October 29, 2015

HSE publishes latest report on workplace ill health and injuries ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The Health and Safety Executive has released its latest statistics on work related illnesses, injuries and death in UK workplaces. The main takeaway from the data appears to be that after more than a decade of substantial falls across a spectrum of conditions and injuries, there are signs that numbers are starting to stabilise. According to the data for 2014/15, more than a million UK workers were made ill by their work during the year, losing some 27.3 million days and costing the economy £14.3 billion. This represents a fall of over 30 percent since 2002. Most absence is now down to stress, depression, anxiety (collated as a single issue for this particular report) and musculoskeletal disorders. These two groupings account for 9.9 and 9.5 million days off work respectively. The average days lost per case for stress, depression or anxiety (23 days) is higher than for musculoskeletal disorders (17 days).

October 28, 2015

UK firms turn to flexible working and wellbeing to bridge productivity gap ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

It’s not just larger organisations and governments that are having to grapple with the UK’s persistent ‘productivity puzzle’ but also smaller businesses who are increasingly turning to flexible working and other people centric initiatives to address the problem. That is one of the main findings of a new report from trade association Group Risk Development (GRiD). According to their survey, nearly a quarter of employers (23 percent) believe productivity is an issue facing their business. According to the office for National Statistics (ONS) this is a common problem across the entire UK economy as output per hour is stubbornly around 20 percent below the average for all G7 economies. This is the widest gap ever recorded and, according to GRiD is driving employers to seek ways of addressing their own shortfall with flexible working and wellbeing initiatives as well as investment in new equipment and technology.

October 27, 2015

OECD report urges firms to use Big Data analytics for growth and wellbeing ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

A new OECD report claims that organisations could be doing far more to use the data they and their employees generate to deliver a wide range of social, economic, commercial and personal benefits. In Data-driven innovation for growth and wellbeing, it suggests that governments do more to encourage investment in Big Data and promote data sharing. The report urges countries to act to train more data scientists, reduce barriers to cross-border data flows and encourage investment in business processes to incorporate data analytics. It also claims that few companies outside the ICT sector are changing internal procedures to take advantage of data. This is particularly the case for small and medium-sized companies who face barriers to the adoption of data-related technologies such as The Cloud, partly because they have difficulty implementing organisational change due to limited resources.

October 21, 2015

Far fewer working women than men receive an annual bonus ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, News, Workplace

Nearly three quarters of the UK’s working women don’t receive any form of annual bonus. Glassdoor’s latest UK Employment Confidence Survey found that only 29 percent of women at work receive a bonus, compared to 44 percent of men, which presumably is one reason why 44 percent of men remain positive about the outlook for their employer as opposed to just one in three women. The survey, which is carried out twice a year, also found that over the last six months, nearly half of all businesses in the UK that had made negative changes in the workplace (49 percent) had made employees redundant/and or communicated plans to implement further redundancies. The result is that nearly a third of employees (32 percent) are concerned that they will be made redundant over the next six months, up from 21 percent from the beginning of last year.

October 20, 2015

Majority of US workers keep relationship with boss strictly professional ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

Nearly three-fourths (74 percent) of US employees consider their relationship with their boss to be excellent or good. However, for many employees, that relationship does not extend out of the office. According to staffing company Spherion’s “WorkSphere” survey, American workers who have a boss are split on whether they consider him or her a friend — 49 percent say yes, while 51 percent say no. And, while 82 percent of employees who have a boss report socializing with him or her during work hours or at work-related events, fewer than half of these workers (46 percent) ever see their boss outside of the office, and 41 percent consider their relationship exclusively professional. However, nearly one in five (18 percent) are connected on their personal social media channels; with nearly twice as many workers ages 18-44 (23 percent) engaging with their bosses in this manner than workers ages 45-54 (12 percent).

