In today’s competitive talent landscape, compensation and perks are no longer the primary drivers of recruitment and retention. Employees are placing greater emphasis on purpose, values and well-being when evaluating where – and how – they want to work. Employers are paying attention. In a recent Korn Ferry report, 45% of HR professionals surveyed said that integrating cultural values is key to talent attraction in 2025 and Gartner identified “re-establishing the importance of culture within all levels of the organization for successful activation” as a top HR trend for 2025.
As employee expectations evolve, leading organizations are leveraging corporate purpose as a competitive differentiator. Purpose-driven programs, including volunteering, workplace giving and community impact initiatives have emerged as a valuable lever to attract high performers, increase talent retention and elevate engagement and productivity across the enterprise. When purpose is embedded into planning, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is woven into workforce strategy and the Employer Value Proposition (EVP), organizations see measurable business benefits. For purpose and HR leaders, connecting those dots is key – integrating CSR with HR strategies can help optimize everything from skills development, equity and inclusion, productivity, employee sentiment and satisfaction.
Signaling corporate values can enhance talent attraction and retention
Countless studies have made the connections between culture and corporate values and the positive impact an authentic EVP has on both talent acquisition and employee retention. Purpose programs offer similar workforce benefits. More often than not, using CSR program opportunities and data can help HR leaders refine recruiting strategies and workforce planning models.
Talent acquisition is a significant investment for most organizations. In the effort to achieve efficiency through lower time-to-fill and higher offer acceptance ratios, CHROs can lean into CSR programs to help validate the values and cultural connections that candidates are looking for. Furthermore, a study by Ares Management found that employee volunteers are twice as likely to recommend their organization to job seekers, another factor that supports a more robust and efficient talent pipeline. The chatter about Millennials and Gen Z isn’t anecdotal - they clearly prioritize working for value-driven organizations, and the recent Benevity Executive CSR Report shows nearly a third of CSR leaders who are planning to increase investment in CSR initiatives over the next 12 months are doing so to gain an edge in today’s competitive talent market. CHROs who align with and use data from CSR programs as proof points in their talent acquisition strategy often find themselves with a valuable competitive edge in the recruiting space. The link between participation in purpose programs and talent retention tells a similar story.
Benevity Impact Labs research shows a strong association between employees who participate in programs that include workplace giving and volunteering and heightened retention. Efforts to reduce turnover rates can often start with expansion and better socialization of the purpose programs already in place. Participation data for employee volunteering and opportunities for giving can then be measured, trended against retention data and layered into attrition models.
Creating opportunities for employee development through CSR program participation
Despite growing pressure to future-proof their workforce, according to Gartner, only 15% of companies engage in strategic workforce planning, leaving a significant gap in HR’s ability to align talent with long-term business goals. This puts CHROs in a tight spot when determining how to optimize internal mobility and upskill an existing workforce.
It is important to recognize that employee volunteering programs and Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) often create opportunities for training, skill development, collaboration and leadership. In addition to supporting corporate purpose, such opportunities are likely appealing both from a culture and career development perspective as noted in the LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report, which found that 53% of Gen Z workers value learning for career progress.
Volunteering and cross-functional initiatives offer a practical environment for employees to hone existing capabilities and acquire new ones like project management, communication and teamwork. Skills-based volunteering programs give employees the opportunity to contribute their skills while also developing additional competencies in new and different settings, building resilience, confidence and leadership readiness.
By tracking the improvements in competencies and performance reviews over time, CHROs can improve their understanding of internal talent potential. These insights can inform both leadership development and strategic workforce planning — turning CSR participation into a practical tool for identifying high-potential employees and strengthening succession planning.
Connecting CSR, employee engagement and productivity
Gallup’s 2025 State of The Global Workplace report shows that global employee engagement has fallen to just 21%, linked to a staggering $438 billion in lost productivity. What they call the ‘Great Detachment' is an opportunity for CHROs to re-engage the modern workforce through authentic purpose and culture, starting with CSR programs that align with the company vision and mission to improve both engagement and productivity measures.
Again, volunteering offers a significant opportunity for organizations to improve employee engagement. Several studies, like the recent report from Ares Management, show that 79% of employees who participate in their company’s volunteer programs are more satisfied overall with their job, compared to just 55% of those who don’t. Volunteering within an organization is also a proven way to build engagement. The Benevity 2025 State of Corporate Purpose Report found that 92% of CSR leaders noted the positive impact of ERGs, which are usually volunteer-led, on building inclusive cultures and employee trust.
Workplace giving programs on the other hand — from donation drives and company matching to collective natural disaster response — create powerful moments of shared purpose and engagement. These initiatives help foster a sense of pride, inclusion and belonging, offering employees a way to live their values at work and meaningfully connect with peers.
While quantifying the direct impact of engagement on the productivity of a workforce is difficult, Gallup offers an analysis that shows that companies with highly engaged teams deliver 23% greater profitability, 18% more productivity and 10% more customer loyalty. Their data also supports the connection between engagement and well-being – showing that companies with higher levels of engagement see 78% less absenteeism.
In the United Kingdom, research from the Royal Voluntary Service shows that volunteering boosts productivity by £4,551 per employee and adds at least £4.6 billion per year to the economy and a study by Pro Bono Economics shows that widespread access to workplace volunteering could save up to 2.5 million days of sick leave in the U.K. Indicators like reduced absenteeism and lower turnover rates are often used by HR leaders to track and show the positive correlation between engagement, CSR and productivity.
Travel and tourism technology company Amadeus cites increased employee engagement and well-being as the top business benefit of its community impact program:
Gauging workforce health through a CSR lens
For companies that actively measure participation in their CSR programs, engagement data can serve as a real-time barometer of workforce health and employee sentiment. Such predictive insights can be critical for evaluating the health of company culture and early identification of potential talent risks.
For example, when participation drops in certain regions or demographics, it can signal potential culture risks long before they surface in exit interviews. Likewise, surges in volunteer sign-ups around certain causes can reveal emerging passions that further inform both CSR and workforce strategies and signal potential areas for investigation and investment. Overlaying CSR participation with employee sentiment and engagement survey data allows HR leaders to uncover deeper correlations and enable faster interventions. Similarly, flagging departments where purpose engagement and performance metrics diverge can help create a culture-risk index, giving leaders a lens into where team cohesion or culture may be faltering.
Including ERGs in strategic workforce and business discussions can also deliver insights as these groups can be an effective proxy for employee sentiment. The Benevity Impact Labs 2025 State of Corporate Purpose study shows that 87% of leaders say that ERGs are a trusted source of information. Opening a channel for this kind of listening and collaboration can improve trust and morale.
By integrating CSR engagement metrics — including program participation, ERG insights and sentiment data — with broader indicators like inclusion scores and turnover trends, CHROs gain a multidimensional view of culture and employee experience. This can empower organizations to not only respond more proactively to risks, but to build a culture where people feel heard, connected and inspired.
As the workforce continues to evolve, companies that prioritize corporate purpose and connect it to meaningful employee experiences are realizing the rewards: stronger employer brands that attract talent, better talent retention rates, meaningful employee development and higher productivity. By aligning social impact programs with strategic workforce goals — and leveraging data-driven insights that reflect employee sentiment, engagement and impact — HR leaders are better able to foster a more strategic, resilient and motivated workforce.
Link your CSR programs to your workforce strategy with better data.
With Benevity’s Enterprise Impact Platform, you can measure the value of your corporate purpose initiatives with holistic, in-depth reporting on the outcomes that matter to you, your community and your employees.
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