Search Results for: employee

May 17, 2017

UK employees three times more likely to work when ill than to pull a sickie ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Seven in ten UK employees – equivalent to 18 million nationally – have gone to work feeling unwell when they should have taken the day off, while less than a quarter (23 percent) say they have taken a day off work sick when they were not actually unwell, indicating that UK employees are three times more likely to go to work unwell than they are to ‘pull a sickie,’ a new report claims. The fourth edition of the Aviva Working Lives Report, which examines the attitudes and experiences of employers and employees on issues affecting the present and future of the UK workplace – also carries a wake-up call to businesses, as more than two in five (43 percent) employees feel their employer puts the results of the company ahead of their health and wellbeing as more than two in five (41 percent) say their work will pile up if they are off sick.

May 11, 2017

Wellbeing strategies more commonplace in UK, but employees aren’t benefitting ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

A new study from consultancy Barnett Waddingham based on the firm’s UK Workplace Wellbeing Index claims that despite wellbeing strategies becoming more common practice in UK companies, the benefits are not yet reaching employees. According to the report, nearly three quarters of firms who responded to the study claim they already have introduced a strategy or are in the process of implementing one. However, 60 percent of participating organisations report their employee wellbeing as between moderate and very low. According to the study organisations need to ask themselves if they are providing the benefits and interventions that are most effective for their employees. The research shows that the top five widely offered benefits (rated by effectiveness) are flexible working or home working, carer support, health assessments, line manager training and cancer screening. However, those most commonly utilised are flexible working, line manager training, carer support, home working and occupational health.

May 5, 2017

Employee’s digital skills not being nurtured, despite growing need for data literacy ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

The majority of UK employees recognise the importance of data literacy to their career progression, but half have never been offered any relevant training. Statistics from a study of over 3,000 UK employees shows they understand the growing significance of data within their organisation, with almost all (94 percent) of those surveyed stateing that they consider data to be important for performing their role. Data skills were ranked as fourth in a list of the most important skills for their job – with only traditional, ‘soft’ skills such as ‘communication’, ‘organisation’ and ‘people management’ ranking higher. Yet the Censuswide survey, commissioned by Tableau revealed that despite four in five professionals (84 percent) believing data skills will be important for their career progression and a similar percentage (83 percent) using data on a weekly basis as part of their role, nearly half (49 percent) say their employer hasn’t offered them any kind of data analytics training.

May 3, 2017

Employee freedom and self-regulation is the key to successful home working ⁰

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

The lazy assumption that employees who work from home are invariably shirking work is gradually dissipating, as flexible working becomes part of accepted working practice. Now new research suggests that to really get the best from their home workers, employers need to treat them as responsible adults who can actually be trusted. A new study, conducted by Nick van der Meulen of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) has revealed that job performance in working from home is driven by employee self-regulation and decision-making freedom rather than previous beliefs that it was achieved through managerial or peer control. In fact, any suggestion of shirking is erased by the evidence of a positive relationship between the extent of telework and number of hours worked. On average, full-time teleworkers perform just as well as those who do no telework at all — even under conditions of infrequent communication with the manager, low peer performance monitoring, and no outcome reward systems.

April 28, 2017

Poor home telecoms services deter four million employees from flexible working ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

The UK’s appetite for remote and flexible working is being hampered by prohibitively slow broadband speeds and poor mobile coverage, according to new research from uSwitch.com. A quarter of employees (25 percent) have experienced issues with their telecoms services over the last year, resulting in a staggering four million being prevented from working from home. In the last 12 months, 43 percent of UK employees have worked from home at least once as people are taking advantage of the increasingly flexible work environments offered by businesses – a figure which rises to 55 percent amongst 18-34 year olds. Yet six in ten (58 percent) have fallen foul of sluggish internet speeds and patchy call quality in the last year alone. The problems have been so severe for half (46 percent) of those with issues that they believe they are no longer able to work from home while these problems persist.

April 25, 2017

Over a quarter of employees don’t think they’ve acquired the skills to do their job ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

Four in 10 employees (39 percent) feel they are not well managed at work and are out of their depth in their roles, and 26 percent of employees don’t believe they have the right skills or experience to do their job properly in the first place, a new report claims. The research by recruitment firm, Robert Half UK also found that nearly one in five employees (18 percent) are not clear of what is expected of them at work. The research shows employees want better management and guidance from their bosses, particularly as they progress in their careers. Employees currently feel they have more support and training early on in their careers, with 71 percent of 18-34 year olds, claiming they are well managed. In comparison, just over half (56 percent) of 55+ year olds feel the same. To resolve this, managers need to set out clear expectations, offer regular training and opportunity for assessment, while employees also need to assume responsibility and ask for help.

