Search Results for: employers

What do Millennials and Gen Z want from work? The same as everybody else

What do Millennials and Gen Z want from work? The same as everybody else 0

millennials-at-workMore evidence that younger people are in fact people after all emerges with the publication of a new report from Randstad and Future Workplace. The study of over 4,000 individuals worldwide claims that despite widespread belief, 41 percent of Generation Z employees believe that collaborative, corporate offices combined with a degree of autonomy and flexibility is their preferred way to work. They prefer bosses with strong communication skills, value face to face meetings, are irritated by distractions and believe they will probably have a career focussed oln one specific sector. As a follow-up to a previous study conducted in 2014, the Gen Z & Millennials Collide@Work report focuses on the impact of Gen Z entering the workplace for the first time and how Millennials are engaging with them. Both studies claim that Gen Z and Millennials continue to prefer communicating with co-workers and managers in-person in lieu of email and phone.

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HR remains unprepared for impact on the workforce of Brexit

HR remains unprepared for impact on the workforce of Brexit 0

One of the biggest impacts of the Brexit vote will be on recruitment and retention, but less than half of businesses have so far bothered to create a dedicated HR team, claims the latest Willis Towers Watson survey. The majority of companies (56 percent) instead continue to ‘wait and see’ before they take any action to prepare their organisation for Brexit. This is despite two-thirds (66 percent) of employers believing their business in the UK will be significantly affected by Britain’s vote to leave the European Union (EU), and 76 percent most worried about the impact of Brexit on the workforce. The report says that almost four-fifths (78 percent) of companies have begun a consideration of the implications of Brexit and more than half (60 percent) have conducted an assessment of what it means for key areas, but so far only 24 percent have carried out a detailed impact assessment and only a third (33 percent) have done any scenario planning.

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Acas issues guidance for line managers on how to run effective teams

Acas issues guidance for line managers on how to run effective teams 0

Business team at a meetingThe transition from team member to manager can be a challenge. Well trained front line managers are crucial for business performance but need the right tools to help them do their jobs says workplace experts Acas, which is calling on small businesses and larger companies to use its new guidance to ensure that staff are equipped to manage and care for their teams. The new guide highlights leadership, people management and strong organisational skills as three key areas for team leaders. It advises the managers should know how to build trust and respect with their teams, listen to their concerns and ideas. They should also learn how to manage tricky situations with people; for whether it’s staff members having family problems, two colleagues accusing each other of bullying, or jealousy in a team over nominations for training and bonuses. A good manager should also be effective at planning team work, rotas, budgets, and balancing their own time.

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Report published on employing older workers to help close labour gap

Report published on employing older workers to help close labour gap 0

older workersA new report – published to encourage employers to create more age friendly workplaces – warns of a widening labour gap in the UK. Between 2005 and 2015 the number of people working over the age of 50 in the UK increased by 2.5 million. By 2022, the UK economy will need to fill 14.5 million job vacancies created by people leaving the workforce and by new positions being created; but it is estimated that there will only be seven million young people available to fill them – leaving a labour shortage of 7.7 million people. Yet currently, one million older people who are not in work want to work and if just half of these were to move into employment GDP would increase by up to £88 billion a year. Business in the Community’s new report, Age in the Workplace, supported by the Centre for Ageing Better, advises employers on how to implement practical changes; such as introducing more flexible hours, which will help improve the recruitment and retention of older workers.

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Working from home just as unproductive and frustrating as working in an office

Working from home just as unproductive and frustrating as working in an office 0

working from homeIt’s always good to see academic research supporting ideas that would appear pretty obvious but go against a widely accepted narrative. So we should all welcome the results of a new study from researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science, which found that the perceived benefits of working from home disappear over time for both employees and organisations when homeworking is a full-time arrangement. The report concludes that while previous studies have demonstrated how home workers are more productive than office-based workers, the LSE study of more than 500 employees shows that on a long term basis, there are no differences between home and office workers. The reason, according to Dr Esther Canonico from LSE’s Department of Management, the lead author of the report, is that employees no longer see home working as a discretionary benefit or a privilege when it becomes the norm in an organisation.

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British workers miss fewer days at work than those in rest of Europe

British workers miss fewer days at work than those in rest of Europe 0

Clocking inAyming, a business performance consultancy, has released its 8th absenteeism barometer, analysing workplace absenteeism and employee engagement across Europe. The research claims that UK workers missed fewer days at work last year than anywhere else in Europe, with 84 percent of workers at work each day. That compared to 72 percent in the rest of Europe, including 71 percent in France. By gender, the proportion of women in the UK who were at work every day was 88 percent surpassing that of men (83 percent). Employees aged 26-30 had the lowest attendance record – only 71 percent missed no days at work – while employees aged 51-62 had an attendance record of 92 percent.Despite the fact that UK workers took less time off work, British workers had the smallest proportion of happy and motivated employees, at just 23 percent. By contrast, 46 percent of German and 54 percent of Dutch employees regarded themselves as both happy and motivated.

