Search Results for: healthcare

September 16, 2015

Many SMEs know how staff contribute to growth but still ignore their wellbeing ⁰

The owners and managers of British small businesses understand that employees are critical to their success but a surprisingly large proportion believe that their health and wellbeing is not something that should be a concern for the firm. That is the main claim of a new survey from healthcare provider Bupa. According to its study of 500 small business owners and directors, two thirds (63 percent) agree that employing the right people is critical to the growth of the business in its early stages. Yet, less than half (46 percent) believe employee health and wellbeing will play a key role in their future growth strategy. This is in spite of the fact that three quarters (76 percent) of SMEs who have had an employee take a long sickness absence reported a significant impact on the growth of their business. Meanwhile, nearly half (46 percent) believe even an early short-term absence would have had an adverse effect.

September 9, 2015

Wellness policies often ignore the role of the workplace environment ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

A new meta analysis compiled by researchers from Harvard Business School and Stanford University raises questions about the way Government and organisational policies designed to tackle the problems of work related health costs in the United States have largely ignored the health effects of ‘psychosocial workplace stressors’ such as high job demands, economic insecurity, and long work hours. The analysis of 228 existing studies assessed the effects of ten workplace stressors on four specific health outcomes. The researchers claims that job insecurity increases the odds of reporting poor health by about 50 percent, high job demands raise the odds of having a diagnosed illness by 35 percent, and long work hours increase mortality by almost 20 percent. They argue that any policies designed to address these issues should account for the health effects of the workplace environment.

August 13, 2015

Take-up of sit-stand desks still lagging in UK, but change is coming fast ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Furniture, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The number of UK employers offering staff sit-stand workstations remains sluggish, despite rapidly growing awareness of their benefits, according to a new study from office furniture firm Kinnarps. Compared to the near universal provision of sit-stand desks in Scandinavia, and in spite of the fact that UK buyers now universally acknowledge what they can do to improve employee wellbeing, the UK market has yet to fully adopt workstations that encourage more active working. Based on a study of 132 senior decision makers, facilities managers, designers and HR managers, 98 percent of respondents say they can see the attraction of introducing sit-stand working, citing improved health (73 percent), increased productivity (11 percent) and attracting and retaining talent (5 percent), among the principal benefits. Yet only 8 percent say that such workstations are ‘widely available’ in their workplaces.

July 28, 2015

Millennial ‘job hopping’ is the new normal according to US research

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Following a recent survey claiming that Millennials comprise more than one-in-three US workers, comes new evidence on the impact this could have on recruitment and retention. Over 1,000 US full-time Millennials who were questioned on their careers by RecruitiFi confirmed that ‘job hopping’ had become the norm. During the course of their careers, 53 percent have held three or more jobs. And while many have plans to stay in their current jobs for 3-5 years (33 percent), many respondents plan to leave after 1-2 years (20 percent). 34 percent acknowledged falling levels of employee morale in the office and 22 percent explained that their clients/customers have taken notice. While 83 percent of millennials acknowledge that job hopping on their CV could be negatively perceived by employers, 86 percent say that it would not prevent them from pursuing their professional or personal passions.

July 17, 2015

Quarter of workers want flexible contracts when they reach retirement age

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

A quarter (28 percent) of UK workers expect their employer to create a part-time or flexible role for them once they reach the state pension age, according to new research from Aegon. Workers in healthcare (40 percent) administrative (31 percent) and engineering and manufacturing sectors (32 percent) are most likely to expect their employer to create a flexible role for them, while those in the creative arts and design sector (32 percent) are more likely to become self-employed and start up their own business. Nearly two thirds (61 percent) are planning to carry on working if they haven’t saved enough by the time they hit their target retirement age; with more than one in three (36 percent) planning to continue working in their current role until they have enough saved; while one in ten (9 percent) expect to become self-employed.

June 30, 2015

Number of mobile workers in US will exceed 105 million by 2020

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Technology

Mobile workers will account for nearly three quarters (72.3 percent) of the US workforce by 2020, thanks to the increasing affordability of smartphones and tablets and growing acceptance of corporate Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) schemes. According to a new forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC), the US mobile worker population will grow at a steady rate over the next five years, increasing from 96.2 million in 2015 to 105.4 million in 2020. Innovations in technology such as biometric readers, wearables, voice control, near-field communications (NFC), and augmented reality are already increasing productivity and enabling workers to work in completely new ways. In a recent IDC survey, 69.1 percent of those responsible for managing mobility within their organisation had seen a reduction in costs as a result of implementing BYOD programmes.

