Search Results for: employee

December 4, 2017

Over a quarter of black employees say racial discrimination hinders career

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

Over a quarter of black employees say racial discrimination hinders career

Three in ten (29 percent) black employees say racial discrimination is to blame for them failing to achieve their career expectations, almost three times as many as white British employees, according to a new survey by the CIPD. One in five BAME employees (20 percent) said that discrimination had played a part in a lack of career progression to date, compared to just one in ten (11 percent) white British employees. This comes despite the fact that significantly more BAME employees said career progression was an important part of their working life than those from a white British background (25 percent vs 10 percent). When asked what would improve their career progression, BAME employees were much more likely than white British employees to say that seeing other people like them that have progressed in the organisation, and a greater diversity of people at senior levels in their organisation would help boost their career progression. Additionally, the survey found that a quarter of BAME respondents (23 percent) whose organisations don’t provide mentoring said they would find it useful in achieving their potential at work.

December 1, 2017

Employee engagement only captures a small part of what ‘work’ means

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

The biggest driver of a positive employee experience at work is ‘meaningful’ work, claims a new survey. According to the findings of the latest edition of ‘The Employee Experience Index around the Globe’ survey from Globoforce’s WorkHuman Research Institute in partnership with IBM’s Smarter Workforce Institute – in the UK, meaningful work emerged as the single largest contributor (30 percent) 3 points above the global average. Meaningful work ensures that employees’ skills and talents are being fully utilized and there is greater alignment to shared, core values. The survey also notes a shift away from employee engagement, which only captures a small portion what ‘work’ means, towards employee experience. Experience is seen as being broader and more holistic – capturing the entire set of perceptions that employees have about their experiences at work, matching the higher expectations that employees bring to the workplace.

November 20, 2017

Nearly a quarter of UK employees admit to being unproductive at work

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

Nearly a quarter of UK employees admit to being unproductive at work

Almost a quarter (23 percent) of UK employees rate themselves as ‘unproductive’ at work, equating to seven million of the nation’s total workforce. Perceived productivity slips even further amongst Generation Z employees. When asked to rate their productivity out of ten, with ten being the highest possible number, 28 percent of Generation Z employees gave themselves an ‘unproductive’ score between 0 and 6, compared to the national average of 23 percent. At a time when improving the UK’s labour productivity is high on the agenda, the survey of more than 3,000 UK employees claims there is an untapped opportunity for employers to help boost workforce productivity. However, the research highlights some of the steps businesses can take to increase productivity. This includes both technological, by providing a digital workplace and cultural, by helping to create a successful team environment.

November 15, 2017

Overwhelming majority of employees see link between wellbeing and performance

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

According to its 2017 Health Survey (registration required), Aon Employee Benefits claims that 96 percent of employers see a direct correlation between employee health, wellbeing and performance. The survey of 200 UK organisations also suggests that health and wellbeing is rising up the corporate agenda, with 96 percent of employers either agreeing or strongly agreeing that they are responsible for improving employee health behaviours. Indeed, 77 percent are looking to improve on their existing health and wellbeing programmes in the next 12 months. In addition, although employee physical health is important to employers, they are also looking to strike a balance between what are becoming the four widely accepted core pillars of health and wellbeing – Emotional, Physical, Social and Financial.

November 13, 2017

Nine out of ten employees believe flexible working is key to boosting productivity

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News

Data published by HSBC claims that flexible and remote working practices are more likely than financial incentives to motivate staff and ultimately increase workplace productivity. A study of British businesses and employees found that nine in ten employees surveyed (89 percent) consider flexible working to be a key motivator to their productivity levels within the workplace – a view shared equally among male and female employees (87 percent and 90 percent respectively) – and more so than financial incentives (77 percent). Alongside this, 81 percent of workers who can work remotely believe this opportunity helps them to improve their productivity, making a clear link between flexible working cultures and increased business productivity levels.

November 10, 2017

Two thirds of UK employees have taken a day off work in the last year as a result of stress, depression or anxiety

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

New survey results suggest mental health issues are having a significant impact on productivity in the workplace. Events company Wildgoose surveyed employees at 250 businesses across the UK and found there remains a stigma surrounding mental health at work. Of those surveyed who have taken a day off work, just under half admitted to calling in sick with a different complaint to the one from which they were actually suffering. Two thirds of respondents (62 percent) said they had taken a day off work as a result of stress, depression or anxiety.

