Search Results for: flexible working

May 31, 2019

Commuters receive little help from employers to alleviate their stress

by Marie Hillen • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Over a third of respondents (36 percent) to a new survey report they are commuting for more than 90 minutes a day; yet despite a high demand for employer provisions to help alleviate the stress of the commute such as flexible or remote working and season ticket loans, 43 percent of employees stated that these were not currently offered by their employer. The Commuter Survey from Office Space in Town also claims that among the top commuting complaints were: lengthy journeys (32 percent); overcrowding (27 percent) and delays and frequent cancellations (26.01 percent). With the survey also revealing 75 percent take the commute into account when making their employment decisions, there is a lot that employers could be doing to minimise the negative impact on employee attraction and retention.

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May 28, 2019

Number of over-70s in work doubles

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace

Record numbers of over-70s are choosing work over retirement, according to new analysis from Rest Less, a membership community site in the UK to offer work and volunteering opportunities specifically targeted at the over 50s. Using bespoke data provided to Rest Less by the Office for National Statistics, Rest Less’s analysis claims that the number of over-70s in full or part-time employment has been steadily rising year on year over the past 10 years, reaching a peak of 497,946 in the first quarter of this year – an increase of 286,000 or 135 per cent since 2009. Today, nearly 1 in 12 (8.1 percent) of those in their 70s are working, a significant increase from the 1 in 22 (4.5 percent) there were 10 years ago.

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May 14, 2019

Workers have little interest in table football and dogs in the office

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Traditional workplace benefits like holiday allowances and pensions trump quirkier ‘benefits’ like being allowed to take your dog into the office, according to a survey by Aviva. Out of a wide range of workplace benefits, 43 percent of UK employees said they were least interested in being allowed to take their dog into the workplace. More than a third of workers (34 percent) also said they weren’t interested in office entertainment like table football and video games. And more than 1 in 4 people (26 percent) even said workplace socials like summer and Christmas parties were among the benefits they were least interested in. (more…)

May 14, 2019

Are workers waiting too long for mental health support?

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

Some people with mental health conditions could be waiting for over a year for employers to put in place much needed workplace adjustments, new findings published today suggest. The findings come from The Great Big Workplace Adjustments Survey 2019, a comprehensive study of disability and long-term conditions conducted by Business Disability Forum and based on the views of over 1,200 employees and managers working with adjustments. (more…)

May 2, 2019

The best workplace events to look forward to in May

by Mark Eltringham • Events, News

The events season is in full swing every May and this year is no exception. So much so that we’ll never do justice to how much is going on in one story. As the workplace sector becomes increasingly well defined in its own right and the world sets out to address a number of pertinent challenges for the way we live and work, this might prove to be something of a seminal year and so it’s important to be out and about sharing ideas. Fortunately, you can find a full list of relevant happenings around the world on our Events page, the most comprehensive calendar of workplace related events in the world, in partnership with Herman Miller. Here are a few of the best to whet your appetite: (more…)

April 26, 2019

Great expectations at work causing stress and rise in mental ill health

by Marie Hillen • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Employees feel expectations at work are playing an integral role in diminishing their mental health a new report suggests, which includes increasing pressures to work outside of office hours, through annual leave and even on sick days. Westfield Health’s inaugural Wellbeing Index, which claims to shine a spotlight on stress, found 61 percent of HR professionals identified mental health related issues as the main reasons for absences within their workforces, with over half (51 percent) noticing an overall increase in sick days. ‘Leavism’ – working outside of contracted hours and on annual leave days – is also prevalent throughout the British workforce, with 67 percent in HR saying it’s a very real issue for them.

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April 18, 2019

Stress in legal profession widely misunderstood, research paper claims

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

The latest Bellwether research paper titled, ‘Stress in the Legal Profession: Problematic or Inevitable’, published by LexisNexis UK claims that stress is an endemic issue in the legal profession with two thirds of respondents currently experiencing high levels of stress despite the confident ‘business as usual’ industry outlook. Almost 1 in 4 solicitors feel that more could be done to support them in the workplace although 4 in 5 report high levels of job satisfaction and 5 out of 10 consider they have a positive state of mind.

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April 5, 2019

The ladder of life, the death of work, the cane toad of property and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features

We start with a question. Why hasn’t the gig economy killed traditional work?, asks Greg Rosalsky and goes on to explain what many people have now realised. The answer, as Greg points out, is that the gig economy doesn’t replace traditional work, never has, and the rise of casual work of this kind has primarily been a way for people to deal with a volatile labour market and shrinking real incomes. Offer them the choice of a decent monthly income, benefits and a contract and most of them will take you up on it.

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March 26, 2019

CIPD report finds employers can do more for women going through the menopause

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

CIPD: employers need to do more to help women going through the menopause The majority of working women experiencing the menopause say it has a negative impact on them at work, finds a new survey from the CIPD. The research found that three out of five (59 percent) working women between the ages of 45 and 55 who are experiencing menopause symptoms were finding it impacted them at work. In response, the CIPD has launched free guidance on managing the menopause at work to help break the silence surrounding the topic. (more…)

March 21, 2019

Interiors are not enough to win the war for talent

by Ben Capper • Comment, Workplace design

I often refer to Google and Facebook in my blog, due to their influence on workplace design. Many consider them to be workplace interior’s holy grail. But today’s big employers are competing with one another on a much broader set of principles. Cool interiors alone just won’t cut it. Zürich, like many European cities is home to a large number of global brands, with bustling financial services and tech sectors. I regularly hear of people with multiple job offers taking a job with a lower salary, rather than accepting a role in a company that doesn’t reflect their ideals. This decision can be influenced by office design and facilities, career development options, corporate culture and much more. (more…)

March 20, 2019

Feeling appreciated and the quality of workplace both key to employee happiness

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

The quality of the workplace has a powerful effect on the levels of happiness of staff, with nearly half of respondents (49 percent) to a recent survey stating that having a great office environment is important to their happiness at work, but according to the figures, only a quarter (25 percent) say a good workplace environment is a current positive about their work. The survey from Peldon Rose also found that less than half (45 percent) of employees actually feel appreciated at work and only two-thirds (67 percent) report feeling happy. Yet the majority of workers (80 percent) who took part, believe that feeling appreciated is most important to their happiness at work – ahead of salary (58 percent) and feeling trusted (55 percent).

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March 19, 2019

Demotivated workers would be driven by higher pay and more flexibility

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Almost a third (31 percent) of UK professionals state that their expectations are ‘not being met at all’ by their current employer, whilst a further 24 percent state that their needs are only just ‘moderately’ being met. The findings, which come from research undertaken by recruiter Robert Walters and job board CV-Library – also suggest that while the amount they were paid was most important to staff, other benefits are increasingly playing a more prominent role in keeping staff motivated. Well over half (61 percent) claimed that work-life balance, flexible working hours (39 percent), and cultural fit (25 percent) are crucial to keeping them happy at work. (more…)