Employee Volunteering

At the beginning of this year, I asked myself, "How can I support the Rochester community better and also support my employees’ desire to get involved."

The answer was simple. Pay for them to volunteer!

In today's nutty world, it's hard to find/make time to volunteer. So my thought was that my team works during the day anyway and since these hours are already accounted for, why not let them use this time to give back if they want to.

So I gave everyone a paid week per year to go and volunteer in our community.

It doesn't have to be a week in a row nor do they have to use the whole week. They don't even have to do it at all. It's all up to them.

But at least I support it if they want to.

It's been quite the success so far. Some of our employees signed up for Junior Achievement, others are helping at Camp Good Days and Special Times, Literacy Volunteers and Rotary Sunshine Camp.

The benefits are tremendous. The organization in need is helped by our volunteers, the volunteering Next Stepper feels great to give back and I am pumped that I get to do this for everyone! We set up a volunteer wall in our office and post opportunities to get involved. Plus we encourage our team to post photos of their experience.

The world needs a lot of help but it's all starts right here in our own back yard. As the old Indian proverb says, "A thousand mile journey begins with one step."