Search Results for: workplace

November 28, 2017

Employers holding back on publishing gender pay for fear of standing out

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

Most employers have already calculated their pay gap, but research by XpertHR suggests they’re holding back on reporting their findings for fear of standing out if they publish early. Organisations with 250 or more employees have to publish their gender pay and bonus gaps by April 2018 in order to comply with Regulations that came into effect this year. However, with less than six months to go, only 6 percent of the estimated 4,000 employers covered by the new law have complied. Despite the low reporting rate to date, more than one in four ( 26.5 percent) mid-sized companies (those with 250-999 employees) and more than half (51.5 percent ) of larger companies (with 1,000+ employees) have already calculated their pay gaps. Anecdotally, some have told researchers that they are waiting to see what other companies in their sector do before publishing – or that they want there to be a large number of reports in the public domain before they release their own figures.

November 28, 2017

Workers would be prepared to take a pay cut for an agile working life

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

A new survey claims that the ability to accommodate agile working into their life is important, with those who prefer to work agile claiming they would sacrifice an average of 16 percent of their annual salary for the opportunity.In addition to this, 86 percent stated they would even change jobs to accommodate their preference. The report into recruiting for an agile workforce suggests that despite being a relatively new concept, over half surveyed were familiar with it and over 22 percent of those had worked in an agile environment for over two years. However, recruiters claim less than half of the roles they’re working on offer agile, finding it’s most prevalent in the IT sector. The study reveals both recruiters and candidates believe the key attributes for success in agile are being flexible, organised and hardworking. Interestingly, the majority of recruiters believe these are required in advance and cannot be developed on the job. Meanwhile, social qualities (like being introverted or outgoing) or being easy going are less important.

November 28, 2017

BPF submits real estate sector deal proposal to government

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

The British Property Federation (BPF) has announced it has submitted a Sector Deal proposal to government on behalf of the real estate industry. The announcement follows yesterday’s publication of the government’s Industrial Strategy White Paper – and of the first three Sector Deals committing industry and government to achieving the Industrial Strategy’s ambition in partnership. The real estate Sector Deal proposal sets out how the real estate industry underpins the UK’s economic and social wellbeing, and how it will be essential to the delivery of other Sector Deals including construction. The proposal ‘seeks a partnership with government where both sides are working together to maximise the real estate industry’s contribution to the economy, and to creating infrastructure and great places to live, work and relax across the country’.

November 27, 2017

OECD publishes major new work on measuring the quality of the working environment

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace design

The OECD has published a major new report which it claims set out an internationally agreed set of guidelines to measure the quality of the working environment. The document covers a wide range of factors related to working conditions based on existing data and a survey of workers in 20 OECD countries. These characteristics of the working environment include risk factors, work intensity, discretion, autonomy and the opportunity for self-realisation. The guidelines have been produced as part of the OECD Better Life Initiative, which was launched in 2011 with the objective of measuring wellbeing. The report then goes on to set out guidelines for analysis based on sets of questions based on 17 workplace factors.

November 24, 2017

It’s just life now: Debra Ward in conversation with Mark Eltringham

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Features, Podcasts, Property, Technology, Workplace design

There is currently a great deal of talk about the way people experience the workplace. It is a subject linked to the changing nature of work but also a growing awareness that the old demarcations of time and place are falling, and with them the demarcations between the workplace professions. This subject may be topical but it has been a long term preoccupation for today’s guest on the podcast Debra Ward. Earlier this year Debra joined JLL in the new role of Strategy & Growth Director and one of her first aims has been to focus on the firm’s approach to human experience. This is encapsulated in a major global report on the subject but it’s one that Debra has always championed in here previous roles with MITIE, Macro and Condeco. Debra is forthright, informed, bright and passionate. Everything you need in a podcast in fact.

November 23, 2017

Time for Britain to face up to its post-Brexit skills shortage

by Andrew White • Comment, Technology, Workplace

A new and dramatic wrinkle seems to be added to the process of Brexit talks every week. But rumbling underneath the political positioning are some fundamental problems for business. Perhaps the most startling challenge is the prospect of a cavernous skills gap. A lot of attention has been paid to the problems of low-skilled workers – the “left-behind” who voted for Brexit in the first place, and the migrants who are currently propping up the agricultural economy and doing the jobs that UK workers don’t want to do. But a more pressing issue is the fact that for too long a large proportion of our skilled labour has been coming from outside the UK. This is not only in the form of skilled individuals who are recruited to work for companies and public sector organisations in the UK, but also in the way Britain outsources the manufacture of complex parts to companies in the rest of Europe. More →

