Search Results for: diversity

March 8, 2017

Fall in number of senior business roles held by women in the UK ⁰

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

A new report to mark International Women’s Day claims that the proportion of senior business roles held by women in the UK has fallen from 21 percent in 2016 to 19 percent in 2017. The report, based on Grant Thornton’s annual survey of 5,500 businesses in 36 economies, also found that the percentage of businesses in the UK with no women in senior management has also risen from 36 percent in 2016 to 41 percent in 2017. This is still an improvement on other EU countries with a lower proportion of senior roles held by women: Germany (18 percent), UK (19 percent), Greece (20 percent) and Netherlands (20 percent)Globally, the proportion of senior business roles held by women has hit a high of 25 percent. However, the findings suggest that progress is slow, with an increase of only 1 percent compared to 2016. Globally, the proportion of senior business roles held by women increased 1 percent from 2016, but that’s only up 6 percent since start of research 13 years ago, in 2004 (18 percent), showing how little progress has been made over the past decade. The research claims that the countries with the highest proportion of senior roles held by women are Russia (47 percent), Indonesia (46 percent) and Estonia (40 percent). The UK had the fifth lowest proportion of women in senior business roles, with Japan recording the lowest (7 percent) and Argentina second lowest (15 percent). More →

February 16, 2017

Germany most popular country for career relocation, despite lack of flexible working ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Nearly three quarters of European employees would consider career opportunities abroad, with Germany voted the most desirable place to work claims a new study of nearly 10,000 working adults across Europe. According to research by ADP which looked at how employees feel about the future of work, international competitiveness and talent management, European employees have a strong appetite for international work, as almost three quarters (74 percent) would consider other countries for career opportunities. At 21 percent, Germany tops the list of most popular places to relocate, with the United Kingdom (15 percent) and France (12 percent) in second and third place; with North America surprisingly coming in much further down the list in 12th place. Despite their popularity, Germany, the UK and France aren’t particularly strong in any of the areas measured in the survey, such as skills and development, flexible working options and stress in the workplace.

January 2, 2017

Britain must future proof itself ahead of a decade of disruption, claims report ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

Brexit negotiations will ‘fire the starting gun’ on a decade of change for the UK, claims a new report from think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). The study, Future Proof: Britain in the 2020s, sets out the key challenges it claims will shape the UK in the period up to 2030 and the ‘choices that must be made now if these changes are to lead to a fairer and more equal society’. Among the issues covered in the report are the challenges directly related to Brexit, alongside factors such as an ageing population, other demographic changes, the risk to jobs posed by automation, the shift of the globalised economy towards Asia and the enduring problems associated with wage inequalities and the environment.

December 22, 2016

Getting ahead at work: social class divide, power and office politics ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace

A new study from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business has found that class-based inequality in the workplace persists not only because of external factors like bias and glass ceilings, but also because of structural factors that discourage people from lower social classes from seeking positions of power in the first place. The paper, co-authored by Peter Belmi of the Darden School of Business and Kristin Laurin of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, claims that most people believe that getting ahead requires a mixture of pro-social behavior – such as being competent, hard-working, and a team player; and political behaviour – such as being outspoken, flattering, and treating others as “resources”. According to the research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, inequality begins to thrive in the disparity between which groups are actually willing to put both behaviours into practice. Even though everyone derides political angling, it turns out that relatively high-class individuals are still willing to play the game to get ahead. Not so with lower-class individuals.

December 19, 2016

UK employers predict workforce growth in 2017 along with more inclusive hiring ⁰

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

Four in ten (41 percent) of firms across the UK will grow their workforce in 2017 but uncertainty about the UK’s future relationship with the EU has shaken overall business confidence in the labour market claims a new report. According to respondents to the 19th CBI/Pertemps Network Group Employment Trends Survey, for the fourth year running, growth in permanent job opportunities will outstrip temporary recruitment. But the balance of those expecting the UK to be a more attractive place to employ people in the next five years has flipped from +16 percent in the 2015 survey to -21 percent in this year’s results. In terms of engagement, over three quarters (76 percent) of respondents reported that a diverse and inclusive workforce is vital or important to the future success of their organisation. They report a range of benefits of inclusive workplace practices including increased skills (73 percent), attraction and retention of staff (60 percent) and engagement levels (46 percent).

December 16, 2016

Millennials more tuned-in to discrimination at work than other generations ⁰

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Millennials have widely divergent experiences and attitudes toward diversity and inclusion within the workplace than older generations, claims a new US-based report. In the research from the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) and Weber Shandwick into the importance that people place on diversity and inclusion (D&I) when considering a new job found that 47 percent of Millennials consider it an important criterion in their job search compared to 33 percent of Gen Xers and 37 percent of Boomers. Nearly six in 10 of all employed Americans (58 percent) report that they see or hear about some form of discrimination and/or bias at their workplace, most frequently racial or ethnic in nature (22 percent). Millennials are significantly more likely than older generations to be attuned to such behaviour at work, and also much more comfortable discussing these issues at work than their older colleagues. The survey also asked respondents why they believe employers emphasise diversity and inclusion in the workplace. All three generations cited “To make it a better place to work” among their top three reasons. Millennials also recognize increased opportunities while reputational benefits and outside pressures are noticed by Gen Xers and Boomers.

