Search Results for: employees

November 7, 2014

Worldwide fall in levels of trust by employees in their workplace leaders

They say a fish rots from the head, and with overwhelming evidence this week that workplaces are torn by backbiting, lying and bitching, a global analysis on workplace trust reveals a deterioration in the levels of trust employees have for their bosses. Interaction Associates annual workplace trust research, Building Workplace Trust 2014/15, found that more than half of the people surveyed gave their organisation low marks for trust and effective leadership. More than half of the 500 people surveyed at companies worldwide, give their organisation low-to-poor marks for trust and effective leadership. When asked to rate the statement “Employees have a high level of trust in management and the organisation”, just four out of ten agreed. The majority (58%) found their organisation lacking, and in fact, trust may be going from bad to worse at many organisations, as a quarter (26%) of those surveyed say they trust their boss less this year than in 2013.

November 6, 2014

Two new reports claim firms and employees are out of step on flexible working

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

The two latest stones to be tossed into the flexible working maelstrom in the hope of creating a ripple both suggest that employers are out of step with the expectations of their staff when it comes to working hours and conditions. The CIPD launched a new report Getting Smart About Agile Working, at the start of its annual conference in Manchester on 5 November which claims that a third (35 percent) of employees would like to change their working arrangements with nearly half (43 percent) saying they would most like to change the start or finish time of their working day. Meanwhile a separate report from BUPA claims that half of employees of SMEs think their employees underestimate the part that benefits including flexible working have to play in the overall feel of the company, and a similar number (51 percent) believe that not offering such benefits damages an employer’s attractiveness to new recruits.

October 6, 2014

Two-fifths of global employees would choose flexible working over a payrise

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

A friend of mine went for a job recently and asked about flexible working. They were informed that: “we don’t like to allow people to work from home as we can’t keep our eye on them.” This attitude is a disincentive to job applicants and existing staff, and makes employers who take this attitude look at best old-fashioned and at worse foolish. Even the UK’s pro-employer government extended the right to request flexible working to anyone with over 26 weeks service this June, which illustrated how ‘mainstream’ flexi-work has become. A new piece of research reveals there is currently something of a global shift in culture towards a ‘Flex Work Imperative’, described as a perfect storm of employee demand, improving job market, and legislation that is shifting flex work from job perk to an employee’s right. It’s why 43 per cent of employees surveyed said they would prefer flex work over a pay raise. More →

September 23, 2014

Over half of employees think workplace screens are damaging their eyes

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

One of the potential hazards of the incursion of digital devices into our lives is the fact that the average person’s screen time has increased since a generation ago, when watching too much TV was said to be bad for our eyes. However, workers still blame their working environment and the rather anachronistic tool, the VDU for any resultant eye troubles. According to new research more than half of UK employees say their current working environment has had a negative impact on their eye health. In Westfield Health’s recent survey of 7,000 UK workers, conducted just ahead of this week’s National Eye Health Week, fifty three per cent of respondents say their current working environment has affected their eye health, or their vision has got worse as a result of work. Headaches, blurred vision, eye strain and dry eyes are just some of the eye related problems employees associate with their jobs. More →

September 9, 2014

Report claims workplace fails to support employees with musculoskeletal disorders

by Sara Bean • Comment, Facilities management, News, Workplace, Workplace design

When determining what constitutes a well-designed office, it’s easy to overlook the overriding need to ensure a workplace is designed first and foremost to be inclusive. Given the fact that musculoskeletal disorders remain the largest single cause of days of work lost due to sickness absence, it’s worrying to discover that many organisations fail to meet the needs of those dealing with such conditions. The new report ‘Self-management of chronic musculoskeletal disorders and employment’ from the Fit for Work UK Coalition and The Work Foundation found that despite sufferers’ efforts to remain at work, many are forced to ‘self-manage’ their condition without adequate support; with for instance an employee being forced to partake in a hot desk policy when they required their own, fixed workspace. As the report states, this lack of help is ‘all the more perverse’ when you take into consideration the role that work can play in helping to contribute to mental and physical wellbeing. More →

July 25, 2014

Employees embracing flexible working law change, finds survey

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

There has been a rush of people looking to take advantage of the new flexible working laws which came into place on June 30. A survey by Powwownow found that seven out of 10 people were aware of the change in the law, with many of them considering making requests for flexible hours. The survey amongst office workers around the country found that, within a week of the rule change, 8 per cent of respondents had already filed a request for flexible hours, with a further 11 per cent saying they wanted to follow suit. Just over one in three people in the survey said that in the future, flexible working was something they would consider. The most popular request made to date was for a change in working times; 52 per cent opted for this and 47 per cent said they wanted to change their working hours, possibly to allow for other commitments outside of work. More →

