Case #5 - A Smarter Company
Employee volunteer programs have incredible potential to increase your company’s intelligence.
Smart people impress me. The ability to retain and recall pertinent information and then synthesis the collected data in meaningful ways that address current contexts - well, that’s impressive. Add a sense of style and humor, that’s pretty much the whole package.
In much the same way, companies are either smart, or less smart (I mean dumb, but I didn’t want to offend anyone). Some corporations seem to be able to pull relevant information and skills from across business divisions and apply these resources towards meaningful solutions to the current business context. Smart businesses are obviously more profitable and competitive.
A good employee volunteer program can make your company smarter.
Connections Matter
A defining characteristic of most employee volunteering programs is that they usually involve groups of employees. Some employee volunteering is done solo or in small groups. More often that not (much to the dismay of many nonprofits), corporate volunteering is a large team sport.
That means that while they volunteer, employees are able to meet coworkers they may not normally have a chance to interact with. They guys from the mail room are chatting it up with the sales team while the custodians are painting a wall with the executives from the top floor. Normally, these types of social interactions would simply not take place. There is a magic that can occur during an outstanding volunteer experience. Within that magic, anything is possible.
Consequently, corporate volunteering fosters a unique expression of corporate connectivity. Similar to a brain growing new synaptic pathways, this kind of networking engenders relational awareness that is far more significant than any org chart. Profiles, departments, and job titles become real people with shared interests and dreams - all brought together by a cause and supported by the brand.
If new relationships are discovered, existing relationships are strengthened. Teams that work across from each other in cubicles find new reasons to connect and strengthen relational bonds while building a Habitat home. This is all due to the basic nature of our humanity (and a little bit of oxytocin).
Information Spreads
How you know...
It makes sense that people are more willing to share information in environments where they’re enabled to build relationships. Why? Because relationships cultivate trust. In the context of relationship, we find ourselves sharing more than just raw information – we also talk about how best to use that information. For example, when someone I’ve never met asks me a question via email, I may simply reply with a bullet list. However, when someone whose name I know and face I recognize asks me the same question, I have a willing sense of obligation that motivates me to expound on the bullet list with helpful pointers, recommendations, and resources. A strong network of relationships is the most effective context for sharing information and knowledge.
Benefit: Employees are informed and work in a trust-based environment.
What you know...
By building both strong and weak connections among employees, corporate volunteering helps create an environment of trust in which social networks thrive (read more here PDF). These networks facilitate the flow of information among those in the network. It is this network - based on reciprocity, obligation, trust and social norms - that results in the effective sharing and use of knowledge. The result is increased cooperation and collaboration. Employees in these settings are able to access more information and access company wide relationships to solve problems, innovate and increase their personal productivity.
Benefit: Employees are more informed and motivated to collaborate.
Who you know...
This network of connections not only facilitates the flow of information, it also opens up access to new information that may not have been previously available. When employees meet colleagues with whom they may not normally cross paths, new sources of knowledge become available: who you know affects what you know (read more here PDF). Corporate volunteering enhances the flow of information and communication across hierarchical levels and business units. The importance of this access to information across the multiple levels within an organization becomes acute when considering a company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) messages and activities.
Research suggests that when employees hear about a company’s CSR program they try to interpret the message in light of the organization’s culture and sensemaking systems. Sensemaking is a collaborative process we use to understand things and find meaning within our own reality. Everyone engages in sensemaking and it happens at a subconscious level. Information “from the dominant organizational collective narratives (informal and formal story‐telling) and day-to‐day language” is used to understand new ideas and messages. (Here is a great description of sensemaking as it relates to CSR.)
When strong social networks allow information to pass both longitudinally and latitudinally through an organization, sensemaking is enhanced. Not only is information shared, the ability to correctly interpret that information improves. Using relational channels to ask questions and seek clarity is a significant benefit that is often overlooked. Conversely, “When information is distributed among numerous parties, each with a different impression of what is happening, the cost of reconciling these disparate views is high, so discrepancies and ambiguities in outlook persist.” (Read more here PDF)
Benefit: Employees are more informed about the right things and they are connected to the right people.
In the know...
Companies with employee volunteer programs may also possess more knowledge management capabilities than organizations with less formed networks and lower levels of trust. Knowledge Management (KM) is a business strategy that looks to “identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences. Such insights and experiences comprise knowledge, either embodied in individuals or embedded in organizational processes or practice.”
Companies that are able to access the knowledge possessed by employees throughout the organization have a distinct competitive advantage. Research shows ‘work group membership and socialization are the most potent predictors of knowledge and information.’ Knowledge is shared socially much of the time because people facing work-related problems are more likely to turn to colleagues and friends than other sources of information. Employee volunteering creates social settings that facilitate the exchange of knowledge and information.
The importance of social networks as a key ingredient in knowledge management should not be ignored. The ability of a company to access and use the knowledge and information possessed by its employees directly affects organizational performance.
Benefit: Companies can access more of their employee’s knowledge.
The Bottom Line
The more connected a company’s employees are to each other, the smarter the company. Here are some suggestions to get it right:
- Do not try to force relationships to happen. The ‘voluntary’ nature of employee volunteering must be retained in order for individuals to discover relational connections that fit them. This is especially true when working with your ‘influentials’.
- Provide ongoing opportunities to build relationships between co-workers. Understand, a once-a-year volunteer event will only yield minimal results.
- Create opportunities for reflection as a group. This will enforce the shared experience of the volunteer event while enabling attitudinal and behavioral changes among the employees themselves.
Be sure to check out the other blogs in this series:
Business Case #4: Employee Volunteering Offers A Competitive Advantage
Coming up next in the series? Case #6: Employee Volunteering Creates Healthier Companies.
Coming up next in the series? Case #6: Employee Volunteering Creates Healthier Companies.
Chris Jarvis and Angela Parker write, research and consult for Realized Worth. We're happy to discuss your company's employee volunteering needs anytime. Contact us here: chrisjarvis@realizedworth.com or angela@realizedworth.com or 317.372.2435
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