Search Results for: mental health

Workplace wellbeing is focus of new report from British Psychological Society

Workplace wellbeing is focus of new report from British Psychological Society

A new report from the British Psychological Society, Psychology at Work: Improving Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace examines issues around work, health, and disability and recommends ways that policy makers and employers can tackle poor employment practices using interventions that work with human behaviour, not against it. The report has been launched today, Tuesday 14th November, at the BPS All-Parliamentary Group for Psychology’s (APPG) ‘Healthy Workplaces’ event hosted by Dr Lisa Cameron MP in the Houses of Parliament. Psychology at Work: Improving Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace’ was co-authored by Dr Ashley Weinberg, CPsychol AFBPsS, and Nancy Doyle CPsychol AFBPsS.

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Two thirds of UK employees have taken a day off work in the last year as a result of stress, depression or anxiety

New survey results suggest mental health issues are having a significant impact on productivity in the workplace. Events company Wildgoose surveyed employees at 250 businesses across the UK and found there remains a stigma surrounding mental health at work. Of those surveyed who have taken a day off work, just under half admitted to calling in sick with a different complaint to the one from which they were actually suffering. Two thirds of respondents (62 percent) said they had taken a day off work as a result of stress, depression or anxiety.

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Best practice in flexible working and gender diversity honoured at awards presentation

Best practice in flexible working and gender diversity honoured at awards presentation

Workingmums.co.uk has announced the winners of its eighth annual Top Employer Awards, celebrating the leading companies in gender diversity and flexible working. The Awards were presented at a ceremony at London’s Soho Hotel on 7th November where the keynote speaker was Ann Francke, CEO of the Chartered Management Institute. Winner of the Overall Top Employer Award was Lloyds Banking Group. The judges felt it was ‘a beacon for other employers with regard to its agile hiring programme which was a root and branch attempt to normalise different ways of working from recruitment onwards. It was a strong performer across all the categories and had made a major step forward in embedding a flexible culture.’

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Pressurised staff say level of wellbeing in their workplace is insufficient

Pressurised staff say level of wellbeing in their workplace is insufficient

A majority (80 percent) of employees perceive the level of wellbeing within their organisation to be moderate or low and a quarter are struggling to manage the pressures of the workplace, a new survey claims. Although 64 percent believe their overall happiness as happy or very happy two thirds of UK workers admit to coasting or struggling at work, with just 18 percent reporting they’re flourishing, finds the survey published by Barnett Waddingham. Why BWell 2017 also found a third of UK workers admit their job has a negative impact on their mental health, with the same number believing their overall wellbeing is not important to their employer. Moreover, 22 percent say negative attitudes from their managers at work hinder their ability to balance work and family commitments. The survey also looked at employee retention alongside employers’ understanding of staff engagement in the company objectives. Overall 25 percent admitted they couldn’t see themselves working for the same company in five years’ time and 36 percent feel they either didn’t understand their company’s overall strategy or didn’t know if they understood it or not.

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Long commutes to work are as bad as a pay cut when it comes to happiness and wellbeing

Long commutes to work are as bad as a pay cut when it comes to happiness and wellbeing

A twenty minute increase in commuting time is as bad as a 19 per cent pay cut for job satisfaction, a study has found. The research by the University of the West of England found that every extra minute spent travelling to and from work reduces job and leisure time satisfaction, increases strain and worsens mental health.  The researchers conclude that more people should be allowed to work from home or should choose a new way of getting there. According to the study, every extra minute spent travelling reduced job satisfaction, created extra strain, worsened mental health and increased people’s chances of quitting. The study, based on analysis of 26,000 workers in England, found that people travelling by bus were more likely to feel the “negative impacts of longer commute times” than users of other transport and that employees who cycled or walked were among the most satisfied as they used commuting time as part of their “health-enhancing lifestyle”.

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Over a third of UK staff say employers offer no flexible working benefits

Over a third of UK staff say employers offer no flexible working benefits

Over a third of UK staff say employers offer no flexible working benefitsBritish workers are lagging behind employees from other countries when it comes to flexible working hours and benefits like extended leave, suggests new research. New independent research commissioned by travel specialists Opodo.co.uk compared Britain with other nations across Europe and the USA, which reveals that British companies are lagging behind other businesses when it comes to flexible working. Three-quarters of employees in the UK (75 percent) don’t believe they have a generous holiday allowance and 84 percent aren’t offered time back in lieu for days worked over the weekend. It’s of no surprise then that 69 percent of Brits don’t think they have a good work-life balance.

