Workplace wellness programmes can reduce obesity levels of staff 0

Workplace wellness programme can reduce obesity levelsWorkplace wellness programmes can help people lose weight, but are more effective when staff are actively involved in the process, a new study has found. The results of a two-year project published in the American Journal of Public Health show that providing healthier food choices and increasing opportunities for physical activity, successfully reduced the number of people considered overweight or obese by almost 9 percent. Results were particularly good when these efforts were designed with the input and active participation of employees. An estimated 68 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. As they spend on average a third of their lives at work; researchers based at the University of Rochester’s Department of Public Health Sciences worked with a local company to see how effective workplace intervention could be in addressing the obesity problem.

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Video: Perry Timms lays down some thoughts on the future of work

Video: Perry Timms lays down some thoughts on the future of work 0

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Regular readers will know we’re not too fond of the F Word at Insight. This isn’t because we think there is nothing to talk about when it comes to the future (what else did you think we meant?) of work and workplaces. We just believe that the word is now routinely misapplied to justify an endless effluvia of simplistic nonsense, absurd generalisations, undisguised commercialism and wishful thinking. Not to mention the eternally tedious idea that the ‘office of the future’ can be defined in very specific ways based on a few supposedly cool but actually infantile features borrowed from primary schools. Fortunately, all this misdirection makes the informed, wise and sober reflections of Perry Timms all the more powerful when he spoke recently at TedX in Bucharest to outline the challenges and opportunities of the future of work.

One in three employees have experienced conflict at work, reports CIPD

Workplace conflictAs many as one in ten employees are leaving their organisation as a result of workplace conflict, research from the CIPD has revealed. One in three UK employees (38%) have experienced some form of interpersonal conflict at work in the last year – this includes one in four (29%) who have had isolated disputes or clashes and a further one in four (28%) who report ongoing difficult relationships. However, there appears to be a clear power differential at play, with employees being most likely to perceive a lack of respect, bullying or harassment from their boss or other superiors and as many as 1 in 4 said that their line manager actively creates conflict. Employees reported conflicts as being most often with line managers or other superiors (36%) rather than with direct reports (10%). This results in individuals feeling stressed and can lead to a drop in commitment or motivation.

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Managing the Millennials should be no different to the other generations

Mult-generational workersThere is much debate about the way the group known as Millennials should be treated. Millennials, those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, are viewed as different to my peers, Generation X (those born in the 60s and 70s), and certainly vastly different in outlook to the post-war Baby Boomers and the pre-war Veterans. A stereotypical view is that these newbies are highly ambitious and want everything ‘now’, for example, regular pay rises and instant promotion without putting in the work. Yet I believe that Millennials should not be viewed as a distinct group and what we are in fact seeing are long-term changes as a result of trends in society and the workplace. So while employers may recognise the particular needs of Millennials it is these long-term changes they should really be addressing.

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“Toxic” employees create stressed co-workers, with over half more likely to quit

Toxic employees can make over half of co-workers more likely to quit finds reportMembers of staff who have a negative influence on those around them, and create a poisonous atmosphere in the office, do not affect the overall productivity of their colleagues, but are more likely to make them want to leave. “Toxic employees” make their teammates 54 percent more likely to quit and cost employers up to three times more in hiring fees, finds “Toxic Employees in the Workplace” a new US-based report by Cornerstone. The indirect costs of toxic employees, as measured by the toll they take on co-workers, can have a far greater overall impact and create an even larger financial burden on the business than the direct costs of an employee’s misbehaviour. While these individuals have a negligible effect on the performance of their co-workers, the research suggests they have a stronger influence on stress and burnout than on day-to-day task completion.

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UK labour productivity continues to flatline in spite of upturn

flatline_8205UK labour productivity continues to flatline in spite of the recent economic upturn, according to a new report from the Office for National Statistics. Overall productivity as measured by output per hour fell by 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared with the previous quarter. In 2014 as a whole, labour productivity was little changed from 2013, and slightly lower than in 2007, prior to the economic downturn. As ever, the devil is in the detail. There were notable increases in productivity in both manufacturing and construction but the modest gains in service industries obscure the fact that there is a great deal of variation across sectors and also the fact that any gains reflect a greater number of hours worked rather than an increase in the overall number of people employed or their underlying productivity.

