HR take note: Employees often want to work for orgs that make a difference

As employers look for new ways to recruit and retain talent, one strategy that has the potential to make a difference is value alignment—offering employees a mission beyond their day-to-day job that aligns with their values.

Over eight in 10 (82%) US professionals surveyed by LinkedIn from December 2022 to March 2023 said it’s important to work for a company where the culture and values are aligned with their own. Additionally, employees who feel value alignment with their employers are less likely to look for a new job, according to 2022 Qualtrics data.

The PenFed Credit Union, a financial services provider that originally served military members and their families, strives to offer its employees value alignment through a service-dog training program.

“Our mission is around service to our military, and this [program] just fits so well with our mission,” Nesa Helm, HR leader at PenFed, said. “From a culture perspective, it’s great and the employees like to get involved too.”

Spotlight. PenFed’s almost 3,000 employees take the Virginia-based company’s mission of serving current and former military members to heart, Helm told HR Brew via follow-up email.

“Serving our military has been the mission of PenFed since its inception in 1935,” she said in the email. “Our employees routinely donate their time to military support causes outside of the workplace.”

Since 2018, the company has given employees a chance to support the military outside of work through a voluntary service-dog training program in partnership with Canine Companions. Veterans often struggle with PTSD, and service dogs can support them and help them heal.

PenFed employees can volunteer to raise a service dog from 8 weeks to 18 months old, Andrea McCarren, president at the PenFed foundation (which is affiliated with the credit union and offers military members resources to help them achieve financial stability), told HR Brew. Employees are responsible for basic obedience and socialization, and PenFed covers all care and training expenses, she said.

To date, several of the organization’s employees located in different parts of the US have raised a total of nine service dogs. McCarren is currently raising her sixth service dog, a five-month old labrador/golden retriever mix named Pilot.

While McCarren is raising Pilot, she said she’s not the only PenFed employee contributing to his journey. Whenever she brings him into PenFed’s Virginia office—which is practically every day—she said her colleagues bring him toys, volunteer to watch him, and take care of him in a way that, she believes, contributes to the organization’s shared mission “that’s not just changing somebody’s life, but no doubt saving a life,” McCarren said.

The bigger picture. Employees are searching for meaning through work, the BBC reported in 2022. In the past, the traditional relationship between employees and employers was thought to be transactional: Show up, do your job, get paid. But this arrangement no longer seems to be working.

HR pros looking to attract, retain, and engage employees should consider matching their employees’ values with those of the organization, Helm said via email.

“[Understanding] the company’s values and how it aligns to the business is critical,” she said “That’s what hooks employees, knowing that their employer is truly committed to the mission and is willing to show it through various methods.”