November 3, 2017

UK remains the most attractive country for employers and employees

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace

UK remains the most attractive country for employers and employees Despite recent figures indicating that work productivity is down in Britain, the UK remains a highly attractive country for employers and employees based on a combination of talent, location, quality of life and cost, according to the latest edition of Colliers International’s European Cities of Influence report. The analysis of 50 major European economic cities for employers saw London retain its top position, with all other UK cities in the analysis featuring in the top 20 (Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow).The report finds that quality of life factors are important to accelerate business and attract talent with the research revealing that the nature of workplace strategy is evolving so rapidly that keeping up — let alone staying ahead of the curve — can be a challenge. Employers are now focused on creating a workplace that can attract and retain talent by incorporating co-working and collaborative facilities, flexible working options and ingraining a healthy mindset. With the onus on keeping employees happy and productive, the design and utilization of the workplace is helping to accelerate business productivity more than ever before.

October 30, 2017

Employees are investing their own time and money to remain competitive in the changing workplace

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Capgemini and LinkedIn have published a new global report exploring the ‘digital talent gap’, which analyses the demand and supply of talent with specific digital skills and the availability of digital roles across multiple industries and countries. The report, The Digital Talent Gap—Are Companies Doing Enough? claims to reveal the concerns felt by employees when assessing their own digital skills and the lack of training resources currently available to them within their workplace. Highlights include the fact that nearly 50 percent of employees, rising to close to 60 percent for what the report calls digitally talented employees are investing their own money and additional time beyond office hours to develop digital skills on their own. Capgemini surveyed 753 employees and 501 executives at the director level or above, at large companies with reported revenue of more than $500 million for FY 2016 and more than 1,000 employees. The survey took place from June to July 2017, and covered nine countries – France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States and seven industry sectors.

October 25, 2017

Employees motivated by bad news as well as good news, research finds

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Bad news is better than no news at all when it comes to motivating staff, according to new research from academics in Warwick and Zurich. The study found that withholding important information from staff could mean the difference between a motivated workforce and an unmotivated one – irrespective of whether it was good or bad news for workers. The study, led by Leif Brandes, of Warwick Business School, found that many managers underestimate the motivational power of bad news. In the paper The Value and Motivating Mechanism of Transparency in Organizations, published in the European Economic Review, Dr Brandes and Donja Darai, of the University of Zurich, designed a new version of the so-called ‘dictator’ game to study the effect of information sharing on motivation.

October 20, 2017

Gulf in levels of employee engagement between US and Europe

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A new report from Gallup called The State of the Global Workplace (paywall although there is an information light executive summary) claims that only one in ten European workers are engaged with their work compared to 31 percent in the US and Canada. In the UK, British workers were found to be 11 percent engaged with around a fifth (21 percent) actively disengaged. The report cites American management practices as one explanation for the apparent gulf. One of the more notable findings from the study is that just 32 percent of Latin American residents aged 23 to 65 say they are employed full time for an employer compared to 56 percent of US and Canadian residents in that age range.

October 16, 2017

Third of employees complain employers do not offer any wellbeing programmes

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Over half of employees would choose a company that cared about their wellbeing, over one that pays 10 percent more, a new survey claims. According to the research by Reward Gateway, over 22 million British workers, or seven in 10 employees (71 percent), have felt stress or financial strain in the last five years, however, a third of workers said their company currently offered no programmes and just 29 percent of respondents said that their company currently offers a physical programme. The findings also suggest a disparity of opinion between employee and employer. While over half (51 percent) of employers agree that their company shows they care about employees mental, physical and financial wellbeing, only 14 percent of employees say that their company couldn’t do more to show they care. But employers too would benefit from taking a more proactive approach to wellbeing, as more than half (52 percent) of UK employees agree that they would choose a company that cared about their wellbeing over one that pays more.

October 13, 2017

Employees want organisations to speed up transformation into a digital workplace

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

Half of employees feel their organisation doesn’t have the right tech skills and nearly half in a recent survey (44 percent) feel their organisation isn’t transforming into a digital led company fast enough, claims a survey by Sungard Availability Services. Digital workplace transformation has been a big talking point in recent months, yet 38 percent in a survey of over 2,000 IT decision makers and employees believe their organisation isn’t committed to digital transformation; with 36 percent not getting the training for the tools. It’s apparent that digital transformation is highly thought of in the work place and impacts employee retention with 36 percent of employees open to leaving their current job for a more digitally-progressive company. Over 50 percent believe career progression is better at digitally led companies and 69 percent say digital tools would help them to do their job better. Said Chris Ducker, Senior Director Global Proposition Strategy: “Digital is compulsory, not only to stay competitive in the market, but also to attract and retain key staff” See the full survey here.