August 24, 2017

UK workers waste over two hours a day on social media and other distractions

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

UK workers spend just 3.7 days out of five doing office-related work, a new survey has claimed. According to research by Rebootonline.com – workers spend more than two hours a day procrastinating; including around three hours and five minutes of a working week on social media. In monetary terms this means companies are paying out on average £8,851.14 per employee for this time wasted annually. In the survey of UK office workers, it was discovered that on average, they were spending 122 minutes a day procrastinating; essentially, only working 73 percent of the hours they are employed to do. The annual income for office workers surveyed averaged at £32,782. Taking this into account, workers spend 27 percent of their time not doing the job they have been paid to, with companies paying out £8,851.14 per employee for this time wasted. The use of social media at work during office hours was the most popular form of internet usage; with 38 percent of office employees browsing social media sites more than any other website; with people spending 33 minutes’ daily surfing other websites.

August 23, 2017

UK employers concerned for future of the post Brexit economy despite booming jobs market

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Employer confidence in the UK economy has moved into negative territory, according to the latest JobsOutlook survey by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC). The net balance fell from +6 per cent last month to -3 per cent in the latest report, as 31 per cent of employers now expect the economy to worsen and just 28 per cent expect it to improve. Employers are still looking to hire, with one in five (19 per cent) planning to increase permanent headcount in the next three months. Confidence in making hiring and investment decisions remains positive with a net balance of 10 per cent, but is at its lowest for the past year. In addition to signs of deteriorating employer confidence, consumers are also becoming more pessimistic. The GfK’s index of consumer confidence fell to -12, equalling last year’s post-referendum low.

August 22, 2017

Employees with higher levels of trust and autonomy at work are more productive

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

Employees who feel trusted by their employer to manage how and when they work for themselves can improve their levels of productivity, a new survey suggests. The research by Peldon Rose claims that UK workers rate feelings of trust and autonomy from employers and colleagues as increasingly important in keeping them productive and happy in the workplace. But the survey also shows that many employers are failing to provide employees with the resources and support they need to manage their workload and keep them motivated. Although the majority of staff (59 percent) say they work most productively in the office, a third (33 percent) wish they were more trusted to manage how and when they work and 42 percent say that their office does not support a culture that allows them to work flexibly. Despite the clear value that staff place on trust and autonomy, employers are overlooking an opportunity to create a confident and self-motivated workforce.

August 18, 2017

The reason you may not be successful at work could be down to pure blirtatiousness

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

This may seem obvious, but your personality must fit with your network in order to be trusted and successful, new research from UCL School of Management and Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, claims. Otherwise, your friendships might clash with your job. A common situation at work is to have two sets of friends who are not friends with each other. Both sets demand time, attention, and even favouritism from the person in the middle, known as the friendship broker. These expectations put pressure on the broker who must respond with whatever personality resources he or she has available. Some people are able to call upon personality resources that are well adapted to the goal of maintaining trust among their separate and potentially conflicting sets of friends. Other people find themselves unable to maintain trust as they move between different cliques.

August 18, 2017

Board buy-in is key to closing employment gap for disabled people in workplace

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

There continues to be a significant gap between the employment rate of disabled people and the rest of the population; according to the Office for National Statistics, just 49 percent of disabled people of working age are in employment. This is why getting genuine buy-in from the top is key to improving levels of disability disclosure and helping to facilitate requests for workplace adjustments. That was the conclusion of a recent round table hosted by the Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative (RIDI) which also found that while some HR and diversity specialists are sceptical about the level of support available from senior leadership teams, once the topic is brought to the attention of the board, the response is often overwhelmingly positive. Practical ways in which leaders can bolster disability initiatives shared at the event include; identifying disability champions within the business who can communicate their own stories, implementing unconscious bias training, instigating & reverse-mentoring initiatives where senior managers are partnered with disabled colleagues and leading by example by being open about their own disabilities.

August 18, 2017

Almost a quarter of Millennials are unhappy in their current work situation

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A majority (85 percent) of 18-34 year olds feel they are not putting their professional ambitions into practice and almost a quarter are unhappy at work, claims a new survey of Millennials by one of the UK’s largest independent higher education institutions, GSM London. By 2020, millennials will make up 35 percent of the global workforce, but despite being the generation told that they can have it all, nearly a third (32 percent) of those surveyed described their work as a ‘means to an end’, with 64 percent describing themselves as having just a ‘job’ rather than a meaningful ‘career’. However, when it comes to pursuing a more meaningful career path, a quarter of respondents cited the pressure of uncertainty (25 percent), disruption to lifestyle (24 percent) and lack of confidence (22 percent) as the main barriers stopping them from fulfilling their goals.

