Walmart operates with approximately 1.6 million associates in the United States.
With a vast number of Walmart employees nationwide, workplace wellness activities, such as corporate volunteering, contribute to a healthier work environment. Employees can participate in safe, fun, and memorable volunteer experiences (on behalf of Walmart) that shape their perception of their employer—improving employee engagement levels.
However, with many of Walmart’s retail employees dispersed across all 50 states, challenges with corporate volunteering present themselves, such as:
- How can employees find volunteer opportunities near where they live without assistance from a program administrator?
- What can be done to share volunteer opportunities internally so that employees are encouraged to volunteer with one another?
- How can Walmart employees become active volunteers and remain that way?
A volunteer platform offers the ultimate solution to the above challenges, in which employees can browse opportunities, apply to positions, share their successes, and measure volunteer progress over time.
Benefits of a corporate volunteer platform:
1. Ample number of volunteer opportunities
No matter where your retail workers are located, they can browse through hundreds of local opportunities on a volunteer platform.
When employees can discover and connect with individual volunteer opportunities–all under a single platform–this removes the legwork from the Head of People & Culture or Head of Human Resources to individually source and post volunteer opportunities on a workplace discussion board.
Using a volunteer platform, retail employees can:
- Look in their area and scroll through all of the active volunteer opportunities near them.
- View the details of any intriguing volunteer position (i.e., time commitment, dates, and location).
- Apply directly for a volunteer position. (If/when the employee is accepted for the volunteer activity, they will be notified through the platform. Additionally, any communication between the employee and nonprofit or charity will occur on the platform).
- Seamlessly input their volunteer hours after the volunteer event and track their social good progress.
2. Provide employees with volunteer autonomy
Not only can employees select individual volunteer opportunities near where they work and live, but they can also post about these small ‘wins’ on their respective employee profiles. Any media posted from their volunteer day becomes visible on the activity feeds of their colleagues, identical to how sharing content on Instagram or LinkedIn works.
For instance, if an employee routinely volunteers at an animal shelter throughout the year, he or she could post photos and videos to their profile. Over time, this employee builds their individual brand by sharing what they are passionate about with their colleagues while having complete control of what they are posting at all times.
As retail employees find volunteer opportunities in their niche and can share their successes at any point in time, employees will be more likely to remain active volunteers.
3. Connects employees on a deeper level
When an employee finds a worthwhile post on LinkedIn, what is their initial reaction? To share this post with someone of interest. A volunteer platform lets retail employees do just that: find a volunteer opportunity and share that with local employees.
Let’s suppose one of your employees located in Manhattan, New York is browsing their company’s volunteer platform and comes across an opportunity to volunteer at a food bank.
They aren’t ready yet to participate by themselves, but they would enjoy the moral support and presence of a local coworker. All they need to do is “share” the volunteer opportunity, which would include writing a brief description with the details of the volunteer day and posting this to their individual feed.
Once this post is shared, colleagues using the platform will be made aware of the volunteer opportunity, and those living nearby will now have some extra encouragement to get involved.
Volunteer platform and employee engagement: What is the link?
When retail workers can:
- Discover engaging volunteer opportunities in the areas where they work and live.
- Post videos & photos on their profile from their volunteer experience(s), building their individual brand identity.
- Share volunteer opportunities with their colleagues to participate in as a team.
- Easily input volunteer hours on the platform and track their progress over time.
…. they will feel more connected to their colleagues and employer. This increase in employee engagement is the primary factor behind why an individual will choose to remain a part-time or full-time retail employee at your company.
With retail workers dispersed across various locations, coupled with the fact that retail workers have lower engagement levels than workers in other industries, using a volunteer platform for your corporate volunteering efforts is invaluable.
Looking for an intuitive, easy-to-use volunteer platform? With Kambeo, employees can find local opportunities to immediately connect with, post about their achievements, and always be in the know of what their coworkers are doing.
