Timberland’s Service Corps Brings Employee Satisfaction to New Heights
As a company with a longstanding commitment to service, outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland has found that employee satisfaction and morale are highest when its workers are engaged in community service. Timberland employees serve their communities often, thanks to the company’s Path of Service™ program that provides employees with up to 40 paid community service hours each year. In 2014, Timberland employees served their one millionth service hour and over 77 percent of employees have engaged in service over the past two years. For Timberland, the key to this success is equipping employees with hands-on experiences that make real, lasting differences. Timberland service champion Sarah Graham discusses her commitment to the Timberland Service Corps (TSC), a trained group of service leaders that provide its Stratham, NH employees with a host of opportunities to serve the community.
Q: What is a TSC member responsible for?
A: The TSC was created to cultivate a core group of employees to assist the corporate social responsibility team with our pillar events, Earth Day and Serv-a-palooza, as well as key off-site projects. Members are responsible for recruiting volunteers and acting as stewards within our own departments to keep the culture of service at Timberland alive.
Q: How does the TSC differ from your everyday work?
A: It’s creative and collaborative and made up of many roles – marketing, product design, operations – offering a way to connect with people you may otherwise not cross paths with. I get to see some of my own team members in a new setting, working together in a different way than normal work duties allow. It adds a great dynamic to the workplace that I haven’t experienced in previous jobs.
Q: What is something that makes the TSC great?
A: The TSC is a commitment to my values as an employee and an individual outside Timberland. It’s an opportunity for me to give back, and it’s a learning opportunity – a place where I can grow as a leader. TSC is a group of people from all over the company that come together and help shape the way service looks at Timberland. Timberland asks for our input on how to provide better opportunities for employees – it’s reaffirming to see how much the company invests in its workforce.
Timberland encourages not only employees, but business partners and other local companies to join them and engage their employees and communites through service, and relies on these partnerships for success. To learn more about how Timberland enables employees and businesses for service engagement, download the Timberland Service Tool Kit.
