Tag: Pandemic

  • Why Companies Should Support Crisis Volunteer Work

    Why Companies Should Support Crisis Volunteer Work

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    Employees who volunteer during a crisis bring more back to work than a sense of having helped: They can also become more resilient, adaptive, and innovative. Research across multiple crises in the

    In the fall of 2017, as Hurricane Harvey’s floodwaters receded across Houston, employees from a local construction firm joined volunteer crews helping homeowners gut waterlogged walls and begin the long road to rebuilding—during regular work hours and while still receiving company pay. The company knew this was a moment for the organization to support its community, but what they didn’t anticipate was what these employees would bring back. One volunteer described the experience to us this way: “Seeing the resilience of those people we were helping, and the impact we were having on them—[that] truly builds my resilience as well.” Across the group, employees who had come to Houston’s aid shared that the experience had changed them, giving them greater confidence in navigating uncertainty and stronger capabilities to adapt and develop creative solutions in their daily work. Further evidence from managers we interviewed supports the idea that crisis volunteering can indeed help employees develop some of the skills most critical to today’s workplaces.