6 ways giving back can grow company culture

January 20, 2023 4:55 PM

To give or not to give — this is no longer the question. For employers, the idea of giving back is now about how much, and how to make it most impactful in the eyes of their workforce.

As employees place more value on working for socially and environmentally responsible organizations, they are also struggling with "broke altruism" — feeling as though they lack enough money individually to make an impact. Employers have a great chance to step in and promote corporate social responsibility (CSR), and doing so can have a tremendous effect on company culture.

Companies that incorporate CSR into their business strategy can see a positive rise in brand recognition and reputation, as well as increased customer loyalty and employee retention. But the way a company chooses to give is important. In short, it must be done with thought and intention, and employees must feel a connection to the cause.

Survey results from American Charities show that 71% of employees say it is imperative or very important to work where culture is supportive of giving and volunteering, with younger employees most likely to prioritize this when choosing where to work. From an employer perspective, 86% of corporate leaders believe that employees expect them to provide opportunities to engage in the community and 87% believe their employees expect them to support causes and issues that matter to those employees.

Kiva, a nonprofit that uses crowdfunded microloans to support those in underserved populations around the globe, can speak to the power of small amounts having a big effect. Tess Murphy, Kiva's director of program and CSR lead, says there are best practices when it comes to a company's efforts to enable the younger workforce generations to make a wider impact with limited money, and it starts within the workplace.

Promote worth within the workplace

"When the pandemic happened," says Murphy, "there was a lot of focus on our communities, our health, our families and our workplace. Once we stripped away our social networks, we became more isolated and you found burnout, turnover and feelings of low morale. What we're seeing is companies are having to communicate to employees why what they do matters in the world, what their purpose is, what they're trying to achieve, and how employees can help contribute to that overall purpose — how the work they're doing actually matters. It's kind of tangential — broke altruism makes a difference on a wider scale, but also the corporate workplace. How do you make a difference?"

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Make small efforts meaningful

"When we look at the evolution of corporate philanthropy and corporate purpose, it is largely driven by Gen Z and millennials who are demanding more of their workplaces," Murphy says. "They're bringing that social focus into the workplace and saying, 'With budget cuts, with all of this, there still isn't an excuse. There is work that you can do to make a difference in the world.' Kiva's corporate model is very unique; a company deposits, say, $1 million for charitable giving, and issues $25 lending credits to each employee. Employees can lend to a borrower [and] when that borrower pays the money back it goes back to the corporate account. They can use the same money year after year and they can meet the needs of employees who are saying, 'We need to do more.'"

Let employees guide the conversation

"Employees don't want to be told what to care about or what to believe in," Murphy explains. "It has to be a grassroots effort from the ground up of employee advocacy — stakeholder advocacy. Any program that provides choice and the ability to connect and rally employees around those choices is really effective. There are a ton of platforms out there that do this; Kiva is only one of them. Employees like to connect with one another around the things they care about and why they care about them. They feel galvanized by that."

Be transparent from the top

"We have a lot of stories around executives who will say, 'My mother emigrated from China, and she got an education that helped her move up, have economic mobility, so I supported a student in China,'" Murphy says, "or, 'My grandmother was a dressmaker, so I supported a dressmaker in Pakistan because that's what I care about.' This helps you feel more connected to your executive teams, to your coworkers, and you learn more about what motivates them."

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Figure out what matters to employees

"There are a few ways to approach this," Murphy says. "We do a new-hire onboarding rollout at organizations where they'll ask new hires, 'What do you care about?' They'll present CSR goals and say, 'Is there anything in here that's not represented that you feel strongly about?' Another way is a survey. Each CSR team will send out an employee survey and a pulse check to understand qualitatively what's working and what's not. Then there's the data around these initiatives — what is the participation like? The third thing is they will roll out an employee ambassador program so they'll have employees in every office or every business unit who joins webinars and calls where they can be a representative of their team and their location."

Set up and communicate benchmarks

"A lot of corporations will actually benchmark themselves against certain UN development goals, and that's amazing," Murphy says, referencing the UN's 17 interlinked goals to achieve a better and more sustainable future. "But what is sometimes missing is that thread to why employees should care and what they are doing to help. "We rolled out this initiative last year to show how direct individual action, like lending $25 to a woman in Kenya, helps drive the gender equity UN development goal. So you're connecting individual action to macro, larger-scale global initiatives, and that is really powerful. That is the key to success with these programs — the layer of communication to employees so that they can see their role in the context of the company and in the context of that wider goal."