Learning Series | How to Increase Employee Participation

Summary: Getting employees to volunteer can be challenging. Hear some of our tips to increase employee participation from the WeHero Events Management Team.

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Transcript:

Andy - WeHero: Well, Nat and Sarah, thank you so much for taking the time out of your very busy day to join us on the we hero learn series today, we have Sarah, can you wave for us

Sara - WeHero: Like that?

Andy - WeHero: And, and we have Nat if you wanna wave for us as well. So this is you know, I'm in a, provide a quick introduction, but I don't think they need my much of an introduction. If you work with us at all, these are, you know, two of our I would call them top notch events and client managers that make sure that all of your events go on without a hitch and the impact is delivered in the best way possible. So that is what they're known for the company, but they're known for so much more and excited to get. Today, today we are gonna be talking about an issue that a lot of people have and that is increasing engagement per volunteer events. You know, we hear all the time from clients that, you know, Hey, we are hosting an incredible event, but we're not getting the number of people we want to participate.

Andy - WeHero: And that's a really big bummer. Cause when a company is offering such an incredible tool as volunteering and you're not getting the engagement that you want, it's kind of a bigness on a lot of different sides. And so this is a problem we help a lot of our clients with. And so we thought it would be awesome to invite Sarah and Nat here to talk to them about how they are helping clients on a daily basis increase and maximize them amount of engagement and impact from a volunteer event. And so I'll open it up to both of you. And I'd be curious, you know, in your experience, what are some things that you think drive maximum engagement and tips that you like to offer to our clients to ensure that their experiences are a success. So I dunno who wants to go first here? I'll, I'll leave it to the two of you. And I know you have some great ideas here.

Sara - WeHero: I'll go first. So Nat and I were chatting about this, this topic and it is something that is consistently and always in the front of our minds because that's what we want to do, right? We want to help make these events as successful as possible. And one huge way to do that is engagement. We've talked about it and we both have our own opinions on how to, of course, best drive participation. And one of the ways I think is really helpful is essentially pre-event and making sure that your volunteer event, your impact is around a topic or a cause that your company, your team is incredibly passionate about. For example, we of course work with a few companies and there's one company that we work with that is very focused on sustainability. So they chose our event, honey harvest, and they maxed out their participant signup in five days. And that was incredibly impressive. It was, you know, it's over a hundred participants. And I think choosing a topic that the, the company is focused on and that the, the employees are really passionate about really drives people to be interested in signing up for such a volunteer experience. Right? It's a topic they're curious on. They want to know more about, and they wanna know how they can make a greater impact around that. Cause now what about you?

Nat - WeHero: I think, yeah, what you have said there really sums up the, the foundations of a really successful event. Having something that you and your employees are incredibly passionate about will always lead with really great results in terms of registration. Another one that noticed that's really important in the planning stages is the timing of the event as well. So thinking a time that's suitable for all employees across different time zones but something that is the last thing on a Friday might not go down as well as other times during the weeks. That's always something to keep at the top of your mind as, as well. Once the event has been, you know, got the date, we've got the theme and we're looking forward to it. It is then about that registration experience for everyone that you want to be involved.

Nat - WeHero: And through a hero we provide a customer event web page and built in registration form which is super easy to use and would highly recommend if you don't have a registration platform or you don't have a process in doing more than welcome to use the resources that we have it's super easy, super quick, takes 30 seconds out your day and you're registered this really cool exciting event. The other things that we kind we have on offer we do the welcome emails in getting people excited about what they're gonna be looking forward to what their impact means, what the cause is, what our partner is. And we're more than happy to send that on behalf of organizations I'll send you directly. So then you can get the team excited through, through your email channels as well. And on the note of email channels, having leading by example, if managers, if someone higher up in leadership is really excited for the event and can send that email or that post, whether it be on an internal channel like slack, something external like LinkedIn, where, you know, employees and people, they want to participate going to see it. It's perfect. So definitely lead by example and be excited about the event that you are hosting and that you are being a part of. People love to get involved with passion.

Sara - WeHero: That's such a good call out Nat and it's such you a good reminder, referencing those internal channels that companies use like slack. We all are very busy in our lives in our day and get so honed in on what we're doing. Your team members, your company may have this volunteer event happening and employees will be like, oh yes, I wanna sign up for that. God, I've got 8 million other meetings I need to do. I'll definitely sign up later and they forget, you know, that's, it's totally normal. We all do that in our everyday lives with so many things like getting groceries and picking up kids. Not that we all forget that, but we have the, those moments, right. And volunteering and signing up for those events can be really similar. Like the intention is there. You want to do it. And if it's not the forefront of your list, it may just get pushed to the back burner.

