January 11, 2017

Detoxify the workplace to improve employee wellbeing and productivity ⁰

by Sara Bean • Case studies, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

While most organisations recognise the importance of keeping their employees safe, not enough focus is being given to wellness, and those organisations that do not prioritise employee wellness and design their workplaces accordingly will lose talent and potentially face bottom line repercussions. This is according to AECOM, which is urging organisations to “detoxify” their work environments to improve employee wellbeing. With 9.9 million working days lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety in Great Britain in 2014/151, employees’ health and happiness can have a direct impact on business performance. Making improvements to the physical environment can help organisations create spaces and working cultures that encourage creativity, support wellbeing and increase job satisfaction. More →

January 11, 2017

Office workers have substantially higher rates of obesity than national average ⁰

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

Obesity rates among office workers are substantially higher than other workers, a new report claims. Recent figures have revealed that 63 percent (NOO.org) of UK people entered 2017 either overweight or obese; despite around 35 percent holding a new year’s resolution to lose weight last year, The research also claimed that absent rates due to lifestyle related diseases is costing the British economy over £8.2 billion per year. Following this revelation, in correlation with National Obesity Awareness Week, Savoystewart.co.uk looked at which industries are most in danger of putting on weight due to the nature of their career choice. The statistics highlighted that those working in Leisure and Hospitality are the least likely be at threat, with those overweight and obese at 52 percent; 10 percent less than the national obesity average of 62 percent. In contrast, those working in administration are those most at danger, with obesity rates of 77 percent; a substantial 15 percent higher than the national average.

January 10, 2017

Government plans include improvements to mental health support at work ⁰

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Prime Minister Theresa May has announced a package of measures to address mental health support in schools, workplaces and communities. The plans, which aim to help ensure that no one affected by mental ill-health goes unattended also includes a new partnership with employers to improve mental health support in the workplace. The Prime Minister has appointed Lord Dennis Stevenson, the long-time campaigner for greater understanding and treatment of mental illness, and Paul Farmer CBE, CEO of Mind and Chair of the NHS Mental Health Taskforce, to drive work with business and the public sector to support mental health in the workplace. These experts will lead a review on how best to ensure employees with mental health problems are enabled to thrive in the workplace and perform at their best. This will involve practical help including promoting best practice and learning from trailblazer employers, as well as offering tools to organisations, whatever size they are, to assist with employee well-being and mental health. It will review recommendations around discrimination in the workplace on the grounds of mental health

January 10, 2017

Report calls for ‘workplace guardians’ to support employee wellbeing ⁰

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

Businesses need to shift their focus away from functional issues, such as cost per square metre, and towards the productivity boost that can be delivered through well-designed work spaces which engage employees and make them feel valued. This is according to a new study produced by Interserve, Designing and delivering effective workplace experiences – a practical guide, which argues employers should adopt teams of ‘workplace guardians’ to curate work spaces that support employee wellbeing and overall business performance. The report sets out a six-stage programme for businesses to create effective workplace experiences which it says should be led by a team of experienced workplace coordinators or ‘guardians’ – a process that sees workplaces shaped by employees, for employees. More →

January 2, 2017

Women report more workplace stress than male colleagues, claims study ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

Women in the UK report more work-related stress than men because of workplace biases, the types of work carried out, the burden of taking on extra responsibilities at home and the perception of unequal pay, according to the latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HSE data suggests that women aged 25-54 in Britain are more stressed than their male contemporaries, with this pressure peaking for those aged 35-44, at a time when many are juggling family responsibilities such as caring for children and other family members. According to the HSE data for the period from 2013 to 2016, the prevalence of work-related stress as defined in the report among female workers was 2,250per 100,000, equivalent to around 270,000 workers. Among men the figures were 1,270 per 100,000, or around 200,000 workers. The HSE reported that 11 million working days were lost due to stress between 2015-2016, equating to 37 per cent of employment-related ill health and 45 per cent of days lost.

December 23, 2016

Majority of British workers will work at some point over Christmas and New Year ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Three in five UK employees will work at some point over the Christmas period, a third of staff will curtail their break to return on Tuesday 27th December and 45 percent say working over Christmas is mandatory. These are the key findings of research from Hudson. The firm suggests that growing pressure pressure on companies to meet year round demand is causing employees to work over the traditional holiday period. The quarterly UK office-based workforce survey claims that the majority of workers (61.5 percent), including three quarters of millennials (76 percent), will cut short their festivities to work at some point between Christmas Eve and the January Bank Holiday. More than one third of staff (34 percent) will have to work at least one day between Christmas and New Year, causing problems for the many employees who’ve travelled home to be with their families over the festive period.