April 4, 2017

Almost half of employees are more stressed at work than they were a year ago ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Nearly half (46 percent) of employees questioned in a new survey feel more stressed at work than they did a year ago and 17 percent feel their work stress levels are ‘much higher,’ new research has claimed. The data, from Specialists4Protection.co.uk also suggests that 16 percent of people in work claim to have taken medical advice to help them cope with work-related stress, and 13 percent are on medication partly because of this. Just 12 percent say they feel less stressed than they were 12 months ago. The impact of this is not just felt at work. Fifty five percent of those suffering from work related stress say it has adversely affected their sleep, and 19 percent claim it’s contributed towards a decline in their relationship with their partner. Four out of ten (40 percent) say work-related stress means they are not eating properly and 42 percent are doing less exercise.

March 30, 2017

Levels of employee engagement are declining around the world ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

As the UK triggers Article 50 to leave the EU, France goes through what could be a game changing Presidential election and the United States continues to struggle with an increasingly divisive administration it’s perhaps not surprising that global uncertainty appears to be pushing up levels of employee scepticism. Globally, employee engagement declined for the first time since 2012, according to a report from Aon Hewitt. According to an analysis of more than five million employees at more than 1,000 organisations around the world, levels dropped from 65 percent in 2015 to 63 percent in 2016. Less than one quarter (24 percent) of employees are highly engaged and 39 percent are moderately engaged. “The rise in populist movements like those in the U.S., the U.K. and other regions is creating angst within organisations as they anticipate the potential for a decrease in free labour flow,” explained Ken Oehler, Global Culture & Engagement Practice leader at Aon Hewitt.

March 28, 2017

Communication key to allaying employee concerns about automation ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

Organisations need to strike a balance between capitalising on the benefits of automation and managing employee concerns, according to a study by Capita Resourcing. The research claims that whilst over half (54 percent) of UK organisations are already automating business processes once performed by people, employees are concerned about the social impact this will have on the workplace. The ‘Workplace More Human’ report claims that the majority of employees (67 percent) fear that the rise of robotics will make the workplace less sociable and friendly in the future. The biggest concerns around introducing more automation in the workplace were the loss of their job (36 percent), losing the social relationship with colleagues (27 percent) and having to reskill/train to do another job (23 percent).

March 28, 2017

Over half of employees in small and medium firms regularly work unpaid overtime ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Long working hours are embedded into Small and medium sized firm’s (SME) culture, new research by AXA PPP healthcare has claimed, with 47 percent of employees in SMEs across the UK regularly working four or more hours of overtime per week, 27 percent of these putting in seven or more hours and for half (52 percent), the extra hours are unpaid. In addition, 22 percent of employees take fewer than 30 minutes for lunch, 19 percent have cancelled family time and 19 percent have missed a child’s event such as a school play due to working over and above their contracted hours. Over half (54 percent) of employees have continued to work after putting children to bed. With Britain’s small and medium sized firms making up 99.9 percent of the UK’s private sector businesses, employing nearly 3/5 of its workforce and accounting for 48 percent of the turnover this accounts for a lot of workers.

March 10, 2017

Over three quarters of UK employees use their smartphones in the workplace ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

A majority (84 percent) of British employees use their smartphones at work, with 78 percent regularly responding to text messages during working hours and on average spending as many as 120 hours per year using their smartphones during the working day claims new research. The data, compiled by LaptopsDirect.co.uk, also found that 59 percent regularly take personal phone calls whilst working; 52 percent admit to answering instant messages via platforms such as Whatsapp and Facebook, and 9 percent have sent a Snapchat from their workplace. Employers are not completely against the use of smartphones, though under half (44 percent) permit the reasonable use of smartphones, according to the research; but 14 percent of respondents admit to having been told off for using smartphones at work, and 4 percent have been disciplined for use of their own tech during work time. Of most concern for employers is the fact that more than a third (38 percent) of respondents regularly check their social media accounts while at work.

March 6, 2017

US employers turn to perks and office design to increase employee retention ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

Younger workers are less and less loyal to employers, which is driving firms to place greater emphasis on benefits, empowerment and a better working environment, according to a study from ReportLinker. The small scale online study of 500 people found that Millennials are less likely than older generations to say they’re highly committed to their employer, with just 40 percent saying they somewhat agree with this statement compared to 66 percent of older workers say they’re highly committed to their organisation. The report concludes that this is encouraging employers to introduce new ways of winning the loyalty of employees. For example, 87 percent of employees who are more involved in decision-making are also more likely to say they are committed to their employers although, as always, we should be wary of the distinction between correlation and causation.