August 17, 2017

Ethnic diversity in FTSE 100 leadership pipeline improves for first time in four years

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

A new study from recruitment consultancy Green Park claims that the leadership pipeline, supplying the highest tier of management in FTSE 100 companies now includes the highest level of ethnic minority talent for four years. According to the study, progress is being made with ethnic minorities moving up the management funnel, though at five percent of those in the pipeline it still is not a fair representation of British society. While the pipeline is improving there remains a question over whether minorities can break through the glass ceiling, as the top roles in companies remain a closed shop for ethnic minority and female leaders. There has been a decrease of 18 percent in the number of ethnic minorities holding positions at Chair, CEO and CFO level in FTSE 100 companies. Almost six in 10 (58 percent) main boards in the FTSE100 currently have no ethnic minority presence. This is a slight improvement on the 62 companies that recorded all-white main boards in last year’s report. Yet it calls into question whether the target set in Sir John Parker’s consultation document that no FTSE board should remain mono-racial by 2020 will be met.

August 15, 2017

Millennials less likely to work remotely as they feel prohibited from working flexibly

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

There is growing sentiment among younger workers that flexible working is less a right – as outlined by the Government in 2014 – and more a ‘selective benefit’ for a choice group of employees. New research by Michael Page claims that two thirds (67 percent) of millennials believe employees with families are more encouraged to work flexibly than their single colleagues, and 6 in 10 (61 percent) feel the same flexible working privilege appears to apply more to senior co-workers, with junior team members more often discouraged from flexible working initiatives. Nearly half (43 percent) say it is a benefit reserved for management and senior leadership only. As a result, more than 8 in 10 (84 percent) office based millennial employees do not work from home in an average working week – with 82 percent of those saying they are not able or allowed to. This is despite the fact that three quarters (76 percent) of UK office workers confirm that their employer offers flexible working options.

August 15, 2017

Job vacancies are on the rise, but pay and productivity remains stagnant

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

UK employment is predicted to grow strongly in the third quarter of 2017, but wage growth is likely to remain weak, according to the latest CIPD/The Adecco Group Labour Market Outlook. Although the UK labour market remains buoyant, basic pay award expectations for the next 12 months remain at just 1 percent. Put against the backdrop of poor productivity growth, the report points to an increase in labour supply over the past year as a key factor behind the modest pay projection. This is driven by relatively sharp increases in the number of non-UK nationals from the EU, ex-welfare claimants and 50-64 year olds. This increase in labour supply may explain why the jobs market remains challenging for some jobseekers, especially those seeking lower-skilled jobs. Employers report a median number of 24 applicants for the last low-skilled vacancy they tried to fill, compared with 19 candidates for the last medium-skilled vacancy and eight applicants for the last high-skilled vacancy they were seeking to fill. Overall, employers felt that around half of applicants were suitable for each role they were trying to fill.

August 11, 2017

Reducing the risk of personal gambling becoming a corporate fraud issue

by Andrew Durant • Comment, Workplace

A recently leaked confidential report for the betting industry says that, if introduced, the new rules to encourage responsible gambling in the UK would lead to closure of half of the country’s bookmakers and the loss of around 20,000 jobs. The report follows widespread concerns about the controversial use, and misuse, of Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) in betting shops which, have been shown to be one of the major causes for problem gambling behaviour (due to their addictive play). They allow customers to place wagers as high as £100 every twenty seconds. With gambling becoming ever more accessible through the spread of FOBTs, the growing number of online betting platforms and access to casinos on the high street, the pressure of funding a gambling habit has become one of the main reasons why people commit corporate fraud.

August 10, 2017

Could a four-day week help improve UK productivity?

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

Over half (61 percent) of office workers believe they’d improve their performance levels if they worked a four-day week; and 40 percent believe they would be more productive working remotely. This is according to new research which claims that UK productivity has fallen dramatically, with one in three (31 percent) office workers admitting they are unproductive for a huge two hours every day. The report, commissioned by office products firm Fellowes, argues that despite being the fifth largest economy in the world, the UK sits 15th in the productivity table, lagging behind the likes of Sweden (31 hours p/w), Denmark (27.2 hours p/w) and Norway (27.3 p/w) – who all work, on average, less hours per week than Brits (32 hours p/w). As a third of workers are essentially working a six-hour day, many believe it’s time to look towards Scandinavian countries like Sweden – who recently trialled a 6-hour working day – where employees have more flexibility to choose when and where they work. More →

August 9, 2017

Over a quarter of employers are struggling to keep their workforce engaged

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

Nearly one in three (28 percent) of employers are struggling to keep their employees engaged, claims new research from totaljobs, with staff spending too much time internet browsing, being constantly late and chatting with colleagues. Over half of employers said lower productivity (59 percent) and internet browsing (55 percent) were clear signs of lower engagement they were seeing in the workplace. Worryingly, 62 percent said poor performance was a common problem as a result of a lack of engagement. Almost half (48 percent) of employers also report disengaged employees continue to arrive late and leave early, while 41 percent said chatting with colleagues suggested a lack of workplace engagement. The same number again said taking too many breaks during work hours might also indicate disengagement, as well as employees appearing distracted. But when it comes to tackling a lack of employee engagement, one in two employers (51 percent) said clear communication, via email, newsletters and team meetings for example, was an effective strategy to improve engagement. Nearly half (46 percent) of employers said setting out clear objectives for both individuals and teams was also effective.