September 20, 2019
One of the most talked about solutions to the UK’s seemingly intractable productivity deficit is the application of new technology. And as we begin to address the first challenges and opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it grows more apparent each day that this is not merely a macro-economic issue, but something that affects us at an organisation and personal level too.
July 29, 2019
Employers admit they need to do more to increase workplace resilience despite increased awareness of the impact of mental health issues in the workplace, claims a report from MetLife UK. Research for the report Mental Health and Stress: Building Employee Resilience in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, claims nearly six out of ten employers admit they have to increase the focus on helping their staff to build resilience and 66 percent say organisational resilience has to be driven by the company’s leadership. But nearly a third of employers admit their company’s culture creates stress at work and employees questioned for the study say employers are not honest during recruitment about the demands on staff and the impact in stress. (more…)
July 25, 2019
UK SMEs must create a tech-friendly culture to attract and retain top tech talent, according to a new white paper from Robert Half UK, Recruiting for the future: The challenges for UK SMEs. While remuneration and work–life balance are the top reasons for job moves, SMEs’ ability to offer an innovative culture with high levels of responsibility is central to their ability to secure and retain talent over larger organisations. With the UK talent market suffering from a lack of digital skills, companies across all sectors are locked in a war for talent, competing with one another to hire skilled technology professionals to help their businesses adapt to increased digitalisation. (more…)
July 12, 2019
Glassdoor has released a new survey that claims to measure sentiment around mission and culture in the workplace, along with the level of importance of both. Glassdoor surveyed over 1,000 adults in the UK (and a further 4,000+ in U.S., France and Germany) and, among key findings, claims 77 percent of people would consider a company’s mission and purpose before applying for a job there, and 57 percent say workplace culture is more important than salary when it comes to job satisfaction. (more…)
June 19, 2019
A new report from Jobsite claims that almost one in ten (8 percent) non-native workers in the UK have had to leave a job because of a culture clash or they felt they didn’t fit in, and a quarter (23 percent) of those working in multicultural teams feel their workplace has become less accepting towards their non-UK colleagues since the EU Referendum. The survey claims that over a third (35 percent) of non-native workers believe their career progression has been impacted whilst a further 13 percent think they have been overlooked for a promotion due to their cultural background. (more…)
June 4, 2019
Employees trust their CEOs less than they did seven years ago, although trust in line managers remains the same, new research claims. It also suggests that one of the reasons for mistrust is that CEOs seem unable to understand the role of their employees and the contributions they make to working culture. According to Trust in Leaders, by The Institute of Leadership & Management, workers trust their CEOs considerably less than they did in 2011, as compared to then, the results show trust in CEOs has fallen by 8 percent.
June 4, 2019
Employees who feel they are a good fit for their role and the culture of their company are 36 percent more productive, claims a new report from ThriveMap (registration). The paper claims to reveal what a difference feeling like a natural fit for a job and organisational culture makes to employees. The survey of 1,000 people used in the report claims that employees who felt they fit their role and the culture of their employer rated their productivity at 7.2 out of 10. This compares to just 5.3 out of 10 for those employees who felt they were a poor fit for both these factors.
May 23, 2019
This week is Clerkenwell Design Week amongst other things, and as part of it I chaired a discussion on Tuesday about acoustics at work in the showroom of Flokk and their effect on wellbeing. We were fortunate to have a panel that involved the likes of Nigel Oseland, Michelle Wilkie of tp bennett, Joachim Schubert of Offecct and Lee Jones of Wellworking as well as an informed audience, if for no other reason than everybody’s ability to talk about the subject as complex and multi-faceted and, to some extent, hardwired. (more…)
May 21, 2019
Cities with tech innovation-oriented cultures have a strong competitive advantage amongst those investing in commercial real estate, claims a new report from JLL (registration). Of 109 cities analysed, the nine leading global markets – Boston, London, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seattle, San Jose, Sydney and Tokyo, accounted for around 37 percent of total annual real estate investment volumes over the past decade. Like real estate investors, corporate occupiers also search for locations that have advanced innovation ecosystems, the report suggests. These cities sustain highly skilled workforces and are best placed to succeed in the future.
May 1, 2019
Company culture has been in the spotlight even more than usual recently, with stories continuing to surface about the impact that it is having on businesses. The most recent being Revolut, who were called out on their questionable culture and business practices. The issues were put down to “growing pains” and a lack of budget. The truth is, every company has a culture It’s not the state-of-the-art office, the bean bags or pool table. It boils down to the founding principals and the way business gets done. It is the feel of the work environment and the way people treat each other and your implicit attitudes and behaviours. Ultimately, all of these things are in your hands — if you take it seriously from the beginning.
February 27, 2019
Job security is the top reason employees in the UK joined their company, and also the main reason they stay, according to Mercer’s 2019 Global Talent Trends study. With close to one in three employees being concerned that AI and automation will replace their job, senior managers are also worried about the effects of digitisation, with nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of executives in the UK predicting t significant disruption in the next three years, compared to 23 percent in 2018. Mercer’s global findings reveal a similar story finding that as executives focus on making their organisations “future-fit”, significant human capital risks – including the ability to close the skills gap and overcome employee change fatigue – can impede transformation progress. Addressing these concerns is paramount, given that less than one in three executives rate their company’s ability to mitigate the effect on employees as very effective.
June 7, 2019
On target for a toxic workplace culture
by Nick Pye • Comment, Workplace
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