Search Results for: employee experience

August 1, 2016

One in five UK workers believe their job is less secure due to Brexit vote ⁰

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

Around one in five employees in the UK are feeling pessimistic about the security of their current job because of the Brexit vote to leave the EU, a new survey by the CIPD claims. Answering a range of questions, including how they felt about the future as a result of the UK’s vote to leave the EU, around 44 percent of the 1,000 working adults who took part felt pessimistic about the future, with this being particularly high amongst public sector workers (61 percent), voluntary sector workers (58 percent) and people aged 25-34 (63 percent). 22 percent said they felt their job was less secure now. The CIPD’s survey also highlighted incidents of harassment and bullying in the workplace relating to the Brexit decision, with more than one in ten employees saying that they have experienced, witnessed or heard of incidents of harassment or bullying of a political nature and just under one in ten (7 percent) referenced incidents of a racist nature (7 percent).

July 21, 2016

Young people entering the workforce are not prepared for office politics ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace

Office politics is the one thing many young people are least prepared for when starting their first job, according to a new study by the Co-op. The study comes as many them are about to enter the workforce for the first time. With more young people opting for the world of work in the form of apprenticeships and on the job training rather than higher education, the members of ‘Generation Y’ often find they are unprepared for these softer skills needed to get on in the office according to the poll of 1,100 16-25 year olds. Over half of young people (54 percent) said that they were not prepared or informed about office politics. The study is part of the Co-op’s campaign to champion young people in the workplace by taking a closer look at what motivates 16-25 year olds. The research suggests that young people could find it harder to express opinion and ideas in the workplace, which in turn could lead them to feel isolated and unsupported.

July 20, 2016

We need to keep a more open mind about open plan office design

by Maciej Markowski • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

Most people will be aware that there has been an historic and enduring debate about whether open plan offices are a good or a bad thing. Past articles whether in the Guardian, Dezeen or across the pond in the Washington Post would typically suggest that they diminish productivity and foster a number of other workplace ills. However introducing open plan design principles into your office is almost certainly a good idea. You really just need to make sure that you provide your employees with a choice of settings that allows them to work somewhere that suits the task in hand whether it’s space for concentration or privacy for confidential conversations in order to make it work. It’s a complex and contentious issue so it’s worth asking where open plan works and where it really doesn’t. If you ask many employees working in open plan offices what is bothering them, they’ll probably tell you two things: that they cannot focus and they have no privacy.

July 7, 2016

Employers and staff disagree on root causes of workplace stress ⁰

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

Seventy-five percent of US employers say workplace stress is their number one health concern, but a disconnect between employers and employees on the causes of stress could undermine efforts to address the problem. Data from Willis Towers Watson’s 2015/2016 Global Staying@Work Survey along with its 2015/2016 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey reveals that the top causes of stress has picked by employer tended to fall into categories of large organisational issues, such as change and ubiquitous technology connections which can make employees feel that they are always on the job. By contrast, employees pointed more directly to specific elements of their personal work experience. For example, employees ranked organisation culture — including a lack of teamwork and a tendency to avoid accountability — third on their stress list, while employers ranked it last. Conversely, employers identified insufficient work/life balance as the top stressor for workers, while employees ranked it sixth.

July 6, 2016

Which aspects of workplace design are most important to personal wellbeing? ⁰

by Marc Bird • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

There is no doubt that the UK’s office based knowledge industry is facing a crisis in the form of a ‘wellbeing deficit’. Both the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have reported record levels of absenteeism, with the latter attributing 23.3 million lost working days to work-related ill-health, such as depression, stress, anxiety and musculoskeletal disorders. A great deal is already known about the causes of the key issues of employee stress and demotivation, but more work needs to be done to establish how organisations can meet their corporate goals with regard to these issues, whilst still engaging, motivating and nurturing their workforce. A significant body of published research has identified that a sense of ‘personal control’ can have a hugely positive impact on employee wellbeing, but how can we engender that control when it comes to creating a productive working environment?

July 5, 2016

Employers need more help in navigating the Apprenticeship Levy ⁰

by David Allison • Comment, Workplace

According to the latest governmental statistics, apprenticeships reached a record high in 2014/15 with over 871,000 apprenticeship participants within the UK. The majority of these were in the service sector, and almost three quarters were concentrated in three sectors: Business, Administration and Law; Retail and Commerce Enterprise and Public Services and Care. Last year the government announced its plans to introduce a new UK-wide levy on large employers in a bid to fund apprenticeships and to create 3 million more apprentices by 2020. Due for implementation in April 2017, this levy promises to have a significant impact on the existing apprenticeship landscape. As the implementation of the apprenticeship levy draws nearer, it is rising to the top of companies’ HR and Finance agendas, as businesses attempt to work out how to reap a return on investment, with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) calling for the Government to put off its introduction.

