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Charitable Pledges Soar with Employee Competition
COLUMBUS, Ohio (February 13, 2008) - Campaign organizers used a little friendly competition between groups of employees to drive a record increase in Safelite AutoGlass employee participation in this year's United Way of Central Ohio campaign as 71 percent of the company's 1,523 Columbus-based employees enrolled in the annual campaign for 2008.
Employees pledged more than $149,000 during the enrollment period and raised another $6,300 with special events held during the pledge week in mid-November. Safelite, a member of United Way's leadership group, matched the first $40,000 of its employees' pledges for a total company commitment of $195,969 for the coming year.
"We are very proud of our associates' desire to contribute to the community. Our participation rate had dropped to 15 percent in recent years, and we wanted to turn that around this year," said RandyRandolph, Safelite's Charitable Foundation committee chair. "We used some creative tactics to motivate and educate our team about the many ways our community benefits from our financial support through United Way."
Randolph said fun events such as a White Castle eating contest and a silent auction of gifts donated by the company's executives helped raise awareness of the campaign and generate enthusiasm among Safelite's Columbus-based employees. The company's employees were then divided into six teams, representing different floors of Safelite's three major Columbus facilities, and pitted them in a friendly battle to see which group could register the highest participation rate.
A temporary reversal of a "no jeans" policy in the company's telephone contact centers turned the tide for the team winner. Eighty-two percent of the 500 employees in the 2nd floor Sawmill Road group pledged to donate to the campaign to win the team competition. Those who pledged won the right to wear jeans one day a week during the months of November and December.
"The team competition engaged all our associates," Randolph said. "We worked very hard with our management team to show that the benefits of allowing the jeans option were significant."
And employees responded in record numbers, driving company-wide participation up from 15 percent last year, to 71 percent in 2008.
Randolph said Safelite AutoGlass, which is part of Belron US, the nation's largest vehicle glass repair and replacement company, will expand its participation next year by expanding the campaign to its 7,000 employees nationwide.
"We are strong believers in supporting the communities where we operate. United Way gives us a method of impacting each community through an established and well managed program," Randolph said. "And we think competition between our divisions and markets will be as motivational in Arizona and Colorado as the floor competitions here in Columbus."
About Safelite AutoGlass:
Safelite AutoGlass is part of Belron US, a multi-faceted automotive glass and claims management service organization based in Columbus, Ohio and a subsidiary of Belron S.A. The company is composed of three major business operations that include automotive glass fulfillment services, operating under the trade names Safelite AutoGlass(R), Auto Glass Specialists(R), and Elite Auto GlassTM; windshield manufacturing; and Safelite Solutions(R) fleet and insurance claims management services. The company employs more than 7,000 people throughout the United States.
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