How getting your employees out to volunteer on Friday makes your company more successful

A model that makes your employees happier — and thus boosts the productivity of your company — while doing social good? I would surely take that. Social Friday, a new, avant-garde corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative provides this model. It aims to reinvent how Fridays are spent across offices worldwide and convert them into a force for social good. Its big, hairy, audacious goal is to create a healthier economy, where consumerism and giving are balanced.

Research shows that Friday is the least productive day of the work week. (1) Millions of hours are spent unproductively across offices and classrooms on Friday. These are hours during which employees are feeling dreary, productivity is low, but they are still required to be glued to their chairs, impatiently watching the clock tick until they can kick off the weekend.

At the same time, the current state of the economy is fiercely focused on consumption. Companies are not aware nor engaged in the social surroundings of the environments they operate in.

This is why Social Friday was born. It aims to utilize these millions of unproductive Friday hours to activate companies, organizations and universities to get out of their offices, connect and give back to the community by volunteering for a social cause. It wants to make Friday afternoons doing good with your team, the new cool way companies, organizations and universities spend their last day of the workweek. A Social Friday activity is more than just a fun team outing. The participants get actively involved and make a valuable contribution to the local community.

Social Friday happens four times a year, one each quarter on a set date. One Friday afternoon each quarter of the year is not too much for companies to commit, and not too little to have an impact. This model uses the repetition of the corporate cycle. Not for quarterly reports, but to start a chain of social good.

The fourth, and last Social Friday, happens on the same day as Black Friday — and not coincidentally. The vision is to have 100+ companies and organizations in 20+ countries all engaged in social service activities on that same Friday afternoon. Taking advantage of the Black Friday hype, Social Friday uses these social good activities happening around the globe to steer the conversation from consumerism to giving. Social Friday is to serve as the “band-aid” of Black Friday.

What’s even sweeter about Social Friday is that it’s a win from all perspectives. The obvious one is that through these volunteering hours, the people in need of help receive it. The second one is that according to a study by Fidelity Charitable, two-thirds (67%) of Americans (2) say they generally make their financial contributions to the same organizations where they volunteer.

The benefits for companies are plenty as well. First of all, getting together with your team outside the office creates a stronger bond. Strong bonds build strong teams. And strong teams make companies successful. Moreover, research shows that helping others makes people happy and satisfied (3). Happy employees are more healthy employees and — don’t tell your competition — more productive. Engaging with and giving back to the community will also improve a company’s reputation among its customers and stakeholders. And lastly, by 2025 millennials will make up 75% of the workforce. And research shows millennials are eager to make a difference through their work (4). So, engaging in Social Friday activities positions a company in a favorable position to attract top talent.

Realistically, during the Covid-19 infused era that we live in, an initiative like Social Friday becomes even more appropriate. In the recent years, as a result of the pandemic sweeping the world, the needs of the vulnerable have increased even more. On the other hand, people are craving connection with others after months of social distancing. Team building for companies and organizations has become difficult noting the work from home set up. It’s been a tough year, but an initiative like Social Friday is available to help in addressing some of these “new normal” challenges.

1. Marketagent. 2019. Job Productivity and Social Engagament. https://socialfriday.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Presentation_Job-productivity-and-social-engagement_February_2019.pdf
2. Fidelity Charitable. 2014. TIME AND MONEY: The Role of Volunteering in Philanthropy. https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/content/dam/fc-public/docs/insights/volunteering-and-philanthropy.pdf
3. Marketagent. 2019. Job Productivity and Social Engagament. https://socialfriday.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Presentation_Job-productivity-and-social-engagement_February_2019.pdf
4. Deloitte. 2014. Big Demands and High Expectations — The Deloitte Millennial Survey. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/gx-dttl-2014-millennial-survey-report.pdf