Employer support for domestic abuse survivors must adapt to reflect changing hybrid working patterns

Employer support for domestic abuse survivors must adapt to reflect changing hybrid working patterns

domestic abuseNew research commissioned by Vodafone Foundation ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on 25 November 2021 claims that a third of workers experienced domestic abuse during the last 12 months, with more than half of those saying that abuse had increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. (more…)

Social mobility is restricted by lack of confidence and support in careers

Social mobility is restricted by lack of confidence and support in careers

social mobilityA new report from Totaljobs and the Social Mobility Foundation claims that the social mobility of millions of people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds is hampered by a lack of confidence in choice of career and lower levels of support from families and friends. Of those that started their first job in the last two years, only 50 percent from lower socioeconomic backgrounds said they were confident about eventually being able to do the job they want. This contrasts with the 71 percent of those from more privileged, professional backgrounds. This gap has widened since the pandemic. (more…)

Toxic workplace culture impacting the mental health of almost half of workforce

Toxic workplace culture impacting the mental health of almost half of workforce

toxic workplaceTwo in five employees across the UK have experienced problematic behaviour, such as bullying, harassment or discrimination at work; with 42 percent confirming toxic workplace culture has impacted their mental health, according to research from Culture Shift. The study (registration) also claims over one third have felt silenced on issues that matter to them in the workplace, while 29 percent have taken time off due to an incident that happened at work, such as bullying, harassment, discrimination or sexual misconduct. A further 41 percent confirmed bad workplace culture has impacted their productivity and 42 percent have previously left a job due to negative workplace culture. (more…)

People professionals boosted their skills in response to pandemic challenges

People professionals boosted their skills in response to pandemic challenges

professionalsNearly two thirds (61 percent) of HR and people professionals strengthened their skills – through either upskilling or reskilling – as a result of their organisation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest People Profession survey report from the CIPD and Workday claims. (more…)

Employee experience is more important than ever

Employee experience is more important than ever

Work cafe by Boss and the employee experienceEmployee experience has never been so high on the corporate agenda; with recent figures finding that over 69 percent of businesses are currently concerned about talent shortages and difficulty hiring. With this in mind, organisations that want to grow must provide a market leading experience in order to remain competitive and attract and retain new talent. Companies that invest in their unique employee experience make four times more profit than those who don’t. (more…)

HR leaders’ number one priority for 2022 is building critical skills and competencies

HR leaders’ number one priority for 2022 is building critical skills and competencies

critical skillsNearly 60 percent of HR leaders reported that building critical skills and competencies will be their number one priority in 2022, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. The survey of more than 550 HR leaders in July 2021, claims the other top HR priorities for 2022 are: organisational design and change management (48 percent), current and future leadership bench (45 percent), the future of work (42 percent) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) (35 percent). (more…)

COVID-19 has contributed to the gender pay gap

COVID-19 has contributed to the gender pay gap

womenAccording to new research by the ADP Research Institute, People at Work 2021: A Global Workforce View, women are being left behind when it comes to being rewarded financially for taking on new roles or additional responsibilities to fill gaps left by COVID-19 related job losses. (more…)

Resilient companies need the trust of their employees more than ever

Resilient companies need the trust of their employees more than ever

Since offices reopened, there has naturally been a much greater focus on health and safety. Office managers everywhere have deployed one-way corridors, anti-viral disinfectant wipes, and daily temperature checks in order to ensure that those who have returned to the office feel safe. Globally, businesses have learned to cope with these adverse circumstances, but there are other lessons from the past year that we should use to refresh the workplace as well. (more…)

One in five employers have changed employees’ terms and conditions since pandemic onset

One in five employers have changed employees’ terms and conditions since pandemic onset

terms and conditionsOne in five employers (22 percent) have made changes to employees’ terms and conditions of employment between March 2020 and July 2021, according to new research from the CIPD. The most common changes were to location of work (49 percent), followed by hours of work (47 percent) and pay levels (44 percent), redundancy/terms pay (22 percent) and access to enhanced contractual entitlements/incentives (20 percent). (more…)

Over a third of UK adults have suffered discrimination at work

Over a third of UK adults have suffered discrimination at work

discriminationNew research into workplace discrimination, commissioned by CIPHR, claims just how widespread employment bias is in the UK. On average, one in six people (16 percent) report having suffered ageism, one in ten (10 percent) say they have been the subject of gender-based discrimination (12 percent of women and 7 percent of men), and around one in twelve feel that they have been on the receiving end of prejudicial treatment because of a disability, their race or sexual orientation (9 percent, 9 percent and 8 percent respectively), at some point in their careers. (more…)

UK workers expect to be oldest retirees in Europe

UK workers expect to be oldest retirees in Europe

UK workers have the oldest expected retirement age out of five European countries, according to new research from HR software provider SD Worx. When compared to other countries in Europe, the UK is at the top of the list for oldest expected retirement age, with people now expecting to retire at an average age of 66.67 years old. This is followed by: The Netherlands (65.94 years old); Belgium (65.33 years old); Germany (64.48 years old); and France (64.36 years old). (more…)

Changing workplace means a changing role for finance heads

Changing workplace means a changing role for finance heads

pwc workplaceThe CFO and Finance Director role is undergoing rapid change. Not only are they required to manage the traditional priorities of the job, but they must now also juggle a wide array of operational, transactional and commercial responsibilities. With added pressure from clients because of Covid-19 and a rapidly evolving workplace, the role is increasingly hard to navigate. To gain a deeper insight into this and the evolution and future planning of a department that is central to the success of modern businesses, Totum recently surveyed CFOs and Finance Directors from among UK headquartered legal firms with annual revenue of £20m or more. (more…)