Social Media, Employees & Sustainability

Want a great example of how to engage your employees in the company's sustainability efforts? Here you go (including 5 reasons why its such a great example).

Dr. David Suzuki’s at Impact!

I recently came across a fairly cryptic press release (by the way, here's what I think of press releases), the title of which caught my attention: The Co-operators creates social media-based program to engage staff and agents in sustainability. Thankfully, the title didn't throw me for long. Barbara Turley-McIntyre is the Director of Sustainability and Corporate Citizenship at The Co-Operators and she was able to educate me on the story behind the press release when I interviewed her at the Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR) conference last month in Toronto.

Here's the deal:

The Co-Operators just launched a sustainability program utilizing social media. It appears to be very successful so far. Some reasons why:

• The ability to share stories online - The Co-Operators program utilizes the power of story-telling via an internal social media platform. They need to go further, but this is a good start.
• Good training and e-learning - Find good and proven learning materials like those offered by the Natural Step (love these guys).
• High profile partnership - David Suzuki is a Canadian icon, and his Foundation offers excellent visibility for the program.
• A step by step roll out - An all at once approach is confusing and overwhelming, so this is a much better approach.
• Clear connections to the business and the employees job - 'nough said!

One of the outcomes so far? Based on a survey produced by Hewitt on employee engagment, 94% of Co-operaters  participants believe the company is socially and environmentally responsible. Pretty cool.

Here's a bit of the press release, and a video with more (better) information. Be sure to watch for the editing error at the end of my video interview - kinda funny.

The Co-operators creates social media-based program to engage staff and agents in sustainability

The Co-operators today wrapped up the first part of CSR: Co-operators Sustainability Race, an innovative staff and agent engagement project developed in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation. More than 330 people from offices across Canada registered for the first part, the Transportation Race, which took place over three weeks in October.

CSR consists of a social media platform hosted on a dedicated micro-site. It includes participant profiles and daily tracking of each person's sustainability-related activities, as well as a vast collection of information on environmental topics. Participants can network with each other to challenge and encourage each other one-on-one, and see how their progress compares with that of their colleagues on a daily basis. (the entire press release is here...yawn).

Chris Jarvis & Angela Parker

c: 317-371-4435 | chrisjarvis@realizedworth.com

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Connecting companies with communities through employee volunteering & social media.

Social Media, Employees & Sustainability

Measuring the Strength of Your Volunteer Program

**This article was originally written for the VolunteerSpot blog. Check out this fantastic organization here: VolunteerSpot: Doing good just got easier! **

When it comes to volunteering, the number of people showing up may not be the best measurement of success. The true test of your volunteering program’s strength and sustainability lies elsewhere....

At Realized Worth, we talk to companies every week about employee volunteer programs. It doesn’t seem to matter if the company is a local business or a multi-national Fortune 500 corporation - invariably, the conversation begins with this question: "How can I get more employees to participate as volunteers?" After that, the conversations goes to how the volunteering program fits within the company and what the outcomes have been so far. Finally, we talk about metrics. What is the data saying? Usually, this brings us right back to the beginning of the conversation: participation rates and how to increase the numbers.


It makes sense that a successful corporate volunteer program is well attended by employees, but that’s not necessarily an indication of strength or sustainability. So in these conversations I try to share at least two alternative measures to get at the health of a volunteering program.

1. Motivation. Why are people volunteering?

Understanding the reasons why people participate is essential to discovering the program’s long term potential.  When people volunteer for the first time, they are usually motivated extrinsically. This is completely normal. We all want to help; give back; make a difference. But if we’ve not volunteered before, we usually don’t “own” these motivations. Instead, they are extrinsic to our personal lives and they exist outside of us. They are not intimate. While extrinsic motivations are important, they are not deeply rooted in our personalities.

Eventually, if volunteering programs are designed well, people will begin to discover their intrinsic motivations for volunteering. Intrinsic motivations are tied to our sense of self. This kind of motivation is connected to who we are. It is essential that people transition from a general sense of ‘it’s the right thing to do’ to highly personal reasons.  Why? Obviously the more we are personally invested, the greater our commitment. The question isn’t, “How many people are showing up?” but rather, “How much of each person showed up.”

Follow this link for a video of me discussing motivation.

2. Movement. Do your volunteers feel like they’re getting anything done?

Clearly outlining a beginning point, milestones, expectations and measurements for success will give your volunteers a sense of progress.

One of the single greatest culprits in stealing a new volunteer's enthusiasm is a lack of movement. Coming back to the same situation over and over again without seeing any progress is disheartening and emotionally exhausting. If you don’t know whether your volunteers feel like they are making a difference, you’re missing the key metric that speaks to your program’s sustainability.

