Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Engage Millennials With A Culture Of Philanthropy

By Sebastian Troup


Today's Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are often stereotyped as entitled with a sense of narcissism. But those tech-savvy young adults between the ages of 20 and 35 are also thought to be more civic-minded than generations past, with a strong sense of community, both local and global. It's important for companies to attract and engage this generation of future business leaders. One way to do this is through fostering a culture of philanthropy in the workplace.

Research shows it's important to Millennials that they work for a company with a broader mission to help the community at large, rather than just generating paychecks. The nonprofit Net Impact polled 1,726 college students and new graduates last year and found that 53% of young workers said that "a job where I can make an impact" was important to their happiness, and 72% of students about to enter the workforce agreed. More importantly is that with all other things being equal, 58% of Millennials would take a 15% pay cut to achieve this goal.

There is also a study that shows 63 percent of Millennials volunteered for nonprofit in 2011 and 90 percent of these individuals agreed to volunteer even more the following year, and this from a study in the 2012 Millennial Impact Report. Developing corporate strategies in getting employees should be done by companies, and this should include corporate charity and philanthropy, because volunteerism is a strong part in the lifestyle of Millennials.

The spirit of generosity and volunteering can help employees in their work ethics. They are not just the ordinary employees but people who can help their companies achieve a good image in the eyes of people.

Four key areas in the spirit of philanthropy and charity can help employees:

Productivity: Engagement and commitment can increase productivity. Ethics: Employees actively involved in selfless activities can make good decisions. Gratitude: Employees get grateful when they are given opportunities to give back to the people and society. Pride: Employees who are proud of what they are doing can get proud with their company.

One way companies have found success in attracting Millennials is by offering Volunteer Paid Time Off (VPTO) as an incentive. Employees are given time off to volunteer during work hours. U.S. Bank employees can draw up to 16 hours of pay per year for activities like serving breakfast to the homeless or reading to kids. Business leaders are finding that it costs less to let employees volunteer on the clock than it would to replace them if they quit.

IBM takes this program a step further. They send select employees on month-long volunteer assignments to developing countries. Often called a "corporate version" of the Peace Corps, IBM's Corporate Service Corps consist of 500 employees chosen from a pool of thousands. The projects, each valued at $250,000, create significant value for the countries receiving aid, but also produce more skilled, collaborative, loyal, and culturally aware employees for IBM. In addition, IBM identifies new emerging markets and global leaders in a different type of market research.

Offering attractive employee programs for companies to be competitive should be done by companies, for them to get the young Millennials. Attracting the civic and socially oriented Millenials who can help the business achieve better can be done, and these people can be the next generation business leaders, when companies develop a culture of charity and philanthropy within.




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