September 23, 2019

Flexible working continues to thrive in the public sector

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

More than two in five public sector workers were able to enjoy flexible working in the last quarter of 2018, official figures from the Office for National Statistics show. According to the data, around 42 percent of public sector workers said they had worked flexibly in the period from October to December 2018. The proportion of people offered flexible working patters was double that of private sector workers, 21 percent of which reported arrangements such as flexitime, compressed hours and term-time only work. (more…)

September 20, 2019

Climate change demands we shift our focus from productivity

by Simon Mair • Comment, Environment

Climate action is often about sacrifice: eat less meat, don’t fly, and buy less stuff. These things are essential. But climate action can also be about gain. Many causes of climate change make our lives worse. So transforming our societies to stop climate change offers us the chance to make our lives better. (more…)

September 19, 2019

Brexit causes commercial property investors to put plans on ice

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

New research commissioned by Experience Invest claims that the majority of UK commercial property investors have put their financial plans on hold as they await the Brexit deadline and 2019 Autumn Budget, new research from Experience Invest claims. Experience Invest commissioned an independent survey of over 1,000 property investors, who all own three or more residential properties in the UK. (more…)

September 18, 2019

Automation will boost productivity, but risks leaving people behind

by Neil Franklin • AI, News, Workplace

Unless the Government steps up efforts to manage the transition to automation, many people and entire regions of the UK face being left behind and British businesses could find themselves becoming less competitive, says the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee in a report published today.
(more…)

September 18, 2019

More than half of female professionals have never negotiated a pay rise

by Neil Franklin • News

More than half of all female professionals – 57 percent – have never attempted to negotiate a pay rise, according to a new report from professional recruitment firm Robert Walters. Its findings suggest that men are 23 percent more likely to negotiate a pay rise across all stages of their career, even though the amount that negotiators pitch for is not far removed from their female counterparts. (more…)

September 17, 2019

Workers uncomfortable talking about mental health

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

A new survey from Babylon Health claims that nearly 80 percent of UK adults would be uncomfortable discussing their mental health with their employer. Workplace pressures were listed as the second-largest cause of anxiety among the 2000 participants, behind personal relationships. 45 percent of adults said they felt stressed by issues at work. (more…)

September 17, 2019

One in twenty workers not receiving paid holiday

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Around one in twenty workers report not receiving any holiday entitlement, while around one in ten do not receive a payslip – highlighting the scale of labour market violations across the UK – according to new analysis published by the Resolution Foundation. (more…)

September 16, 2019

High streets should switch focus to office space and high-skilled jobs

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Property

Many British High Streets face a bleak future as policymakers are failing to identify a clear economic focus to city centre regeneration strategies. According to the Centre for Cities’ latest research, in partnership with Nationwide Building Society, success is defined by those policies that create skills, jobs and quality office space for businesses rather than currently accepted interventions such as cultural initiatives, business rate reforms and online sales taxes. (more…)

September 16, 2019

Working mums call for more flexible work options

by John Williams • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

Women are a key part of a growing contingent workforce of freelancers, consultants and part-timers. Despite numerous government policies to attract more mothers back into the workplace, retention is still a significant struggle. Several data collected indicates working mums who return part-time, combining professional careers with raising a family, are increasingly frustrated. The research shows that the modern workplace often fails to cater for the needs of mothers and carers as they face the pressures of combining busy working lives with lifestyle and family obligations.

(more…)

September 13, 2019

There is still time to avoid the regrexit of Brexit

by Anthony Brown • Business, Comment

Several months ago when we invited Jonty Bloom, one of the media’s most respected journalists to come and speak to our guest audience, we knew it would be informed, relevant and fascinating. What we didn’t know was that the day before (4th September 2019) Boris Johnson would deliver a stunningly inelegant performance at his inaugural Prime Minister’s Question time, the day after losing his first vote in parliament to prevent a further delay in delivering Brexit. (more…)

September 11, 2019

Mixed messages in labour market, but signs of trouble ahead

by Tony Wilson • Business, Comment

There are mixed signals in today’s jobs figures for the UK. Optimists will point to continued record employment, a slight fall in unemployment and earnings growth higher than at any point since the recession – despite everything, the labour market is still going strong. For pessimists though, there are strong signs of things slowing down: vacancies have fallen to their lowest since 2017, the growth in employment is virtually flat, and the number of young people not in employment or education is rising again. So what is really going on? (more…)

September 10, 2019

Workers worldwide think they could outperform their own bosses

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Managers should seriously consider giving their employees the reins for a day to test new research that indicates seven out of 10 employees worldwide (69 percent) say they can do their boss’s job better, despite nearly the same number of workers (71 percent) grading their boss’s competence a B or better.

