Marvin OnumonuEmployee volunteering in the UK financial services sector has seen a significant rise, with 65% of firms now offering paid volunteering time to staff, research from Royal Voluntary Service found.
Over a third (32%) introduced it in the last year.
The shift has been driven by firms wanting to tackle employee burnout, engage staff and boost performance.
86% of finance businesses see volunteering as important to their company purpose and environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.
The study showed that if workplace volunteering days were fully used, the UK economy could see productivity gains worth £32.5bn a year, or £5,239 per employee in professional and managerial roles.
These figures came from analysis by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).
Despite the growth, many companies are not getting the most from their volunteering programmes.
On average, employers offered 2.3 days a year, but more than 140 million hours of volunteering time went unused last year.
Less than one in five firms with programmes offered them to all employees, and only half of workers received the benefit.
Barriers included a lack of flexible one-off volunteering roles, not enough team activities, difficulty finding the right roles, and uncertainty about where to start.
Royal Voluntary Service has responded with a new Volunteering Marketplace, which will offer bespoke programme design, measurement and reporting, expert consultancy, and digital badges.
A digital volunteering platform is also being developed with a £5m investment from People’s Postcode Lottery.
The platform will be free for charities and the public, and aims to match staff to volunteering opportunities, making it easier to manage and track participation.
Catherine Johnstone, CEO at Royal Voluntary Service, said: “Employee volunteering programmes are fast becoming one of the smartest investments a business can make.
“Those who do it are seeing great 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.”
Johnstone added: “With our new Volunteering Marketplace we will help unlock that potential – making volunteering work for more businesses and their employees and enabling them to click and connect to the causes they care about.”
Chris Breen, head of economic insight at the Cebr, said: “Business leaders and employees alike may wonder what’s in it for them when it comes to volunteering.
“Our research shows the answer is quite a lot. If every employee in a professional or managerial role offered volunteer days actually used them, it would have resulted in a £32.5 billion boost to UK productivity in 2024 alone.”
Clara Govier, managing director at People’s Postcode Lottery, said: “Volunteers are the lifeblood of Britain and are fundamental to so many of the nation’s charities and good causes.
“Royal Voluntary Service’s new digital platform will simplify the matching of volunteers with opportunities.
“RVS’ Volunteering Marketplace will make it easier for companies to find the right opportunities for their teams.”
Govier added: “I’d like to thank everyone who plays People’s Postcode Lottery for their support in making this possible.”
