For the second year in a row, Rümi has been named one of Alberta’s Top 75 Employers! We’re thrilled to receive this recognition and want to share one of the features that make us proud to be Rümineers: commitment to the communities we serve.
Year after year, we’ve seen just how big of a difference a balanced life can make. And that balance isn’t just a one-person show. Oh no! It’s a collective effort that needs to be made from all corners of your daily and weekly schedule. It takes good organizations to step up and foster a welcoming, inclusive, meaningful work environment that people genuinely look forward to going to. If, by chance, you’re rolling your eyes at the thought of anyone wanting to go into work, you may be in the wrong place. Or maybe it’s the right place, but it’s missing some important community investment elements that are impacting employee satisfaction, retention, and engagement at your office.
Yes, there are several reasons why your company should be putting time aside for employees to get involved in your community. All of which benefit you and the company, too! Here are 5 reasons you (and your employer) should embrace and support community investment:
Personal growth opportunities
Volunteering requires a number of skillsets you may not get the chance to use each day at the office. Adding in some volunteer hours could certainly help you develop the leadership skills you’ve been looking to add to your resume. You may uncover a hidden interest, learn new management techniques, or discover your next professional move within your organization. This valuable info can help you make smarter decisions about your career and help you be the rockstar employee you’ve known you could be!
Engagement
Getting to spend some time with your teammates is sure to create some additional bonding time. Teams that can connect on a less formal level are more productive and effective in their work. How exactly? Well, when we volunteer in the community, there’s more time to interact naturally, build trusted relationships, and genuinely get to know one another beyond the spreadsheets and strategy presentations. This will increase communications between teammates and, hey, you may gain a new work friend! After sharing a common experience, you’re also more likely to head back into the office with high energy and probably some inside jokes. Your office mates can feel these kinds of energy shifts and it will help build empathy and make it through some of those stressful workplace days.
Align your values
You started working where you are because their values were aligned with yours. Study after study shows that this matters deeply to our current work force — as it should! When your company makes the values front and centre with aligned community investment partnerships, they’ll be front and centre for more employees you work with. Which leads us to our next point. Read on! It’s a good one.
Attract and keep fantastic coworkers
People want to work for ethical, balanced, and involved companies. It’s that simple. If your organization doesn’t have a community investment program, they’re missing out on attracting more great employees like you! High turnover is costly to your employer and to you. Sudden departures from unsatisfied employees lead to an increase in your workload, and likely your stress levels. Attract and keep the best coworkers by asking your employer to bring a community investment program into your workplace.
Increase your bonus$$
Looking to actually hit that bonus you’ve been after? High engagement in your office, growth opportunities, aligned and lived values, meaningful employment, will all increase the overall well-being of employees, and therefore the results of their efforts! That goes for you, too! So maybe that bonus isn’t so far out of reach after all. Because when a company does well, you do well. And when you do well, the company you work for does well! See how that works??
So go and speak to your leadership about increasing or beginning a community investment initiative. There’s plenty of reasons for them to include this work perk. If that’s not possible, maybe consider working somewhere that already has a stellar community investment strategy AND was listed as one of Alberta’s top places to work!
Rümi checks both those boxes in a really big way. It’s our second year that we’ve been given Alberta’s Top 75 Employer Award and it’s because of just how happy our teams are coming into work. When people feel like they’re making a difference, they’re happier, healthier, inspired people! Getting to give back throughout the year, like we do here at Rümi, means we wake up with a big smile on our face, come into the office, and put more passion into the work we do. In fact, a very happy Rümineer got to write this very blog and relive all the wonderful, meaningful, community-focused opportunities they’ve had since joining the Rümi team.
