Is ‘Workout Culture’ the key to happier and more engaged staff?
Image above: A recent Sector Connector workshop hosted by Glass Digital
The post Covid landscape is not always a good one for small and medium sized businesses in the North East. The pandemic has seen tens of thousands of people reconsider or abandon the world of work altogether.
Over 25% of the working age population, those aged 16 to 64 in the North East are economically inactive. Since Covid struck, the number of 50 -64 year olds who are economically inactive – neither working nor job hunting – has shot up by 375,000. In total, 27.6% of this age group are now inactive. This ‘army of missing workers’ are contributing to staff shortages and the ever growing skills gap.
Staff retention and new recruitment, combined with the skills gap of those who are still engaged, are real problems for businesses in the North East.
However, it is not all doom and gloom. There is a solution. According to a recent report from Pilotlight, the solution is creating and nurturing a new way of doing business that simultaneously sees you supporting your workforce to be more engaged whilst also making a positive difference in your community. Welcome to the world of ‘Workout Culture’.
Sector Connector, from Connected Voice, is leading the way in developing a ‘Workout Culture’.
What is a workout culture? I hear you ask.
The report from Pilotlight tells us that a workout culture is:
“..one where employers build a stronger, more progressive organisational culture by actively encouraging and supporting employees to use their time and skills to support charities and causes.”
In ‘old money’, ‘Workout Culture’ is what we might have called, Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV) or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It’s a good job we have acronyms for these terms because they are quite a mouthful. Again, referencing Pilotlight, I really like their use of ‘workout culture’ as a catch-all term to include and describe these activities.
It is worth pointing out what ESV is not, in the context of a workout culture. It most definitely is not, signing up your staff to a team building exercise, that sees a whole bunch of employees descend upon a community centre, to paint their activities room or litter pick their communal garden. Don’t get me wrong, this kind of ESV has its place and value for both parties in certain circumstances. However, in truth, it is not always the best fit for either. There are valid arguments to ask if this is always the best use of highly skilled corporate HR employees, for example, that could, instead, be reviewing that community group’s HR Policy or supporting them with a specific HR challenge.
In my many years of volunteer management, I have had my fair share of having to pay a professional to come in to mop up and make good the well intentioned ‘efforts’ of corporate volunteers. Don’t even get me started on the time I hosted a team building ESV event for around 60 corporate volunteers from the investment bank, Lehman Brothers. Yes, the same investment bank that, out of the blue, went bust. Consequently, the charity I was working for was left with a big old deficit in our budget after they failed to pay the invoice, agreed in advance, for the paint, brushes, rollers, protective clothing and lunch for said 60 volunteers – ouch!
Sector Connector
Workout culture and, indeed, Sector Connector, is all about supporting businesses to make a positive difference in their local community through skilled employee volunteering. We connect them to the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations that need support across a range of areas such as:
- HR
- Health and Safety
- GDPR/Data Protection
- Health and Wellbeing
- Sustainability
- Digital
- Web/Social Media
- Marketing/Branding
- IT
Sector Connector is part of a bigger partnership, funded by the Big Lottery Communities Fund that sees Connected Voice, Northumberland CVA, Newcastle Volunteer Centre and VODA make our region a Centre of excellence for volunteering.
Being ahead of the curve, Sector Connector was already hard at work, long before Pilotlight’s excellent report hit the World Wide Web extolling the benefits of skilled employee volunteering. It started out in North Tyneside through VODA more than six years ago. Since January 2022 we have been rolling out Sector Connector across Newcastle, identifying areas of need within the VCSE sector and matching that need with skilled volunteer support, and in 2023 we now also cover Gateshead.
One of our most recent connections involved us partnering with Jen Macdonald from www.glassdigital.co.uk. Jen ran a workshop on WordPress websites for six VCSE organisations. This four hour, in-person workshop, was targeted at organisations with an existing WordPress website who needed advice on how to manage/market the site. For those who attended the workshop, their feedback was nothing but positive:
“I will now be able to make changes and add and remove content as required instead of getting a third party to carry out the tasks.”
“I will now know how to drive more people to the website and increase awareness of our organisation.”
For Glass Digital it was definitely a positive experience too. As Jen says:
“Working with Connected Voice has been really rewarding. When I was first approached by the team and asked if I would be able to help charities with their digital marketing, it was a no-brainer for me. Already, I have provided expertise to nine organisations on a range of topics that will boost their online visibility. Most recently I ran a workshop which covered WordPress websites, this encouraged attendees to look at their online content, SEO and organic growth. The feedback I received was excellent across the board, stating that each charity took away valuable insights to help with their website development. One of the key takeaways I’ve had from working with Connected Voice is the number of charitable organisations that are crying out for support across the region. They are a worthwhile association to work with and I would recommend it to anyone looking to spend their time offering charity work.”
It is great to hear of local businesses, like Glass Digital, creating their own ‘Workout Culture’ and really seeing the business benefits of supporting employees to use their time and skills to support charities and causes.
The power of employee volunteering
An earlier study, from 2019, on Employee Engagement by Benevity, found a direct correlation between employee turnover and volunteering.
Employers who didn’t offer employee volunteering or had no form of charitable donation programme had a turnover of 28% compared to a 12% turnover for those that did. These results are described as a game changer for businesses looking to demonstrate the Return on Investment (ROI) in their giving and volunteering programmes.
Lack of employee engagement and professional development are right up there as contributing factors to poor staff retention and attracting new, suitably skilled workforce. It is estimated that:
- 89% of workers are thinking about changing jobs
- 77% are actively seeking new employment.
According to Cenrtic HR, to replace a salaried employee it can cost, on average, between 6-9 months’ salary. This covers recruitment costs, training expenses relating to the new employee, and salary.
- For high-turnover, low-paying jobs, expect to pay around 16% of the employee’s salary to replace them.
- For mid-range positions, expect to pay around 20% of the employee’s salary to replace them.
- For executive positions, expect to pay up to 213% of the employee’s salary to replace them.
They go on to say that businesses should also expect costs due to downtime between employees, and whilst the new employee gets up to speed.
Enabling a ‘Workout Culture’ and promoting Employee Volunteering can not only help your business combat these problems, it can also help you achieve a number of bottom line benefits to your business. Through improved workforce engagement, you can achieve:
- Improvement in productivity
- better staff attraction and retention
- Improved cost savings thanks to lower staff turnover
- a positive culture
- a happier, more engaged workforce
The evidence is clear that this is a great way for businesses to demonstrate their support for the local community and to upskill their employees by giving them the opportunity to apply their skills in a new environment. It’s also a chance for businesses to network within the voluntary and community sector and build relationships with new organisations.
For voluntary and community organisations, Sector Connector offers the chance to benefit from skilled in-kind support from local experts.
Whether you're a voluntary or community organisation seeking support with a specific task, or a business that is looking to make a positive difference through adopting a ‘workout culture’ and exploring skilled volunteering, get in touch - email jenny.forrester@connectedvoice.org.uk
