Research published by Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), commissioned by national charity the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS), has found that 140 million volunteering hours went unused by UK employees last year, despite 62% of businesses offering workplace volunteering schemes to their employees (known as Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV)).

“Untapped Impact: unlocking the 140 million hour opportunity” surveyed 1,000 UK companies.

The research claims that employee volunteering could unlock £32.5 billion in productivity gains for the UK economy annually, if workplace volunteering schemes were fully utilised. This works out to £5,239 per employee working in professional and managerial occupations across participating businesses.

The research also found that 87% of businesses surveyed believe that offering paid volunteering time to their employees is important to their firm’s purpose and environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.

As well as delivering social impact, other primary reasons cited for introducing workplace volunteering schemes included:

tackling employee burnout (34% of respondents)
re-engaging staff (30%)
boosting performance (25%)

However, the research found that most businesses were not realising the full potential of their volunteering programmes. Employers offered their staff an average of 2.3 days annually, but the research showed that more than 140 million hours of gifted time went unused last year. Additionally, it reported that not all employees are being given equal access to volunteering opportunities, with less than one in 5 (19%) firms with programmes offering it to all their employees.

On average, just half of employees receive the benefit. Reasons cited by businesses for not realising the potential of their programmes included a lack of flexible one-off volunteering opportunities (28%) and team activities (17%), difficulty finding the right roles (21%), and not knowing where to start (12%).

Catherine Johnstone, chief executive at Royal Voluntary Service, said:

“Employee volunteering programmes are fast becoming one of the smartest investments a business can make. As our research shows, those who do it well are seeing the greatest results – from improved staff wellbeing and motivation to increased productivity. If just some of those 140 million lost volunteering hours were used it could be transformational in its effect.”

For further information, including how to access the report in full, please visit the Royal Voluntary Service website, or view the news announcement (both linked for your convenience).

Setting Up Your Own ESV Programme

Our team is passionate about the value and impact of ESV, plus the benefits it brings to everyone involved! For further information on how to set up a volunteering programme for your staff, please contact us by email: info@cvsfalkirk.org.uk