Benevity, Inc., the global leader in corporate social responsibility and employee engagement software, today announced the results of the Benevity Engagement Study, an analysis of the link between participation in corporate Goodness programs and employee retention within a large cohort of Fortune 1000 companies. The study, which examined the activity of more than 2 million users on the Benevity platform, found that turnover dropped by 57 percent in the employee group most deeply connected to their companies’ giving and volunteering efforts.
Studies show that the total cost of losing an employee can range from tens of thousands of dollars to 1.5-2 times an employee’s annual salary, which for U.S. companies totals more than $160 billion a year. To the extent that employee turnover is often a proxy for how engaged employees are with their company, these costs are likely understated. Gallup estimates that actively disengaged employees cost the U.S. up to $600 billion every year in lost productivity.
Findings from the Benevity Engagement Study underscore the true value of employee-centric Goodness programs that embed prosocial behavior like giving, volunteering, and taking action on social and environmental issues, into a company’s human capital management strategies.
“This is a revealing study that arms leaders with data that proves the value of their social impact initiatives for their company’s HR and broader corporate goals,” said Bryan de Lottinville, Benevity Founder and CEO. “These days, people don’t necessarily leave or disengage with a company or a business vertical, they leave a culture and values that they perceive are misaligned. Inclusive and user-centric corporate Goodness programs not only help to avoid that, they can become a source of differentiation and attraction for employees.”
Methodology: Benevity analyzed a global dataset of more than 2 million employees from 118 companies that have integrated corporate giving and volunteering programs. They were then segmented based on activity in the preceding 365 days up to either removal from the platform or having a continued presence. The study found the following turnover rates for each category, with the giving and volunteering cohort showing far greater retention than the cohort that did not participate in Goodness-related activities:
- Employees that neither donated or volunteered: 28 percent turnover
- Employees that only donated money: 18 percent turnover
- Employees that only volunteered time: 17 percent turnover
- Employees that both donated money and volunteered time: 12 percent turnover
Companies in this dataset displayed an average churn rate that is well below today’s national average.
Many of Benevity’s 450 enterprise clients—including companies like Microsoft and Prudential—are tapping into the power of Goodness to more deeply engage their employees, integrate CSR and HR objectives, and infuse their organizations with passion and purpose. For example, Microsoft’s employee giving program is so successful that it is now viewed as a keystone benefit for its workforce and an attractive draw for job applicants.
“The passion of our team and the infrastructure of this program are what make it happen,” said Mary Snapp, corporate vice president and head of Microsoft Philanthropies. “We’ve become so flexible in the ways that we invite people to give and so nimble responding to causes people care about that we are actually attracting purpose-driven employees to work at this company because of the history, legacy, and strength of the giving program.”
