Search Results for: anxiety

Firms ignoring employee anxieties about workplace communications

Firms ignoring employee anxieties about workplace communications

UK companies are failing to support employees suffering with work-related performance anxiety, the business world’s equivalent to stage fright, despite it being a regular occurrence for many workers, according to new research. RADA Business, the commercial subsidiary of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art which provides communication skills training for corporate individuals, has published the report Beating Workplace Performance Anxiety, which surveyed 1000 workplaces. The report found that, on average, workers report feeling anxious at least once a week (five times per month). Despite this, few workplaces act effectively to counter incidents of workplace communications anxiety. Only 13 percent of people surveyed said that anxieties round communicating in the workplace are picked up and resolved by the management team.

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Overall wellbeing of UK continues to increase, according to official data

Overall wellbeing of UK continues to increase, according to official data

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New government statistics suggest that the general wellbeing and happiness of the UK population has increased over the last twelve months. According to the Office for National Statistics’ annual report on wellbeing, Britons are more contented now than at any point since the study was first published seven years ago. The latest report is based on an analysis of responses to the ONS, which asked people to rank out of ten how happy they were on the previous day, to what extent they regarded their lives as worthwhile, how satisfied they were with life, and how anxious they were generally. For 2017, average happiness was calculated at 7.53 out of ten, living worthwhile lives at 7.88, and life satisfaction at 7.69. There was no significant change in anxiety levels, which currently average at 2.91 out of ten, the ONS said.

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People like to hold on to their smartphones even when not using them

People like to hold on to their smartphones even when not using them

A large number of people walk around with their smartphones in their hands even when they are not using them, according to a new study. In the study, The Phone Walkers: A study of human dependence on inactive mobile devices, researchers  Laura Schaposnik and James Unwin at the University of Illinois at Chicago studied over 3,000 adult pedestrians at six city center locations in Paris. Just over half the pedestrians were female, with an average age of about 35. Of the total adults observed, 674 were phone walkers – just over a fifth of people. The researchers noted that there were significant differences between the sexes. In total, around 20 percent of men were phone walkers, compared with 33 percent women. However, phone walking was less common in mixed couples: just 18 percent.

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Workers fake physical sickness to mask mental health issues due to stigma worries

Workers fake physical sickness to mask mental health issues due to stigma worries

Workers fake physical sickness to mask mental health issues due to stigma worries

Two fifths (42 percent) of UK employees are calling in sick claiming a physical illness, when in reality it’s a mental health issue, new research from BHSF has claimed. The research was commissioned to raise awareness of employee wellbeing during  Mental Health Awareness Week, a campaign hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, which has stress as its focus this year.  The survey found that 24 percent of employees worry that if they did need to take a sick day, they wouldn’t be taken seriously. Over half (56 percent) of employees admitted to suffering from stress, a third from anxiety (36 percent) and a quarter from depression (25 percent). Despite 46 percent admitting that work is the main cause of their health problems, just 15 percent would tell their boss if they were struggling with an issue of this nature.

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Presenteeism hits record high in UK organisations, linked with stress and depression

Presenteeism hits record high in UK organisations, linked with stress and depression

Presenteeism, defined as people coming into work when they are ill, has more than tripled since 2010, according to the latest CIPD / Simplyhealth Health and Wellbeing at Work report.  According to the study, 86 percent of over 1,000 respondents to the 2018 survey said they had observed presenteeism in their organisation over the last 12 months, compared with 72 percent in 2016 and just 26 percent in 2010. The survey also found that ‘leaveism’, such as people using annual leave to work, is also a growing problem. More than two-thirds of respondents (69 percent) reported that leaveism has occurred in their organisation over the last year.

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Majority of staff say employers must do more to support their physical and mental wellbeing

Majority of staff say employers must do more to support their physical and mental wellbeing

Majority of staff say employers should do more to support physical and mental wellbeingMore than half of working adults believe that UK businesses are not doing enough to support the physical and mental wellbeing of their employees. The vast majority (86 percent) believe that firms are specifically not doing enough to help employees deal with work-related stress, anxiety and other mental health issues. And with seven out of 10 of those surveyed by Westfield Health saying that the NHS does not have the budget to provide wellbeing services, such as health check-ups and cognitive behavioural therapy, almost three quarters agreed it would be a good idea for a portion of their National Insurance contributions to be redirected towards employee wellbeing programmes. More →

Stress and mental health growing priority at board level but bosses struggle to support staff

Stress and mental health growing priority at board level but bosses struggle to support staff

Stress and mental health growing priority for board level but bosses struggle to support staffTwo new reports published today reflect increasing concerns about stress and mental ill health at work and a lack of understanding by many organisations in how to combat the problem. A new study by Bupa claims that mental health is now a priority at board level for almost two-thirds (65 percent) of businesses, rising to 72 percent among large corporates, while mental health is now a bigger issue than physical illness among employees for nearly a third (29 percent) of businesses. Yet while an overwhelming majority (96 percent) of businesses want to help support their people, many (57 percent) do not know how to best support employees with these challenges. Two in five (39 percent) admit that awareness and understanding of mental health issues is still low across their organisation. These findings are echoed in a report carried out by Perkbox that claims work is by far the most common cause of stress (59 percent). Yet almost one in two (45 percent) of British businesses do not offer anything to help alleviate this, despite the fact that 1 in 4 (25 percent) struggle to be as productive at work when stressed.