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Lack of cultural inclusiveness means staff reluctant to share personal issues at work

Lack of cultural inclusiveness means staff reluctant to share personal issues at work

Lack of inclusiveness means staff reluctant to share personal issues with employersUK workers are still uncomfortable about having honest conversations at work, with nearly two thirds (61 percent) feel they keep an aspect of their lives hidden in the workplace. The research from Inclusive Employers found family difficulties (46 percent) was the most likely hidden issue at work, followed by mental health (31 percent). One in five also admitted they would hide their sexual orientation while at work. It also found a generational divide, with 67 percent of employees aged between 18 -24 years old keeping something secret compared to 55 percent of those over aged 55 years or over.  The data, released to mark National Inclusion Week 2017, found this lack of openness can have negative impacts on workers and employers, with over a quarter of workers (26 percent) admitting they would feel less connected to their workplace if they hid an aspect of themselves and 18 percent saying their performance would suffer.

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Half of workers claim they are more productive while listening to music, Come on Eileen is their unlikely song of choice

Dexys Midnight Runners has shaken off Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber to top the list of songs most likely to make Brits ‘work faster’, a new study claims. With 20 percent of the nation saying that they listen to music at work every day, the study from Trade Direct Insurance set out to discover what effect this is having on the work environment and the level of work employees can complete during working hours. The study’s findings claim that over half (53 percent) of the 1,007 British workers who took part think they are more productive when listening to music at work.

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Global insurance sector workers call for workplace culture modernisation

New research from Dive In, a festival for diversity and inclusion in the insurance sector, claims that almost three-quarters (71 percent) of insurance professionals surveyed believe that the culture in their firm needs to change. The survey of over 2,800 festival attendees, suggests that in order to attract and retain the best talent for the market, firms need to become more inclusive. Close to two thirds of the insurance industry believe that their firm should do more to advance diversity and inclusion in gender, LGBT and mental health.

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Precarious flexible working lives create toxic relationships between managers and workers, claims study

Precarious flexible working lives create toxic relationships between managers and workers, claims study

Millions of British workers are having their health and home life put at risk and are having to beg for extra work to make ends meet because bosses are not offering them regular work patterns, a new study from Oxford and Cambridge Universities suggests. According to the study, Powerful times: Flexible discipline and schedule gifts at work published in the journal Work, Employment and Society, around 4.6 million people are subject to ‘precarious scheduling’ from employers which means that their hours are so inconsistent and unpredictable that they cannot make plans, leading to stress and problems in their home lives. The researchers said that many workers now find themselves in ‘degrading’ relationships with managers in which they are obliged to constantly ask for more work and changes to allow them to care for children and plan their domestic and recreational lives.
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Shake up of working culture and practices recommended to reduce pay gaps

Shake up of working culture and practices recommended to reduce pay gaps

All jobs should be advertised as available for flexible working, and greater support should be given to fathers to play more of a role in child care, in a shake-up of culture and working practices to reduce pay gaps, the Equality and Human Rights Commission said today. The call comes as the Commission’s strategy for tackling gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps is released. A strategy to reduce pay gaps in Britain makes six recommendations outlining the action needed by government, in society and in our businesses to improve equality in earnings for women, ethnic minorities and disabled people. According to the EHRC, offering all jobs as flexible will remove the barriers faced by women and disabled people, who are more likely to have to negotiate flexible working or accept part-time jobs that are often low-paid. Creating work places with flexible cultures will increase opportunities for everyone, giving people greater choice about the role they play both at work and home. More →

Three in five of UK employees with a disability have experienced bias from employers

Three in five of UK employees with a disability have experienced bias from employers

Three in five of disabled workers have experienced bias from employers

Over half (51 percent) of people with a physical disability say that they had taken pains to hide their condition from employers when applying for a job, with that figure increasing to 60 percent when it came to those suffering from a mental health issue, a new survey has claimed. The reason, suggests the research from Badenoch & Clark – is that three in five (60 percent) UK employees with a disability have experienced bias in the workplace, in comparison to just 35 percent of those without a disability. Worryingly, the report, ‘Inspiring Inclusion in the Workplace’, also found that two thirds of those with a mental disability (65 percent), and 45 percent of those with a physical disability believe that their organisation does not offer an inclusive environment. Unsurprisingly then, the research further revealed that around half (48 percent) of disabled candidates have either left a job or not applied for a role or promotion due to workplace bias, in comparison with just one in five (20 percent) of those without a disability.

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