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Mothers with young children a third less likely to be in work than fathers

Mothers with young children a third less likely to be in work than fathers 0

working motherThe growing body of evidence highlighting the challenges faced by working mothers has been broadened with the publication of a new report from the TUC which claims that mothers with young children are a third less likely to be in work than fathers. The TUC found that on average just 64 percent of mothers with children aged 0-4 are in paid work, compared to 93 percent of fathers. The analysis claims that the age of a woman’s youngest child has an influence on whether or not she works. The employment rate for mums increases by 11 percent to 75 percent for women with children at primary school (aged 5-10) and by 17 percent to 81 percent for mothers with secondary school age children (11+). For dads of pre-school children, employment rates are above 90 percent. This suggests that mothers’ work decisions are affected by regional variations in the availability and cost of childcare, transport and housing, and access to good quality flexible and part-time jobs.

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Younger people less keen on recycling at work, especially coffee cups

Younger people less keen on recycling at work, especially coffee cups 0

recycled coffee cupThe younger generation have a reputation for being pretty keen on addressing environmental issues, but new data alleges they’re not as open to changing their behaviours. There’s actually a clear generational gap when it comes to attitudes towards recycling at work and it’s the older generation who make more effort, a new survey suggests. It claims that younger  people are around 16 percent less likely to recycle at work with just 64 percent of people aged 18-24 prepared to adhere to their employers’ recycling policies. One particular cause of concern is the fact that 2.5 billion coffee cups are thrown away each year, leading the Liberal Democrats to recently call for action to be taken to address the fact that only one in 400 cups are recycled. The survey, which was carried out by commercial waste recycling services provider Direct365, claims that 72 percent of people do actually recycle items at work overall.

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BSRIA publishes new downloadable guide to indoor air quality

BSRIA publishes new downloadable guide to indoor air quality 0

indoor air qualityThe Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) has released a new topic guide on indoor air quality (IAQ), which is now available to download free from the association’s website. The guide is written for those seeking some introductory information about indoor air quality including prevalence, history and definition, along with information on types of contaminants and their exposure limits, while readers are also provided with a useful site map. BSRIA’s asset performance team leader, Blanca Beato-Arribas, said: “People spend approximately 80 per cent of their time indoors. There is enough evidence that links poor air quality with permanent damages to health or even death. Therefore, we should be aware of the quality of the air that we breathe both at home and at work, and ensuring good indoor air quality at work should be a priority for employers.” The guide will provide insight into the most common contaminants, both from indoor sources and external sources as well as a summary of the current legislation and a guide map of what contaminants to investigate.

Commuting is making us more stressed and more fat, claims study

Commuting is making us more stressed and more fat, claims study 0

Health in a HurryThe average UK commuter adds almost 800 calories to their diet every week as a result of their journey to and from work, according to our new report, Health in a Hurry, from the UK’s Royal Society for Public Health. The study of around 1,500 people claims that the average time spent commuting in the UK has increased in recent years to almost an hour a day, and suggests longer commutes are therefore potentially shortening lives. The report highlights the impact of travelling to and from work caused by forms of passive commuting including rail, bus and car. It says that this part of the daily routine has a huge impact on the public’s health and wellbeing with longer commute times associated with increased stress, higher blood pressure and BMI, and reduced time available for health-promoting activities such as cooking, exercising and sleeping. Commuters in London have an average journey of 79 minutes while it is just under 45 minutes for people living in Wales.

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New report sets out four key challenges for the workforce of the future

New report sets out four key challenges for the workforce of the future 0

Future of WorkA new report from The Future Laboratory and UBS Wealth Management claims to identify the key factors that will drive workplace change in the near future. According to The Future of the Workforce report, the next two decades will see the way we work completely reshaped by forces such as artificial intelligence and an increasingly multigenerational workforce. The report claims that the entry of more Millennials into the workplace, their differing values to older workers, a growing propensity to turn freelance and the dissolution of the old bonds of loyalty could mean that employers struggle to create a strong culture. The report also claims that there will be a growing emphasis on the provision of wellness programmes, driven partly by growing demand from employees as well as a greater focus on improving productivity from employers. It also suggests that employers need to act to remove any biases they may have to appeal to the values of the new generation of workers.

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Open and honest communication boosts staff engagement levels

Open and honest communication boosts staff engagement levels 0

staff engagementEmployees who feel communication within their organisation is open and honest are nearly 15 times more likely to be engaged, and those who are encouraged to share ideas and opinions are 11 times more likely, claims a survey which suggests that staff want a more human experience, grounded in loyalty, recognition, respect, and honesty. Areas viewed as the best opportunities to differentiate in terms of staff engagement include above-average pay and benefits, a fun place to work, workplace flexibility, a strong fit with individual values, stimulating work, and a spirit of innovation. But according to results of the survey from Aon Hewitt what employees want in a workplace is not what they experience. And these gaps are having an impact on employees’ intent to stay. Of the 52 percent who would leave their current company for another job, 44 percent are actively looking. Opinions about what makes an employer stand out from other companies are similar across generations.

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