Doing Good While Doing Well
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc, has been a model for good corporate citizenship and employee involvement in the community for the past two decades. For the ninth consecutive year, Toyota provided sponsorship at the national level and encouraged its associates and family members to spend a day restoring public parks and forests across the country as part of National Public Lands Day (NPLD).
“Toyota is proud to sponsor programs like NPLD, because in addition to supporting meaningful service projects in the community, it builds teamwork and provides professional development for our associates,” said Rhonda Glasscock, corporate contributions manager at Toyota.
However, not every organization is as proactive as Toyota. As a manager, how can you effect positive change in your community on behalf of yourself, your employees and employer when companywide initiatives, resources and staff are not budgeted?
Start by thinking of activities that you might do on your own time, such as volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, taking your kids to Camp Fire events, volunteering on a non-profit's board or helping a student learn to read. Did you ever think that you could use these types of activities as a means to provide professional development for yourself and your staff, as well as get your organization's name out into the community?
Julie Pearson-Ruthven, CIO for the Oregon Secretary of State, knows the value of that volunteering has to her team:
"I am so excited about using the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity to provide a meaningful team building opportunity for our staff. Technology . . .as well as time constraints can make working effectively as a team a challenge. That is why Habitat for Humanity is exactly what we need to help staff get out of the office environment, work together, and give back to our community all at the same time."
How can you get started? Here are a few ways suggested by mid-level managers who have had success in getting their teams involved in volunteering as professional development:
1. Donate a meeting – Once or twice a month, donate time you would spend on a staff meeting to an on-going volunteer project. Have your team put their expertise towards helping a non-profit with an issue related to your industry. This is an excellent way to push your team to hone their industry-related skills while allowing them to take creative risks.
2. Team building –When there is a "slow" period during the year, take a work day out of the office to participate as a team on a project. Help paint a school, serve lunch at a shelter, or build a garden. Find an activity of interest that gets you and your team out of the office and working together.
3. Flextime – If task allocations on your team are flexible, schedule your staff with time to volunteer on their own at regular intervals. Ask them to share their volunteer experiences with your team during staff meetings.
As a manager, you know that keeping your supervisor informed and making them look good is important. Before any volunteer projects, talk to your direct supervisor or other company executives and ask for their support.
Most importantly, just as in the office…document, document, document. Take pictures of your team volunteering. Write articles about the experience and impact of your team's work for corporate newsletters. Talk to the PR department about press releases for the local newspaper. Once your team gets into the act, invite managers from other teams and executives to participate.