By Naomi Titleman

While some companies may view corporate social responsibility as a way to manage their reputation and please stockholders, forward-thinking organizations have always known that “doing good” creates more than just good karma.

In fact, by developing effective giving programs that make a real difference in the community, businesses can build a positive corporate culture that supports talent recruitment and retention – two absolute musts in today’s competitive business landscape.

According to a handful of recent studies, exercising social responsibility can also help future-proof your business. The 2014 Deloitte Millennial Survey, for example, emphasizes how Millennials (individuals born between 1981 and 1997) are eager to work for organizations that foster innovative thinking and make positive contributions to society. This is clearly a generation that prioritizes corporate social responsibility, and for 78 per cent of respondents to the 2013 Cone Communications Social Impact Study, it influences where they want to work.

Considering that according to the same 2014 Deloitte Millennial Survey, Millennials are already emerging as business leaders and will comprise 75 per cent of the global workforce by 2025, it’s vital that companies engage employees by developing charitable initiatives that make a real, lasting impact in the community.

At American Express, two of the programs we’re most proud of are Serve2Gether and Give2Gether. With the latter, we simply ask our employees to make a pledge to support the non-profit organization or organizations of their choosing, and then we match that contribution dollar for dollar. With 69 per cent of our employees donating to Give2Gether in 2014 (a spike of 18 per cent over the previous year), we were able to raise more than $370,000 for our 21 national community partners.

While this approach is successful, it’s important for organizations to go beyond simply collecting donations and develop initiatives where employees can see the positive change they’re making in peoples’ lives. For instance, with Serve2Gether, more than 3,000 Amex employees logged 5,700+ hours at over 160 different volunteer programs in the past year alone. This included helping Habitat for Humanity build walls for 33 Toronto homes, assembling 1,500 craft and bike safety kits for the Toronto Children’s Breakfast Club and SickKids, and gathering more than 700 articles of warm clothing and business attire for local charities.

In addition to the positive impact these acts of kindness made in the community, it should probably come as no surprise they also made our employees feel great about themselves, their jobs and their workplace. It’s an essential human truth that we as people are always seeking a purpose in life, and therefore, it goes without saying that if a company can help employees find that purpose, then it will have a much more satisfied workforce on its hands.

In a social media age where news travels fast, you can also bet Canadians have been taking notice of these charitable initiatives, leading to more applications and more talent coming through our doors. As the lifeblood of any organization, this influx of talent represents our future leaders and decision-makers.

So, it’s simple really. No matter what the size of your company, it’s important for HR professionals to work with senior leaders to develop and implement new charitable programs. Simply by encouraging and empowering employees to make a difference, you not only help the lives of others, you help yourself, creating a positive corporate culture that sets your organization up for sustained success.

Naomi Titleman is vice president, human resources at American Express Canada. Appointed to the position in May of 2014, Naomi is responsible for all human resource initiatives for the Canadian business which in total employs approximately 2,000 individuals.