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How to reboot an activity based working project that has ground to a halt

How to reboot an activity based working project that has ground to a halt

We moved and then nothing happened, is one of the typical problems while evaluating the ups and downs of an activity based working (ABW) journey. The key to success is to kick off and re-start a change that has stopped. A second problem is that the layout of the office not quite meets up to expectations and needs, and a third is that too few feel engagement. It doesn’t necessary work badly, but something itches. What and how to do then? Clearly showing to those in charge what is not working or not has been carried out as it was meant, and showing the arisen consequences due to that, is one of the things that must be done to enable a re-start. But that will not be enough. More →

Nearly a third of UK staff feel disengaged and stressed due to inefficiencies at work

Nearly a third of UK staff feel disengaged and stressed due to inefficiencies at work

Nearly a third of UK staff feel disengaged and stressed due to operational inefficiency

Nearly a third (29 percent) of UK workers say that they have become disengaged and a third (33 percent) have gone as far as looking for a new job due to the frustrations of dealing with workplace inefficiencies. Alongside functional frustrations, 50 per cent of the most stressed UK workers said that they felt undervalued by their boss. With 67 percent of them doing more hours in the office, 46 per cent working more on weekends and 56 per cent taking fewer breaks, nearly half (47 per cent) of the most stressed respondents believed, given the opportunity, they could do a better job than their managers. These are some of findings of the Digital Work Survey 2018 which was commissioned by Wrike that highlight frustrations over inefficiencies at work and the worrying impact this is having on how engaged, productive and happy employees are in their roles. Of those who were feeling most stressed, 66 per cent said that over the last two years they’ve seen increased expectations around the speed at which they must deliver work.

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Majority of global business leaders believe world economy will grow this year

Majority of global business leaders believe world economy will grow this year

Well over half (fifty seven percent) of business leaders say they believe global economic growth will improve in the next 12 months – almost twice (29 percent) the level of results from the annual survey carried out by PwC . Launched at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, the survey found that optimism in the economy is feeding into CEOs’ confidence about their own companies’ outlook. As 42 percent of CEOs said they are “very confident” in their own organisation’s growth prospects over the next 12 months, up from 38 percent last year. Looking at the results by country though, it’s a mixed bag. In the UK, with Brexit negotiations only recently reaching a significant milestone, business leaders’ drop in short-term confidence is unsurprising (2018: 34 percent vs. 2017: 41 percent). The survey also found that CEOs are determined to find the right talent needed to reap the benefits of the digital disruption, with investments in modern working environments and the establishment of learning and development programmes to help attract and develop digital talent.

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Global business leaders feel more optimistic about the world economy

Global business leaders feel more optimistic about the world economy

Attracting and retaining talent is the biggest concern for CEOs going into 2018, but they’re feeling generally more optimistic about the global economy, claims a new report by The Conference Board, the C-Suite Challenge 2018 . A mood amongst senior managers to create organisational cultures that are inclusive, engaged, high-performance, customer-focused, and resilient is prevalent throughout the responses to this year’s survey. The desire for a “culture of innovation” ranks as the number-one innovation strategy in every region (Asia is the one exception, where it is third), every industry, every size company, and among CEOs and C-Suite executives alike. The impact of the New Digital Economy is clearly being felt in the daily processes and practices of organisations, and through the emergence of new competitors from every part of the globe. In Europe’s the c-suite remains worried about the impact of – which is unchanged from last year when it was the 8th biggest concern.   More →

Bad managers who fail to support employees are driving talented staff away

Bad managers who fail to support employees are driving talented staff away

Bad managers who fail to support employees are driving talented staff away

A new survey suggests that bullying, aggressive behaviours and micro-management is endemic within the British workplace. The research by YouGov on behalf of MHR found that 80 percent of employees having experienced what they consider poor management, or a poor manager, at least once during their career; 73 percent of employees who have experienced poor management or a poor manager have considered leaving a job and, among these, a staggering 55 percent actually left their job because of bad management. When asked whether managers are equipped to deal with the human or emotional side of management, 58 percent of respondents said that they are not. Bad managers were described as often inexperienced, out of their depth, lacking the necessary people skills, expressing favouritism, failing to offer recognition and feedback and failing to communicate effectively. But the most shocking comments were around the subject of mental health, with several respondents citing a complete disregard or lack of awareness of issues surrounding mental health in the workplace. As well as failing to support employees suffering from anxiety or depression, several respondents claimed that their manager was directly responsible for causing the decline in their mental health.

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