October 17, 2015

Insight briefing + Changing face of office design + Global cities ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Public Sector, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

This week’s newsletter features our first Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Adrian Campbell says office design needs the direct contribution of its most important influencer, the end user; and Mark Eltringham welcomes a new report that debunks the belief that ‘sitting is the new smoking’. Demand for flexible co-working space looks set to soar; investment in commercial property is at its highest level worldwide since 2008, and businesses continue to find the creation of a productive workplace challenging. Sydney leads the world in Activity Based Working according to the Global Cities report; and working parents in the US are reluctant to let employers know how stressed they really are. Visit our new events page, subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and weekly news here. And follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

October 16, 2015

Sydney leads the way in activity-based working finds global cities report ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace, Workplace design

If employers want to attract the best, they need to create spaces where their staff want to work, because providing an inspiring and enjoyable office is now the most critical, cost-effective way to successfully attract the world’s most talented employees. Knight Frank’s Global Cities: The 2016 Report highlights a shift in thinking by the newest generation of workers who expect the same kind of environment which historically, was the preserve of technology and media firms. This new office combines collaborative spaces with individual work areas, as well as providing amenities that encourage people to think of work as an extension of home. Sydney is leading the way with just under a third (28 percent) of all offices already offering activity-based working (ABW) for employees, where the workspace is specifically designed to suit the whole range of activities which will be accommodated.

October 15, 2015

New research uncovers hours lost due to bad tech, meetings and distractions ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

According to the Productivity at the Office report published this week by comms firm Jabra, UK businesses are continuing to find the creation of a productive workplace challenging. According to the study, although businesses are investing proactively in time and tools for skilled professional office-based staff to effectively collaborate and concentrate with each other, employees continue to face up to 17 different distractions throughout each working day, attend unproductive meetings and struggle to use technology that was originally intended to improve productivity. Amongst the key findings of the report are that 36 percent of respondents think office meetings diminish productivity, 46 percent think noise levels are the most distracting issue in the office and 28 percent are annoyed by too many emails, though 78 percent would rather send an email than make a call to resolve an issue.

October 15, 2015

SMEs appreciate flexibility and freedom of running their own business ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The latest ONS employment figures indicate that the boom in self-employment appears to have ended, as the number of self-employed people has fallen for the first time since before the recession. Yet those who’ve successfully started their own businesses have something to celebrate. According to a report from AXA PPP, SME owners appreciate the greater flexibility (58 percent) and the greater freedom (37 percent) that owning a business gives them. Seventy per cent of owners also said they are proud, inspired, content or fortunate to own their own business, highlighting the positive effects that having control over your working life can bring. More than a third (35 percent) admitted they could delegate more to improve the way they manage their business – with nearly half (47 percent) of business owners reporting that the pressure of work spills over into their home life.

October 13, 2015

Working parents suffer in silence, as managers kept in the dark ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

A new US study of working parents and their managers has found that the combination of work and family responsibilities is causing parents anxiety and depression and keeping them from doing their best at work. The study, the second annual Modern Family Index commissioned by Bright Horizons Family Solutions explored the challenges working parents have in managing their work and family responsibilities and the impact these challenges have on employers. It found that working mothers and fathers feel it’s extremely important to work for a company that supports the needs of working parents (62 percent) and has a culture that addresses their family responsibilities (53 percent). However, there is a growing disconnect between managers and employees about how working parents are feeling. This may be attributed to the fact that even in 2015, most are reluctant to share their concerns with their employers.

October 13, 2015

Third of employers admit rise in numbers of staff coming to work when ill ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Nearly a third of employers have reported an increase in people coming to work while they are ill, according to the annual CIPD / Simplyhealth Absence Management Survey. The survey of nearly 600 employers found that 31 percent have seen an increase in ‘presenteeism’ in the last year. It also claims that any increase is likely to be associated with a culture in which working long hours is seen to be the norm and where operational demands take precedence over wellbeing. Employers that have noticed an increase in presenteeism are nearly twice as likely as those that haven’t to report an increase in stress-related absence, and more than twice as likely to report an increase in mental health problems amongst its staff. However, despite this, nearly three-fifths (56 percent) of organisations that have reported an increase in presenteeism haven’t taken any steps in order to discourage it.

October 10, 2015

UK’s best workplace? + Apple’s new office + Design and happiness ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Newsletter, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s issue; Mark Eltringham says Jeremy Hunt’s views on the UK’s need to work longer hours does not make practical sense and explains why workplace design isn’t the only way to engage people. The Civic Centre & One Stop Shop in Keynsham, near Bath wins ‘Best of the Best workplace in the country’ in the BCO awards; Apple plans to add another tech palace alongside its Norman Foster designed campus in California; and a new survey finds that companies are rethinking the tools they use to keep employees loyal. Employers admit to an ad hoc approach to flexible working practices; millennials prefer value accelerated career paths and diversity over job security; and we preview a new Technology and Trends event. Visit our new events page, subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and weekly news here. And follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.