Search Results for: employees

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 22, 2015

Crown Estate first national property company to be Living Wage accredited

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace

The Crown Estate has become the first national property business to accredit as a Living Wage employer. The Living Wage commitment aims to ensure that everyone working for The Crown Estate, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or contractors, receives a minimum hourly wage of £9.15 per hour in London and £7.85 per hour outside of London, significantly above the national minimum wage of £6.50. The Living Wage is calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK and is accredited by the national Living Wage Foundation (LWF). A study examining the business benefits of implementing a Living Wage policy in London found that more than 80 per cent of employers believe that the Living Wage had enhanced the quality of the work of their staff, while absenteeism had fallen by approximately 25 per cent.

May 21, 2015

Over two thirds of UK staff care about energy efficiency at work

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News

New research claims that 68 percent of UK workers care about energy efficiency at work and of these, 22 per cent said they care a great deal. The survey by YouGov for British Gas Business found that Hospitality and Leisure workers care the most – 82 percent – about saving business energy. Other industries that ranked highly were Financial Services (77%) and Manufacturing (76%). With almost two thirds (62%) confirming that their workplace invests in saving energy, it is clear that it is important for companies and organisations to be energy efficient. Yet, less than half (43 %) of workers said that their company or organisation ensures that all lights and computer screens are switched off when not in use and less than 1 in 5 (18%) said they conduct a regular energy audit.

May 18, 2015

European workers optimistic about the impact of workplace technology

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

The European workforce is optimistic about the impact of new and emerging workplace technology although many employers face challenges in pursuing digital business models, according to new research by Accenture. The report claims that more than four times as many workers think technology will improve their working lives than those who think it will have a negative impact. The study of over 2500 workers and 500 business leaders in the EU found that 57 percent of workers think technologies such as robots, apps, data analytics and artificial intelligence will improve their working experience versus eight percent who think it will worsen it. Fifty percent of EU workers believe that digital technology will improve their job prospects compared to 12 percent who think it will limit them.

May 18, 2015

Management is needed to ensure people actually use sit stand workstations

by Kati Barklund • Comment, Furniture, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Lately I’ve seen many articles about sit stand workstations and references to Scandinavia where almost all of us employees have access to sit stand workstations. It is true that most of the Scandinavian employees have access to sit stand workstations and in for example in Denmark employers are required by law to provide sit stand workstations to the employees, but this does unfortunately not automatically mean that the Scandinavian employees actually stand by the workstations. Even though most of us actually know that sitting is bad for our health, wellbeing and even our performance, we tend to sit most of the time while working. It is mostly about us being used to sit while working. It is a habitual behaviour and instead we need to get new habits of standing and moving at work. Change management is needed.

May 18, 2015

Sedentary working has led to weight gain for over a third of workers

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

More than two in five workers (41 percent) admit they have gained weight at their current jobs, with 18 percent confessing they have gained more than 10 pounds a survey from CareerBuilder.co.uk claims. Only 13 percent of workers claim they’ve lost weight in their current job with sedentary working, exhaustion and time constraints all being identified as obstacles to staying fit. The majority of workers (68 percent) say their employers do not provide gym passes, access to workout facilities or wellbeing benefits. Of these, 41 percent claim they would take advantage of such opportunities, yet only a quarter (24 percent) say their company provides such incentives. Over half of workers (58 percent) also spend most of their time sitting at their desk during the day and skipping proper meals due to time constraints.

May 15, 2015

Employers embracing more collaborative hands-on learning cultures

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

There is a growing trend for employers to create collaborative hands-on learning cultures, with internal knowledge-sharing initiatives such as job shadowing and social learning increasingly commonplace. In the latest snapshot of the annual survey of L&D professionals by the CIPD, coaching by line managers or peers was the method of learning most likely to grow in use in organisations over the next two years, according to almost two-thirds (65%) of respondents. Over half (53%) expect to see the use of in-house development programmes increase, and on-the-job training (48%) and internal knowledge sharing events (46%) are also expected to become prevalent. The findings imply a growing focus on efforts to foster a learning culture with many organisations using technology to support learning and development.

May 14, 2015

The cost to the UK’s medium sized businesses of unwanted email

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace

Managing unwanted email could be costing the UK’s 31,000 medium-sized businesses more than £34,000 a year each, according to an analysis of time spent on managing spam, phishing and other unwanted emails by Mailprotector. Using filtering statistics from its customers, Mailprotector analysed medium sized firms over a 30-day period. It found that each employee receives 25 unwanted emails per day on average, which take around 5 seconds to open, glance at and delete, equating to almost one working day a year (6.94 hours). Calculating employee costs, based on an average annual salary of £28,000, and factoring in support costs – based on the number and cost per support call – the losses can add up to over £34,000 per year per company, according to the study.

May 12, 2015

One third of global workers are finding work-life balance unattainable

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Managing work-life balance has become more difficult for a third of workers over the last five years, with Millennials most affected. After competitive pay and benefits, nearly three quarters of people questioned in a global poll (74%) felt that being able to work flexibly and still be on track for promotion, and working with colleagues who supported flexibly were the most important considerations when choosing a job. In the countries covered in the research from EY, German and Japanese workers find it hardest to create work-life balance. Globally, around half (46%) of managers are working more than 40 hour weeks and four in 10 say their hours have increased over the past five years. Nearly half of Millennials (47%) report an increase in hours compared to 38 percent for Gen X and 28 percent for Boomers.

May 11, 2015

Does declining productivity spell the end for IT and property directors?

by John Blackwell • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Technology, Work&Place

When it comes to increasing organisational output, which in turn directly relates to real wage growth and higher living standards, the only determinant is productivity, measured in terms of output per hour worked. This is at the heart of all businesses and is essential for growth. The basic facts on productivity are clear. For over a decade, productivity has been painfully weak across all the major economies. The UK has performed particularly badly, with productivity having declined by 3.7 percent since 2008. A recent OECD report went as far as saying: “weak labour productivity since 2004 has been holding back real wages and well-being. The sustainability of economic expansion and further progress in living standards rest on boosting productivity growth, which is a key challenge for the coming years”.

May 7, 2015

Learning needs to be linked to overall business strategies says the CIPD

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

The CIPD has warned that Learning and Development (L&D) professionals need to link learning more directly to their organisation’s business strategies. This follows the results of its annual L&D survey which found that by limiting their focus to learner and manager feedback, just 7 per cent of L&D professionals evaluate the impact of their initiatives on the business. This lack of evaluation can contribute to skills gaps being undetected, particularly in the use of new learning technologies such as Gamification. The CIPD is urging L&D professionals to look beyond trainee satisfaction and measure initiatives in terms of how they add value to the organisation and society in general. This latest research follows the publication of a report by Skillsoft last week which revealed that 55 per cent of employers admitted they were more likely to recruit externally to address skills shortages.

May 7, 2015

Understanding and overcoming the objections to sit stand workstations

by Marc Bird • Comment, Furniture, Wellbeing, Workplace design

In Sweden, sit-stand working is so commonplace that our Nordic colleagues are perplexed by how slow the UK has been to catch up. The expectation of varying working positions throughout the day is so widespread across Scandinavia that over 80 percent of Swedish, Danish, Finnish and Norwegian office workers already use sit stand workstations, and offering employees a height adjustable work station is now mandatory in Denmark. Despite sit-stand working still being in its infancy in the UK, with only 2 percent of knowledge workers having access to height adjustable workstations, there is plenty of compelling evidence, and a groundswell of expert opinion, to suggest that the UK office is going to have to get off its backside pretty soon.