Shawnee Love   •  
July 13, 2017

We continue our blog series on encouraging mental health in the workplace.  Serial #8 is all about community and team.

Make your employees feel proud to work for you and you increase mental well being through increased sense of connection to your organization, enhanced self worth and more positive relationships at work.

Pride in who you work for comes from knowing the company aligns with your values and has a greater purpose beyond pure profit.  Even if the work you do isn’t finding a cure for cancer or climate change, your organization can create meaning by seeking out opportunities to contribute to the community as a team.  In doing so, you will be building stronger ties among team members as well.

Here’s what you can do:

• Leaders:
  • Model community involvement by getting involved. Pick a cause or service group and donate your time or money.
• Organizations:
  • Offer paid time off for volunteering.  Or if you can’t pay for the time, allow the opportunity for your staff to go and maybe make it up later.
  • Become a corporate sponsor of a cause that’s important to you.  Some of the causes our clients support include literacy, cancer research, spca, red cross, food banks, local churches, etc.  
  • Support your company’s social group in their community events such as rides, walks, runs, and climbs.  Many worthy causes run big events which encourage corporate teams.
  • Ask employees what causes they care about and want to support.

Employees want to be part of something positive and bigger than themselves.  Feeling part of a grander purpose and community connects us.  And it can be good for business too, because I know I prefer to buy from companies that contribute and participate locally, and I bet you do too.

According to Volinspire, a company building a community of caring employers, “87% of employees who volunteered with their companies reported an improved perception of their employer. More importantly, a whopping 82% felt more committed to the organization they worked for.”

Those are two more good reasons to build community and team into what you do at work.