June 24, 2016

Property and workplace experts have their say on the Brexit outcome ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Comment, Facilities management, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

Well, the results are in and the UK’s electorate has voted by a narrow margin for the country to leave the EU. There are likely to be other developments but whatever you make of the UK’s decision to vote to leave the EU – and I think it’s fair to say most independent people think it’s inexplicable – there’s no doubt that it will have a profound impact on the UK’s economy, relationship with the world, culture, working conditions and markets. What it will mean in practice won’t be apparent for months or years, of course, but that hasn’t stopped experts who work in the property, workplace, design, legal, HR and architecture sectors having their say on its potential implications. We’ll look at these specific issues in more detail going forward but for now, here’s a round-up of those we have so far, which we’ll keep updated throughout the day as the dust settles on what will prove to be a momentous decision for the UK, Europe and rest of the world.

June 22, 2016

Brexit uncertainty leads to drop in cost of living rankings for UK cities ⁰

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

UK cities have dropped down the ranking in Mercer’s annual Cost of Living Survey this year as Brexit fears weaken the value of the Pound, whilst the Euro stays strong against the Dollar. Although the UK’s capital remains in the top 20 costliest cities worldwide, London (17) has dropped five places, whereas Aberdeen (85) and Birmingham (96) have fallen seven and 16 places respectively. Further down the list, (119) has dropped 10 places and Belfast (134) three. The survey finds that factors including currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services, and instability of accommodation prices, have all contributed to the cost of expatriate packages for employees on international assignments. Mercer’s survey covers 209 cities across five continents with Hong Kong ranking highest, pushing Luanda to second place. Ranking 3rd, Zurich is the most expensive European city, followed by Singapore (4) and Tokyo (5).

June 21, 2016

Ageing workforce requires employers to better address skills gaps ⁰

by Sara Bean • Events, News, Workplace

The Government’s 2016 Working Futures report revealed that the total number of jobs in the UK is expected to rise by 1.8 million between 2014 and 2024, while the working age population (16-64) is expected to increase by half this amount. Now a policy event being held in London by the Westminster Employment Forum will draw attention to the growing challenge faced by business leaders as the UK workforce continues to age. According to figures from the CIPD, 9.4 million people in employment in the UK are over the age of 50, equivalent to over 30 per cent of the workforce. The Open University is advising that, with employees staying in work longer, business leaders need to ensure that workers have the right access to education and the skills to remain competitive and productive at all stages of their careers. Ageing Workforce in the UK, will explore what steps need to be taken in order to adapt to this demographic shift.

June 17, 2016

Women’s long hours working linked to alarming increases in serious illness ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Knowledge, Wellbeing, Workplace

Women who put in long hours for the sake of their careers may pay a heavy price including life-threatening illnesses, such as heart disease and cancer. Work weeks that averaged 60 hours or more over three decades appear to triple the risk of diabetes, cancer, heart trouble and arthritis for women, according to new research from Ohio State University and published in The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The risk begins to climb when women put in more than 40 hours and takes a decidedly bad turn above 50 hours, researchers found. Men with tough work schedules appeared to fare much better, found researchers who analysed data from interviews with almost 7,500 people who were part of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. More scheduling flexibility and on-the-job health coaching, screening and support could go a long way toward reducing the chances employees become sick or die as a result of chronic conditions, according to the report.

June 15, 2016

Biggest risk to company cyber security is mainly staff carelessness ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace

Bad habits and a lack of awareness about security mean that employees are inadvertently leaving companies’ cyber doors wide open to attack. New research by Norrie Johnston Recruitment (NJR); which forms part of NJR’s cyber security report: how real is the threat and how can you reduce your risk, shows that 23 percent of employees use the same password for different work applications and 17 percent write down their passwords, 16 percent work while connected to public wifi networks and 15 percent access social media sites on their work PCs. It’s not that people are unaware of the cyber threat. The research also shows that just over 50 per cent have experienced a cyber scam in the last twelve months. 29 have received a fake email from PayPal, Apple or a bank, 12 percent have been targeted by a Facebook scam and 7 percent have clicked a link that put a virus on a PC.

June 13, 2016

Culture change needed to stem senior female executive attrition rate ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

With less than 10 percent of FTSE 100 companies in this country having a female CEO, a cross party group of MPs from the Women and Equalities Select Committee have been enquiring into ways of increasing the significant under-representation of women at executive levels. The introduction of quotas and regulation has been suggested to address this lack of gender diversity. In its submission to the committee consultant’s Mercer argue that although measures such as quotas can have a visible impact in the short term, the most effective and sustainable way of getting women into senior and executive roles is by focusing on growing and developing a pipeline of female talent in an enabling and supportive environment, tailored to their unique skill-sets, financial, and health needs. Its recently launched study ‘When women thrive, businesses thrive’ shows that senior women leave at much higher rates than men, which supports our argument that the prevailing business culture doesn’t support working mothers.