5 Ways Corporate Volunteering Can Improve Your Companies Culture
Positive culture within the workplace is a vital component of the corporate world. In today’s remote world, getting your team to find collaborative, in-person environments can be challenging.
The GVFB sees 50,000+ hours of volunteer support every year, many of these corporate teams! Spending a day working together and giving back is a great way to establish those critical connections we often miss when working remotely.
Here are five ways that we’ve seen volunteering boost company morale:
1. Team Building
Tired of axe throwing and bowling? What better way to build morale than to give back to your community? When corporate groups join us as volunteers, their employees can work together in new environments and challenges. This is a great activity to create a real-time practice of working through problems, catering to each other’s strengths, and learning more about one another.
2. New Environments
This one may seem small, but getting your team out creates space to allow employees and leadership to get to know each other better while eliminating workplace stress. Venturing outside can also help employees re-energize and feel more focused. The change in pace creates excitement in the mundane and sometimes even peaks creativity.
3. Brings Remote Workers Together
Remote work has expanded opportunities for many people, but it can sometimes feel a little isolating. Bringing your employees together through volunteering can strengthen and build connections within teams. It allows the opportunity for teams to connect socially and even to understand each other a little better. It can also allow leadership to see new skills or work processes within their teams as they communicate and work in new capacities.
4. Inclusivity
Volunteering, especially at the GVFB, involves a broad range of jobs and skill sets. Our facility is on one floor with a ramp to enter, allowing all mobility ranges to participate in volunteer shifts. There is something for everyone to do, including all employees at all levels.
5. It Feels Good To Help Others
Scientists have long thought that acting in service of others has mental health benefits. We feel happier when we can support someone and see the benefits it provides. It can be therapeutic and even relieve a little stress. We also gain connection when we are not only of service to someone who needs it but also when we can understand their situation. It can also increase your team’s involvement in their community, creating a sense of belonging.
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Volunteers are the heart of our organization. Hosting corporate companies helps us continue providing healthy, nutritious foods to those in need while the companies benefit from happy, socially connected teams. Want to learn more about our group volunteer experience? Head to our Volunteer Page. We’d love to host your next team-building day.
Read below about the BCLC’s experience with team volunteering at the GVFB:
Q: Why did BCLC choose to support the GVFB as both volunteers and donors? We’d also be interested in hearing how the act of volunteering brings your team together!
BCLC was established on the basis of giving back to B.C. Committed to generating win-wins for the greater good, there is a higher purpose behind everything we do: serving the best interests of our players and communities.
Several years ago, BCLC’s employee-giving committee was founded to help create employee-driven fundraising campaigns and volunteer initiatives that would support the communities where we live, work and play. Thanks to the efforts and generosity of our people, we’ve donated thousands of dollars through activities such as 50/50 draws, auctions, raffles and more, and since 2015, BCLC’s employees have proudly volunteered more than 2,500 hours at the GVFB.
“Food brings people together and is a universal language that we all speak, regardless of culture, age or gender,” said Linda Don, BCLC employee-giving committee member. “With the increasing demand for food assistance and rising grocery costs, supporting the Greater Vancouver Food Bank is a fundamental and inclusive way of giving back to the community. The members of our committee and employees across our company are so proud of our support for the GVFB. It contributes to the feeling of having a purpose at work and the feeling that our purpose makes a meaningful difference in our respective communities.”
