About six years ago, Charter One Bank decided to take a new approach to team building. Rather than work with consultants or go on retreats, they brought employees together to volunteer.

“It really started out focused on giving back to the community because that was a good thing for our company to be doing,” says Carrie Carpenter, senior vice president and director of public affairs for the bank. “As we continued to do it, it’s really a great way for colleagues to get to know each other in a nonbusiness-focused setting and bond over giving back.”

Each year, members of the bank do more than 50 volunteer activities in Ohio. Some take place during workdays while other activities are on the weekends. Those sometimes involve family members, such as a recent Sunday afternoon of working at the Ohio City Farm.

A favorite place for volunteering is the Cleveland Foodbank, where groups can sort and pack food or prepare meals. There’s also a 40-person community room where businesses can hold meetings prior to volunteering.

“They really love being able to bring people together to work on a project where they can be really productive, get an extraordinary amount of work done in a short period of time and then do something for the community,” says Kristin Warzocha, Cleveland Foodbank’s director of external affairs.

Encouraging volunteerism ultimately makes good business sense, says Charter One’s Carpenter. “As colleagues are engaged, and they feel excited about who they work with and where they work, they have a belief in their company because their company supports giving back to the community,” she says. “It certainly is going to impact their productivity and their engagement with their job.”

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