July 16, 2014

Keeping remote employees motivated is key to successful flexible working culture

by Gemma Falconer • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

Flexible working has barely been out of the news since the latest government changes. But while allowing employees to work remotely can do wonders for staff retention, motivating them and keeping them in the loop presents a new problem. Although self-starting employees feel that they have more control over their work and fewer distractions, it can also lead to a sense of isolation. It is important for retention that you not just offer a flexible working option to employees, but that all the staff make an effort to continue allowing them to feel like a part of the team. The four best practices that will help you motivate employees that telecommute are: ensuring you build trust between those who telecommute and their colleagues from the start; establish regular communication between remote and in-office staff; manage goals, expectations and outcomes and take steps to establish that remote working is made part of the company culture. More →

May 28, 2014

Money alone isn’t enough to attract and hold on to Gen Y employees

by Jessica Pryce-Jones • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

The retention of Gen Y employees is key for all organisations. No organisation wants to invest in their next generation of management only to find that they leave, and someone new needs to be trained. But the 20-30 year old workers of Gen Y exhibit a new-found job mobility. Which makes for a ticking time-bomb of potential cost and disruption to their employers. The iOpener Institute has gathered and studied questionnaire responses from over 30,000 professionals across the world, gaining insights into how employers can retain their Gen Y talent. The research clearly shows that while pay and financial rewards are important to Gen Y (i.e. they are not prepared to be under-paid for their work), there is no significant correlation between increased levels of pay and greater talent retention.

May 16, 2014

Employees’ time off increasingly squeezed by their job duties

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Flexible working may be perceived as more advantageous to employees than employers, but there’s new evidence that it encourages presenteeism rather than promoting a better work/life balance. The Glassdoor UK Annual Leave Survey has discovered that 44 per cent of employees undertake some work while on holiday; 18 per cent report that a colleague and 13 per cent their boss, have contacted them about work related matters while on leave. And that’s just those who take their allocated holiday time. The average UK employee uses just 77 per cent of his or her annual leave, and only half (50%) of UK employees take their full annual leave. Given that the average annual leave in the UK is approximately 28 days per year, this means that employees could be losing 6.5 days every 12 months. More →

March 12, 2014

Employees have spent average of £500 on BYOD, claims European survey

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

It’s not so long ago that companies were looking to ban employees from using social media and their own phones during work hours, or at least introducing policies to make it a disciplinary issue. Oh, we can LOL about it now but at the time it was routinely compared to the smoking ban, forcing educated adults to huddle outside fire escapes for a quick Facebook fix while their old-school colleagues sat in the warmth, offline but manning the phones. Of course, all this was before firms worked out they could actually get employees to pay for their own stuff and save themselves the expense. All they had to do was label it BYOD and talk about empowerment and people would cheerfully fork out what turns out to be a reasonable amount of money so the firm doesn’t have to.

March 6, 2014

British employees are most stressed workers in Europe

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

UK office workers are more affected by stress than their European counterparts, with only 13 per cent of British employees saying they don’t suffer from any stress and deal with their workload well, compared to the European average of 42 per cent. According to new research by recruiters StepStone and totaljobs.com nearly one quarter (24 per cent) of British workers are feeling increased pressure at work. At the other end of the spectrum, the Dutch and the French are the most relaxed, with sixty four per cent of employees in these countries not at all stressed and feeling perfectly able to handle their workload. These disturbing revelations follow recent statistics from the ONS that showed absence related to stress, depression and anxiety accounted for 15.2 million lost days of employment last year, up from 11.8 million in 2010. More →

January 13, 2014

Retaining valuable employees is top global priority for CEOS this year

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

The number one priority of business leaders worldwide this year is how best to develop, engage, manage, and retain existing talent. This worker-centric approach means that employee engagement and better management will take centre stage as the way to improve competitiveness, win new customers and raise productivity. According to new research from The Conference Board and UK partner CMI (Chartered Management Institute), CEOs will concentrate on creating a strong internal talent pipeline rather than seeking to recruit externally, with nine out of the top 10 global Human Capital strategies focused on current employees, including providing training and development, raising employee engagement and increasing efforts to retain critical talent. Other closely linked priorities identified in the CEO Challenge 2014 are customer relationships, innovation, operational excellence, and corporate brand and reputation. More →