June 19, 2020

A third of employees asked to commit furlough fraud in lockdown

New research on 2000 furloughed full time employees, suggests that a third of UK bosses are committing fraud and trying to ‘cash in’ by seeking to abuse the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (‘CJRS’) since lockdown. According to the survey by Crossland Employment Solicitors, 34 percent of employees have been asked by their boss to work while being furloughed by their company – an act of fraud under the current rules of the CJRS. More →

June 12, 2020

Fewer than one-third of UK employees feel a sense of belonging

by George Eltringham • News, Working culture

Just 32 percent of UK office workers feel as though they completely belong within their company, despite this being essential in order for employees to feel motivated and loyal, according to new research. Over a third claim they have no bond with their employer at all. More →

May 6, 2020

Employees reluctant to give up flexible working after lockdown

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

New working patterns prompted by COVID-19 could cause employees to permanently reduce time spent in the office, as nearly half (45 percent) of Brits predict a permanent change to their employers’ approach to flexible working when lockdown lifts. O2 Business’ new report – entitled The Flexible Future of Work, conducted in partnership with ICM and YouGov – claims that employees will be reluctant to give up their new way of working after lockdown. Nearly half the workforce think flexible working will increase, with a third (33 percent) of this group expecting to increase the amount they work from home by at least three days a week after lockdown, and 81 percent expecting to work at least one day a week from home. More →

March 30, 2020

Employees struggle to adapt to new workplace technology

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Working culture

New research by Hays Talent Solutions claims workplace technology has had a significant impact on businesses and organisations when it comes to development, automation and growth; continuing to shake up the modern workplace and workforce in 2020. Paving the way for the change, younger workers are arguably redefining what workers want from their employers, while employees struggle to adapt to a technological workplace. More →

March 24, 2020

Employees express love-hate relationship with workplace collaboration

by Jayne Smith • News, Working culture

A report released by Unify Square, “Digital Workplace Collaboration Apps Report: Benchmarking Usage and Productivity” examines the most utilised features across both unified communication and workstream collaboration application platforms, application usage trends and how they are impacting productivity, employee behaviour, security and more. The report suggests how digital workplace collaboration applications impact the success of today’s enterprises. More →

March 12, 2020

Company reputations can live or die by the behaviour of employees on social media

by Pete Eyre • Comment, Technology

A recent survey from law firm Herbert Smith Freehills suggests that 95 percent of large organisations polled expected a rise in the number of employees using social media, such as Twitter, to raise complaints and concerns about their company over the next five years. It is an extremely worrying development for business. While social media can in general be a great platform for everyone to have their voice heard, in this context, it takes an internal issue to a public space and it could do a great deal of harm to the business concerned. An aggrieved employee tweeting criticisms of their company has the potential to go viral, garnering vast numbers of likes and reaping untold damage to the reputation and brand of the organisation concerned. More →

$Employees use only fraction of their knowledge at work$

February 19, 2020

Employees use only fraction of their knowledge at work

by Jackie Le Poidevin • Knowledge, News

Employees use just 38 percent of their knowledge and expertise at work, meaning organisations are failing to unlock even half of the brainpower of their people, research has claimed. According to the survey of more than 1,000 UK and US “knowledge workers” by Starmind, 90 percent of employees want more opportunities to share knowledge and expertise and three quarters believe their organisation would benefit from accessing more of their expertise. More than 6 in 10 respondents feel they could contribute more but don’t know how, while nearly two-thirds say they have knowledge their organisation isn’t aware of or doesn’t capitalise on. More →

February 13, 2020

What performance culture can teach us about motivating employees in the workplace

by Diane Strohfus • Comment, Workplace

From start-ups to well-established companies, organisations thrive or fail on motivating employees. It’s mission-critical. Motivated employees are easy to spot – they tend to align their purpose to that of the company, are more innovative with their problem-solving and have a greater impact. Organisations must actively work to motivate and engage employees, giving them a sense of purpose. Otherwise, there’s a real risk of the company falling behind the competition and staying there. More →

February 5, 2020

Businesses can fail if employees are over-confident

by Jackie Le Poidevin • Business, News

Senior employees being too confident about the value of their ideas could be one reason businesses are failing, according to research by the University of Cologne. The study, conducted by Professor Fabian Sting and a team of interdisciplinary co-authors, highlights how choosing the wrong ideas to pursue can lead businesses to make unwise investments and miss out on opportunities, which could threaten their survival. A large part of the problem, it says, is that the person who comes up with the idea overestimates how successful their innovation will be and views their skill or performance as better than it actually is. More →

February 4, 2020

Worst things bosses have said to employees dealing with cancer

by Jackie Le Poidevin • News, Wellbeing

It’s not unreasonable for an employee diagnosed with cancer to look to their employer for assistance, but according to one support organisation, many employers handle the situation incredibly tactlessly. To coincide with World Cancer Awareness Day today, RedArc, which provides nurses for employees with serious or long-term health conditions, has issued a list of the worst things people with cancer reported hearing from their managers. Over the past year, its nurses logged statements such as, “Perhaps you should retire”, “You’ve had your treatment now, so you should be fine” and “How long will you be off?” More →

January 28, 2020

Failure to put employees at heart of data strategy costs UK firms £10bn in lost productivity

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology

A new report from Qlik and Accenture, titled “The Human Impact of Data Literacy” and conducted on behalf of The Data Literacy Project, claims that while most organisations understand the incredible opportunity of data, a gap has emerged between organisations’ aspirations to be data-driven and their employees’ ability to create business value with data. The report argues that data is a ‘gold mine’ that can fuel a culture of innovation and growth as part of a data strategy. However, when employees struggle to make sense of data, productivity and business value can be affected. More →

November 18, 2019

Gulf between the values of businesses and those of employees

by Jayne Smith • Business, News

A new study from The Institute of Leadership & Management claims there is a significant gulf between the organisational values held by UK businesses and the personal values of their workers, and highlights the different values considered important to men and women, younger and older workers and between sectors. More →