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From Fortune 500 companies to boutique shops to small colleges, there is increased understanding of the importance of cultural fit. An individual who has all the right experience can still be the wrong choice if they create chaos and sow dissension in a department. When filling a position, you are not hiring a single role, you are hiring one part of a team. Skills must be aligned with values across an organization to effectively achieve your aims.
Identity matters
Teams must understand your values and be invested in your mission. When an organization has a cohesive culture, employees are focused, collaboration is fostered, and outcomes are energized. Hiring managers understand the importance of cultural fit, but far too often, institutions forget to sustain the investment in unified identity.
Cultural fit shouldn’t just be a consideration when selecting a new employee. It should be an ongoing priority for all your employees. One underutilized way to reinforce your organizational values and foster connection is through corporate volunteering. When your employees rally around an important cause, it has many benefits for your institution. Through a volunteer opportunity you can:
- Remind employees what they care about. Seeing the impact of an organization can remind employees who aren’t front-line workers why they do what they do. Getting out of our normal 9-to-5 routine can refocus everyone. It clarifies identity for new hires and reinvigorates long-time employees.
- Connect your team to the community. We easily become siloed in our own organizations, and even our own departments. Volunteering in the community strengthens our network throughout our cities and regions.
- Break down barriers. Politics crop up even in the healthiest organizations. Cliques are formed and assumptions calcify into dysfunction. Working together for an exterior mission can help employees find common ground and engage one another.
Choosing a charity
In order to make corporate volunteering a worthwhile endeavor, it’s vital that you identify the right organization. Here are three factors to integrate into your selection of a charity or community group:
- Remember your values. Take this opportunity to articulate why you selected this organization. Connect the dots between your historical legacy, your future mission, and the volunteer work. You don’t need to be heavy-handed to reinforce who you are as an institution and why this charity is a natural outworking of your values.
- Consider your community. The most meaningful volunteer opportunities are ones that root you in your local sphere and allow you to make a difference in your community. While it might be easier to phone a large, national nonprofit, take the time to find a worthwhile charity that is doing excellent work in your region. This empowers your employees to see their place in their local context.
- Create a relationship. Continue the momentum of the volunteer work by making it an ongoing habit. Employees will be energized as they see the sustained impact of their investment year after year. Corporate volunteering can become a treasured rhythm that unites your organization around positive connection.
At my organization, one of our favorite charities to volunteer for is Sister’s Place. They embody their mission to be a collaborative community asset that eliminates barriers to success for those experiencing poverty and homelessness. Their work deeply resonates with our staff–and is a way to honor the legacy of our beloved cofounder, Weezie.
Community service is a natural outworking for our organization, since one of our founders was not only a respected leader in higher education, but she was also a nun and a member of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Helping others was the air Dr. Marylouise Fennell breathed and she endued Hyatt Fennell Executive Search with an abiding belief that caring for those around us is an essential way to strengthen not only our organization, but our community.
The new year is a time we turn our attention outward in generosity. Harness the power of this time for your organization by coming together through corporate volunteering. The effects of your investment will continue long after the holidays are over, not only for the individuals you help, but for your institution as a whole.
Cheryl Hyatt is a founding partner and CEO of Hyatt – Fennell, Executive Search Plus and President and owner of The Charitable Resources Group, Inc.
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