Community service benefits everyone. When local businesses (like HVAC & Refrigeration service companies) take on community service and involvement, they can do a lot of good for those less fortunate and the community as a whole. And that feels great for business owners and employees alike.
Yet that’s not the only reason to prioritize community service. HVACR businesses benefit in other ways that help them grow and get stronger. Here are the top community service benefits for your business, and some tips on the best ways to get started giving back to your community.
5 community service benefits for businesses
1. Honing your service mindset
HVAC & Refrigeration companies are in the service industry. Providing outstanding customer service is essential for success. That means everyone you employ needs to develop a service mindset, which is both a character trait and a skill that you can build with practice.
Some people seem to be born with an inclination toward helping others. But everyone can learn it by doing. That’s one way community service and involvement helps you grow as a business: it helps your staff hone their customer service skills and experience the value of helping others.
Over time, your company will develop a culture of helping others, and that improves nearly every aspect of your business.
2. Team building
Companies with strong teams that work well together experience fewer process-related issues and are better at solving problems. However, in our business, many of our employees don’t regularly see or interact with each other. That makes team building a big challenge.
Community service projects can help. You can bring together people who don’t normally work together, allowing employees to get to know and trust one another.
3. Attracting talent
Young people entering the job market today (and even older ones looking to change careers) want to work for companies that support their values. The community service you do says a great deal about the culture of your organization and what it’s like to work there.
In our industry, we have had a talent shortage for some time—and things have only gotten worse since the pandemic. Companies need to do everything they can to show job seekers what they value and why it’s a great place to work.
4. Boosting job satisfaction
Employees tend to be happier in their work when they feel proud of what they have accomplished and when they are doing something meaningful. Happy employees are motivated to work hard, be dependable, and do their best at everything they do. Plus, they are more likely to stay with you for the long term.
Your technicians and other employees likely get job satisfaction from solving problems and helping customers. But doing community service, especially as a team, can demonstrate a bigger and wider impact on your community.
5. Building your reputation and visibility
When you get involved in service projects for your local community, people are exposed to your company who may never have heard about you otherwise. That includes other people involved in the projects you do, the recipients of the service, and everyone who reads or hears about what you did. That can have a far-reaching impact on your visibility.
And it does more than make others more familiar with your company name. You’re also building a positive reputation when people learn that you’re giving time and effort to support your community.
How to get started with community service
If you haven’t done company-wide community service before, it may seem daunting to figure out what type of service projects you should take on. Here is some helpful advice, which comes from Arista Air Conditioning, a New York City HVACR service company that has made a big impact with their ongoing commitment to community service.
(Read this article to learn more about Arista’s community service efforts.)
Choose a cause you believe in
It’s not only what management believes in that matters. Consider what your employees have in common. What cause is likely to strike a cord with your workforce? When they care on a personal level about the outcome of the community service work they do, they will want to participate and will get more benefits from doing so.
Think beyond giving money
Donating money to worthy causes is a wonderful thing. However, you won’t get many of the community service benefits mentioned above just by giving money. For your employees to gain camaraderie and satisfaction, they need to take action and spend time on service projects.
For service organizations, there’s a lot you can do. Consider what resources you have that you can use to help your community. You certainly have people with technical talent and skill at fixing things. You have vehicles, other equipment, and possibly space.
Of course, giving time and resources does cost money. But the benefits to your community from the money you spend are compounded by the other resources you share.
Involve your entire team
Community service projects have the biggest impact (on both the recipients and your business) when you involve your entire team. If you possibly can, consider closing for a few hours or a day, so you can all work together on a project. If you can’t do that, assign employees to teams to take on multiple smaller projects. You can even involve employees’ family members.
Schedule regular community service projects
Community involvement changes your company culture for the better when you do it regularly. Consider some projects to do every year, such as collecting toys for kids at holiday time. Plan others to do more often, such as delivering food to soup kitchens every week or month.
When you plan for community service activities as a part of doing business, that’s when you will see the changes you’re looking for in your company and make a real difference in your community.
More advice to support HVACR business growth
We’ve got lots more helpful information for HVAC and Refrigeration businesses. Check out these resources.
HVACR Career Connect NY was created to promote the exceptional quality-of-life benefits of a career in HVAC and Refrigeration service, and also to provide a clear path for getting started in the profession. In doing so, we serve as a resource for employers in the New York City metro area to find and hire smart and capable new technicians. We also serve as an educational resource to support business growth and to help service technicians succeed in their chosen profession.
Learn about technical careers in the HVAC & Refrigeration industry, how to get hired and tips to build your career.