Corporate give back activities such as the Build-a-Hand® Project, Life Cycles (Build a Bike), Playhouse Challenge, or The Board Meeting, have become the latest trend in corporate team building exercises.

Long gone are the days of team golf retreats that don’t necessarily give individuals a chance to shine. Instead corporations have begun to turn to non-profits for a chance to give back to the community, rejuvenate employees, and increase brand loyalty.

Here are the top 5 reasons employers choose corporate give back activities.

Networking:

Employees are given the opportunity to interact with one another in a relaxed atmosphere structured by a common goal.  This tension-free work meeting gives employees a chance to connect with one another on a personal level. Generally, the teams are interdepartmental. This mix of professionals will achieve results in an accurate, and often faster, time. They will also build interpersonal relationships. Positives like these will be carried back to the corporate team long after the workshop is over

Promote brand within community:

Corporate give back activities elevate a brand’s status within the community. Since there is a final product to be delivered a company can make a big show of the final delivery. If your skateboards, or bicycles, are being delivered locally, like with Life Cycles and The Board Meeting, you have greater potential impact in the community. You can make a big show with a large picnic, or another catered event. This gives your recipients the chance to enjoy the bicycle, or skateboard. It also gives the people that built the product a chance to see them being used.

Attract qualified applicants:

Today’s youth are more passionate than ever about giving back to the community. Many qualified potential employees have spent time during their college career giving back in some capacity. Whether it has been donating time, money, or both. A Net Impact survey found that 45% of students would be willing to take a 15% pay cut in order to work for companies that make a social or environmental impact.  Corporate give back activities attracts potential candidates with a desire to go good in the world. Providing them with this opportunity is the incentive they’ve been looking for.

Promote health and welfare of employees:

Grow your employees’ hearts, literally. Giving back has been shown, by a Washington D.C. based company, to increase the size one’s heart. Individuals who engage in volunteer work, regularly, have shown a reduction in despair. In turn they have had less chance of heart disease. This increase in blood flow has also been shown to elevate the mood of an employee throughout their day.

Promote production:

Happier employees make for a more productive workplace. If an employer has taken the time to strengthen relationships not only within a department, but inter-departmentally then they have taken the first step to creating a stronger bond with the company as a whole. It is this stronger bond that will focus everyone’s efforts towards a common goal of customer satisfaction.Happier employees will also create a positive mental image of a company that is allowing them to give back on company time because of corporate give back activities. This state of elation is what maintains a company’s brand image and positive return on investment.

If you are looking to book a Corporate Give Back Activity with your group, contact Odyssey Teams for more details. Our programs are designed for in-person, virtual or hybrid events and can be self-facilitated or led by one of our expert facilitators.