Search Results for: change

HR must catch its breath and address changing expectations after the pandemic

HR must catch its breath and address changing expectations after the pandemic

HR and the pandemicSomeone really should have warned HR and people leaders that we needed to strap ourselves in, right? Even then, would we have ever been completely prepared for the rollercoaster ride organisations have experienced because of the pandemic? As part of Sage’s research, ‘HR in the moment: changing perceptions and expectations in HR’, we spoke to more than 1,500 human resources leaders, c-suite executives and employees in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia, to discover how the pandemic and recent events have impacted the role, expectations and views of human resources teams globally. (more…)

People working from home hide mental health impact from employers

People working from home hide mental health impact from employers

working from homePeople working from home during the pandemic are experiencing higher levels of stress and withholding mental health conditions from their employer, for fear of a negative impact on career progression, according to a new health and safety at work report by Lloyd’s Register. (more…)

We need to talk about Red Industries

We need to talk about Red Industries

red industriesWe need to talk about Red Industries. More specifically we need to talk about the firm’s Walley’s Quarry landfill site in the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

First up, a disclaimer. I am a native of the town. Fairly recently, I returned to live there after many years away. Most importantly in the context of what I am about to write, my mum was laid to rest in the town. Her grave lies in the main cemetery of the village of Silverdale.

Silverdale has a population of a little under 5,000 people. The Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme is largely formed from a number of similar villages and has a total population of about 130,000.

Yet this small village in this small town is the source of more complaints to the UK’s Environment Agency than any other location in the country. Last weekend alone the council received around 2,000. Many hundreds more were made to the EA (exact numbers are vague although the EA admits it was a record number). Those complaints include one of my own. All referred to the polluting stench of sulphurous rot emanating from the landfill site in the village, owned by Red Industries.

Call the EA reporting hotline and the first question you are asked before saying anything else is whether the complaint is about Walley’s Quarry. That tells its own story.

 

The wider problem

Among the complainants were local schools, Keele University and the local hospital. To put this into context, the hospital is 2.5 miles away from the landfill and the stench was reported inside the building. My own home is around 2 miles away and my complaint about Red Industries and its hell hole was made from there.

My mother’s grave lies 100 yards from the entrance to the site. I now cannot visit her without heaving.

God alone knows how awful it must be for mourners at funerals. And how much worse for those who live nearby. Although you can get some idea from the activist Facebook Group set up to tell their stories. Those stories have amped up since the site was granted a new licence last year. That doesn’t seem a coincidence.

I could say the Environment Agency is pussy footing around the issue, but they are not even doing that. Last weekend’s deluge of complaints to the agency coincided with the introduction of new monitoring equipment at the site. On Monday it became apparent that this equipment wasn’t even turned on.

And so, the suggestion from MP Aaron Bell that the weekend should be considered an incident in its own right can be dismissed by the very people supposedly responsible for protecting the environment. I don’t know what they make of his raising the issue in Parliament.

And the response of Red Industries to what is happening? It is to hide behind regulations and the skirt tails of the useless EA, refuse to acknowledge the problem and write intimidating letters to the MP.

A new motion put forward to the council suggests that the site needs to close while a better plan is formulated. The leader of the council has called on the local head of the EA to resign and for the site to be closed permanently. His organisation is now actively at loggerheads with the EA. This is getting very real, very quickly.

Something needs to change and soon. The site as managed by Red Industries is – at the very least – worsening the daily lives and wellbeing of tens of thousands of people. It may well be affecting their physical health. These people are being let down by the Environment Agency which needs to be far more proactive and possibly aggressive in its dealings with Red Industries. Already there have been minor protests, including one man chaining himself to the gates of the site. But if local people cannot rely on the agencies that should be protecting them, we might expect those protests to ramp up.

This is a personal post, but it’s very important to me. It will stay online but not appear on the homepage.   

Zoom fatigue is real and has four basic causes

Zoom fatigue is real and has four basic causes

zoom fatigueThe much discussed idea of Zoom fatigue turns out to be a real phenomenon according to new peer reviewed research from Stanford academics. The study published in the American Psychological Association’s journal Technology, Mind, and Behaviour found that meetings conducted via video calls leave participants feeling more exhausted and emotionally drained than those held face to face. The study found the four most important factors that make video calls so exhausting; the constant need for eye contact, the ability to see one’s own face constantly during meetings, the need to sit still for long periods and difficulties in interpreting or communicating via body language. (more…)

The link between wellbeing and green design is driving material innovation

The link between wellbeing and green design is driving material innovation

wellbeing and green building designOne of the most interesting developments in the way we talk about the design of buildings in recent years is how the issue of wellbeing has found an overlap with environmental concerns. We know instinctively that these are natural partners. What is good for the environment almost always has a direct beneficial effect on people’s physical and mental health, as well as their productivity. (more…)

UKGBC launches framework for defining social value

UKGBC launches framework for defining social value

frameworkThe UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has published a Framework for Defining Social Value in the Built Environment, designed to help built environment practitioners define and deliver social value on their projects. Social value is often considered especially hard to define for built environment projects, as each project serves a different community with their own unique set of requirements.  (more…)

Workers hatred of Mondays and Fridays threatens post Covid-19 environmental dividend

Workers hatred of Mondays and Fridays threatens post Covid-19 environmental dividend

workersWith the Government setting out its roadmap for the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, workers are set to return to offices later this year. However, new working practices mean they will still split their time between the office and home. (more…)

False positives and the dangers of unrealistic positivity at work

False positives and the dangers of unrealistic positivity at work

positivity at workThe vaccine rollout is well on its way, the Government has set out its road map for easing lockdown and it seems there is light at the end of the tunnel. Organisations can hopefully now start to shift mindsets away from the negativity of the past months and create a positive outlook for the future. So, should leaders and managers now be pasting on the smiles, dishing out the motivational pep talks and inspirational emails? Should they aim to create a sense of positivity at work. No, most definitely not. (more…)

Workplace digital divide is forcing employers to rethink the way they communicate

Workplace digital divide is forcing employers to rethink the way they communicate

employersIn March 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic forced countless employers around the globe to send their non-essential employees home. Few organisations had a contingency plan for such a scenario, meaning the overwhelming majority of employers had to rethink their operations and communication functions on the fly. (more…)

Half of employees think managers have become less empathetic in latest lockdown

Half of employees think managers have become less empathetic in latest lockdown

managersWhilst initial lockdowns saw a positive response from managers looking to support their teams, it seems maintaining this level of empathy a full year later is for some leaders proving unsustainable claims business training course provider, The Hub Events. The survey of 1115 employees who work from home claims that 53 percent felt their manager had become less empathetic during the most recent lockdown. (more…)

Employees believe their employer has a social responsibility to them

Employees believe their employer has a social responsibility to them

employeesEmployers are now more aware of their employee’s personal situation and family commitments than they were pre Covid-19, according to the Re:Me report from MetLife UK. This report, which explores the changing relationship between employers and employees amid the global pandemic, claims that seven in ten (71 percent) employees now feel ‘employers have a social responsibility to them’. (more…)

‘Zoom rooms’ and breakout space top of the agenda for post-COVID offices

‘Zoom rooms’ and breakout space top of the agenda for post-COVID offices

officesNew data from real estate consultancy OBI claims that 70 percent of business leaders surveyed across Manchester have said they need to permanently change the design of their offices in order to suit the longer-term needs of their businesses and teams. (more…)