December 16, 2015

Lack of childcare common reason for staff absences in small businesses ⁰

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

A new survey has found that a lack of childcare is a common reason for employee absence amongst SME employers, many of whom remain none the wiser as their absent member of staff prefers to ring in sick. The survey of 500 UK SME employees conducted by digital group risk insurer Ellipse, found that 22 percent have had to take a day off to look after their sick child, even when they are well themselves. It comes as the top reason for UK employees calling in sick with a further 6 per cent admitting to taking a day off to care for an elderly relative. With 24 per cent of employees believing that their employer doesn’t know about every sick day they’d taken, this suggests that employers are likely to be missing absence traits. This hypothesis is supported by a separate Ellipse survey of 250 SME managers, where 32 percent of employers admitted they don’t have a good enough process for recording absence.

December 16, 2015

Employers failing to exploit positive influence on employee health ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Three-quarters of UK employers believe they are responsible for positively influencing employee health, yet many do not appear to be doing much to ensure this happens. The annual Benefits and Trends Survey by Aon Employee Benefits found that 75 percent of businesses believe they are responsible for changing employee health and wellbeing behaviours, yet 72 percent still do not currently have a specific budget for it and 38 percent do not use any data or analytics to inform their strategy. It found that only 25 percent of employers have a branded health and wellness programme in place. More encouragingly though, a significant minority (14 percent) said that senior leadership acted as advocates of employee health, while 12 percent had location-based wellness champions. Perhaps because it doesn’t directly impact the bottom line, the most popular health and wellbeing tactic is a flexible approach to working, with 53 percent of employers saying this is offered.

December 13, 2015

Best Places to Work + Make the most of each day + Strategic role of offices ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Furniture, Newsletter, Wellbeing

In this week’s newsletter; Mark Eltringham on the prescience of philosopher Seneca on a time and a place to work; and a report by Sara Bean finds the boardroom increasingly views office space as a strategic asset. Glassdoor announces the best places to work for 2016; researchers reveal the phenomenon of ‘inattentional deafness’; a new Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction is announced; and Gartner says we’ll be using three technical devices by 2018. Over 100 councils to join an office-sharing scheme; Gen Z will blur the boundaries between home and work, and too much focus on standing in the sit-stand debate. Download the new issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

December 11, 2015

Concentrating on visual tasks can lead to temporary deafness ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

A new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience has found that when people concentrate more on visual tasks, they can go deaf momentarily. Based on brain scans from 13 volunteers, the researchers from UCL, the Wellcome Trust and Newcastle University concluded that the senses of hearing and vision share a limited neural resource. So, when people are focussed on a demanding visual task, the brain’s response to sound can be significantly reduced. Examination of people’s ability to detect sounds during the visual demanding task also showed a higher rate of failures to detect sounds, even though the sounds were clearly audible and people did detect them when the visual task was easy. Lead researcher Dr Maria Chait said the phenomenon of ‘inattentional deafness’, where we fail to notice sounds when concentrating on other things, confirms earlier research.

December 10, 2015

Report claims we will probably all be using at least three devices by 2018 ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Wellbeing, Work&Place

If you ever feel completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of technology demanding your time and attention, rest assured that things are only going to get worse. A new report from tech analysts Gartner claims that as each new type of device enters the market, we don’t choose between it and what we already have, we simply add the latest addition to our technological armoury. This challenges the commonly held assumption that people choose between different devices as new ones emerge. The report suggests that by 2018, a typical user in a mature technological market will own and use at least three devices including phones, tablets, PCs and wearable tech. Worryingly, the study also suggests we will use more than two devices per person at any given time. The report suggests that during 2016, the installed base of devices will total 7.8 billion units worldwide and is on track to reach 8.3 billion units in 2018.

December 9, 2015

Generation Z imagines its future workplace design, pods and all ⁰

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

Research by Leesman Index (among others) shows how the design of learning environments influences a student’s choice of university. This thinking now also applies to offices, with the commercial office design sector creating the kind of facilities available on the modern university campus. A new workshop organised by furniture brand HÅG has discovered how Generation Z imagines its future workplace. For example, in the same way that a college library offers collaborative and silent spaces; the young people in the workshop didn’t share the current trend of shared workspaces but wanted a mix of collaborative areas combined with isolated working pods that they could customise for their own requirements and mood. However, Gen Z goes further than ever, in blurring the boundaries between home and work, with a great deal more emphasis on wellbeing and areas to relax compared to previous generations.