The Global State of Managers research comes from The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated and Future Workplace, which examined how nearly 3,000 employees in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Mexico, the U.K., and the U.S. would grade their manager’s effectiveness across five factors: communication, competence, empowerment, professional development, and support.

According to the study, employees grade their managers high on competence but nearly fail them when it comes to work-life balance and job coaching. Overall, people feel managers are good at their jobs, with the majority of employees grading bosses an A or B for competence (71 percent) – the highest grade given – and work ethic (70 percent).

Bosses also received high marks (B or better) for their communication skills, people management skills, and ability to handle performance-related issues (all 67 percent). The older the employee, however, the more critical they are of their boss: Baby Boomers1 and Gen Xers grade managers more harshly with a C, D, or F for overall people management skills (37 percent and 38 percent, respectively). Worldwide, the employee-manager connection remains critically important: 70 percent of employees say their relationship with their manager is an extremely or very important factor when deciding to remain at their current job, with 22 percent agreeing it’s somewhat important. Millennial (79 percent) and Gen Z (73 percent) employees feel strongest about the importance of the manager relationship for retention compared with Gen X (66 percent) and Baby Boomer (62 percent) counterparts.

Other findings

Nearly seven out of 10 people think they can do their boss’s job more effectively.
While bosses worldwide are well regarded by their employees, these same employees think they could personally manage even more effectively, with younger Millennial (73 percent) and Gen Z (70 percent) employees most confident they could do better.
Based on grades given of a C, D, or F, at least one in three employees feel their manager could improve at modelling work-life balance (37 percent); their ability to coach for better job performance (37 percent); handling performance-related issues (33 percent); and communication (33 percent).
For overall people management skills, the majority of workers would “pass” their boss with an A (26 percent), B (37 percent), or C (25 percent); yet 4 percent of employees give a solid F for performance.
French, German, and U.K. managers graded worst for competence, while Indian and Mexican workers are happiest overall…with one big exception.
Indian employees are by far the most satisfied with their managers, with at least eight out of 10 grading managers an A or B in every category. Conversely, French, German, and U.K. workers are by far the most pessimistic about manager performance, as those countries ranked in the bottom three in every category surveyed
Most competent: India (87 percent); Australia (76 percent); Canada (75 percent); Mexico (75 percent); U.S. (71 percent); Germany (62 percent); U.K. (61 percent); and France (59 percent)
Best communicators: India (90 percent); Mexico (74 percent); Australia (68 percent); Canada (68 percent); U.S. (67 percent); Germany (59 percent); France (58 percent); and the U.K. (56 percent)
Hardest-working managers: India (81 percent); Australia (75 percent); U.S. (73 percent); Canada (72 percent); Mexico (70 percent); Germany (63 percent); U.K. (62 percent); and France (58 percent)
Best job coaches: India (83 percent); Mexico (70 percent); U.S. (64 percent); Australia (63 percent); Canada (61 percent); France (56 percent); Germany (55 percent); and the U.K. (51 percent)
Most adept at handling performance-related issues: India (86 percent); Mexico (73 percent); U.S. (70 percent); Australia (68 percent); Canada (66 percent); Germany (59 percent); U.K. (57 percent); and France (56 percent)
Role models for work-life balance: India (80 percent); Mexico (70 percent); Canada (65 percent); U.S. (65 percent); Australia (62 percent); France (55 percent); Germany (55 percent); and the U.K. (53 percent)

Differences by sector and nationality

Despite rating their managers No. 1 in all categories, 95 percent of Indian employees still say they could do their boss’s job better all of the time (47 percent) or some of the time (48 percent). This sentiment is followed by 87 percent of Mexican workers and 71 percent of French workers. Canada (61 percent) and U.S. (59 percent) workers feel the least confident that they could do their boss’s job better – yet it’s still more than half of all employees.

Managers in the technology industry are on top overall, scoring highest marks (A or B) in people management (81 percent), communication (75 percent), and modeling work-life balance (70 percent). Professional services managers (e.g. accountants, engineers, lawyers) rank second-best, with 70 percent of employees grading them a B or better for people management and communication. Employees in the technology (77 percent) and finance (70 percent) sectors say they have a strong or very strong relationship with their boss, followed by manufacturing (62 percent); education (61 percent); retail (61 percent); and professional services (61 percent).

There is room for managers to model better work-life balance in frontline industries – i.e. those who must be present to do their jobs – with 53 percent of employees in federal government, 42 percent in healthcare, and 42 percent in retail giving their boss a C or worse.

Regarding pure competence, managers are graded worst – C or lower – by public safety (44 percent); federal government (39 percent); transportation/distribution/logistics (35 percent); and healthcare (34 percent) employees. More than one in three employees give poor marks of a C or worse for their manager’s work ethic in federal government (37 percent); healthcare (34 percent); transportation/distribution/logistics (34 percent); and manufacturing (33 percent).

Image by Pixabay