Search Results for: employers

March 30, 2016

Career satisfaction and work-life balance are top employee draws ⁰

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

Although a competitive salary, company perks and an exceptional office culture may seem enticing to the American workforce, a new study shows there are more important motivational factors. A survey conducted by Kelton Global for Cornerstone OnDemand reveals that career satisfaction and work-life balance are the top reasons American stay at their current jobs (38 percent combined), while nearly three in ten (29 percent) resign due to work overload and lack of healthy work-life balance. Employees said they’d make life-altering decisions and considerable sacrifices in order to find a sense of satisfaction, fulfillment and purpose in their careers. In fact, 89 percent of employees would consider making a lateral career move with no financial incentive for multiple reasons, including to start an entirely new career (41 percent) or take on a professional challenge (40 percent). Additionally, relocating to a different city, state or country is a desirable career move for 77 percent of employees. (more…)

March 25, 2016

Career development most important driver for employee engagement ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

With a lack of career development opportunities being the number one reason why employees leave organizations; employers are increasingly recognizing alternative rewards as an essential component of a competitive total employee rewards strategy. In fact, companies prioritise career development more than other alternative rewards, benefits and bonuses, according to new research by the Hay Group division of Korn Ferry (KFY). Nine in ten organizations (90 percent) surveyed employ four or more alternative methods of rewarding employees (including career development programmes, health and welfare benefits, additional paid time off and other benefits) as part of their HR strategy. More than 8 out of ten organizations surveyed said that alternative rewards are key to being an employer of choice (89 percent), remaining competitive (87 percent) and engaging employees (81 percent). Eighty-seven percent of respondents also agreed that alternative rewards are an important tool in retaining the organization’s existing talent.

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March 24, 2016

Flexible working is a more important perk than nap time for employees ⁰

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

Headline grabbing employee perks such as free catered lunches and massages; whether Google’s free nap times during the day or Netflix’s free unlimited holidays are all very well, but they are hardly the norm. Back in the real world, over half (61 percent) of people in the UK believe they don’t get near enough employee incentives at work. Yet, when losing and hiring employees is far more costly than keeping current employees happy and motivated – for instance, an Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) study revealed that 17 percent of employees claimed they were looking for a new career due to feeling under-appreciated in their place of work – it might be wise to find out what employees really want. Workplace services supplier Direct365 did just that and discovered that workers want perks that they can relate to and enjoy, and which cater towards and take into consideration their individual needs. Unsurprisingly, flexible working is at the top of the list.

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March 23, 2016

Is discrimination of women with children the root cause of gender pay gap? ⁰

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

Two reports published this week support the argument that it is when women have children and require more flexible hours, that they really start to feel the sharp end of the gender pay gap. A report by a cross party group of MPs on the Women and Equalities Select Committee, reveals that supporting men and women to share childcare and other forms of unpaid caring more equally would be one of the most effective policy levers in reducing the gender pay gap. Without this support, many women are trapped in low paid, part-time work below their skill level. This contributes to pay disparities and the under-utilisation of women’s skills that costs the UK economy up to 2 percent GDP, around £36 billion. It also found that not enough is being done to support women returning to work if they have had time out of the labour market. Meanwhile a report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission says that three in four working mothers experience maternity discrimination.

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March 23, 2016

Younger generation of staff want workplaces to utilise ‘live’ technologies ⁰

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

The next generation of employees believe that if employers they want to attract and retain the best talent, they need to change their approach to new ‘live’ technologies which enable people to communicate in real time. According to new global research (albeit from a video comms company) despite 85 percent of employees using video as part of their everyday lives, only 28 percent say their employers are proactively encouraging them to use video at work to communicate. 72 percent feel that live video has the power to transform the way they communicate at work and 69 percent believe that increased use of video conversations would help employee retention at all levels within the organisation. The research, conducted among 4,000 employees across the UK, Germany, France and the US, also found that only one in seven (14 percent) employers is good at providing communications tools at work which mirror those employees use at home.

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March 23, 2016

The choice of a clear or messy workplace is an expression of personality ⁰

by Michael Page • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

When it comes to each individual’s working space and workstation area, a question that is always worth asking (and often is) is whether it is best to back off and let people customise their immediate surroundings to fit with their own tastes and needs or whether a company-wide tidy desk policy and uniformity of approach be imposed to protect a specific look and standard. One factor that is relevant is that there seems to be a pendulum swing between aesthetics and wellbeing going on at the moment, with many companies going back and forth in pursuit of the best approach. A study, conducted a few years ago by psychological scientist Professor Kathleen Vohs, along with a number of other researchers from the University of Minnesota, considered the behaviour of people working on both messy and clean desks and found that the individuals working in messier spaces came up with more creative and interesting results in their work overall.

