Search Results for: culture

State of the nation report sets out impact of digital transformation on the UK

State of the nation report sets out impact of digital transformation on the UK 0

The Institution of Civil Engineers has published its State of the Nation 2017 report, looking at how advances in digital technology and data are transforming how infrastructure is designed, delivered and operated. The report claims that digital transformation is bringing benefits to clients and end users as well as unlocking economic growth and productivity across the UK. The report, based on interviews with 350 organisations and industry figures discusses the practical steps firms and government need to take to maintain momentum and truly harness the benefits.

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Employers in industries reliant on overseas workers will be hardest hit by Brexit

Employers in industries reliant on overseas workers will be hardest hit by Brexit 0

Brexit MigrationAccommodation and food services, manufacturing, and transport industries will be hardest hit by limits on movement of EU and non-EU workers following Brexit, a new report has claimed. The latest edition of Mercer’s Workforce Monitor has highlighted how reliant certain sectors of the UK economy have become on EU-born and non-EU born workers, as respectively, 33 percent, 23 percent and 20 percent of accommodation and food services, manufacturing, and transport are made up of non-UK-born nationals, meaning companies in those sectors, and those reliant on them, are especially at risk from the changes in the UK’s migration policy. According to Gary Simmons, Partner at Mercer, “Since 2013, the UK-born workforce has been declining as people retire and we can see how reliant certain industries are on overseas workers filling the gaps. The UK is likely to impose more stringent migration controls in the future and this will reduce the number of overseas workers available.”

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HR needs to help employers better prepare for the digitised workplace

HR needs to help employers better prepare for the digitised workplace 0

HR needs to help employers better prepare for the digitised workplace

HR leaders must take responsibility for bridging the gap between leadership and employees to help ensure organisations deal with the challenge of an increasingly digitised workplace and create a shared sense of direction, values and collaboration, a new piece of research suggests. According to the report, ‘Leadership Connections: HR’s role in business transformation’ from Ipsos LEAD and Cirrus, HR leaders are the crucial drivers of transformation in UK businesses through their roles of promoting devolved decision making, employee engagement and collaboration. Figures have shown that while half of CEOs expect their industries to be substantially or unrecognisably changed by digital, as of late 2016 10 percent of employees claim to have seen no significant change in their organisations at all – according to MORI’s Representative Employee Data (RED). This presents a significant difference between what we are being told by senior leadership and what employees believe to be the case.

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Global survey confirms the need for flexible working in order for businesses to thrive

Global survey confirms the need for flexible working in order for businesses to thrive 0

Productivity and teamwork are both significantly improved when employees can choose where they work, a global survey of on global flexible working trends claims. The survey commissioned by Polycom, Inc. a global leader in enabling organisations new levels of teamwork, efficiency and productivity by unleashing the power of human collaboration. The survey of over 24,000 people found that 62 percent of the global working population now take advantage of flexible working practices. Nearly all respondents (98 percent) state that flexible working has a positive impact on productivity. Although many remain concerned that their absence from the office may have a negative effect on their careers, they are drawn to flexible working to increase their productivity, achieve a better work life balance and avoid the problem of commuting.

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Employers not ready for digital disruption, where tech and people work side by side

Employers not ready for digital disruption, where tech and people work side by side 0

Very few organisations are ready to manage a workforce where the latest technologies and people work side by side. Just 13 percent of UK companies are ready to respond to digital disruption and create “the organisation of the future”; despite 88 per cent believing this has become a priority. This is according to the 2017 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends survey, which tracks the top trends shaping the agenda for HR and business leaders. However, while UK companies believe they are ill-prepared for the change brought by digital disruption, this has not stopped many of them from embracing disruptive technologies. 42 per cent report that they have adopted robotics, cognitive and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies within all or parts of their workforce. Another 42 per cent are running pilots in certain areas of their organisation. But only 16 per cent say they are ready to manage a workforce with people, robots and AI working side by side.

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New report sets out the workplace factors that are most fulfilling for older workers

New report sets out the workplace factors that are most fulfilling for older workers 0

The Centre for Ageing Better at the Institute for Employment Studies has produced a new report which sets out the workplace and job-related factors that make employment fulfilling for older workers, offering insights into both the attitudes of older workers and the implications for employers. The report offers guidance on what employers can do to support older workers, asserting that understanding what they want is the first step in helping employers, policy-makers and others to create age-friendly workplace. The report is split into three sections covering older workers’ attitudes towards different aspects of work: work content – what older workers value about their job roles and tasks; work culture – outlines how older workers consider work fulfilling if certain behaviours, management styles and values are presented by employers; workplace adjustments – offers practical steps that employers can take to make their workplaces more age-friendly.