Sara - WeHero: And that's again, where, where we can come in and help with any sort of marketing material, you know, friendly reminders saying, Hey, this is where your participant list is at. Is there anything we can do to help you get that up more? You know, we, again, we wanna help you bring about this cause to help make an impact. And, and maybe just reminding people a little bit more, may help jump up those, those registration numbers. Because again, it may feel kind of annoying to be like, Hey, poking, Hey, remember about this volunteer event that's happening. And it may feel a little uncomfortable for the person who's poking and prodding as the reminder, but it really could be just what the employee participant needs to go sign up.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah. So, so as I listen to this, I think there's a few categories you guys described, you know, the first is really choosing an event that resonates with your employee group. And I guess in turn resonates with the leadership as well, you know, cuz you need the leadership. And it's funny cuz you know, Ben and I have talked on this series countless times about the importance of surveying employees. And so if you survey your employees, you know, they're super jazzed about environmental sustainability causes. You're clearly gonna wanna engage them and allow them to volunteer in that way, which must drive signups. And then there's so many things, I guess now a lot of things you describe as are just really reducing the friction of signing up, you know, know by having a, a prebuilt easily accessible signup sheets, where it takes 30 seconds, you don't need to sign into some crazy customer portal and do all of that people aren't gonna get through that.

Andy - WeHero: And so if you give them an easy tool to sign up and then another thing you mentioned I thought was interesting is like the poking around multiple channels and how helpful that would be. Because you know, at any company you have a company portal or an intranet, I have to imagine things get lost on there. And at a company of 10,000 people, there's so much going on that I think it's gotta be easier to see, you know, multiple different things coming in. And one will catch your eye a question for you guys, you know, have you seen companies who have, I guess volunteer coordinators, you know, obviously they're the CSR teams, do you find most events that have, you know, volunteer coordinators across the company rather than just one CSR lead, do a better job of having, you know, full events and full signups or do you think it totally depends on the events and the person or are there any generalizations that you can make?

Nat - WeHero: I think from my experience is that it's kind of going off the back of what Sarah said is, so if you've got all the tools and you've got different avenues and how to use them, you're gonna have a more successful registration and turn out and participation event. And that's something that whether you're event coordinator or CSR leader or CEO if you are able to use the tools available to you in a, in a multitude of ways and get at people excited whether it is in your weekly email, if you do an internal newsletter, if it is the, the weekly team zoom meeting or I know that we have a on a Friday one great thing that we've done throughout the week, just a short little caption in slack and it could be, I joined up for X, Y, Z event. So stoked. So it's just knowing what tools you have, where you can use them and getting people excited just in those gentle nudges.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah.

Sara - WeHero: Yeah. And I, I would have to say similar to what you shared, Andy, even though it was a question, it, it really varies between companies and, and who is owning the volunteer event. I mean, you know, for companies that do have an array of CSR team to, to really drive in and kind of push for that, that impact and those volunteer events, those are great. But just, it doesn't mean it always will be a successful, full volunteer event every time. And, and even if, you know, you have that, that one person who's trying a volunteer experience for the first time for their company, they, they may actually, you know, hit it outta the park and get a really full list. I think it just varies on in the end, like who the participant is, who your, who your employees are and, and what they wanna volunteer with even, or if they even know that volunteering is an option in the company.

Sara - WeHero: You know, I feel like we've worked with quite a few companies now who are, who are starting to offer volunteer experiences, which is amazing. And, and I think is incredibly important for, for their mission and what they're trying to do. And in those first few volunteer meetings or events, they may not huge drivers of participation, but it's just a little piece of the pie to show what the company can do. And it shows what participants can be excited about. So even if that first event, you know, again, you have people promoting, volunteering and promoting the event, but you may not get the signups that is still a really great tool for your toolkit to learn on how to make it better next time, you know, by no means should anyone ever feel if they have low volunteer numbers, that it's a failure, if anything, it means it's a more intimate volunteer experience because you have people who are truly passionate about what the event is and what the cause is, which in the end, I think is a greater impact because those are advocates for the cause, which are being, you know, making an impact in choosing