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March 22, 2016

While politicians squabble, here’s what the Budget meant for the workplace ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Legal news, Workplace, Workplace design

Strange as it may seem now, there was a Budget last week. We’d planned to produce a report on it once the dust had settled but given that whatever dust had originally been kicked up has now been swept away by a political storm, it’s only now we feel able to offer some perspective a few days out. As ever these days, the budget touched on a number of aspects of the workplace, sometimes hitting the mark and sometimes suggesting politicians don’t yet understand how people work. There was the usual stuff about rates and commercial property but also plenty to digest about the freelance economy, productivity, new technology, flexible working legislation and the current, often faltering attempts to develop wealth and infrastructure as well as the 21st Century creative and digital economy in places other than London. There’s plenty to digest here and plenty of people have already had their say, so a chance to grab a coffee and take all or some of it in.

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March 22, 2016

Third of workers over 50 will retire later than planned, but not all reluctantly ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

A third of people aged over 50 who are employed in the private sector are now planning to retire later than they previously thought according to Aviva’s latest Working Lives report. A lack of pension savings (46 percent) is the primary reason for people to postpone their retirement plans, and the amount that would be available through the state pension (32 percent) was also an issue. Not all the reasons given for working longer were negative though, with one in five (21 percent) of those expecting to work longer doing so because they feel they still have a lot to offer their employer. A similar proportion (20 percent) said that job satisfaction has encouraged them to put off retirement. Levels of job satisfaction were highest amongst those aged over 65, with a large majority (86 percent) of private sector workers in that age group saying they enjoy their work, compared with just 57 percent of those aged 18-64.

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March 21, 2016

Graduates value flexible work and innovative office spaces over pay ⁰

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

There’s been a lot of assumptions and predictions made about Millennials, and the upcoming generation of workers dubbed Gen Z. They’re alternately spoilt with a sense of entitlement or have a zeal for change and strong social conscience. So while there is a danger of stereotyping this diverse group, employers still need to work out the best way to attract and retain the most talented. Today’s graduates have enjoyed much higher quality university accommodation and facilities than previous generations, and the flexibility of the modern day campus is clearly influencing their work choices. Unlike the generation before them, recent graduates place double the importance on flexible work and work-life balance than they do on their earnings to chart their success. A Bright Network study of over 2,000 of the country’s top graduates also found that high priority was placed on a clear path for advancement over and above high earnings.

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March 17, 2016

Poor line management blamed for lack of career progression at work ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

A third (33 percent) of UK employees say their career progression to date has failed to meet their expectations, with four in ten (39 percent) blaming poor line management for stifling their ambitions. According to the latest Employee Outlook Survey: Focus on Skills and Careers from the CIPD, a lack of effective training programmes (34 percent) and negative office politics (34 percent) are also to blame. The survey of over 2,000 employees considered the key factors relating to employees’ upbringing, education and workplace that affect whether or not their career progression had met their expectations. It also found that over a quarter (26 percent) of those whose career has failed to live up to their expectations identified poor-quality career advice and guidance at school as a key factor to blame, with three in ten (29 percent) saying they are in the wrong career so cannot show their strengths or potential.

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March 15, 2016

Décor matters but location most important factor for the ideal office ⁰

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

Recent data has shown that increasingly, it’s people, not cost, which is the primary driver behind real estate decisions. British Land has carried out research into what features would make up the UK workers’ ideal office and the results point to a clear link between delivering these ideal features and talent recruitment and retention. The good news is that the workers surveyed believe they would be 36 percent more productive at work if they were working in the ideal office, and, 86 percent say they’d stay longer with an employer that had the ideal office location and features. The other side of the coin is that 80 percent believe that companies that don’t offer their employees a convenient location and attractive features are more likely to lose them. Younger workers in particular are markedly more likely to move jobs to find a working environment that suits them, and this includes offering a workplace with a ‘buzz’.

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March 15, 2016

More than a quarter of managers not comfortable discussing mental health ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Over a quarter (28 per cent) of managers admit to having been diagnosed with or treated for a mental health related condition such as stress, anxiety or depression, however, 26 per cent of them keep this private at work, citing fear of being judged by colleagues or their manager (42 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively). And it’s not surprising this reticence persists when you consider that over one in four UK managers (27 per cent) would be more comfortable discussing employees’ physical health than they are discussing their mental health. According to the new research from AXA PPP healthcare, fear it would harm their career prospects (25 per cent) and fear of being discriminated against (21 per cent) are the main reasons for keeping quiet. Although 57 per cent say they’re just as comfortable discussing one or the other the sizeable minority who don’t indicates there’s still work to be done to overcome the mental health taboo.