August 20, 2016
Links between people and place + Lessons from Yahoo + Intelligent lighting 0
In this week’s Newsletter; Steve Maslin argues the idea that people matter to workplace designers is all too often surface deep; Andy Gallacher describes the benefits of intelligent lighting; Alexander Gifford reveals the majority of people still prefer to work at a desk; and Charles Marks says the way we interact with technology is changing the way we think. In news, the UK’s commercial property sector has fallen since the Brexit vote: researchers find a link between flexible working patterns and susceptibility to infection; and a survey suggests that even demanding job applicants place flexible working low on their priorities. From Work&Place Chris Kane’s views on bridging the gap between people and place; and Andrea Hak looks at the lessons of Yahoo. Download our new Briefing, produced in partnership with Boss Design on the link between culture and workplace strategy and design; visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.
Management behaviour is contributing to rising workplace stress levels with employees blaming their own bosses for adding to the pressures they feel, a new study of 1,200 people by MetLife claims. The study suggests that 69 percent of employees say that the behaviour of managers in their organisation has increased stress and that the rising stress is having a major impact on company performance. Around 45 percent of employees say that stress caused by management has led to staff in their organisation taking extended time off. This in turn increases costs and affects productivity as well as impacting other workers who take on an increased workload. Government data estimates that around 35 percent of all work-related ill-health is caused by stress and that stress accounts for 43 percent of all working days lost to ill-health – the equivalent of 9.9 million working days a year at an average of 23 days per case.
We are more susceptible to infection at certain times of the day as our body clock affects the ability of viruses to replicate and spread between cells, suggests new research from the University of Cambridge. The findings, 
When former Google employee Marissa Mayer joined Yahoo as its CEO in 2012, she inherited the company’s vast problems. Though it was once seen as one of the first tech behemoths, Yahoo’s inability to come up with ground breaking products like Google and others, put it in a slow, steady decline. Mayer was immediately tasked with trying to reinvigorate the stagnating company. Her focus was to find a way to identify and retain talent, while phasing out ineffective employees. However, Yahoo’s new management policies have brought about much debate and criticism from HR experts. A controversial book by journalist Nicholas Carlson titled “Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!” paints a highly critical view of Mayer’s first years as CEO. In response others have defended her, arguing that she has done the best she can with the resources available, but has become a scapegoat for poor management, like so many other women in powerful positions.
A series of reports published in the past few days highlight the challenges faced by Britain’s disabled workers. The studies claim separately that disabled workers are keen to work but are less likely to be in employment and may be hiding disabilities from employers, are paid less when they are in work and that many employers do not feel they are well equipped to deal with the needs of disabled staff. The first study from Reed in Partnership and Disability Rights UK found that one in ten employers do not feel able to support a disabled employee. Meanwhile research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found that employees who experience mental ill-health earn up to 42 per cent less than colleagues. A third report from Citizen’s Advice found that 40 percent of disabled people would like to work but can’t find a job. And finally a report from RIDI claims that many people applying for jobs may be hiding their disability from employers.
Much has already been written about the UK’s digital skills gap, and undoubtedly as the Government continues to develop and roll out its Digital Strategy for the nation, many more headlines will be devoted to it. For a country so focused on technological development it’s a problem which is both acute and imperative. Recent Government figures put 12.6 million Britons at risk of being left behind in terms of the skills needed for a modern economy. Parliamentary plans to address this issue focus firmly on education: including digital development as a key part of apprenticeships, encouraging vocational digital skills courses at universities, and broadening access to other educational courses to help people to learn to code. However, responsibility to upskill the nation’s workforce also resides with employers. Whether the current role demands IT skills or not, technology increasingly impacts and transforms every element of our lives.
We’re operating in an increasingly tech-centric environment, but human talent still remains one of the core differentiators if a business is to thrive. Not surprisingly, the mission to get the very best people on board and optimise the potential of those already in situ has become the Holy Grail for many companies, irrespective of scale and sector – a challenge that demands a more intuitive and precise, even scientific approach to human capital management. Data analytics is a case in point, designed to extrapolate insight from intelligence across a variety of disparate sources and establish actionable intelligence, capabilities which naturally lend themselves to powering key decisions around hiring and retention and building on existing talent. Yet despite the proliferation of analytics across many strands of the workplace, take up in the HR sphere remains relatively modest, in tandem with a long-held reticence over the use of the technology in this area.
August 16, 2016
A well executed wellness strategy benefits staff and employers 0
by Beate O'Neil • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace
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