November 23, 2017

Support of gender diversity charter to widen digital and tech talent pool

by Sara Bean • AI, News, Public Sector, Technology, Workplace

As we reported yesterday there are gender as well as economic imbalances which could cause long term problems for the tech sector. While there is a looming digital skills gap – with the UK needing one million more tech workers by 2020, just one in ten females are currently taking A-level computer studies. Currently only 17 percent of the tech/ICT workforce in the UK are female, well below the 47 percent of women in the workforce overall. To help address the issue, the Tech Talent Charter is a commitment by organisations (including Nationwide, BBC, HP, Monster and Cancer Research) to a set of pledges designed to increase gender diversity in the UK tech workforce. These pledges include inclusive recruitment processes and contributing company employment and diversity data anonymously to be published publically annually. Following yesterday’s budget, the Tech Talent Charter is announcing today that it has received Government funding as it welcomes its 90^th signatory.

November 22, 2017

Address gender and economic barriers to tech revolution says BT

by Sara Bean • AI, News, Technology, Workplace

Young people from less privileged backgrounds and females face greater barriers to joining the tech revolution, a new report suggests. Tech know-how: The new way to get ahead for the next generation, from BT and Accenture could boost the next generation’s tech skills and help charge social mobility and economic growth. The study found individuals with higher levels of tech know-how earn more as their career progresses, with a ‘tech literacy wage premium’ of £10,000 per year. The implied salary increase if people develop their skills could add approximately £11 billion to UK GDP by 2022. However, young people whose parents have higher levels of education are 26 percent more likely to see themselves as ‘expert’ or ‘creative’ users of tech in the next five years; and those whose parents fall into the top two education levels expect to earn salaries that are 19 percent higher than the bottom two. The report also highlighted a stark gender divide as young men receive 46 percent more encouragement from parents and teachers to build their tech skills than their female counterparts, and are 17 percent more likely to report having had sufficient training at school.

November 22, 2017

Employers can Improve staff performance by balancing feedback says CIPD

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

Line managers can improve the performance of their teams by focussing on building their strengths, rather than trying to fix their weaknesses, claims new research published by the CIPD. ‘Strengths-based performance conversations’ aims to move managers away from a deficit-oriented method, which is focused on identifying and fixing the weaknesses of team members, analysing what has gone wrong and considering how that can be avoided in the future. The new study of performance management outcomes in the civil service shows that that employee performance can be improved by a simple training intervention focused on building strengths instead of fixing weaknesses. These results can be boosted by a more extensive intervention, which includes wider communication and changes to HR policy, as well as manager training.

November 22, 2017

New Acas guidance on preventing pregnancy and maternity discrimination at work

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

Acas has published new guidance to help employers create supportive workplaces for women during pregnancy and maternity leave. The employment advisory service says it received more than 14,000 calls last year about pregnancy and maternity issues, an increase of almost 10 percent on the previous year. The guidance offers employers advice on how to comply with the Equalities Act, which protects employees against pregnancy and maternity discrimination including how employees on maternity leave should be made aware of opportunities for promotion and training; pregnancy related absences must not be included in an employee’s absence record; and employees must not be dismissed or made redundant for any issue related to pregnancy or maternity leave or maternity pay.

November 21, 2017

The missing LINC between the office and the future of work

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

There is a theory that if you want to know how the economy is doing, you ask a taxi driver. The basis for this idea is that they are the first to know when money is getting tight, because people make more use of buses and tubes. In a similar way, one of the best ways of gauging workplace trends is to ask an office furniture company. They’ve always functioned in a fiercely competitive market, but are also the first to notice an economic downturn or a shift in the structure of their markets.

November 21, 2017

Two thirds of workers too embarrassed to tell boss about mental health issues

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

New research from job site CV-Library claims that nearly two thirds (60.2 percent) of employees feel embarrassed about disclosing information on the state of their mental health with their employer. What’s more, 60.8 percent feel they cannot talk about it with their boss. The report explored the views of 1,200 UK workers and found that a third of professionals (31.7 percent) feel that their workplace is not supportive of mental health, with a further 77.8 percent believing that the majority of workplaces in the UK are unsupportive. Other key findings from the research include: Nearly two thirds (64.2 percent) of workers fear their employer would judge them if they spoke about their health issues, with a further 46.8 percent worrying that doing so will make them look weak; one third (36.7 percent) fear that they would get fired if they told their boss about their mental health issues; and 63 percent said that they would feel guilty taking time off work for mental health reasons.