Are your employees stressed, burnt out, or unengaged? If so, chances are the issue isn’t that your team isn’t motivated or working hard enough but rather that they’re working too hard! Clocking in every day, working long hours, and taking little time off is an easy way to see productivity decrease.
You can turn your company culture around by encouraging employees to not only take more time off but put that time to good use with volunteer time off (VTO).
Many companies are adopting VTO strategies to reinvigorate their workforces and attract top talent. However, rolling out a new VTO program is just the first step, as you’ll also need to earn your employees’ buy-in.
To help your business develop its VTO program and ensure your team embraces it, this guide will explain the basics of VTO and how to inspire participation.
What is volunteer time off?
Volunteer time off is a benefit some companies offer to give employees an allotted amount of paid time off specifically to volunteer. For example, an employee might receive two days of VTO a year and use them to help their local library.
Volunteer time off is not to be confused with voluntary time off. Voluntary time off is a work model where a business has more employees than it needs on staff, and to avoid terminating any workers, several of them agree to take extended time off. This system simplifies hiring for businesses that need seasonal workers as they can simply draw from team members taking time off rather than hiring new employees.
Additionally, while volunteer time off is paid time off, the two should not be used interchangeably. While employees are welcome to spend PTO hours however they choose (including volunteering), VTO should only be used for volunteer-related activities.
Volunteer Time Off Benefits
Improved employee engagement
Volunteer time off not only allows employees to recharge, but it’s also a type of corporate social responsibility (CSR). And CSR programs have a clear and documented impact on employee engagement:
- 93% of employees believe companies should lead with purpose when it comes to pressing issues.
- Employees at organizations with volunteer programs are five times more engaged.
- 1 in 3 job seekers rank their employer having a positive impact on their community as extremely important.
- Young professionals have increased their charitable workplace giving year-over-year.
- 78% of employees want to work for organizations that are transparent about their charitable activities.
This means if you’re looking to motivate and engage employees, consider implementing CSR programs. This includes a wide range of initiatives, and volunteer time off is just one hands-on type of program that’s easy to adopt.
But there’s no need to stop at just volunteer time off! If your employees take well to your VTO initiative, try expanding your engagement efforts with other workplace giving programs, like matching gifts, volunteer grants, and organized volunteer days.
Boosted employee retention
Engagement and retention are directly connected, with 79% of employees stating they would stay longer at a job where they feel supported and valued.
A volunteer time off program gives employees more time off, ensuring they feel valued. Plus, giving employees time specifically to volunteer with causes they care about reassures them that their employer shares their values and commitment to their community.
This can create a culture of giving and improve employees’ sense of purpose. Additionally, employees might use their VTO hours to take time off together, enabling them to build social connections with their peers. This can improve teamwork and strengthen their connection to your business.
Increased candidate quality
71% of employees say working at a company that gives back to its community is important. Businesses that offer volunteer time off programs appeal to these candidates. Plus, while VTO programs are expanding, they are still not widespread. This means offering a VTO benefit might give your business a competitive edge when marketing job positions to valuable, socially-minded candidates.
Better company reputation
Volunteer time off programs have the potential to make a real impact in your community. In fact, companies that provide pro-bono services report that their volunteer efforts have an average value of over $500,000.
If your business has a highly skilled team that can benefit nonprofits, you can help these organizations push their mission forward. For instance, lawyers might lend pro-bono hours to help nonprofits sort out their charitable solicitation registrations, programmers might develop a new fundraising website, and accountants can help nonprofits organize their finances ahead of tax filing season.
This is just a small list of the ways a business like yours can help your community. By encouraging your employees to get involved and show off the skills your business provides, you can boost your reputation and promote your services simultaneously. If you notice many of your employees volunteering with the same nonprofit, you might consider partnering with that organization for your long-term philanthropic efforts.
How to Adopt a Volunteer Time Off Initiative
Create your volunteer time off policy.
The first step in creating a volunteer time off initiative is to establish your program policies. To solidify the details, meet with relevant parties at your organization, such as HR staff, department heads, and board members. Gathering input will make your finalized policy more likely to be approved with minimal changes.
A few key elements of a volunteer time off policy include:
- Statement of purpose. Start your VTO policy by explaining your program and why it is being implemented. This will clear up employee questions, help you advocate for your program when presenting it to decision-makers, and avoid any confusion related to participating in VTO efforts.
- Hour accrual details. Explain how employees will accrue hours and if there is a maximum number of hours . For example, employees might earn one VTO hour every two weeks, but employees can only save up to 24 hours of VTO each year. Many businesses add VTO caps or do not have annual rollover policies for volunteer time off to encourage employees to use their hours.
- Impact on pay and PTO. Clarify that VTO is not a replacement for PTO but an additional benefit. Otherwise, employees may feel a benefit is being taken away from them or they need to specifically choose between taking VTO and PTO hours. Additionally, reassure employees that they receive the same pay for VTO hours and, subsequently, that taking VTO hours will not result in lost wages.
- Eligibility requirements. Explain which employees, nonprofits, and activities are eligible for VTO. For example, you may make VTO exclusive to full-time employees. To ensure VTO is used correctly, consider providing example use cases in your policy to demonstrate what is and is not an acceptable use of VTO.
- Request and approval process. Lay out the steps of requesting VTO. Share a link to a relevant form or request page and clarify any rules, such as how far in advance employees must request VTO or what information about their planned volunteer activities must be provided.