June 25, 2015

Long distance commuting, agile working and dinosaur extinction in the UAE

by Douglas Langmead • Cities, Comment, Flexible working, Property

In Dubai, there are no suburban dinosaurs; those large-scale, single purpose office buildings that ignore the agile realities of modern working life. In the western world, these giants evolved on business parks, driven by the perceived benefits of having office workers agglomerated in order to achieve efficiency of communication and dissemination. The business practices and technologies that underpinned these buildings have evolved and improved and many are in the process of being re-purposed. Things happen on a grander scale in the Middle East where the mantra is “if the land-use doesn’t fit the land, make more land.” Here, the patterns of work and place have evolved differently from the west, and at a much faster pace with creeping tides of development spreading rapidly out from the small centres of traditional trade and commerce to vast tracts of new development.

June 17, 2015

Neocon workplace design show announces this year’s award winning products

by Mark Eltringham • Events, News, Products, Workplace design

Today is the final day of the vast Neocon workplace design
convention in Chicago. It is one of the world’s last remaining bastions of the supposedly dying art of the exhibition, in which tens of thousands of like-minded people from around the world descend on a city to live on alcohol, nibbles and hot fluorescent light in between discussing the products and ideas that hold their careers together. From the outside of any sector, this all looks like a collective madness, but from the inside things look very different. For some reason, the first day is the day on which those products which are judged to be Neocon’s best are presented their accolades. So even before our review of the show (coming soon), here are its award winning products including gongs for familiar names such as Boss, Humanscale, BuzziSpace, KI and Steelcase.

May 27, 2015

Smart buildings, smart cities and the promise of infinite data

by Paul Doherty • Cities, Comment, Facilities management, Technology

The rapid urbanization of our world and the weaving of existing and new buildings into the urban fabric of Smart City initiatives are some of the great challenges facing our global industry today. Along with the vast amount of definitions and marketing campaigns surrounding the phrase “Smart Cities” comes the challenge of understanding why the movement is important to the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facility Management (AEC/FM) industry and how industry stakeholders can profit from, or at the very least, not get run over by the tsunami called Smart Cities. The emergence of Smart Cities as the conduit for ideas, thoughts, policies and strategies for the world’s urban environments is an important milestone for our industry, and it comes at a time of rapid innovation, convergence and redefinitions.

May 22, 2015

Disparity in level of support from employers for first time mums

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The level of support by employers towards new mums differs dramatically depending on seniority. According to AXA PPP healthcare, in a poll of new mums, over half of those who had been working in entry level positions (59 per cent) said that their employer hadn’t provided any support beyond what was legally required in the run up to their maternity leave. But, for new mums who had been working in senior positions, that figure dropped to one in five (21 per cent). While 23 per cent of entry level employees were offered ‘keeping in touch days’ during their maternity leave, this number doubled for management level staff (46 per cent) and senior executives (54 per cent). Only 19 per cent of entry level workers were given advice about going on maternity leave compared with nearly a third (30 per cent) of management level employees.

May 20, 2015

Women over 55 most likely to be business strategists, finds report

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

A new report claims that only 8 percent of senior managers currently have ‘Strategist’ leadership capabilities and have the attributes and mind sets to lead transformational change and solve their most difficult problems. This is because employers don’t identify and empower their leaders with the right capabilities and attributes, says the report published by PwC’s Consulting practice. According to “The hidden talent: Ten ways to identify and retain transformational leaders,” the work of strategists is underpinned by inquiry-based experimentation. They see both the vision and detail, employ positive language and exercise power courageously. They understand the complexity of the environment in which they’re working and are able to employ passionate detachment. The report claims that the largest proportion of ‘Strategist’ leaders, are women over 55.

April 30, 2015

Many ‘under-appreciated and marginalised’ older workers seek job move ⁰

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

The over fifties feel disregarded and under-appreciated at work, with a quarter considering looking for a new job in the next two years. That’s according to new data by AXA PPP Healthcare which looked at the experiences of the over 50s – many of which, since the phasing out of the default retirement age, aim to work on as long as they can. In fact, the research found that 15 per cent plan to work into their seventies and beyond. However, nearly a third of the over fifties (30 per cent) surveyed, said they didn’t feel they had a career path, compared with 13 per cent of those under fifty. Only one in six over fifties felt their line manager supported them and nearly half (49 per cent) of this group reported to a younger line manager.