While nearly two-thirds (62%) of businesses reported that they offer volunteering days, 140 million hours went unused in the last 12 months, according to the findings of a poll of 1,000 HR leaders, commissioned by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).
Sanjay Lobo, founder and CEO of the volunteering app OnHand, told HR magazine that volunteering is considered a valuable productivity tool, but to engage employees at work, volunteering must be linked with a purpose.
He explained: “That's purpose in your role, but equally the purpose and ethos of the company you work for.
“A company that gives back to its community and does the right thing by the planet is one today's workers are attracted to, and will be engaged and productive for. All the research papers from the last five years plus, point to this as a growing trend.”
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Lobo came up with three practical steps that HR professionals should take, to transform an underused volunteering programme: “First, lean into micro-actions, simple things that enable employees to give back or do a good deed in tiny increments of time.”
Examples include helping preserve coral reefs, or “helping those with visual impairments choose the right colour jumper”– small acts that can be accomplished in seconds. Donating food to a foodbank while shopping is another action that takes up no time at all, Lobo stated.
Second, Lobo advised that groups in the workplace should spend more meaningful time together. Volunteering together as a team can produce visible results within a few hours, he argued.
Lastly, he recommended that HR professionals revisit volunteering policies, as most are out-of-date.
He added: “Recognise good deeds that may not be traditional volunteering but may help communities or the environment. What's important here is encouraging engagement.”
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Lobo explained that problems with volunteering don’t stem from business cases but rather that “already-approved volunteering schemes are underutilised”.
He continued: “If HR teams can increase engagement in volunteering and, via surveys and other data, show that it leads to greater engagement at work, that's gold.”
A key driver of unused volunteering hours at work could be that employees do not know where to find volunteering opportunities. To address this, Royal Voluntary Service charity, which supports people in need, has today launched a 'volunteering marketplace', a a suite of services designed to help businesses maximise volunteering among employees.
Lobo explained that many hours go unused in organisations due to professionals being too busy.
He said: “The 2013-2014 NCVO survey found that a lack of time was the biggest obstacle to continued volunteering. That's still true today.
“At the same time, charities are under-resourced – they cannot work or respond at the speed corporates expect, which makes arranging volunteering tricky and time-consuming.”
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Katie Hart, talent acquisition and experience lead for employee benefits provider Perkbox Vivup, suggested low visibility and competing priorities as reasons why volunteering days go unused.
She told HR magazine: “People either aren’t sure how to use the time or don’t feel encouraged to take it. If it’s not embedded into the culture or reinforced by leaders, it ends up being deprioritised.
“It's often something that's mentioned during onboarding as a benefit and then it falls off the radar. We're looking at ways in which our culture champions can lead on volunteering initiatives, so it moves away from being a tick box.”
Hart added: “Volunteering supports wellbeing, and we know that improved wellbeing drives performance.”
Cebr commissioned Censuswide to survey 1,000 HR decisionmakers between 27 February and 4 March 2025.
