Purpose-Driven Companies for the Win!

doing good and doing well

Good-will is good business. 

It’s not just a desire to be better for yourself that makes purpose-driven businesses perform better, it’s the science of inspiration and how that affects employee engagement. 

Gallup polls consistently show that roughly 70 percent of US employees are not engaged in their work. Low engagement means low productivity, high turnover, and lost revenue.

One thing proven to boost engagement is corporate giving. In a recent Great Place to Work survey, people who felt their employers “made a positive impact on the world” were four times more likely to say their teams were willing to go the extra mile to get the job done. They were also more likely to express pride in their employers and stay with their companies for a long time.

Want to engage in a charitable giving program but not sure where to start? Try these easy tips: 

1. Consider becoming a B Corp

Your core values should be the driving force behind your company’s strategy and decision-making process. If giving and philanthropy are high priorities for your organization, they should be included in your core values.

2. Shout it from the… hallways

Display your core values on a prominent wall in the office and include them in your company handbook. Add them to the paystubs and send out company-wide reminders.  Add them to your weekly scrum meetings. Company values don’t belong on a hard rive backup, they belong in the lives of the people who make up your company. 

3. Define what living your values means to you. 

Having your core values on display is a great way to keep them fresh in your team’s mind, but truly cultivating any part of your company culture requires more than words on paper. Creating a regular cadence of opportunities to give back as a team building event allows your employees to feel that you’re putting your sweat where your money is and your money where your mouth is. 

Participating in philanthropic activities at a company-wide level can bring many benefits. Charitable efforts engage the team in something everyone can support, and team members can build stronger bonds with each other as they work together to make an impact on their community. 

Having a shared purpose does more than give you a sense of doing what’s right, it creates the kind of culture that employees want to go above and beyond for.  And that is worth its weight in gold. 

4. Invite team members to join in the conversation

Adding team building days where you get to know the struggles and lives of your company’s employees can provide insight into shared trauma, shared passion and shared purpose beyond that of the C-Suite.  If you’re having trouble aligning your company with one charity, simply align with the principles of charitable engagement and let your employees share what they are passionate about.  You’ll empower them and create a great way to shout form the rooftops about the ways you’ve found to do good while doing well. 

At CultivHIRE we have a program called MadGIVE, where we donate to charity at the end of each year on behalf of our clients.  It allows us to get closer, for us to learn what they are passionate about and it gives us a great feeling of giving back.  And that’s something money actually can’t buy.