CEOs & CSR: The Quest for Employee Engagement
"We need to boost morale around here, but how?"
CEOs are recognizing the necessity of instilling purpose, value and a sense of empowerment in today's employees. According to the 2016 Cone Communication Millennial Employee Engagement Study, 88% of millennials say their job is more fulfilling when they are provided opportunities to make a positive impact on social and environmental issues. Additionally, 83% of millennials would be more loyal to a company that helps them contribute to the social and environmental issues. Considering the millennial generation will make up 50% of the US workforce by 2020, corporate leadership is wise to meet these demands.
So, What's the Big Deal? Seeing this change in trend, CEOs are now showcasing ambitious Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs to adhere to employees' needs and appeal to consumers and shareholders. However, disingenuous CSR and poorly aligned cause marketing are guaranteed to undermine their good-deed efforts. If CSR motives are shallow or opportunistic, employees are sure to sniff it out.
Great CSR starts from within. Begin by matching your business’ social purpose to a relevant cause; create a natural-fit partnership that makes sense to your audience. If your cause partnership is less obvious, be sure to authenticate the relationship through storytelling and content marketing. Be real with your messaging and relate to your audience on a human level.
Think About It: Humans have an innate desire to belong to something bigger than themselves, and companies are in the perfect position to feed that craving. Imagine the person in charge of a company prioritizing a greater good and encouraging employees to become an agent of change. Seeing a CEO support a purpose beyond profit is incredibly motivating. Companies are capable of mobilizing the masses into meaningful impact - an influence that we, as individuals, feel is unattainable. When a commitment is felt across all levels of an organization, the energy is electric.
[Triple] Bottom Line: Cause marketing not only needs to be genuine, it needs to be championed by the company’s leadership. CEOs who activate a purpose beyond profit truly engage their employees and form deeper bonds with their audiences. The result is a win (for the business) - win (for the cause) - win (for the people)!
Ready to profit with purpose? RightCause offers consulting services, educational resources and operational guides for purpose discovery, cause marketing campaigns, events and fundraising. Learn more at rightcauseconsulting.com or email kwright@rightcauseconsulting.com to get started!