- Miscellaneous details. List any additional details about your program that would be useful for employees to know but don’t fit into the other parts of your policy. For example, you might require employees to provide proof of their volunteer activities after their volunteer time off and discuss what documents would be accepted as confirmation.
Once leadership approves your VTO policy, ensure your workplace giving and employee management tools are set up to process VTO requests. For instance, you might need to adjust your time off categories to include VTO or upload your VTO form for easy access.
Announce your program.
Present your new VTO program formally to your team. As part of your rollout, be sure to:
- Announce it in a team meeting. When launching your VTO policy, announce it in a team meeting and invite employees to ask questions. Consider presenting your VTO program in meetings a few days before officially rolling it out to give employees time to get their questions answered and clear up any potential confusion.
- Add details to your employee handbook. Ensure your volunteer time off policy is accessible to all employees. Consider adding it to your employee handbook so employees can check guidelines when submitting their VTO requests.
- Survey employees about their experiences. After your VTO program has been active long enough for employees to start using their hours, survey participants to get feedback. This can help you assess how successful your implementation has been and make adjustments to align your efforts with employee needs and expectations.
Ultimately, communication is the key to attaining employee buy-in for any new program. Clearly communicate the purpose behind your new program, how it will impact employees, and how employees can participate.
Recognize employees who participate.
To incentivize employee participation, take the time to appreciate and recognize team members who use their VTO hours. Doing so will encourage the rest of your team to follow suit, demonstrate that taking volunteer time off is viewed positively by leadership, and let employees know who they can turn to if they have questions about how VTO works.
A few ways you can recognize top employees include:
- Acknowledge volunteers publicly. Have leaders shout out employees who use their volunteer time off hours to participate in various local nonprofits. This might take the form of a list of names at the end of all-hands meetings, or you might acknowledge a top volunteer of the month.
- Award top volunteers. If your company has employee recognition awards, consider offering a prize related to your VTO program. For example, you might have an award for the employee with the most logged volunteer hours or an employee who participated in a notable volunteer initiative, such as organizing an employee team volunteer day.
- Share employee impact at nonprofit. If employees report their volunteer activities as part of the VTO request process, consider sharing those details with your team. You might create social media posts showing your team in action at volunteer programs and spotlight employees who used their VTO hours to help out in your community.
Another option is to use your employee recognition tools to show appreciation for employees who participate in your VTO program. For example, we recommend sending top employee volunteers eCards.
eCardWidget
eCardWidget is a flexible, convenient, and user-friendly employee recognition platform that allows businesses to thank employees for any behavior they want to encourage, such as volunteering!
Here’s how it works:
- An employee volunteers. Employees request volunteer time off and go out into your community to complete their volunteer activities.
- A manager sends them an eCard. When an employee comes back from volunteering, their supervisor fills out an eCard, shouting out their good work. With eCardWidget’s intuitive design tools, you can create custom eCards that celebrate volunteerism so employees will know why they’re being recognized and have a memorable eCard to hold onto.
- The employee feels appreciated. Employees who receive eCards will know they used their volunteer time off hours to make a difference in their community and that their place of work appreciates their efforts.
Interested in how a real business uses eCards to promote its values and recognize employees? Check out our case study on Fexco.
Get leadership buy-in.
Employees are more likely to participate in a new program if they see their managers and company leaders participate first. Ask leadership to not just promote your VTO program but to use their volunteer time off hours themselves.
To get the ball rolling, you might plan team volunteer days. These structured activities can improve employee engagement by giving your team an opportunity to connect with their co-workers in a new setting, complete work that gives them a sense of purpose, and view participating members of leadership in a different context.
From there, encourage employees to continue planning their own volunteer activities and ask leadership to keep up using their own VTO hours.
Continuously promote volunteer time off.
Even strong programs can start to fade if they aren’t regularly promoted. After your initial rollout, keep your VTO initiative going strong by:
- Sending routine reminders. Encourage employees to use their VTO hours regularly. For instance, you might set up your employee engagement platform to notify employees when they reach their VTO hours cap.
- Highlighting participants. The key to recognition programs is that they continue operating long-term. Direct managers to continue recognizing employees who participate in VTO, no matter how long your program has been running.
- Keeping your program updated. As you put your VTO program into action, you may need to update your policy based on employee needs, changes in your benefits model, or shifts in company goals. Regardless of the reasoning, whenever there is a change, ensure all documentation regarding VTO is uniformly updated to show employees your VTO program is still supported and active.
Additionally, if you plan to roll out other corporate giving programs, ensure all of your initiatives receive proper focus. While it makes sense to heavily promote whatever your new offering is, make sure employees are aware your previous programs are still operational. For instance, if you launch a volunteer grant program, you should emphasize that VTO is still available and should be used.
More Employee Engagement Resources
Volunteer time off programs engage your employees, improve productivity, and help you give back to your community. To get employees excited about your new VTO program, gather their feedback and continually show appreciation for employees who participate.
If you’re looking for more strategies for engaging and appreciating your employees, check out these resources:
- 20+ Fun Employee Appreciation Ideas Your Staff Will Love. Appreciation is key for encouraging specific employee behavior, like participating in VTO. Explore top employee appreciation ideas.
- Hybrid Employee Recognition: Top 6 Ways to Show Appreciation. A hybrid work model can make recognition more complicated. Learn how to appreciate your entire team, no matter where they are.
- 72 Excellent Employee Gift Ideas To Win Their Hearts. Gifts can elevate your employee recognition efforts. Discover top gift ideas for connecting with your employees.