December 21, 2016

Employee retention and engagement was top of mind for employers this year ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Employee retention was the top workforce management challenge in 2016, claims a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), with almost one-half of surveyed organizations (46 percent) citing it as a top challenge in 2016. Other top workforce management challenges for at least one-third of organizations were: employee engagement (36 percent), recruitment (34 percent) and succession planning (33 percent). SHRM’s survey Influencing Workplace Culture Though Employee Recognition and Other Efforts, which was produced in collaboration with and commissioned by Globoforce, found that as employers look for ways to deal with the challenges of low employee retention and high turnover, more organizations are tying employee recognition efforts to their core values.The majority of respondents indicated that their employee recognition programs had positive impacts on employee engagement, workplace culture, retention and employee happiness.

December 19, 2016

Direct causal link between wellbeing and corporate performance, claims study ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

A new report published by IZA World of Labor claims that a rise in workers’ happiness and wellbeing leads to an increase in productivity. The study from economist Dr Eugenio Proto, of the University of Warwick’s Department of Economics and Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE) concludes that companies would profit from investment in their employees’ wellbeing. It cites the experience of large companies that have recently highlighted the importance of employee wellbeing in their company profiles. The authors claims that, until recently, evidence for a link between employee wellbeing and company performance has been sparse and that their own study shows a positive correlation between a rise in happiness and an increase in productivity. Proto believes that finding causal links between employee wellbeing and company performance is important for firms to justify spending corporate resources to provide a happier work environment for their employees and that the available evidence suggests that companies can be encouraged to introduce policies to increase employee happiness.

December 16, 2016

Millennials more tuned-in to discrimination at work than other generations ⁰

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Millennials have widely divergent experiences and attitudes toward diversity and inclusion within the workplace than older generations, claims a new US-based report. In the research from the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) and Weber Shandwick into the importance that people place on diversity and inclusion (D&I) when considering a new job found that 47 percent of Millennials consider it an important criterion in their job search compared to 33 percent of Gen Xers and 37 percent of Boomers. Nearly six in 10 of all employed Americans (58 percent) report that they see or hear about some form of discrimination and/or bias at their workplace, most frequently racial or ethnic in nature (22 percent). Millennials are significantly more likely than older generations to be attuned to such behaviour at work, and also much more comfortable discussing these issues at work than their older colleagues. The survey also asked respondents why they believe employers emphasise diversity and inclusion in the workplace. All three generations cited “To make it a better place to work” among their top three reasons. Millennials also recognize increased opportunities while reputational benefits and outside pressures are noticed by Gen Xers and Boomers.

December 15, 2016

Commuting – stressful, annoying or just another opportunity? ⁰

by Mike James • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Unless you work at home you will have to commute to work in some form or another and for many people this part of the day can become such a negative factor it can impact on productivity, job satisfaction and even cause depression. However, what if we tried to look at commuting in a different light? What if we took a step back and attempted to turn all those wasted hours into something good and maybe even something productive? Depending on what source you read and when the study was done the average commute in the UK is between 50 minutes and 1 hour 38 minutes. This mean in any given working week most people are spending around 10 to 16 hours getting to and from work. If this amount of “down time” appeared during the working day business owners and managers would take it very seriously indeed. However, as the time falls outside of the employees work remit and essentially the company doesn’t need that person before and after work it is not discussed. The problem is, employees do feel like it is part of the working day and this leads to resentment, stress, fatigue and possible depression not to mention lower productivity.

December 9, 2016

Baby boomers better off at work but their wellbeing must be managed ⁰

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

A new report on the state of the public’s health and wellbeing, ‘Baby Boomers: Fit for the Future’, by Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer for England, advises that good quality work is good for baby boomers’ health and that employers have a role to play by helping their staff to remain healthy enough to stay in employment. According to the report on those aged between 50 and 70, there is an increasing body of evidence that for most people ‘good work’ is good for personal health, organisational productivity and economic prosperity. It also advises since many people define themselves and their position in society in terms of their job, staying in employment is also a significant contributor to self-esteem. The report also finds there is promising evidence that the continued social engagement that some people find in employment may defer the onset of cognitive decline and the risk of dementia.

December 8, 2016

Presenteeism culture in the US means sick staff spread colds and virus at work ⁰

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

In the United States where taking a sick day is frowned upon heavily and where the annual number of holiday days are around half of that of the UK, going to work when you’re ill is almost a mark of dedication. However, for the unfortunate colleagues of those who display such martyred behaviours, trying to avoid cold and flu in the workplace has reached desperate levels, as nearly half of people in a recent survey would give up a vacation day to a sick worker to ensure they don’t bring illness to the workplace. According to the seventh annual cold and flu season survey from Staples, while the workforce is keenly aware of the dangers as well as prevention tactics surrounding seasonal illness, personal accountability remains low, with nearly 80 percent of employees still going to work sick. This is despite the fact that employers increasingly appreciate that a sick employee at home is much preferable than one who has struggled into work.