You’re only as strong as your weakest link. With this article we’re stepping up to the plate of benefits of corporate social responsibility and we’ll show how companies can use it to create a happier and more successful work environment.

A crucial aspect of every business is how the moving parts, or your employees, work within. If the moving parts don’t operate smoothly, there are bound to be issues with communication, job satisfaction, productivity – and your profits.

That’s why building a team of employees who openly communicate, feel positive about their jobs, are motivated and creative, and yield higher results, is a necessity.

Research has proven that creating team building experiences are beneficial to your company. By adding a dash of CSR into the mix, its value grows exponentially, for your business, the economy, and the environment.

One proven and immediate way to create effective positive impact is to sponsor an employee volunteering program. Studies have shown that by supporting your team and your community simultaneously, employee engagement and satisfaction increase, including employee productivity, which eventually funnels up to higher revenues.

In a world where corporate social responsibility has become the new norm instead of the outlier, the benefits of volunteering are clear. There are plenty of options when it comes to team building, but offering a volunteering program may be the most beneficial all around, especially for your employees.

Here are the top 4 major benefits of employee volunteering activities from hundreds of Good Deeds Day partner companies and organizations:

1. Enhances Communication

A volunteer program opens doors for a new way to communicate with coworkers, not only on the day of volunteering; but also throughout the preparation. Viva Energy, for example, had over 68 percent of employees choose to participate in Good Deeds Day 2016.

Jo Powell, Social Investment Manager from Viva Energy, confirmed the heightened sense of communication between the employees and teams working together. It was clear that by creating the opportunity for employees to talk openly, the entire company is feeling the positive effect.  

2. Encourages Teamwork

By hosting a volunteer program, you’re giving your team one goal to work towards – doing good for the community. When gathering together on the same mission, they naturally bond, enhancing teamwork.

Elbit Systems of America decided to join in the Good Deeds Day fun; they held contests at each of their volunteer sites to decorate the boxes they were using for food collections. Ultimately this helped bridge individuals into one more solid team.

3. Creates a Positive Office Culture

By caring for employee wellbeing and applying humanity to the workforce, your business will excel. Infusing a volunteer program into your days is one great way to foster a positive company culture.

By offering meaningful experiences for people to bond outside the office, you are also cultivating relationships and helping people build trust. Especially in larger companies, open pathways make it easier to ask for help, cooperate with other departments, and exchange knowledge which may have otherwise been kept within.

4. Values the bigger picture

By understanding the need for an individual’s sense of belonging and the desire to give back to the community, you create a more fulfilling and purposeful experience for people when they are in the office environment. This not only creates a more meaningful, healthy and happy life for your employees, but it solidifies that your company values people – and that’s all any employee wants at the end of the day.

Merav Shina from Gilat Satellite Networks, another Good Deeds Day partner, mentions how the volunteer program has given their team a “great sense of belonging to something global.”

Company organized volunteering programs are a definitive example of how corporate social responsibility results in a company’s overall enhancement, and is the ideal focus when it comes to affecting positive change within your team.