July 4, 2018
Staff at larger organisations take three times as many sick days as those at micro firms
Employers with over 250 employees are more likely to have a significant absence issue among staff says new research from Group Risk Development (GRiD). According to HR decision makers companies with over 250 employees have the highest absence rates – averaging 7.5 days per year yet micro businesses with between 1-9 staff only see their staff take an average of 2.8 days absence per year. Five per cent of HR decision makers also admitted to not recording or monitoring absence at all, although this is more prevalent amongst SMEs (6 percent) than those with over 250 employees (1 percent). (more…)
Almost half (49 percent) of companies are struggling to find skilled workers as digitisation and automation cause significant change in the skills businesses look for in professionals, according to new data from Robert Half UK. As a result, one fifth (21 percent) are now looking to recruit candidates with exceptional soft skills, with a view to developing the desired technical skills on the job. In the Robert Half research, UK business leaders consider an openness to new ideas (28 percent), an openness to change (26 percent) and good communication abilities (19 percent) as key attributes and will prioritise these areas when considering new talent. Digitisation and automation are rapidly evolving the business world. Companies are having to quickly adapt to the changing world of work, and are looking for employees who can keep pace,” says Matt Weston, UK Managing Director at Robert Half.
It can be proven that a well implemented Occupational Health service can offer a good return on investment, finds a new report. A white paper, produced by the Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM), the International SOS Foundation and KU Leuven University, 
Work is no longer a place but a set of activities which lead to a set of outcomes that could be delivered anywhere. Or as John Blackwell, Quora Consulting’s Managing Director succinctly described it at the first of the 2018 Quora Smartworking Summit’s held last week, organisations need to create a ‘smart everywhere’ environment. New digital platforms make far it easier for people to work in exactly the way they want. Research by Quora has revealed that there are 5 million people currently working in the UK gig economy or around 15.6 percent of the total workforce. More people are working post retirement age and want to work in a way that they can control, while there are increasing numbers who simply want more autonomy in their lives in the way that self-employment can offer. 
An overwhelming majority of employees are deliberately seeking out information they are not permitted to access, exposing a major cybersecurity problem among today’s workforce, claims new research published by One Identity. The survey, conducted by Dimensional Research, polled more than 900 IT security professionals on trends and challenges related to managing employee access to corporate data. Among key findings, a remarkable 92 percent of respondents report that employees at their organisations try to access information that is not necessary for their day-to-day work – with nearly one in four (23 percent) admitting this behaviour happens frequently. Most alarmingly, the report indicates that IT security professionals themselves are among the worst offenders of corporate data snooping. One in three respondents admit to having accessed sensitive information that is not necessary for their day-to-day work.
June 22, 2018
Organisations are easily distracted from the task of creating a great workplace strategy
by Chris Hood • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Workplace design
(more…)