Take time to explain clearly to volunteers why they’re there and what will be accomplished. I do this by holding a 15-minute brief before each program or activity. Do it every time. It doesn’t matter if you say the same thing to the same people over and over again. You’d be amazed at what people hear me say for the first time on the twentieth brief. Set expectations and be sure to realistically define success. If you’re scooping out food at a soup kitchen you are not solving hunger problems. You’re not making a dent in poverty issues. But you’re doing something equally important. What is it? Your volunteers need you to tell them.

For more ideas on how to offer volunteers a sense of movement, click here.

Whether you’re a company trying to increase participation in your employee volunteering program or you’re a nonprofit trying to recruit, retain and manage your employees better, discovering the answers to these two questions is essential. Ignore them, and you’ll be stuck on the participation metric.... Forever.

We love to talk about all things employee volunteering! Feel free to join the conversation by commenting below or contacting us directly:
angela@realizedworth.com or chrisjarvis@realizedworth.com
317.371.4435

Measuring the Strength of Your Volunteer Program

Corporate Volunteering: What happens when companies volunteer (sometimes)

Ever wonder what nonprofits think of your corporate volunteering program? Um, sometimes it's not that flattering...

I’m sure you’ve heard of this scenario: A company calls up a nonprofit with a “generous" offer to bring 200 employees over next Thursday to volunteer for 3 hours. All they want in return is a meaningful, important, team-oriented, hands-on activity that everyone can work on together. Oh, and also, "Please provide lunch on site afterward for an awards ceremony and photo opp."

We're all working hard to make this kind of example a thing of the past - but currently, we're still hearing about it far too often.

Last month, a committee of non-profit and for-profit volunteer professionals presented a tongue-in-cheek video to the Bay Area Volunteer Leaders Forum. The idea was to “poke a little fun at all of us working across sectors in volunteerism. There was a lot of laughter and maybe just a bit of cringing because of how close to true the scenario was.”

If you’d like to get the inside scoop on some of the requests companies make of non-profits, including the Bad Better and Best of them, check out our series on the topic.

Apparently the video created an opportunity for some great dialogue about collaboration between business and non-profits. Having watched it (and laughed uncomfortably), I can see why.

Enjoy!





Click here for more great videos by this group.

The Volunteer Center works closely with agencies to provide thousands of opportunities for volunteers of all ages. We offer a wide range of resources, consulting and training services, and provide a strong network for organizations in the area. We are here to strengthen and improve local communities through these main channels.

Chris Jarvis & Angela Parker

c: 317-371-4435 | chrisjarvis@realizedworth.com

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Learn more about Realized Worth

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Connecting companies with communities through employee volunteering & social media.

Corporate Volunteering: What happens when companies volunteer (sometimes)

Microsoft and their Smooth Kung Fu Moves

Does your company struggle to enlist employees in Dollar for Doers or Matching Gifts programs? Microsoft might have come up with a solution. Strangely enough, it has nothing to do with technology.

What is it about Kung Fu films? How do they manage to maintain a steady cult following across every decade and demographic? (You know there’s at least one grandmother out there who lives and dies for Jackie Chan.) It’s got to be something about those (typically) little guys like Jet Li (5’6” and 145 lbs) taking on overwhelmingly large opponents and - not only prevailing - but using the opponent’s strength to his own advantage. The element of inspiration is not exactly covert here, am I right? Who hasn’t felt small and overwhelmed by the obstacle they face? Who doesn’t want to pull a Kung Fu move and use that obstacle to come out victorious in the end? I know I do. And I know its possible in the real world: just take a look at Microsoft.

THE STORY

Let me back up for a moment and set the scene...

It’s a sunny October afternoon and Microsoft’s Seattle headquarters is a bustle of activity. Angela and I arrive looking forward to discussing our favorite topic (community engagement) with some fascinating people: Kevin Espirito, Tom Murphy and Seema Bhende. We’d heard that Microsoft is doing great things (such as their Annual Giving Campaign which just took place last month), so we planned to walk in with some challenging questions - you know, to keep the conversation interesting.

But to our surprise, the conversation got interesting long before our questions got challenging.

It went something like this:

Me: I’m sorry, Kevin, could you repeat that?

Kevin: Um, sure. So...I invited reps from 100 non-profit organizations to join us here on campus. We held a reception where they could connect directly with our employees and discuss the October Giving Campaign and other volunteer opportunities.

Me: Wait, wait....you’re saying you essentially asked the NPO’s for help??

Kevin: Yeah.

