When I joined Advantage Solutions in 2010, I did it for three reasons: the opportunity to be a part of a growing, innovative, entrepreneurial-minded company; the hands-on servant leadership team; and the benefits.
Today, what I do and how I’m compensated are important to me, of course. But equally central to my job satisfaction is a reason that eclipses the others: the opportunities I’ve had to foster a workplace culture of giving and support.
I’m driven by serving others. It’s just who I am; it’s what makes me happy.
My first opportunity as an Advantage associate to raise my hand to make a meaningful difference came 10 years ago, when our company leaders became aware of our associates’ growing interest in social responsibility. Our teams were already involved in giving back to their communities through fundraisers and volunteer efforts for local organizations ― and many of these relationships continue. But our leadership team wanted to offer a way for associates and our company to make a big impact, together. This was the start of our partnership with Feeding America and the support from the top down and from our associates up is why our partnership continues to be strong. Today, associates across Advantage work together to raise funds in creative, fun ways that build team spirit and participate in a generous corporate match program.
My second opportunity to nurture our community spirit came with the launch of Advantage’s eight employee resource groups, including the Warrior Support Crew, made up of veterans, military families and allies across the company. Because I come from a family with strong ties to the military ― including my father, my grandfather, uncles and cousins who have served in every war and conflict since World War I and my career-military, active-duty nephew ― I’m honored to volunteer as a Warrior Support Crew steering committee member. In this role, I support communications, such as recognizing our Advantage veterans in monthly profiles and blogs on our associate intranet, and, for fun, leading virtual “building resilience anytime, anywhere” yoga sessions for our ERG members and anyone else who wants to participate.
Helping others fulfills me and Advantage Solutions gives me the space to do that. I’m more energized by taking a few minutes during the day to work on something related to our Feeding America initiative or the Warrior Support Crew than I am taking a coffee break. My volunteer efforts remind me there are people I work with and in the world who have real, significant challenges every day, which puts any of my own work-related and personal challenges in perspective.
I’m a different person when I can be of service to others ― a happier, more authentic person – and that has a big impact on the person I am at work and how I connect to people I work with. My volunteer roles have helped me build new and stronger working relationships across our organization and have given me a better understanding of all we do.
I’ve received so much more than I give to our Feeding America effort and Warrior Support Crew. My role is much more than my job.
