Volunteering: An impactful way to increase employee retention
Many organizations participate in volunteer days; it not only benefits the community, it benefits the company and its employees, too. People from all levels come together to work towards a common goal. One year the Director of Finance, the Executive Assistant, a room attendant, and I hoisted mesh covered bales of straw to shore up the Hudson River bank to prevent erosion. The rock and fill material had to come down a steep slope, and the fastest way to move it was an old-fashioned bucket brigade, passing rocks from one person to the next instead of everyone hauling their own load down alone. Someone from Maintenance ended up next to the Night Manager, and the two of them figured out fast that you had to call out "heavy one" before passing, or somebody was going to drop a rock on their feet. By the second hour they had a rhythm going, and a running joke about how sore they were going to be dragging themselves into work.
Another time a bartender, a room service server, a uniform room attendant, and the General Manager cleaned up a stretch of NY Harbor destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, spending hours pulling trash and weeds out of the water. A sales manager spent the morning knee deep in the water, handing off soggy debris to someone three months into the job who was holding the bag steady on the bank. By the time they were done, they had a tally going of the strangest things they'd pulled out and an argument over who found the grossest item.
On another project we gathered at an elementary school in Brooklyn to paint the gym. Someone had to hold the ladder while someone else climbed it to paint the ceiling. Neither of them could finish the job alone. One couldn't reach the trim without someone holding steadily below, and the other couldn't see what they were missing without someone calling it out from the ground. By the end of the wall, they'd worked out a rhythm without ever discussing it, a tap on the ladder leg meant to move two feet left, a thumbs up meant keep going. Two people who might never have spoken in the building had just spent twenty minutes depending on each other to get a ceiling trim painted straight.
Different projects, different years, same result every time. People who never worked together found themselves laughing over a paint roller or hauling weeds side by side. Executives got dirty next to line staff. Departments that never crossed paths in the building were suddenly working as a strong team.
As I was knee deep in the mud, I didn't think of it as a retention strategy at the time. I just thought it was a good thing to do. But looking back, it was some of the strongest team-building we ever did, and we didn't spend a dime on a ropes course or a trust fall to get there.
These days I run a solo practice, so there's no team of mine to organize a volunteer day for. But I still regularly build volunteering into my own calendar on purpose and that cadence is exactly what I recommend to every client who has employees and asks me how to make something like this stick. One big day a year is nice, but it fades into a memory people mention once at a holiday party. Four days a year is a habit. It becomes part of how people expect to spend their time at your company, not a novelty.
Here's what I think: People don't stay somewhere because of a policy or a line item in the benefits guide. They stay because of the day they got muddy in New York Harbor with someone from accounting and ended up learning more about them. They stay because their company showed up somewhere that had nothing to do with KPIs or OKRs. That kind of goodwill doesn't show up on an employee engagement survey, but it's exactly what I help clients build into their retention strategy.
A volunteer day alone won't fix a turnover problem. But it's one of the highest return moves a company can make. Bring people together from all levels of the organization regularly to volunteer. You’ll be surprised by what you see.
The workforce has been changing dramatically for the past few years and we need to adapt to it. People are retiring at a faster pace than people are entering the workforce. Employees have changed and want different things from their work; they’re looking for more stable work environments and more flexibility in their jobs. They’re looking for ways to have an impact and create more meaning in their work.
Participating in volunteer days brought employees from all levels together to work towards something bigger than ourselves. Working towards a common goal, helping the community, fostering camaraderie, and having fun was the order of the day. Volunteering together regularly created a well-communicating team that worked well together, not only on the day of the project but afterwards. In meetings. Working through challenges. Helping customers. We felt the benefits of volunteering together long after that project ended.
Volunteerism builds a more collaborative and engaging work environment. By volunteering regularly in the community, companies reduce employee burnout, foster cross-departmental relationships, and align teams around shared values, not just the company’s mission..
If you're trying to figure out what's driving people out the door, the Employee Retention Snapshot can help. Let's find your root cause before you lose anyone else.
