Fall is fast approaching, and the shortening days can get some of your employees down. While the cool weather may push many inside for needed rest and relaxation, encourage your team to resist the urge to isolate.
Not only will this improve their mental well-being by combating feelings of loneliness and depression, but it can also give your employees the needed motivation to get out and be active in their communities.
In this guide, we’ll explore seven ways your team can connect with their communities in the fall and what your business can do to support them.
1. Meet up with friends
Socializing can sometimes be hard to prioritize, especially for individuals who have busy work schedules. And let’s face it, after the workday we’re tired! However, making time to socialize has an array of health benefits from improving your physical health to lowering your risk of dementia!
Give employees a reason to make meeting up with friends a priority. For example, you might point employees toward activities and events on social media. Inspire employees to participate in Facebook challenges that support a good cause and tag their friends to encourage them to give it a try as well.
These online conversations can spark offline interactions and benefit worthy causes at the same time.
2. Interact with nature
With colder weather, it’s easy to get stuck inside, but interacting with nature even briefly can bring a variety of benefits, such as increased mindfulness and feelings of peace. Encourage your employees to get outside by:
- Allowing employees to take their lunch break outside
- Encouraging mid-day walks
- Hosting cultural events at outdoor locations, like parks
When planning any outdoor activities, be sure to check the weather in advance. Fall rain and chills can be unpredictable and may make your team appreciate the outdoors a little less.
3. Connect with colleagues outside of work
Wellness initiatives can start in the workplace and continue outside of it when employees feel motivated to meet up after work hours. Facilitate a positive workplace culture where employees feel able to socialize and build genuine connections.
Your business might also host events outside of work to give employees the opportunity to socialize in a less formal setting. For instance, you might host a team corporate volunteer event where employees can work together to help a good cause. Volunteering not only serves as a team-building activity but also gives back to your community, which can be its own reward.
4. Join a team
One of the most straightforward ways to counter loneliness is to join a team. This could be a sports team, an activities club, or a nonprofit volunteer team. Your business can even start a book club or highlight a local casual sports team.
5. Fall cleaning
While most of us are more familiar with spring cleaning, the fall season is also an opportunity to get a fresh start by sorting through and removing clutter. Not only does this create space, but it also provides an opportunity to find new and lightly used items that can be donated to local charities ahead of the holiday season.
6. Buy local
Exploring your neighborhood establishments is a great way to meet people in your community and support the local economy. ShopRaise’s guide to ethical shopping has a few recommendations you can share with your employees for how to stay local:
- Local products at grocery stores. Certain grocery stores have sections that highlight locally sourced products. Along with being fresh, these sections also support your local community.
- Farmers markets. Find out when local farmers markets are hosted and share the dates with your team. In addition to fresh produce, many farmers markets have local artisans displaying their goods, showing off your local community’s culture.
- Restaurant sponsorships. Nonprofits and schools often partner with local restaurants to raise funding. During a restaurant partnership, a portion of the restaurant’s proceeds go to the charity they’re supporting. Be on the lookout for these events so you can have fun eating out and supporting a good cause at the same time.
For businesses that want to get active with their communities, consider sponsorships with local nonprofits that support arts and culture. You might sponsor a fall festival or other event to kick off the new season.
7. Commit to a cause!
Because we believe that everything is better when there’s meaning behind it. Employees feel more motivated when they know their hard work is supporting a good cause.
This fall, consider launching a new employee giving program like volunteer grants. Through this initiative, businesses donate to the nonprofits their employees volunteer at, usually depending on how many hours the employees volunteer. For example, you might allow employees to earn $10 for a nonprofit for every hour volunteered.
Getting Attention’s guide to volunteer grants breaks down the funding process:
- Employees volunteer. Employees can volunteer like anyone else to get started. However, they should make sure their hours are being recorded so they can report them on their volunteer grant application later.
- Employees check their eligibility. Decide which employees will be eligible and how many hours they will need to volunteer to claim a volunteer grant. For instance, you might set a minimum number of hours employees need to hit before they can receive funding, such as 50 hours.
- Employees complete a grant application. Consider what information you’ll need from employees to assess their grant requests. Most businesses ask for details about the nonprofit, such as its mission, what activities the employee performed, and how many hours the employee volunteered. You might also ask for the nonprofit’s contact information so you can reach out and verify any details.
- Your business reviews the application. If a volunteer application is approved, your business awards grant funding. You can send this directly or use CSR software to facilitate payments.
Be sure to promote your volunteer grant program to employees to encourage participation. After all, many companies have volunteer grant programs that go underused simply because employees don’t know about them!
Summer winding down doesn’t need to be a reason for despair. Help your team stay active and connected this fall by launching and encouraging activities that motivate them to get out in their communities.
For a technology-boosted approach, check out the Givhero app to see how it can improve your workplace’s employee well-being.
