People seek ways to make differences in their community – even at work. They want to work for companies that make a positive impact. Providing charity and volunteering opportunities to team members benefits employers as well by boosting employee engagement. Companies that offer volunteering experience are able to recruit top talent, retain employees longer, and create an environment of collaboration in the work place.

Company sponsored corporate philanthropy and corporate giving programs also offer benefits to the employees themselves. These volunteering opportunities help employees master new skills, prepare to take on greater responsibility, and contribute to the community beyond the office walls. By committing to a cause, companies can provide valuable services to the community while strengthening and uniting their workforce.

Here are seven valuable lessons employees learn from community service:

1. Problem Solving: When employees volunteer for nonprofit organizations, they face obstacles that are different from those they tackle on the job. Through volunteering experience, they learn how to adapt quickly to overcome these challenges.
2. Career Exploration: By participating in volunteer activities, team members may have the opportunity to try new roles and responsibilities. Service can be an invaluable avenue for professional development. Volunteering impacts team members by helping them discover talents, strengths, and interests they may not have known they possessed.
3. Teamwork: Community service requires collaboration, and team members may need to partner with colleagues different other than those they're used to working with. Teams may need to brainstorm for solutions or compromise in order to agree on the best course of action.
4. Communication and Listening: Corporate philanthropy projects are a great opportunity for team members to improve their communication and listening skills. Dealing directly with other members of the community also improve workers’ abilities to provide excellent customer service.
5. Leadership:Team members who participate in community service are often placed in roles of great responsibility. They must learn to delegate, give clear instructions, and motivate their team. As team members master these skills, volunteer events can become the perfect training ground for up-and-coming leaders within an organization.
6. Advocacy: Uniting behind a community cause helps team members learn how to motivate others to take action. They learn to communicate the benefits of giving. While encouraging others to make charitable donations they must overcome objections to help change minds for the greater good. These skills are highly valuable, especially to employees whose roles include sales, marketing, or public relations.
7. Planning and Organization: Community service projects are complex, and team members must manage them correctly to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. As volunteers, employees may be asked to manage budgets, gather supplies and resources, meet tight deadlines, and execute multistage action plans. Involvement in these projects can force team members to hone organization skills they may be lacking.

Service projects are growth opportunities for employees, because they teach valuable lessons and skills employees can apply to their daily work. Volunteer activities unite teams around causes that are important to them and the community. Employer-sponsored volunteer work helps assure them that the work they do serves a greater purpose. Committing to a cause by donating money or time simultaneously benefits communities, companies, and the employees who work there. Companies who sponsor volunteer opportunities also boost their bottom line by building a workforce that is building new skills, happier, and more engaged.

Recycling Trash Into Smiles!

We know little things can add up to a big difference.  In continuing our fundraising work for Operation Smile, we have been collecting recyclables and donating the proceeds!

We placed recycling containers designated especially for Operation Smile fundraising around the office. Once they are filled, a Cydcor team member volunteer brings the items to the recycling center to collect the refund.

We have already raised enough for one Smile (each one is $240) and are well on our way to another – our current tally is almost $380!

Since partnering with Operation Smile in 2010, Cydcor and volunteers from  its network of independently-owned sales companies have raised enough to fund two medical missions, and are well on the way to a third! The missions take place in areas of the world with limited medical care; a team of professionals provide cleft palate surgeries to those who would have no way of obtaining the surgery otherwise.

We’re really excited about each and every dollar we are able to raise and contribute. Operation Smile is our passion. Recycling is so easy to do and can really add up – and make a difference.

Cydcor is happy and proud of its efforts to give back to the communities that support our business.  You can donate to the Cydcor Operation Smile page today and make a difference in a child’s life.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Feb. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cydcor, the dominant provider of outsourced face-to-face sales, celebrates its Neighborhood Leaders volunteer, a program designed to model and support the giving of time and talent to non-profit, community, or charitable organizations.

In its second year, over 300 volunteer hours, 100 people and a dozen charities and organizations were supported. The Make-A-Wish Foundation, Lupus Alliance of America, Feed the Children, Operation Smile, YMCA, Race for the Cure, Strides Against Cancer, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Live Strong, and the Epilepsy Foundation are some of the organizations that have been supported through this program.

"Exemplifying excellence and going the extra mile is part of our culture here at Cydcor," said Gary Polson, Chief Executive Officer of Cydcor. "It is important that we not only demonstrate that mentality in the office, but in our communities."

Through this volunteer program, the network of privately owned Cydcor-affiliated sales offices across the U.S. and Canada, are encouraged to donate time, money, and goods to organizations they are passionate about. As part of the program, Cydcor matches the sales office donations and subsidizes event costs.

"Cydcor is committed to supporting the community and those in need," said Jim Majeski, Cydcor president. "We have demonstrated this through our adoption of Operation Smile as our corporate cause of the year. We will continue to offer the Neighborhood Leader Program to our network of sales offices so that they keep making an impact on their communities."

‍

About Cydcor, Inc.

Cydcor, Inc. is the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face Cydcor sales teams to a diverse client base of companies in a range of industries, including telecommunications, office products, retail, energy, and financial services. Serving Fortune 500 and emerging market clients in the business-to-business, residential, and retail channels through in-store marketing initiatives, Cydcor works with a network of independently owned corporate licensee (ICL) Cydcor sales offices providing clients with access to more than 2,700 sales professionals and nearly 200 offices in North America. The privately held company is based inWestlake Village, California. For more information about Cydcor, log on to www.cydcor.com

‍

SOURCE Cydcor, Inc.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Cydcor, the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams, has announced that the company's internal program available to its network of independent Cydcor sales offices, the Neighborhood Leader Program, has reached significant milestones. To date, more than 500 team members from the various sales offices throughout the United States have dedicated almost 300 hours to their local communities through charity and volunteer work – helping more than 28 organizations.

Through the Neighborhood Leader Program, the network of nearly 200 independent Cydcor sales offices located across the United States and Canada are given financial sponsorships and encouraged to donate their time and talent to non-profit, charitable organizations in their communities.  Cydcor provides a contribution match to help support the volunteer effort.  Each independent Cydcor office is eligible to take advantage of the Neighborhood Leader Program once annually.

"It's amazing to see how so many of our independently-owned sales offices have donated their time and energy to working with local organizations and providing them with much-needed support," said Gary Polson, CEO of Cydcor. "These mid-year results are astounding and pacing faster with even more momentum compared to last year. This truly showcases determination, drive, and dedication – characteristics that Cydcor prides itself on."

Organizations helped in various local communities through the Neighborhood Leader Program include the Lupus Alliance of America, Feed the Children, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Make-a-Wish, Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, Project Bread, the Boys & Girls Club, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the American Cancer Society, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the March of Dimes, and a number of food banks and animal rescues and sanctuaries.

To further demonstrate dedication to the Cydcor Community, the company recently formed a new program, Cydcor Cares, which will enable internal employees to band together and use their eight allotted volunteer hours that Cydcor offers on a yearly basis. The Cydcor Cares first event will take place at the Thousand Oaks Boys and Girls Club, where Cydcor team members will read to children from kindergarten to fourth-grade age.

‍

About Cydcor, Inc.

Cydcor, Inc. is the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams to a diverse client base of companies in a range of industries, including telecommunications, office products, retail energy, and financial services. Cydcor works with a network of independently owned corporate licensee (ICL) Cydcor sales offices providing clients with access to more than 2,700 sales professionals and nearly 200 offices in North America. The privately held company is based in Westlake Village, California.  For more information about Cydcor, log on to www.cydcor.com.

SOURCE Cydcor