December 7, 2016

Are these the best places to work in 2017? ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace, Workplace design

Recruitment site Glassdoor has announced the winners of its ninth annual Employees’ Choice Awards to find the best places to work in North America and parts of Europe. The Awards are based on the input of employees who voluntarily provide anonymous feedback, by completing a company review, about their job, work environment and employer over the past year. This year, the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards feature six categories, honouring the Best Places to Work across the UK, US (both large and small companies), Canada, France and Germany. There is one category in the UK: 50 Best Places to Work (honouring employers with 1,000 or more employees). Winners are ranked based on their overall rating achieved during the past year. The top five UK Best Places to Work in 2017 are Expedia, ARM, HomeServeUK, Mott MacDonald and Hays plc

December 6, 2016

Leading companies around the world show support for LGBT workplace equality ⁰

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Record number of major companies and law firms are advancing vital policies and practices to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) workers around the world. This is according to the 2017 Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the US’ largest LGBTQ civil rights organization. This year, a record-breaking 517 businesses earned the CEI’s top score of 100, up from 407 last year. That’s a single-year increase of more than 25 percent — the largest jump in the 15-year history of the United State’s premiere benchmarking tool for LGBT workplace equality. Leadership demonstrated by these businesses, reflect more than a decade of work inside these companies to expand LGBT, and particularly transgender, workplace equality. The Corporate Equality Index (CEI), launched in 2002 to assess LGBT-inclusive policies and practices at Fortune 500 companies, also highlights how corporate leaders are increasingly stepping up to play a leading role in opposing anti-equality legislation. Through their actions, taken as LGBTQ workers and customers have been facing a record number of anti-LGBTQ bills in state legislatures across the US, business leaders are building on their longstanding commitment to expanding workplace equality for LGBTQ people.

December 5, 2016

Just one percent of UK firms are ready for the digital economy ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

A new study by Oxford Economics and SAP claims that just one in every 100 organisations in the UK is capitalising on the digital economy, significantly fewer than in comparable European countries such as Germany where the figure is more than 2 in 5 and Spain (22 percent). According to the study, the benefits of digital readiness include greater workforce diversity. The ‘digital winners’ defined by the report have higher female representation at mid-management level level and slightly more women overall. Four in ten of the study’s digital winners globally reported effective diversity programmes, compared to 36 percent of all companies in France, 33 percent in Russia, 30 percent in the UK and 23 percent in Spain.

November 16, 2016

Two thirds of female professionals’ jobs downgraded after career break ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A lack of flexible roles means that two thirds of professional women who return to work after a career break, work fewer hours than they prefer or go into lower-skilled or lower-paid roles, claims new research by PwC, in conjunction with Women Returners and 30% Club. 427,000 UK female professionals are currently estimated to be on a career break and likely to return to the workforce in the future. Of those, three in five (249,000) are likely to enter lower-skilled roles when they return to work. This has serious implications for earnings as this downgrading is associated with an immediate 12-32 percent reduction in hourly earnings, depending on whether the woman remains with the same employer. A further 29,000 women returning to part-time work would prefer to work longer hours but are unable to due to a lack of flexible roles. Altogether, two-thirds of (or around 278,000) women could be working below their potential when they return to the workforce.

November 9, 2016

Representation of ethnic minorities in UK boardrooms ‘disproportionately low’ ⁰

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

Ethnic minority representation in the Boardrooms across the FTSE 100 and 250 is disproportionately low and does not reflect the ethnic diversity of either the UK or the stakeholders they seek to engage and represent; a new industry-led review has revealed. Given the fact that the UK will be the most diverse country in Western Europe by 2051, with over 30 percent of the population expected to be comprised of people from ethnic minority or migrant backgrounds, each FTSE 100 Board should have at least one director of colour by 2021, and each FTSE 250 Board by 2024. These are the main recommendations of the Parker Review report, Beyond One by ‘21 which found that out of 1,087 director positions in the FTSE 100, only 8 percent of positions are held by directors of colour, of which 1.5 percent are UK citizens, despite the fact that 14 percent of the total UK population is from a non-white ethnic group (up from 2 percent in 1971).

October 17, 2016

Creating the workforce of the future; the Barclays perspective ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, Workplace

Apprenticeships are growing faster than ever in the UK. This is fantastic to see. Within our organisations we are making giant strides to re-carve and re-define talent whilst investing in the workforce of the future. The topic of Apprenticeships remains top of the government agenda and top of the employability agenda and great things are starting to happen. Yet, how much of the evolution of apprenticeships is understood by those who are seeking opportunities? Has society evolved in such a way that would-be potential candidates are ‘switched-on’ to the fact that Apprenticeships is both a viable and powerful means to securing a long, sustainable, and credible career? What are we doing to define Apprenticeships to our audiences outside of our own organisations? How are we marketing opportunities in a way that will ‘connect’ with our audience that will inspire them and others to invest in us?