The golden age of procrastination and the tyranny of time keeping

The golden age of procrastination and the tyranny of time keeping 0

Many of us start each day with a long to-do list, a new set of goals and a commitment not to repeat the same mistakes we have in the past. It’s likely that we will have promised ourselves to stop putting things off. On our hit list of the foibles we most want to dispose of, procrastination will be somewhere near the top. The problem is that because procrastination is linked to psychological factors such as an innate preference to do something we deem pleasurable to something we don’t, modern life encourages us to do it. More →

People know that restricting screen time at work would benefit their wellbeing

People know that restricting screen time at work would benefit their wellbeing

wellbeing and the off switchIn a new survey of 4,000 employees in the UK, the US, Singapore and the UAE, three quarters of office workers say restricting screen time would benefit their mental and physical wellbeing. The survey has been published in a new report, The digital health dilemma: Is technology keeping workers healthy or making them ill? from benefits provider, Aetna International, in a bid to uncover how modern workplace technology and digital tools have impacted employee wellbeing. More →

Wellbeing directly linked to levels of engagement with art

Wellbeing directly linked to levels of engagement with art

wellbeing and artDirect exposure to art has a significant effect on our wellbeing in ways that researchers cannot fathom completely, a new paper in the journal Emotion suggests. The study, co-authored by Peter Todderdell at the University of Sheffield and Giulia Poerio at the University Essex, explores the effects of engaging with art rather than taking part in artistic endeavours and other activities. More →

Firms whose leaders aim to serve, enjoy higher profits and employee morale

Firms whose leaders aim to serve, enjoy higher profits and employee morale

Managers who put themselves at the service of their teams, rather than the other way around, actually have a positive impact on profit, according to new research led by academics at emlyon business school. This claims to be the first research paper to find that, not only does servant leadership improve employee morale, but it also increases company profit too. The paper, published in the Journal of Business Ethics complements what was previously the general consensus on servant leadership; it’s good for people management and employee morale, but did not positively impact on company performance or profits. More →

Balancing the rights and responsibilities of employee wellbeing

Balancing the rights and responsibilities of employee wellbeing

wellbeingHealth and wellbeing has been at the top of the agenda for HR departments for a long, long time, but there’s nothing like a global health emergency to catalyse a fundamental rethink of how you approach your responsibilities as an employer. Corporate healthcare has moved from the remedial approach to curing existing ills, to the preventive approach that encourages employees to take care of themselves through services such as gym membership. More →

Employee anxiety and stress levels massively up on last year

Employee anxiety and stress levels massively up on last year

Anxiety in employees has rocketed over the last year, according to a new report from Inpulse. The research, which includes the views of over 3,000 UK employees, claims that anxiety is the most dominant negative emotion at work and has risen 240 percent over the same period as last year – up from 5 percent to 17 percent. Stress is another high negative emotion for employees, at 11 percent, while Isolation rates stands at 7 percent. More →

Older people are happiest at work

Older people are happiest at work

The latest edition of the annual Age Research by Engaging Works claims that the happiest people in the workplace are those beyond middle age. By comparison, young employees don’t feel rewarded or recognised and feel that their views are not heard at work. They are also more likely to suffer anxiety in the workplace. However, it’s middle aged employees who are struggling the most at work, admitting that they feel the least developed. They also feel that they have a poor feeling of wellbeing at work and that they don’t have enough information to do their job. More →

People should have the right to paid bereavement leave

People should have the right to paid bereavement leave

bereavement leaveIn an open letter to the Business Secretary Alok Sharma, the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, is calling on the Government to introduce the right to bereavement leave and pay to all employees experiencing a close family bereavement. The call follows the introduction of Jack’s Law, a legal right to paid bereavement leave for working parents who lose a child under the age of 18, in April this year. More →

People returning to the office fear shared spaces while looking forward to meeting colleagues

People returning to the office fear shared spaces while looking forward to meeting colleagues

returning to the officeMindspace has published the results of a new survey of over 1,000 members across the firm’s sites in the UK, the US, Europe and Israel, revealing the anxieties, intentions and changing habits of many employees in the Western world as they begin returning to the office for the first time since they went into lockdown earlier in the year. Unsurprisingly many of the issues focus on sharing space with other people, especially in building amenities and shared spaces as well as on public transport. At the same time, the things people have missed most about office life are also about the spaces and times they share with other people. More →

People feel guilty about taking time for lunch, even when working from home

People feel guilty about taking time for lunch, even when working from home

New research published in the journal of Psychology and Health has found that some employees feel guilty about taking breaks during the day, especially for lunch. The paper’s lead author Dr Mike Oliver explained: “The legally required minimum time for a lunch break at work is 20 minutes, however there is a growing trend nationally for large numbers of people not to take breaks at work, with surveys reporting that between 66 percent and 82 percent of workers don’t always take their breaks. More →

Self-employment is great for wellbeing, not so great for the bank balance

Self-employment is great for wellbeing, not so great for the bank balance

In the week the ONS announced that the number of self-employed people in the UK had dropped by 178,000 over the last quarter, a new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Institute for Fiscal Study suggests that the growing number of people who turn to self-employment do so despite a drop in their incomes. On average, they earn nearly £500 (30 percent) less a month than they did before falling out of traditional employment. More →

HR is often the last resort for people with mental health issues

HR is often the last resort for people with mental health issues

mental healthStigma around mental health in the workplace persists in many organisations, amid signs that stress is putting significant pressure on workers across a range of industries, claims new research from the ADP Research Institute (registration). Only one in seven (14 percent) of respondents polled in ADP’s study say they would feel comfortable telling HR about a mental health problem or concern. One in four (25 percent) would not feel comfortable telling anyone at work. More →