He recommended standing up a “hyperlocal” strategy as well, which calls for building relationships with community organizations that need support and can put people to work quickly. The longevity and the agility of any CSR plan depends on internal communication. Employees need to always know what’s happening, new ways they can act, who needs help, how to log their time, and how to report giving. A communication plan takes many forms: CSR software, physical flyers, QR codes, messages on TV monitors around the office, announcements at meetings, email newsletters—whatever gets the message out. And don’t forget to report on the good work your employees are doing. Every stakeholder, from entry-level to executive, needs to hear what’s going on. The more you stay connected with your workforce about what they’re doing in their communities and how the company can support that work, the more you can tie your workers’ values to your company values in a way that propels contributions to the social good. It’s about empowering your people to do the work that matters to them in as many ways as possible. CSR thrives with grassroots involvement, Livada said. “You stand it up, you let it run, and then you adjust it as necessary so it’s got a broad, wide path that really is meant to be engaging across all departments and all groups.” Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner who supported this webinar, CyberGrants. CyberGrants is becoming part of Bonterra, a leader in social-good technology. Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance reporter based in Richmond, Va., who writes about workplace culture and policies, hiring, DEI, and issues faced by women. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Fast Company, and Food Technology, among others, and has been syndicated by MSN and The Motley Fool.

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza June 16, 2022