Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Using Cause Marketing To Improve Employee Engagement

By Sebastian Troup


A strategy that is used often by companies to draw customers to them is cause marketing, and they do this with a purpose. A corporate social responsibility study done recently by Cone Communications indicated that 92 percent of consumers buy products from companies that also care about social and environmental causes. The study further found that 84 percent of these consumers also will recommend these businesses to friends, family and co-workers.

The results are data favoring the establishment of strategic corporate giving program and the use of cause marketing for this program to be brought to your customers. However, it's not just the customers that are affected by these types of efforts.

A job where employees can make a very good impact is important to the employees happiness, and a study from Rutgers University found that more than 50 percent of workers and more than 70 percent of students agree that a meaningful job is highly important, ranking third in importance and only slightly less important than marriage. When the engagement level of a workplace with 10,000 employees is increased by a mere 5 percent, the estimated profits can increase by as much as $40 million, according to one recent study.

Getting employees at all levels involved in cause marketing is the best way to get employees engaged and committed. This can be done by laying out a range of potential causes and producing a structure for the decision making where everybody is involved and they can support fully, and this is the business strategy to follow.

It's impossible to settle on the perfect philanthropic solution that every employee can comfortably participate in. Get creative during the planning process and determine a few different giving options the company can offer in support of a cause.

For instance, perhaps you wish to support the local homeless shelter. Of course, the company can donate portion of its profits to help out, but you also can provide a payroll deduction option for employees to make monetary giving extremely easy. In addition, you can provide paid work time for employees to volunteer at the shelter. You might designate one half-day each week and send two or three employees to the shelter.

In addition, why not plan a fun run for your cause? This could be a 5K event that your company sponsors to raise money for the shelter in question. Many shelters hold an annual event to raise money for their organization, so you might donate gift cards or actual products for a silent auction or as prizes. You also can reward employees that donate time outside of work by providing prizes for these employees.

It is said that an employee who is empowered is also a committed employee. When a cause excites somebody, it can also be said that they may want to share this with people. The social networks enhance this desire more times and this is observed more than before. You can make this work for you by having your employees do this and in the process make them share information about you and your cause marketing activities; share these with their friends on Facebook and their followers on Instagram or Twitter, and especially mentioning their part.

If you give employee recognitions that are specific, they will get excited to share these things through their social networks, and this extra exposure also boosts more interest in your company and the causes supported by your company.

The employee engagement you have accomplished can disappear fast, just as fast as you have acquired and improved on it and acquired results. This can be a passing fad, but you have to make sure that this is not happening in your cause marketing plan.

Maintaining employee engagement over the long term is far more effective as it encourages a loyal, knowledgeable and long-standing workforce that continues to increase in productivity and effectiveness. People who have been at a company for a long time tend to have better relationships with their co-workers, foster more collaboration within teams, and have a better chance of bringing new hires into the engaged fold as well.




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