By BVU’s Amy Stoessel
For Welty Enterprises, knowing it had a partner in Business Volunteers Unlimited made the creation of its employee engagement committee possible.
“You all were the partner – in some ways, the capacity — we needed to lean into this initiative and the mission of the Welty Engagement Committee,” said Michael Taylor, vice president of Welty Enterprises. “You came to us with best practices and a platform.”
Welty, which is in Fairlawn and has roughly 150 employees in Northeast Ohio, has been a BVU member for seven years.
Since the partnership with BVU started, Welty employees have taken advantage of everything from team volunteer projects and board matching to Linking New Leaders, a nonprofit board “matchmaking” program for young professionals.
“We’ve been able to connect the dots between employee engagement and community engagement,” Taylor said.
BUILDING THE WELTY ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Welty’s Employee Engagement Committee, which started to gain footing in 2021 after a brief start in 2020, is selective and cross-functional, with members taking an active role in planning.
It is made up of about 12 to 15 people, mostly earlier in their career. “Younger folks love the idea of being intentional and having a purpose,” he said.
Its efforts are supported by BVU through a Welty-branded volunteer engagement platform, which is created and maintained by BVU as a member benefit. Employees can access a video about the Engagement Committee and find volunteer opportunities curated for Welty.
Welty added Volunteer Time Off (VTO) in early 2022 as an employee benefit with each employee receiving four paid hours per year. The BVU site helps to track those hours.
“That helped engage new staff,” Taylor said of the VTO benefit. “It showed the CEO supports this.”
BUSINESS IMPERATIVE
For Welty, giving back is part of the DNA of the firm, beginning with its founder — the partnership with BVU helps to provide a pathway.
“Business community members need to find a way to lean in and be intentional,” Taylor said.