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Flexible working and recognition linked to happiness at work

happiness at workThe eternal quest for happiness is the subject of two new reports which conclude that if you want to feel more satisfied with your working life, it’s important to feel as if you are in control of it. New research from Professor Andy Charlwood at Loughborough University claims that government and employer policies that give people greater flexibility to choose the hours they work helps to foster their wellbeing and that overworked people are less satisfied with their lives and experience lower levels of psychological wellbeing overall. A second, less scientific study commissioned by US software provider InLoox claims that one of the most important determinants of happiness at work is an ability to work unsupervised or not to report to anybody at all so, if you must have a job, make sure you’re in charge.

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London workers take longer lunch breaks than staff in other regions

lunch breaksLondon’s workers take 25 percent longer for lunch break than their contemporaries elsewhere in the UK, according to Avanta’s London Worker Index. The report, based on a survey of 1,500 people in the capital, also found that some 24 percent of male workers report using their lunch break to take a nap, compared to just 14 percent of their female colleagues. In addition to napping, the survey found that 54 percent of London workers use their lunch break to go shopping, whilst a similar number (52 percent) run errands. More than a quarter (27 percent) visit the gym and over a third (28 percent) meet up with friends. However, not every Londoner is quite so lucky. Almost a quarter (23 percent) of Londoners skip lunch three or more times per week, and one in ten don’t take lunch breaks at all.

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SMEs provide the key to encouraging more women onto boards

SMEs should encourage more women onto boardsResearch from the Government, released last week, found that women now accounted for 23.5 percent of FTSE100 board members, up from 12.5 per cent in 2011. The target is 25 per cent by the end of this year, meaning that another 17 women need to be appointed. However the research showed that small companies are less diverse at the top, with woman accounting for 18 percent of directors of FTSE250 boards. As Chairman of a company which employs 220 people, I believe that unleashing the potential of women in the business is an excellent way to grow and develop organisations. The female perspective is very powerful in every issue within a business. It adds enormous value to clients, can often save money by offering a different way of doing things and creates a better working environment.

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Gamification remains a mystery to employees and unused by many firms

gamificationAlthough it’s currently one of the most talked about workplace ideas, gamification remains a mystery to many workers and even HR professionals keen on the idea are probably not doing much about it. Those are two of the findings of a report from consultancy Penna based on interviews with 2,000 HR directors and employees. The study set out to explore how well senior HR professionals understood gamification, its uses and their perception of the barriers to adoption. Researchers also asked employees about their level of ‘everyday engagement’ with gamification and whether they recognise it as a concept. Over half (52 percent) of HR directors claim to be ‘massively interested’ in the idea although 44 percent also agreed that their organisation was ‘not at all interested’. Remarkably the survey also found that 89 percent of employees don’t even know what it is.

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The latest issue of the newsletter is now available to view online

Insight_twitter_logo_2In this week’s issue; we glimpse the lives of Japanese workers who reject social norms and instead choose to live in Internet cafes; a new report explores how artificial light and the dark affect us in more ways than we might think; HSBC announces its plans to relocate a thousand employees from London to Birmingham; the civil service looks for better ways to meet the needs of disabled staff and overcome their current barriers to career progression; the Government reports on the state of its estate including a look at how it is introducing new ways of working to drive change; a new report lays out the challenges and opportunities of the much talked abut subject of workplace wellbeing; and Anna King offers some thoughts on this year’s MIPIM event. Sign up to the newsletter via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar and follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

Civil service addresses work conditions and careers of disabled employees

disabled employeesThe UK Cabinet Office has published a report in partnership with Disability Rights UK to look at ways the Civil Service can better support the careers of its 27,000 staff with disabilities and health conditions. The report claims that ensuring that disabled employees ‘fulfil their potential makes basic business sense and would significantly enhance the Service’s performance.’ It claims that there has been some progress since the last report on the subject in 1998, but that barriers remain. Nearly 9 percent of civil service employees now claim to have a disability which is more than double the reported rate of 4.1 percent in 1998. The report identifies the underlying challenges and looks to share best practice. It notes that while there is strong commitment to disability equality from senior champions, this has not been translated into line manager action and cultural change.

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