July 28, 2022

MPs call for Menopause Ambassador role to help women in the workplace

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Lack of support from employers for women with symptoms of the menopause is pushing ‘highly skilled and experienced’ women out of work, claims a new report from the cross-party House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee. The authors call on the Government to act, amending the Equality Act to introduce menopause as a protected characteristic, and to include a duty for employers to provide reasonable adjustments for menopausal employees. The MPs also urge the Government to remove dual prescription charges for oestrogen and progesterone as part of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) nationwide, replacing it with a single charge for all women.

July 25, 2022

Have we arrived at a point of equilibrium in the great workplace conversation?

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Perhaps the greatest irony of the tedious home v office debate is that the absolutists on both sides rely on many of the same fallacies. They tend to build their arguments around a simplistic view of the office and remote work that has little basis in reality. Unsurprisingly, when they do get their way, reality often bites them in the arse. More →

July 21, 2022

Digital presenteeism now a pervasive cultural pressure

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Damaging habits from the office have been imported into remote work, with a pervasive culture of digital presenteeism taking hold, according to a new report Killing Time at Work from Qatalog and GitLab Inc. The research also claims to reveal a new phenomenon which the authors have dubbed ‘async privilege’, with C-suite execs taking advantage of new freedoms to work on their own schedule, but not providing those same opportunities to junior members of staff. More →

July 20, 2022

Toxic work culture continues to bedevil certain sectors

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Healthcare is among the worst industries in the UK for a certain type of toxic work culture, a new study by Delamere claims. The study claims to have identified the industries with the worst attitudes towards what it calls toxic hustle culture. Hustle culture refers to people feeling pressured to work tirelessly in order to constantly make money and be productive. More →

July 20, 2022

People who are proactive at work find their jobs more meaningful

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Being proactive at work is key to finding your job meaningful, a new study from ESSEC Business School suggests. According to the research, undertaken by Karoline Strauss, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at ESSEC Business School, proactivity at work and job meaningfulness are linked, especially when employees are otherwise unsure about the impact their tasks will have. More →

July 14, 2022

There are now fewer taboo workplace subjects, and we should talk about that

by Peter Nagle • Comment, Wellbeing

Rewind even a few years and issues like mental health were not really talked about in the workplace. Now we’ve seen dramatic improvements around certain topics, we should ask what other areas of employees’ lives could employers help with? There’s been a lot of discussion around what employers can do to support women going through the menopause. Though the construction industry is a traditionally male dominated sector, NHS Employers says that “Menopause is not just a gender or age issue as it can impact on colleagues both directly and indirectly and it should therefore be considered as an organisational. issue.” More →

July 13, 2022

ESG reporting is mainly a box ticking exercise, say half of employees

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Wellbeing

Half of employees see ESG reporting as a box-ticking exercise according to a new poll from EcoOnline. The firm’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) survey was conducted in June 2022 and included 124 businesses and their employees. The study found a significant minority of businesses polled are not actively reporting on ESG measures and performance, with 42 percent of survey participants disclosing that their organisation currently has no reporting system in place. More →

July 8, 2022

Four day week should be about people, not productivity

by Mick Jordan • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

You may well have seen the announcement that more than 3,300 workers at 70 UK companies, ranging from a chippy and a distillery to leading financial institutions, have started working a four day week, with no loss of pay, in what is described as ‘the world’s biggest trial of the new working pattern’. The pilot – which will run for six months – is being organised by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with the think tank, Autonomy, and researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College. More →

July 1, 2022

Skills shortages lead to fall in wellbeing, increased workload and decreased profitability

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

According to The Open University’s Business Barometer 2022 report, published in partnership with the British Chambers of Commerce, UK organisations are experiencing the knock-on effect of ongoing skills shortages, as more than three quarters (78 percent) report seeing reduced output, profitability or growth. The Open University’s annual report which sets out to provide an overview of UK skills , also highlighted the effect the skills shortage seems to be having on morale and wellbeing, as almost three-quarters (72 percent) of organisations say the impact increases workload on other staff. More →

June 29, 2022

Workplace green flags to look out for

by Samantha Losey • Comment, Wellbeing

Culturally, and most definitely post-lock down, I think we have all moved to a different level of understanding and involvement when it comes to the value and meaning of workplace wellbeing. We’ve all worked in those organisations that pay lip service to a great culture, amazing benefits, a fun working environment (was that a bean bag I saw?) and then fall so wide of the mark once the HR shine has worn off you that you are left spinning, then stressed, then burnt out. More →

June 27, 2022

The raging truth about burnout

by Stephanie Fitzgerald • Comment, SF, Wellbeing, Workplace

We’re probably all familiar with an image of burnout. People sitting head in hands, or lying in bed staring at the ceiling, unable to get up and get going in the morning. Burnout is once again a topic of the moment as workplaces are left reeling by the “Great Resignation”, and those that are left behind are struggling to cover the resulting gap in knowledge and resource. More →

June 27, 2022

Four in ten people would take unpaid leave to get more time off

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

New research shows British workers are increasingly willing to take measures to achieve better work-life balance, as over 4 in 10 (43 percent) of UK employees would take unpaid leave to get more time off – the second highest amount of all European countries surveyed. The poll from SD Worx, claims that while people want to prioritise taking time off, the struggle is how to disconnect from the working world. Findings show that almost a third (32 percent) of UK employees check their work while they should be offline, and 34 percent say that it’s difficult to let go of workload when on holiday. More →