October 9, 2018
Majority of staff feel there is more awareness of mental health at work
The majority of employees (77 percent) agree that people should take proactive steps to manage their mental health a new survey has revealed. Of those surveyed, the vast majority felt that there is increased awareness about mental health (87 percent) and that people are more willing to talk openly about mental health issues than they were a few years ago (82 percent). The impact of high-profile people speaking out about their own mental health challenges was believed to be the biggest influencing factor, cited by more than half (53 percent) of respondents. More →
More than half of CEOs (53 percent) admit they can’t find candidates with the necessary skills to help them navigate an increasingly digitalised business landscape a new survey from Robert Half has claimed. These include data analysis and digital skills, as well as softer skills such as resilience, adaptability to change and critical thinking. This means that nearly five million UK SMEs, the equivalent to four out of every five (82 percent) small and medium-sized companies, are struggling to attract the skills they need. As a result, many are being forced to offer salary packages higher than originally expected to recruit the right talent. 
The vast majority (98 percent) of UK employees think learning is essential in deciding to stay or leave their employer, yet new research claims that three quarters (75 percent) of companies don’t have a learning culture and 66 percent don’t have a digital learning strategy. The research from Bridge in collaboration with Two Heads Consulting, finds that most businesses in the UK are struggling to engender a culture that prioritises learning and development with only 25 percent of HR staff saying their organisations have a learning culture. In comparison, three quarters of companies don’t have one at all (11 percent), are still trying to establish one (59 percent) or report it is not a priority (5 percent). Furthermore, despite recognising its importance, 60 percent of UK companies don’t measure the impact of learning on business performance. Employees also complain that their performance reviews are ill thought out and infrequent.
Almost half (49 percent) of UK workers are in jobs they are either under- or over-skilled for, according to new research from the CIPD. Its report ‘Over-skilled and underused: Investigating the untapped potential of UK skills’ surveyed 3,700 UK employees and found that more than a third (37 percent) of workers have the skills to cope with more demanding duties than they currently have. At the opposite end of the scale, one in ten (12 percent) employees said they lacked all the skills needed to carry out their job effectively. This means that as many as half (49 percent) of UK workers could be in the wrong job, based on their skill level. The UK has one of most skilled workforces in the world, with 42 percent of workers qualified to degree level, yet it also has the highest proportion of jobs within the OECD which require no qualifications at all.
National Work Life Week (1st – 5th October 2018) starts today with the aim of encouraging companies to think about their employees’ wellbeing and happiness. To mark the week new research asked British workers about the things they most want from their work. The YouGov survey of 2,000 adults, commissioned by the Oxford Open Learning Trust, found that while money is predictably the biggest motivator behind career choice (64 percent), over half of the respondents cited working hours and flexible working as an important factor (55 percent). 
October 5, 2018
Developing a resilient mindset to cope with stress
by Portia Hickey • Comment, Wellbeing
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