Engaging Frontline Workers in CSR: How Companies Can Reach Every Employee

Every company—no matter their size, industry, or employee makeup—can benefit from smart corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. Whether your company is most conducive to corporate donation matching, employee volunteering, financial grants, or a combination thereof, a truly transformative CSR strategy can elevate your organization in the minds of the public.

Organizing CSR events—or any employee-involved events that take place outside of normal business operations—is easier when your entire team is in one office and never leaves their desks. That’s simply not the reality for many, if not most, companies, which can pose challenges for CSR officers looking to engage every worker. 

The good news? With an intuitive mobile CSR platform and the right engagement tools for frontline workers, you can overcome these challenges and make every team member feel included. Keep reading for tips on how to engage frontline workers.

Table of Contents:

• Defining Corporate Social Responsibility: What it Looks Like
• Key Benefits of Engaging in CSR Programs
• What Factors Limit Frontline Employee Engagement in CSR?
• 4 CSR Tips & Engagement Tools for Frontline Workers
• Create Inclusive CSR Programs to Engage the Whole Team with Groundswell

Defining Corporate Social Responsibility: What it Looks Like

You can find many different definitions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the internet, but we consider CSR to be the collective efforts of a company or organization to go beyond legal obligations and strive to benefit consumers, shareholders, employees, and society as a whole.

CSR can take a number of different forms, but the ultimate goal is the same: to make the world a better place.

With the help of Groundswell, you can choose the CSR program that works best for your company. Your employees might get really fired up about volunteering at a local food bank, animal shelter, or other worthy charity. They might enjoy donating a portion of their paychecks to their favorite nonprofit. Or, you could spark an interest in helping your employees nominate their favorite charity for a grant. 

Whatever types of corporate social responsibility your employees run with, a well-thought-out strategy behind it all can help make the program more successful than you’ve ever dreamed it could be.

Key Benefits of Engaging in CSR Programs

A common question we get is, “How can we afford the time and energy required to implement a CSR program when we’re already scrambling to make a profit and keep our best-performing employees?”

It’s a great question. The answer is simple: a robust CSR strategy and implementation might just be the missing piece for your business. Here’s what we mean.

1. CSR efforts help demonstrate your company’s goodwill. Creating a solid brand reputation is not easily done, but it can be easily ruined. CSR initiatives are one of the most effective ways of improving your company’s standing with the general public.
2. CSR programs can make your team happier. Contemporary employees—that is to say, millennials and Generation Z—are happier when they work for charitable-minded companies. 
3. Happier employees are less likely to leave. It should come as no surprise that satisfied, happy employees want to stick around. Less turnover means fewer onboarding expenses for your business.
4. CSR can create and foster a loyal client base. Employees aren’t the only ones more likely to stay with CSR-minded companies—consumers say they value businesses that give back.
5. CSR makes this world a better place for everyone. Groundswell firmly believes that one person can change the world. Why can’t that be you?

What Factors Limit Frontline Employee Engagement in CSR?

We don’t have to tell you how much your frontline workers mean to you and your company. They are, in many cases, the face of your organization. 

Although frontline workers regularly communicate with clients and third parties, it’s often challenging to help them feel connected with their coworkers. Multiple reasons exist for lackluster frontline employee engagement initiatives:

• Many frontline workers have irregular working hours, making it difficult to form bonds with other team members.
• Communicating with the general public can be taxing, and they may not have much bandwidth for connecting with coworkers. 
• Frontline workers are especially vulnerable to the AI surge, which can cause anxiety and uncertainty over their job security.
• Managers simply may not do a good job keeping frontline and deskless workers in the communications loop.

4 CSR Tips & Engagement Tools for Frontline Workers

Making your frontline employees feel included in your company’s CSR programs takes effort and a sound strategy. Here are some ways to implement impactful CSR for frontline workers.

1. Start a conversation with them. 

Many C-suite executives and CSR representatives miss this easy step, but the importance of direct feedback from frontline workers cannot be overstated. Some people in your frontline team may have great employee volunteering ideas or have specialized skills that would benefit a particular charity. You’ll never know until you ask!

2. Use an intuitive and effective mobile app. 

Your frontline workers might not have easy or sustained access to desktop computers. Equipping them with a mobile CSR app that makes sense and allows them to participate in charitable programs no matter their physical location is key.

3. Implement flexible schedules to allow volunteering.

Flexible schedules can be useful with almost any employee, but you may need to pay special attention to your frontline workers’ schedules and how they may conflict with CSR volunteering. Allowing them to make up time later in the day or even offering paid time for volunteer programs can go a long way.

4. Spotlight your workers’ efforts in company-wide communications.

Praising your workers for good deeds is not just lip service to them. Nearly half of the employees in a large study conducted between 2022 and 2024 reported that praise from management made them less likely to take another job. What better opportunity for recognition than with CSR programs? 

Create Inclusive CSR Programs to Engage the Whole Team with Groundswell

Companies today are more likely than ever to have employees spread out across a large geographic area. Even frontline employees who work just feet away from your desk workers, though, can feel disconnected from the rest of the team.

A few tools can help bridge this gap for your company when it comes to CSR initiatives. One of the most important ones is an easy-to-use, efficient, and affordable CSR platform that connects everyone in your organization on both desktop and mobile. 

Groundswell understands the challenges many smaller and mid-sized companies face with making every team member an important part of their charitable endeavors. In seconds, your frontline employees can view volunteering events, send money to their favorite charities, and even set aside some resources for an employee assistance fund. 

Did we mention that our platform can significantly cut down on administrative paperwork and other burdens? Our mission is to help companies change the world and make every employee feel valued and fulfilled. 

Book a demo to see how our software makes sense for everyone: from the C-suite to the front lines.