Angela: And you provided food and drinks?

Kevin: Uh...yep. (I’m not sure he quite understood at this point why we persisted with stupid questions.) And actually, the response was great. We’d like to continue strengthening the connection between the NPOs and our employees, so we’re gonna host similar receptions once a quarter.

(Silence while Angela and I sit, wide-eyed and dumbfounded.)

I know, I know - this little scenario doesn’t seem like it merits dumbfoundedness. But it does. Here’s why:

THE OBSTACLE

Maybe you haven’t heard, but  non-profits and corporations are not exactly friends. Generally, corporations think one thing when they see an NPO coming: HIDE. They’re afraid, of course, that they’re going to have to say no to one more request for funding. As a result, many corporate citizenship associations do not allow non-profits to directly participate - and they sure as hell don’t facilitate face-to-face contact with their employees.

So, that’s one way to go. Identify your obstacle....and hide.

Unfortunately, avoiding problems tends to create problems.

Ever heard of "Dollar for Doers” programs? The way it works is as follows: for every hour an employee volunteers, the employer will donate a designated amount to the non-profit. Some companies only donate a minimal amount per hour, but Microsoft’s rate is $17/hour. That means if an employee volunteers for just 20 hours in a month (5 hours/week), the non-profit will receive $340 from Microsoft. They’ll receive it, that is, IF the employee logs their volunteer hours at work.

And therein lies the problem.

Statistically speaking, at least 33% of Microsoft employees are volunteering, but only 8% are reporting their hours. This is a tragic loss of cash that NPOs need -and that Microsoft is ready and willing to give. Unfortunately, this problem is not unique to Microsoft. Virtually every corporation that has a Dollars for Doers program struggles to get employees to report their hours. (More stats here.)

And so, we are left with 2 (rather depressing) options: 1. hide from the obstacle and hope it goes away. 2. send employees a daily barrage of memos begging, “Oh please, oh please log your volunteer hours.”

Then again, there’s always that Kung Fu move...

SMOOTH KUNG FU MOVES (a.k.a “how to be like Kevin Espirito at Microsoft”)

1. Change your viewpoint: Like Jet Li vaulting toward the ceiling for a bird’s eye perspective, take a new look at your situation. Who is even more motivated than you are to get employees to report their hours? Well, the non-profit, of course. Now you know your first move: appeal to the group most motivated to solve your problem. Don’t forget to make sure your view is wide enough. Kevin did this by reaching out to the top 100 non-profits in the area, hoping to include as many of the organizations where employees were already volunteering as possible.

2. No Lone Heroes: Everyone knows its the sidekick who enables the hero to succeed - and if you don’t treat your sidekick right, well - you’re screwed. When you enlist your local non-profits to help you, remember to welcome them as partners. These groups require respect and attention in order to make you great. In Kevin’s case, this meant holding a reception on campus with food and drink provided and all the work for it taken care of by Microsoft. That kind of welcome would make anyone feel good.

Once you’ve implemented numbers 1 and 2, you’ll begin to see your obstacles take care of themselves. Here’s what I mean:

• By connecting the non-profits directly to your employees, you’ve eliminated the need for non-profits to approach you for money. When they do, all you have to say is, “I’d love to invite you to our next reception where you can identify our employees who volunteer with you and access our “dollars for doers” funds.”  Boom! No problem.
• By connecting employees directly to local non-profits, you’ve eliminated your need to remind (beg) employees to report their hours. When your employees volunteer, the non-profit will now be empowered to remind those volunteers to help them receive your company’s funds by reporting their hours.Yes! Problem solved.

And finally....

3. Trust the Process: Even when  your kung fu moves feel wrong, don’t give up. It may be months before you see a significant increase in employees reporting their hours, but trust the process. ....Or you could go back to hiding. Its up to you.

Microsoft is on the right track for some impactful community investment; its obviously been a focus of the company for years now. And I’ve gotta tell you, its not just the numbers that tell the story - its the attitude.

Watch for our next blog post about Microsoft where we’ll tell you a little more about their impressive Annual Giving Campaign.

Here's some info for those of you who just can't wait:
Read about Microsoft 2010 Citizenship Report
Read more on the Microsoft Unlimited Potential Blog

If you’re wondering more about best practices around these types of programs be sure to check out some research we helped produce:  ‘Mapping Success in Employee Volunteering’ by Bea Boccalandro and Boston College.

We really do love talking about community engagement. Want to join the conversation? You can either comment below or email us here: Chris: chrisjarvis@realizedworth.com or Angela: angela@realizedworth.com

Microsoft and their Smooth Kung Fu Moves

Giving Corporate Citizenship Awards? Read this first.