New book offers a roadmap for workers in the age of smart machines

New book offers a roadmap for workers in the age of smart machines 0

University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Ed Hess and Katherine Ludwig have released a new book, Humility Is the New Smart: Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age (Berrett-Koehler, January 2017), where they wrestle with the defining workplace question of our era and offer workable solutions for employees to stay relevant. In the book, Hess and Ludwig argue that workers of the world stand at the brink of an unprecedented transformation, as a coming age of smart machines promises to eliminate tens of millions of jobs across the socioeconomic spectrum. The transition to an era of widespread automation will be tumultuous for both companies and employees, and its effects on the fabric of society have not yet been fully considered by workers, government entities or global corporations.

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Big disconnect between employees, business leaders and IT when it comes to innovation

Big disconnect between employees, business leaders and IT when it comes to innovation 0

Most North Americans believe their employers and IT teams should be doing more to unleash their capacity for innovation, according to a new study by Softchoice, a North American provider of IT solutions and managed services. The study, Enabling Innovation: When Actions Speak Louder Than Buzzwords, found just 37 percent of employees believe their employers are very innovative, and even fewer felt their organisation did a good job with other leading innovation indicators, such as anticipating market trends, taking risks, and investing in technology that enables innovation. The study is based on a survey of 1,000 full-time employees and 250 IT decision-makers across the U.S. and Canada to uncover whether workplaces really walk the walk when it comes to having the right leadership, culture, processes and technology tools to drive innovation.

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Digital workplace is ineffective without workers’ technical empowerment

Digital workplace is ineffective without workers’ technical empowerment 0

Digital workplace is ineffective without adequate technical understanding

Shifting digital dynamics are reshaping the way organisations operate and are recasting the traditional route to business success, claims new research into the rise of the digital workplace. Ricoh’s new report into digital workplace trends produced in partnership with polling company Censuswide, argues that the latest technology strategies are rendered useless without proper commitment to skills training and the empowerment of those workers who will be making use of it. It advises that businesses need to work on improving the workforce’s digital dexterity by creating an office culture fit for sharing ideas and skills across social, video and digital platforms. The report identifies digital skills training as a key differentiator for employees seeking a new job. Over a third of UK office workers (37 per cent) say they would move jobs to a company which offered better digital skills in the workplace. Likewise a modest 18 per cent of respondents rated their skills as ‘excellent’ whilst 51 per cent said ‘good’ and 30 per cent considered themselves ‘average.’

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CIPD calls for more ethical approaches to pay and reward

CIPD calls for more ethical approaches to pay and reward 0

CIPD criticises 'fat cats' and calls for more ethical approaches to pay and rewardThe CIPD and the High Pay Centre have launched a formal partnership to advocate fairer and more ethical approaches to pay and reward. Together they are calling for a major re-think of corporate governance to improve CEO pay transparency and ensure boards recognise their broader responsibility towards the workforce when decisions on executive pay and business investment are made. In their joint response to the Government’s green paper on corporate governance, which seeks views on how to curb excessive CEO pay and boost employee voice at board level, the CIPD and High Pay Centre point out that if FTSE 100 CEO pay continues to increase at the same rate for the next 20 years as it has for the last two decades, the average ratio between a CEO and average pay would increase from about 129:1 to more than 400:1. The CIPD chief executive Peter Cheese argues in the report that current levels of executive pay undermine both trust and sustainability and making small adjustments to current system isn’t the right approach.

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Employees demand end to rigid structures and siloed working practises

Employees demand end to rigid structures and siloed working practises 0

Employees demand less rigid structures and siloed working practisesEmployees would like more freedom and flexibility at work with over half believing that the structure and culture of their workplaces are holding them back from doing their job more effectively (55 percent and 53 percent respectively). That’s according to new research from ILM, which has launched a new report calling for workplaces across the UK to foster a more collaborative culture in order to boost business success. The research found that more than a third (34 percent) of UK employees felt they worked in a regulated and controlled structure. When asked how they’d like to change their company culture, the top answer was more freedom and flexibility (35 percent) followed by more innovation and creativity (32 percent). Three quarters (74 percent) of employees say they would like more freedom at work. Although employers tend to agree with the need for teams to have more freedom, with two in five (40 percent) saying they’d like a more flexible culture, more would prefer to champion innovation and creativity (46 percent), indicating a disconnect between the way that businesses and their people are keen to work.

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Employees prefer effective workplace technology to wacky office design

Employees prefer effective workplace technology to wacky office design 0

Employees prefer effective workplace technology to wacky office designThe majority (79 percent) of workers say reliable and modern technology is more important to them than office aesthetics, while accessories such as ping pong tables, slides, hammocks and wacky office designs may look good in pictures, but they don’t necessarily make employees any happier or productive. The is according to a survey, conducted by storage firm Kiwi Movers, which found that 86 percent of UK adults who work in an office said fun features were of no specific value to their working life, 11 percent said they were nice-to-have and of some value and 3 percent said they were very valuable. The most popular office perks are those offer an immediate tangible benefit to the employee, but even so, as many as 23 percent don’t take advantage every day; while 71 percent overall said they’d like more space in their office and of those, 58 percent believe that could be achieved by removing non-essential items. The research also found that younger workers were more likely on average to take advantage of ‘environmental’ perks like chill out areas and recreational equipment.

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