October 23, 2019

Firms not meeting the needs of a growing flexible workforce

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

A new report claims that US based businesses are not addressing the needs of an increasingly “deskless workforce” which thinks flexible working is a right that should be valued more than other benefits. The Future is Flexible: A New Workforce Paradigm Evolving From the Gig Economy (registration) from Quinyx compiles publicly available data alongside a survey of more than 4,000 employed Americans over the age of 18. It claims that, behind wages, flexibility is one of the most important factors of happiness at work for this growing flexible workforce, higher than health benefits, culture, and employee discounts. (more…)

October 16, 2019

Two thirds of people would trust a robot more than their manager

by Neil Franklin • AI, News

Following the recent report that people would prefer to be replaced by a robot than a human, a new survey from Oracle suggests they also have more trust in robots than their managers. According to the second annual AI at Work study conducted by Oracle and researchers Future Workplace. The study of 8,370 employees, managers and HR leaders across 10 countries, found that AI has changed the relationship between people and technology at work and is reshaping the role HR teams and managers need to play in attracting, retaining and developing talent. (more…)

September 26, 2019

Striking the balance between the office and remote work

by Arran Stewart • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Once upon a time the concept of ‘remote working’ beyond outsourced contractors was almost unheard of. Employers viewed remote work as an opportunity for workers to be less productive, out of contact and generally more inefficient. As an employer myself, I would have agreed with these misconceptions early on in my career. However, after many years of hiring staff that either work part- or even full-time remotely, I can confidently say the myths are unfounded; even I am now more prone to remote working. (more…)

September 12, 2019

People cannot focus for length of most meetings

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

An overwhelming majority (83 percent) of UK office employees are unable to concentrate in meetings for over 45 minutes, yet research from Sharp reveals that the average meeting lasts 49 minutes. This finding was supported by 55 percent of those surveyed, who claimed that work meetings are too long. This dissatisfaction appears to be caused by the difficulty in sustaining concentration in long meetings, with only 36 percent of UK employees indicating they are able to concentrate for a full 30 minutes. (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

September 3, 2019

Work-life integration is the new goal for workers

by Nicole Bello • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

The modern world of work is a stressful one, and the goal to progress in our careers brings on even more pressure. Tight deadlines and demanding workloads are the typical order of the day, but just as important is to have the time to wind down and recharge the batteries. Historically, this has been known as work-life balance.

(more…)

August 30, 2019

Shaping the workplace of tomorrow

by Richard Glückman • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

The workplace, as we know it, is rapidly evolving and the role of the traditional office is changing. In fact, what current trends are pointing towards is that the whole work culture is shifting, with the employee experience becoming equally important as consumer needs. The new norm of the workplace is being flexible, dynamic, and versatile – yet, more often than not, companies lag behind in providing the right tools to support these trends. We can often see a significant gap between what the workforce needs and what the workplace offers. (more…)

July 10, 2019

Google remains most attractive company to work for

by Jayne Smith • News, Workplace

Universum Global has launched the findings for the UK portion of its annual Global Talent Survey (registration) which claims that Google is the UK’s most attractive company to work for by graduates for the seventh consecutive year. Universum studied 39,500 students from 97 British Universities to understand the career aspirations, goals and workplace requirements for graduates.

(more…)

July 5, 2019

Four day week makes business sense, claims Henley report

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

A four day working week could save UK businesses an estimated £104 billion annually, while improving productivity and their environmental performance according to new research from Henley Business School. The research claims that a shorter working week on the same pay could add to businesses’ bottom lines through increased staff productivity and an uplift in staff physical and mental health, whilst also resulting in a cleaner environmental footprint. Henley’s ‘Four Better or Four Worse?’ white paper exploring the issue claims that of those businesses who have already adopted a four day week, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) have reported improvements in staff productivity. (more…)

June 5, 2019

C-suite reskills to face challenge of disruption

by George Eltringham • News, Work&Place

An emerging super-group of employees and consumers in the UK is adding intense pressure to already challenged C-suite leaders who are navigating tough economic, technological and geo-political environments – further threatening company growth, a new Accenture (NYSE: ACN) study finds. With nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of these powerful stakeholders believing they have the potential to destroy company value in the long term, the C-suite understands the need to respond. (more…)

May 22, 2019

Young people increasingly sceptical about work and institutions

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

Younger people across the world are increasingly disillusioned with traditional institutions, sceptical of business’ motives and pessimistic about economic and social progress, according to the 2019 Deloitte Millennial Survey. The survey claims that despite global economic growth, expansion and opportunity, younger generations are wary about the world and their place in it. But they remain hopeful and lean on their values as both consumers and employees. (more…)

May 16, 2019

Employers need to better understand flexible working

by Marie Hillen • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Employers need to better understand the needs of younger candidates, particularly that of flexible working, says Gartner, after its latest Global Labor Market Survey claims that a rise in Gen Z candidate’s regrets is leading to high turnover, low engagement and low productivity. According to the survey, 40 percent of Gen Z respondents reported that they would not repeat their decision to accept the job offer they had accepted and only 51 percent said they could see themselves having a long career at their organisation. More than one-third of candidates who regret their decision intend to leave their position within 12 months.