Research Links Employee Volunteering with Happier Customers

Zendesk released the results of a research study it commissioned from Drexel University exploring the link between employee volunteering and customer and employee satisfaction at Zendesk.

The findings show that customer service agents who volunteer are 11 percent more likely to be among the highest performers for the Customer Satisfaction Ratings Test (CSAT), every time they volunteer.

Furthermore, employees who have volunteered at least four times between January and August of 2017 are three times more likely to be among the highest performers on empathy, as measured by Zendesk quality assurance.

The survey also found that volunteering is associated with:

• Increased Help-Seeking Behavior - the more agents volunteered together, the more they felt comfortable seeking help from their peers at work;
• More Empathetic Behavior - Encouraging advocates to “put themselves in the shoes” of individuals within communities facing difficulties has a “spill-over effect” where  advocates then more easily “put themselves in the shoes” of customers;
• Increased Job Satisfaction - Advocates at Zendesk said that CSR makes them more loyal to Zendesk, more satisfied in their job, and instills in them a greater pride in the surrounding community.

“The Drexel survey findings put numbers behind what we at Zendesk have understood for years -- there is a  strong correlation between encouraging employees to contribute to the communities around them and making them more engaged employees in the workplace,” said Tiffany Apczynski, Zendesk’s VP of Public Policy & Social Impact. “Customer service comes down to relationships, and volunteering helps strengthen interpersonal skills. We hope that other companies will be inspired by these results to make social responsibility efforts an integral part of their  company culture.”