Andy - WeHero: Yeah. You know, one thing we didn't talk about that I know you guys spend so much time on is you build these experience and really make them, you know, what they are, is the importance of the events and converting, you know, participants to promoters. And obviously to do that successfully, you know, it's not an easy task is you have someone come to one volunteer experience and then you, you know, have such a of experience that they no longer just a participant in a volunteer, they're a promoter of volunteering in general and then also volunteering for this cause and helping this cause. And I think that's one thing that that, that more companies probably could focus on is the overall experience is ensuring that, you know, ever re volunteer leaves as a promoter and we put the right you know, you give, you really put the participant in the shoes of someone that they're helping to really drive that ultimate participation. I think that's one thing we haven't touched on that I, I have to imagine over time, we'll improve the participation of a company companies events.

Sara - WeHero: Yeah. Tough, totally. I mean, it, it makes such a difference when that, that aha moment happens for a volunteer during the experience. I mean, that's, that's happened a few times for events that I've led, there's a participant will just stop and just stop what they're doing and look up and go. This is so cool. Like not of course the cause that is happening, but they get to volunteer and help make a difference. I mean, one woman was just, she stopped and she's like, I can't believe I get to do this in my job. Like this is the neatest thing. And you could just see a shift in changing how that person thought about volunteering and truly just put 'em on a path to promote the cause and the event that they were participating in, which is huge. And that's, what's going to help promote the next event to get more participants. It's really a domino effect, which is just so great.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah, no, I couldn't couldn't agree more. I think the one other factor that we've obviously brainstormed that I haven't really talked a lot about and, and put into action is, you know, when will, you know, I think there's a lot of businesses out there that track conversions of people visiting the signup pages and, you know, the potential of really using data here. If you're running a volunteer program on like at scale, there's a lot of information you can get on your employees are who's interested in this, how many people are interested, but then don't sign up and the potential on how that could impact your kind of overall volunteer program.

Sara - WeHero: Yeah. It's the amount of information you can get from just one, not just one event, right? There are so many steps that lead up to that actual event, but there's so much information you can get to really, again, help you be help you, your team, your company be successful for that next volunteer event that if anyone we ever work with has questions about that. Like just reach out to Nat and I, we are more than happy to help because we wanna make sure that you and your team are making the greatest impact possib. I mean, I'm pretty sure that's why we're here. Right. It's just to, to help make as much impact and help make a difference for the better as possible. So yeah, let's do it.

Andy - WeHero: Couldn't have said it better. Yeah. Oh, go ahead now.

Nat - WeHero: Oh, sorry. I think just a note on using data for decisions it with no outside of volunteer event, it's really useful to see what your team's interested in and how they're incentivized and how they're motivated. And if you can see, Hey, here's a great avenue where people are really engaged and incentivized in one way. How can you pivot that into a volunteer event? Oh, sorry. The sun is just decided to,

Sara - WeHero: It's a Ray of light. You're just speaking. So truthfully, the sun is coming down and just highlighting the truth that you're speaking, that that's all

Nat - WeHero: I love when the sun's just, you know, blinding me and using those, that data and decisions to see where people are motivated. And you could even see, Hey, I've got an avenue here. Let's pivot this into a volunteer event where at the end of this incentive, we're going to have of one of our staff select what volunteer event we're gonna do, or, you know, turn it the other way and have a raffle or something incentivized within the volunteer event. And it can be this kind of flexible, free flowing way of where you can get people excited. Pre-Event during event after event, just by knowing what your likes and dislike are through, through the data that you have.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah, no, I, I totally agree. And I think there's so many ways to continue evolving this. And I think like Sarah said, you know, we are always here, even if you're not doing a volunteer event with us, give us a call. You know, we are happy to share our tips and trips, you know, to help increase the engagement that event make sure it's a success for, for you and for the cause that you're supporting. So Matt and Sarah really appreciate the time you guys carving this out. I know we're coming up on giving Tuesday. And so you are all busy preparing for that, but appreciate it and appreciate you helping our clients, you know, increase their participation and engagement.

Sara - WeHero: Of course. That's what over here for, yeah.

Andy - WeHero: Awesome. Well, thank you guys. And I hope to see you on the learn series shortly.

Sara - WeHero: Yeah. Bye. Thank you.