Corporate social responsibility: why it matters and how we can help

All across the country, Canadians are working hard to “be the change” – whether it’s through donations or volunteering to support community organizations, helping a neighbour in need, opting for eco-friendly practices in their day-to-day life, or otherwise. After all, there are a gazillion little ways to give back that make a big impact!

And better yet: employers are taking notice and implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of their own. After all, as our own leaders say of Payworks’ culture of caring: “it’s what’s on the minds of our people.”

Curious about what CSR could look like for your organization… and how Payworks’ suite of workforce management solutions can support you in your efforts? Read on!

Back up for a second – what does CSR mean for Canadian businesses?

The Government of Canada defines CSR as “the voluntary activities undertaken by a company to operate in an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable manner.”

They go on to say that “CSR helps make Canadian business more competitive by supporting operational efficiency gains; improved risk management; favourable relations with the investment community and improved access to capital; enhanced employee relations; stronger relationships with communities and an enhanced license to operate; and improved reputation and branding.”

Sounds great, right? Here’s how Payworks can help:

1. Tracking paid time off (for volunteering specifically!).
2. Automatic payroll deductions (for charitable donations).
3. Recruiting the right folks.
4. Reporting on your volunteering investments.

Easily track paid time off for volunteering

While volunteering has been part of Payworks’ DNA since we opened our doors almost 25 years ago, our Pay it Forward (PIF) program – where employees are now granted two paid days off each year to volunteer for a community organization about which they’re passionate – wasn’t formalized until 2015… but it’s grown ever since!

If you have a similar program (or are thinking of implementing one!), you can manage these volunteering time off requests through Payworks’ Absence Management solution. By giving you the ability to add configurable paid time off accruals or time off types within our system, we’ve made it simple for you to easily manage, track, and report how much time off your employees have spent passing on the kindness within their communities.

As for your staff, they can use Employee Self Service to easily view their available balances, request time off to give back, and see their colleagues’ upcoming shifts and time away in real time, helping them better coordinate their next volunteering opportunity (whether they want to volunteer as a team or are just looking to ensure shift coverage).

Make donating simple through automatic payroll deductions

Among the 200+ charitable organizations we support nationwide, Payworks has long been an enthusiastic supporter of United Way . While this can look like anything from volunteering at United Way agency partners to serving as a United Way Sponsored Campaign Associate, we’ve also made it ultra-simple for our employees to donate to United Way by offering automatic payroll deductions through our Payroll solution.

Looking to do the same? It only takes a few clicks:

• Navigate to Pay Elements.
• Specify whether deductions will be made by a flat rate or as a percentage of employee pay.
• Input the frequency (pay cycle).
• Check the necessary boxes if you wish for donations to automatically appear as a pre-tax deduction at the source for federal and provincial fiscal slips (T4 box 46 and Relevé 1 box N).
• Navigate to Employee Setup.
• Select an employee and add the deduction amount or percentage of their choice - easy peasy!

Recruit the folks who value giving back as much as you do

We’re proud to say it: our team is stacked with good humans who are as generous as they are talented. And that’s a culture we’ll continue to nurture as we grow.

If you’re looking to build a team that loves to give back, you may consider leveraging some customized pre-screening questions in your hiring – for example, “What charitable or social responsibility initiatives mean the most to you?” – via Payworks’ Applicant Tracking solution! Not only will you gain deeper insight into your potential new hire; you’ll also clearly convey your organizational values in the interview process.

Speaking of making a good first impression, within Applicant Tracking you can also set up a custom landing page to showcase your CSR accomplishments and goals (among other content). After all, companies who prioritize these initiatives are more likely to attract candidates who hold similar beliefs and are seeking a feeling of pride in working for an organization that’s part of something bigger.

They’ll also broaden your network for recruitment – according to Harvard Business School, “92% of employees who work at a company with a strong sense of purpose say they would be more likely to recommend their employer to those in their network who are looking for a job”. Sold!

Don’t forget to share the excitement!

Speaking of that employee engagement – make sure to share the wins with them. At Payworks, employees have always been empowered to run collection drives for holiday hampers, organize group volunteering events, participate in company committees, and more. And we find that they’re even more likely to join in when they understand the full scope of their impact.

Using Payworks’ Workforce Analytics solution, you can build out custom dashboards and graphs to track automatic payroll deductions or paid time off for volunteering – which makes it ultra-easy to share those results with your crew and celebrate your collective success!

If you want to get even more strategic, you can easily configure a dashboard, filter by time off type, and view employee volunteering trends year-over-year or month-over-month. These insights, which can be as granular as the days of the week when employees volunteer the most, are ideal for optimizing your scheduling and shift coverage processes. You can also measure progress when it comes to your company goals around total hours spent volunteering. And of course, all of this can be exported in clean and simple reports to provide easy visualization of your CSR story and overall investments.

How do you get going?

Start small with simple goals that will fit your business (like the ones outlined above!), with the understanding that you can always decide to scale up as your business and/or initiatives gain momentum. If you’re ready to learn more about how Payworks’ solutions can better support your business, visit: https://www.payworks.ca/solutions/overview.