December 4, 2015

Zero-hours contract employees happy as permanent, full-time staff ⁰

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

People working on zero-hours contracts have less pressure and a better work-life balance than full time employees, a survey published by the CIPD claims. Zero-hours employees experience similar levels of job satisfaction and personal wellbeing to employees on permanent, full-time contracts and also report comparable satisfaction levels in their relationships with managers and colleagues. However, the report also shows that, while the majority of zero-hours employees choose to work part-time, they are more likely than part-time employees to say they would like to work additional hours. The research also updates the CIPD estimate of the number of employees on zero-hours contracts, which has increased from 1 million in 2013 to 1.3 million in 2015. The proportion of zero-hours contract employees who are either very satisfied or satisfied with their jobs is 65 percent, compared to 63 percent for all employees.

December 2, 2015

Too much focus on standing in the sit-stand debate say ergonomics experts ⁰

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

Campaigners have been keen to promote the health benefits of adjustable or sit-stand workstations. However, according to the latest advice from the experts at the Ergonomics Program at Colorado State University’s Office of Risk Management and Insurance, too much focus has been placed on standing more and sitting less, when the mixture of the two postures is most important. Although sitting for too long can have detrimental effects on the body, standing for too long has its own set of detriments such as pooling of blood in the feet, increased back pain, varicose veins and even an increased risk of atherosclerosis (i.e. hardening and narrowing of the arteries). At the recent U.S. National Ergonomics Conference and Exposition, Dr. Joan Vernikos, former director of life sciences at NASA, simply said to stand up often. “Standing up often, at least 30 times a day, is a powerful antidote to sitting,” she said.

November 17, 2015

Office politics, heavy workloads and poor managers create anxious workers ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

A third (33 percent) of UK workers cite office politics as a major contributing factor to feelings of unhappiness in the workplace. According to new research from recruiter Adecco over half (57 percent) of workers name a heavy workload as the cause of stress and anxiety, whilst 33 percent cite a lack of managerial support. The research revealed that negative feelings are having a significant impact on people’s working lives with nearly a third (29 percent) of UK workers spending every Sunday dreading the coming working week. A third (33 percent) of workers described their workplace as unhappy and a worrying 28 percent of workers admit that they fear going into work so much that they have called in sick. An additional third (36 percent) would now consider leaving their employer due to such severe anxiety and more worryingly, one in ten (9%) have already taken that step due to such overwhelming feelings of unhappiness.

November 15, 2015

Acas analysis for anti-bullying week reveals workplace bullying is on the rise ⁰

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

Workplace bullying is on the rise but many people are too afraid to talk about it according to a new study by Acas published to mark the beginning of anti-bullying week. The paper Seeking better solutions: tackling bullying and ill-treatment in Britain’s workplaces looks at the latest research on workplace bullying as well as calls to the Acas helpline. The analysis claims that bullying and ill-treatment is growing in Britain; and there are more incidents of bullying within certain groups such as public sector minority ethnic workers; women in traditionally male-dominated occupations; workers with disabilities or long-term health problems; lesbian, gay and bisexual and transgender people; and workers in health care. The helpline has received around 20,000 calls over the past year with some callers reporting that bullying caused them to self-harm or consider suicide.

November 14, 2015

Where to have great ideas + Workplace professions + London’s office market ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Property, Wellbeing, Work&Place

In this week’s newsletter; Giuseppe Boscherini explores the growing importance of creativity at work; Mark Eltringham argues that the three professions of the workplace, HR, IT and FM need to adapt and notes a growing disconnect between a firm’s earnings and the number of people it employs. In commercial property, demand for office space in London continues to overwhelm its availability, with English regions outside the Capital leading construction growth. High job demands, stress and job insecurity are among the main reasons why people go to work when they are ill, and data shows the Internet of things will connect 6.4 billion objects next year. You can also download the new issue of Work&Place and access our first Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

November 12, 2015

Workers say regular wellness reviews would help improve productivity ⁰

by Sara Bean • Wellbeing, Workplace

Over half of UK employees are struggling to make long-term changes to their lifestyles, but believe they could adopt healthier practices with more help from their employers, new research by Bupa claims. In the study of 2,000 UK employees, 52 percent admitted that their changes generally last no longer than a few weeks, and just 7 percent have been completely successful. But more than 85 percent of employees believe they would be more productive if they were able to stick to positive lifestyle changes in the long-term, two in five (44 percent) would love their work to help them make positive changes to their lifestyle and half (48 percent) say a regular wellness review would help with this. The research showed that three quarters of employees (73 percent) have chosen to change their lifestyle to feel more physically healthy, with nearly half (46 percent) changing to improve mental health.