If you’re going to hand out awards for Corporate Citizenship, here’s what the U.S. Chamber BCLC Corporate Citizenship Awards did right - and what you should consider doing, too.

It’s difficult to deny the exponential growth of interest in topics such as: sustainability, corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship, green, social innovation, etc. This cresting interest has birthed innumerable listings, rankings and award programs. Some are popular and informative, helping to shape the future by providing good ideas and critical feedback. Others simply defy common sense and seem to be little more than marketing programs for the agencies handing out the medals and badges (CROA).

An example of an award program that gets it right (as far as we’re concerned) is the U.S. Chamber BCLC Corporate Citizenship Awards. Specifically, we’re big fans of the Partnership award.

How to do it Right

If you’re going to hand out awards for Corporate Citizenship, here’s what the U.S. Chamber BCLC Corporate Citizenship Awards did right, and what you should consider doing as well.

1. Impacts - not just activities. If a company receives an award for doing good in the community, I want to know what the good was and how the world is better because of it.
2. Partnership - not just business. This is where the attention belongs.
3. Clear - not just strategic. They kept the list simple, and the descriptions digestible.
4. Realistic - not just idealistic.They used social media to reach people where they're at - but they did something more important than just using social media. They designed an approach based on the way the world really works, not just how it should work.

This last point is very important. Many organizations tend to think that good work should provide more than enough reason for people to participate and care about your awards - but that’s just not the way the world works. If it was, we would be solving social problems left, right, and center.

The Brilliant Example set by BCLC

1. They took interesting news to where people already are (rather than trying to entice people to visit the website alone).

Here’s where you can find them online:

• TWITTER
• YouTube
• Facebook

2. They made the info easy to share (and trackable)

Spread the word! The Partnership Award is being tweeted using #bclcawards.

3. They talked to us directly, via email, Facebook, twitter, and however else they could think of. Here’s the email that finally made me click on the link to find out more:

“Wow - 14,500 votes in the 2010 Partnership Award! The public response to the five partnerships/candidates has been tremendous. Three voting days are left.

Today is Wegmans Voter Day. This afternoon we'll randomly select two names in our third voter drawing. The winners will each receive a $100 Wegmans gift card. Friday is JetBlue Voter Day. Up for grabs is a pair of roundtrip air tickets good for U.S. travel.

How do you enter the drawings? Simple, just read each finalist's story and cast a vote for your favorite partnership. Be sure to check "Enter Me" on the voting page. Good luck!”

4. They incentivized me - in a way that makes sense, fits the award, and appeals to me. By offering a draw, they leveraged enough of my self-interest with what BCLC needed (my vote). I also noticed that the incentives were being contributed by companies who had no vested interest in the outcome (this one is really important if you want to seem credible).

VOTER GIVEAWAY
Voters between October 21 and November 5 are eligible to enter drawings for these prizes:

• Best Buy Gift Card, $100 each (2)
• Global Giving Gift Card, $25 each (4)
• Wegmans Gift Card, $100 each (2)
• Pair of Round-trip JetBlue Tickets (U.S. only)

VOTE HERE:

All in all, a great program, and worth your vote (especially if you win a prize!).


The list of candidates and why the partnership matters!

The Partnership Award is part of the prestigious annual Corporate Citizenship Awards. Here are the five candidates:

Amway & Kids Food Basket - Fighting children's hunger through excellence in operations and processes (Read more)

Caterpillar & CHF International - Leveraging a strong partnership to quickly respond with expertise and resources to the Haiti earthquake (Read more)

Deloitte & College Summit - Increasing college enrollment rates in low-income communities through the use of skilled volunteers, pro bono work, and financial contributions (Read more)

Microsoft & NetHope - Deploying information and communication technologies to improve the effectiveness of 31 international humanitarian organizations (Read more)

Qualcomm & Grameen Foundation - Creating income opportunities in a country where 75% of the populations lives on less than $2.50 a day (Read more)


The Corporate Citizenship Awards are presented each year by the U.S. Chamber BCLC and are a coveted showcase of "companies that care."  Award categories are U.S. Community Service, International Community Service, Corporate Stewardship, and Partnership. 

Chris Jarvis & Angela Parker

c: 317-371-4435 | chrisjarvis@realizedworth.com

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Learn more about Realized Worth

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Video | Interviews | Inc Magazine article |  Boston College Blog | 3BLMedia TV | theCSRminute | WorldNews CSR Channel

Connecting companies with communities through employee volunteering & social media.

Giving Corporate Citizenship Awards? Read this first.