November 16, 2020

Designing your employee financial wellness program

For a lot of employers, the idea of an employee financial wellness program can be something of an afterthought. That is, beyond providing fair pay and a clear policy regarding taxation and benefits, it can seem unnecessary to take any other action regarding employee finances. What’s becoming more and more apparent, however, is that employers do need to take a more active approach toward implementing employee financial wellness programs. (more…)

November 12, 2020

Stepping back into the workplace arena

by Rachel Houghton • Comment

Dr Brené Brown is one of those individuals whom I find myself channelling, particularly during challenging times. Her views on the power of vulnerability and her call to be brave and ‘step into the arena’ have shaped my career. In a crisis, we need to be courageous and ready for the fight. It’s not just about rolling with the punches. It’s about knowing that it’s ok to get knocked down, because there will be someone to help you get back up. (more…)

November 6, 2020

Furlough schemes are leaving isolated staff down in the dumps

by Steven Buck • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace

Since March, Glint has been creating a dataset which now consists of 7 million survey responses from employees around the world and across a broad range of industries. Our aim is to take the pulse of the global workforce to see how it’s faring with our ongoing global health crisis and to understand its effects on work. The recent August report shows that pandemic-related layoffs and furloughs have hit employees hard. 56 percent of respondents report feeling less happy at work after seeing co-workers furloughed or laid off. Half of respondents say their organisation’s layoffs or furlough plans have had a negative impact on their workload (50 percent) and their sense of belonging or community at work (47 percent). (more…)

November 4, 2020

Upskilling opportunities during lockdown: UK employers miss the mark

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Working lives

According to new research from Pluralsight, Inc. (NASDAQ: PS), the technology skills and engineering management platform, 43 percent of UK office workers are worried they will be left behind as companies seek new skills to cope with the rapid pace of change. Yet, despite these upskilling concerns, 47 percent have neglected learning any new skills since the lockdown began in the UK on March 23rd. (more…)

October 29, 2020

Oslo tops list of cities with the best work-life balance

by Jayne Smith • Business, Flexible working, News, Working lives

Cloud-based access control company Kisi has released their 2020 work-life balance city index, highlighting how major cities from the 2019 edition have since been impacted by the global pandemic. While every city in the index suffered economic, social and structural consequences, the results of this year’s edition claim that having a safety net in place for workers made a large difference in how a city navigated the crisis. (more…)

October 20, 2020

Remote work and the risks of employee surveillance

by Joe Aiston and Alexander Barnett • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

There has been a gradual shift towards increased flexible and remote work patterns in the last few years. The COVID-19 pandemic has created the perfect storm to force organisations to further consider their working practices, with all but essential physical roles usually involving an element of homeworking – nearly half of people in employment in the UK did some work at home in April 2020, according to the ONS. Many businesses are expecting to operate a largely remote workforce for the foreseeable future. The fear of declining productivity and concerns for people wellbeing has encouraged many employers to increase their employee monitoring arrangements. (more…)

October 20, 2020

Radical reskilling needed to ensure future of economy

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Research carried out by the CBI prior to the pandemic suggests there is an urgent need for the UK to embark on a radical programme of reskilling that goes further and faster than current plans. According to the CBI, the UK faces a stark choice: invest more in lifetime learning and upskilling of millions of employees, or stick to business as usual, and risk sustained higher rates of unemployment and skills shortages. (more…)

October 15, 2020

Work-life balance suffers for millions, as remote working increases

by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives

A new report from Dynata, a data and insights company, raises global concerns about the economy, and a “down but not out” resilience across the UK. The report claims that we are now a nation of home workers (as opposed to shopkeepers), juggling a work-life balance as the end of furlough approaches, and many predict a steep rise in redundancies. Dynata’s Global Trends Report: The Economy Edition surveyed over 9000 people across 9 countries globally, including over 1,000 respondents from the UK. (more…)

October 14, 2020

Many people are demoralised, disconnected and worried. We need to talk about that.

by Steven Buck • Comment, Wellbeing, Working lives

October 12, 2020

Four in ten UK workers feel their mental health is worse than a year ago

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

A new study by independent job board, CV-Library claims four in 10 (42.9 percent) professionals feel their mental health is worse than it was a year ago. What’s more, female workers appear to be suffering more than their male counterparts (46.9 percent of women vs. 39.9 percent of men). (more…)

October 2, 2020

What (nearly) everybody gets wrong about work and the coronavirus

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

You’ve probably read and heard dozens, or even hundreds, of different viewpoints about the effect of the pandemic on the world of work. Most of them (until recently perhaps) have dished up one of the two binary options as part of a zero-sum game. Many are based on hackneyed ideas and expressed as clichés. (more…)

September 21, 2020

Time to get on board with the psychological effects of working from home

by Jörg Bakschas • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

It almost goes without saying that this year has seen a rapid shift towards remote working, with many companies now moving to a flexible working model. From a business perspective, many employees are proving that they can still get their work done working from home. But what is the psychological impact of this? And are companies doing enough to research and prevent any negative psychological effects of remote working? (more…)