Search Results for: risk

When it comes to change management, culture sometimes eats strategy for breakfast

When it comes to change management, culture sometimes eats strategy for breakfast

21st Century organisations are under constant pressure to evolve. They are beset by a number of forces that demand they change constantly. These include the need to restructure the organisation, adapt to new technologies, respond to competitors and changes in the economy and legislative environment. Inevitably, this constant need to change affects both people and the built environment in very profound ways. However, according to a study of Culture and Change Management published by the Katzenbach Center, only around half of all transformation initiatives meet their objects over time. Among the biggest obstacles to successful change management cited by the study is change fatigue, which is characterised by a lack of empathy and a widespread failure to engage with the change process.

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Firms are reluctant to hire women if they suspect they plan to have children in the near future

Firms are reluctant to hire women if they suspect they plan to have children in the near future

Nearly one in three UK bosses admit they have or would reject a female job applicant and might be generally reluctant to hire women if they suspect they ‘might start a family soon’. Although this form of employment discrimination is unlawful, 15 percent anonymously admitted that they had broken sex discrimination laws. The new research of 501 bosses, carried out by law firm Slater and Gordon, also revealed that one in four bosses has rejected or would reject a woman, simply because she was a single parent. A further 29 percent said they have discounted or would discount a woman for a job role because she had young children and 28 percent said they have or would because she was recently engaged or married.

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Responsible office fit-out toolkit published by Building Better Partnerships

Responsible office fit-out toolkit published by Building Better Partnerships

Commercial property trade body Building Better Partnerships (BBP) has today published its latest free industry guidance – Responsible Fit-Out Toolkit: Offices. The Toolkit claims to provide guidance for owners and occupiers on how to integrate sustainability and wellbeing into an office fit-out. The authors claim that while workplace design plays a pivotal role in demonstrating a business’s values and can have an immense impact on the comfort and productivity of those working within and visiting a space, opportunities are rarely fully appreciated.

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Staff at larger organisations take three times as many sick days as those at micro firms

Staff at larger organisations take three times as many sick days as those at micro firms

absenceEmployers with over 250 employees are more likely to have a significant absence issue among staff says new research from Group Risk Development (GRiD). According to HR decision makers companies with over 250 employees have the highest absence rates – averaging 7.5 days per year yet micro businesses with between 1-9 staff only see their staff take an average of 2.8 days absence per year. Five per cent of HR decision makers also admitted to not recording or monitoring absence at all, although this is more prevalent amongst SMEs (6 percent) than those with over 250 employees (1 percent). (more…)

Why you should definitely stand in meetings (and not care what others think about it)

Why you should definitely stand in meetings (and not care what others think about it)

People who stand in meetings may enjoy a number of health benefits, but it can also make them feel self-conscious, anxious about how others perceive them, and disengaged from the meeting. These findings, taken from our recent study, suggest that efforts to encourage office workers to sit less and move more must acknowledge the realities of the workplace that conspire to keep people chained to their seats. Sitting has been linked to adverse health outcomes, including increased risk of obesity, heart disease, some cancers, and poorer mental health. While some evidence suggests that the harms of sitting can be offset by at least one daily hour of moderate physical activity, this seems an unrealistic target. (more…)

Fewer than a third of people see their employers as technology leaders

Fewer than a third of people see their employers as technology leaders

The key to keeping today’s digital worker productive, positive about their job and around at all is to arm them with the most updated technology possible. That is the perhaps unsurprising conclusion of a new study by Unisys Corporation  that explores the importance of deploying current and future digital capabilities in the workplace in the UK and eleven other countries around the world. The report is available here but you’ll be obliged to register.

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Location of workplace most important factor in attracting UK job seekers

Location of workplace most important factor in attracting UK job seekers

The most attractive factor for UK job seekers when choosing a new employer is the location, claims the latest Global Talent Monitor report from Gartner. The report warns that employers are facing some challenges in retention as just 27.2 percent of UK employees in 1Q18 reported a high intention to stay with the organisation, down 5.5 percent from the same period last year. The UK had the fourth largest decrease after France, Singapore and Germany and those that are at the highest risk of leaving are those aged between 18-29 and 30-39 who have completed an MBA. The biggest attraction-drivers for UK job seekers are location (53.5 percent), vacation (43 percent), work-life balance (41.9 percent), camaraderie (41.4 percent) and produce or service quality (41.4 percent). (more…)

How limiting non-work related web use affects security and productivity

How limiting non-work related web use affects security and productivity

Spiceworks has announced the results of a new survey examining the use of web filtering in the workplace and the implications of restricting certain online behaviours. The results indicate among organisations that don’t restrict non-work related web use, most employees (58 percent) spend at least four hours per week, the equivalent of 26 workdays per year, on websites unrelated to their job. In other words, based on the median U.S. salary of $45,812, these organisations are paying full-time employees approximately $4,500 per year to spend 10 percent of their time consuming non-work-related web content.

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Global employers focus on mobile talent to help support new ways of working

Global employers focus on mobile talent to help support new ways of working

Global employers focus on mobile talent to support future ways of workingThe digital era, ageing populations, skills shortages, and unpredictable political and economic contexts are persuading multinationals to focus more on mobile talent, new ways of working and assessing the cost of expatriate packages for international employees that are critical to the future of work. This is according to Mercer’s 24th annual Cost of Living Survey which reveals that factors such as instability of housing markets and fluctuating inflation, currencies and prices for goods and services, are impacting the cost of doing business in various cities around the world. UK cities have significantly risen in the ranking this year. (more…)

Younger employees are main source of workplace security breaches

Younger employees are main source of workplace security breaches

More than a third of senior executives believe that younger employees are the “main culprits” for workplace security breaches according to a new study into attitudes to security of the workforce, commissioned by Centrify. The study also claims that these same decision makers are doing very little to allay their own fears with over a third of 18-24 year olds able to access any files on their company network and only one in five having to request permission to access specific files. Less than half (43 percent) have access only to the files that are relevant to their work. The study, conducted by Censuswide, sought the views of 1,000 younger workers (18-24 year olds) and 500 decision makers in UK organisations to discover how security, privacy and online behaviour at work impacts the lives of younger employees and the companies that they work for.

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Improving employment of older people could boost UK GDP by £180bn 

Improving employment of older people could boost UK GDP by £180bn 

GDP could be boosted by around £180 billion a year if the UK could match New Zealand’s employment rates for the over-55s. While employment of older workers has improved in the UK in recent years, it still ranks only 21st out of 35 OECD countries according to new analysis from PwC. The consultancy’s Golden Age Index is a weighted average of indicators – including employment, earnings and training – that reflect the labour market impact of workers aged over 55. Iceland tops the rankings followed by New Zealand and Israel. For the OECD as a whole, there is a potential $3.5 trillion economic prize from matching New Zealand’s employment rates for the over-55s.

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Four key points to consider when creating a digital workplace

Four key points to consider when creating a digital workplace

As the use of digital technologies and data to create new value propositions and operating models becomes more commonplace, workplaces across the world are being affected across sectors, from manufacturing to local government. Almost all areas have been touched by the megatrend, whether from own initiatives or to keep up with competitors. However, Arthur D. Little’s Digital Transformation Study reports that almost 80 percent of companies surveyed were only “digitally adaptive”, with digital efforts limited to products and services at best, and no comprehensive approach to adapting their mind-sets. To help traditional organizations adapt sufficiently to compete with digitally minded start-ups, we have identified four key questions to consider when developing digitalization strategies and the creation of a fully digital workplace.

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