How Giving Reaps Rewards for Staff Morale

Dr Kathryn Owler

There is something about giving that can offer immense satisfaction. In an earlier article, I wrote about a growing sense of social responsibility amongst some NZ companies. NZ consumers are starting to demand social and environmental accountability from business. Moreover, employees appreciate working for a company they can believe in and stand behind. Being a company who gives to the wider community can therefore reap many rewards, not the least, good staff morale.

What Staff Really Want

In the 2006 Unlimited/JRA Best Places to Work Survey of over 22,000 employees, one of the four characteristics that great places to work had in common, was a strong sense of community. In all these workplaces, employees felt they were an integral part of the organization. Great workplace employers adopt a variety of strategies to make the workplace a fun and enjoyable environment. Many of these strategies are aimed directly at bringing people together and improving the quality of the social relationships within the organization. And, fifteen percent of finalists now participate in community events or projects.

This kind of evidence suggests that giving to the wider community can be part of building an internal sense of community within a workplace. I had the opportunity to explore this idea recently when speaking to Club Physical CEO, Paul Richards.

Case Study: Giving That Works!

Club Physical are a national franchise network of local gyms that aim to make a connection with the local community. Paul Richards has instigated a number of ‘giving' initiatives, with some surprising results.

One Club Physical initiative is the Cancer Wellfit Program which has been running for four years at the Te Atatu gym in Auckland. Club Physical offer a free 10 week program for up to twelve people at the gym, designed especially for those who have cancer, or are recovering from cancer. The program was originally instigated as a way to reach out to the local community. Club Physical provides a trainer for the group twice a week for ten weeks. Each person is however free to use the gym at any other time.

Over the time the group has been running, Paul has noticed a very strong bond grow amongst group members. At first ‘they start not knowing each other and are quite fearful'. However, because they have something important in common, this ‘creates a strong bond' he says. ‘Some are in their 20's, some are in their 60's, but they have something in common. At least half the group are women with breast cancer. They now support one another. They will ring to remind each other to come! They have their session then sit down and have a cup of tea together afterwards'.

In December 2007 Club Physical also turned their efforts to supporting needy children overseas, through World Vision. For any new member to the gym who sponsors a child, Club Physical with offer 1 month free gym membership. They will also give 50% of the joining fee direct to World Vision. Each of the 11 Club Physical branches is sponsoring a child from the same town in Myamar. In the future Paul would like to find out about the particular needs of the town and focus as an organization on meeting some of these.

Paul feels very passionate about the Club Physical World Vision project. Why? ‘Because life is short and everyone in business is flat out focusing on their own business and I had feelings of guilt and responsibility for other parts of the world. I began to wonder about life and what God would really want us to do. In NZ there is this feeling that people are not fairing very well and can't pay their mortgages, but in comparison [to people overseas] we are very well off. Our state houses would be mansions to some of these people.' It is Paul's hope that his passion for the World Vision project will adopted by his staff. He will be promoting it in his monthly sales meetings.

Why Staff Love to Give and Why They Love You For It!

Paul is enthusiastic about the benefits of the program for his staff. ‘They love it' he says, referring to the cancer Wellfit Program. Paul's staff love running the program ‘because it has nothing to do with money, they feel that they are able to do something purely to help others'.

Paul envisages that some of the business benefits of the World Vision initiative will also include staff morale and retention. This is particularly the case with his younger staff. Paul had attended a number of seminars overseas and one of the speakers had been talking about the Y Generation. The presenter explained that, ‘they are going to have 28 jobs over their career on average and if they don't like a job, they will just move on'. However, the presenter also explained that ‘one thing that the Y generation do seek in a job, is working for a company with a cause they can believe in. That, their work actually means something'. Paul hopes that his younger workers in particular, will feel this way about Club Physical and make more of a commitment to the organization.

How to Give and Reap the Benefits

You may be wondering how your business can become an organization who gives. There are numerous ways to do this. And, it is not all about financial investment. The EEO explain that ‘there are varying degrees of philanthropic commitments, and options including: fundraising, matching employees' contributions, donating goods, contras, placing associated logos on products, offering the use of facilities or meeting rooms, or sending in skilled staff to lend a hand'.

For more information on the benefits of giving to business and the range of options available, you might like to take a look at the EEO website (see link below). And remember, what comes around goes around! ‘A generous man will himself be blessed' (Proverbs 22:9).

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References

EEO Work and Life Bulletin. 2006 (June). http://www.eeotrust.org.nz/awards/bulletin.cfm?section=viewhtmlversion

John Robertson & Associates. 2007 (Feb). Employee Engagement: Driving Organisation Performance. JRA.