Search Results for: promotion

April 16, 2015

Employers want next government to take more action on staff wellbeing ⁰

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

With the General Election less than a month away, more help to support staff wellbeing is one of the most popular incentives on employers’ wish lists. According to research from Group Risk Development (GRiD), employers believe wellbeing initiatives benefit the business bottom line by improving staff morale and absence rates. Almost one in five (19%) want the next government to take more action to promote staff wellbeing, with managing stress (38%), promoting a healthy work/life balance (64%) and introducing more flexible working initiatives (47%) some of their more important focuses. The research found that many employers have already made a start, as there has been an increase in health and wellness promotions and line managers better trained to spot signs of stress and mental health conditions.

April 15, 2015

Office location key factor for staff engagement, with home working preferred ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News

It might be disheartening to learn that despite an employers best efforts to design an engaging and inspiring workplace, for many employees it’s where the offices are located that matters most. In a recent UK poll by ClickSoftware over half (57%), said office location was the most important reason why they’d stay in their job ahead of both pay (52%) and job security (33%). However, the most preferred place to work is at home, with 60 percent of people identifying this location to be ‘very comfortable’. The survey also looked at the factors that affected job performance, and found one in five people (20%) believe their productivity at work has been negatively affected by the location of their job. This increases further in the capital with over a quarter of Londoners (26%) feeling that their productivity would suffer by working in a ‘horrible location’. More →

April 8, 2015

One in three employees have experienced conflict at work, reports CIPD

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

As many as one in ten employees are leaving their organisation as a result of workplace conflict, research from the CIPD has revealed. One in three UK employees (38%) have experienced some form of interpersonal conflict at work in the last year – this includes one in four (29%) who have had isolated disputes or clashes and a further one in four (28%) who report ongoing difficult relationships. However, there appears to be a clear power differential at play, with employees being most likely to perceive a lack of respect, bullying or harassment from their boss or other superiors and as many as 1 in 4 said that their line manager actively creates conflict. Employees reported conflicts as being most often with line managers or other superiors (36%) rather than with direct reports (10%). This results in individuals feeling stressed and can lead to a drop in commitment or motivation.

April 8, 2015

Managing the Millennials should be no different to the other generations

by Emma Parry • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

There is much debate about the way the group known as Millennials should be treated. Millennials, those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, are viewed as different to my peers, Generation X (those born in the 60s and 70s), and certainly vastly different in outlook to the post-war Baby Boomers and the pre-war Veterans. A stereotypical view is that these newbies are highly ambitious and want everything ‘now’, for example, regular pay rises and instant promotion without putting in the work. Yet I believe that Millennials should not be viewed as a distinct group and what we are in fact seeing are long-term changes as a result of trends in society and the workplace. So while employers may recognise the particular needs of Millennials it is these long-term changes they should really be addressing.

March 31, 2015

SMEs provide the key to encouraging more women onto boards

by Aki Stamatis • Comment, Workplace, Workplace design

Research from the Government, released last week, found that women now accounted for 23.5 percent of FTSE100 board members, up from 12.5 per cent in 2011. The target is 25 per cent by the end of this year, meaning that another 17 women need to be appointed. However the research showed that small companies are less diverse at the top, with woman accounting for 18 percent of directors of FTSE250 boards. As Chairman of a company which employs 220 people, I believe that unleashing the potential of women in the business is an excellent way to grow and develop organisations. The female perspective is very powerful in every issue within a business. It adds enormous value to clients, can often save money by offering a different way of doing things and creates a better working environment.

March 27, 2015

Civil service addresses work conditions and careers of disabled employees

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace, Workplace design

The UK Cabinet Office has published a report in partnership with Disability Rights UK to look at ways the Civil Service can better support the careers of its 27,000 staff with disabilities and health conditions. The report claims that ensuring that disabled employees ‘fulfil their potential makes basic business sense and would significantly enhance the Service’s performance.’ It claims that there has been some progress since the last report on the subject in 1998, but that barriers remain. Nearly 9 percent of civil service employees now claim to have a disability which is more than double the reported rate of 4.1 percent in 1998. The report identifies the underlying challenges and looks to share best practice. It notes that while there is strong commitment to disability equality from senior champions, this has not been translated into line manager action and cultural change.

March 3, 2015

Female empowerment within UK workforce on rise but too few in full time jobs

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A strengthening economy has helped the UK to rise up to 14^th position out of 27 OECD countries in PwC’s annual Women in Work Index, but it still lags well behind many other countries in overall female economic empowerment. The Nordic countries continue to lead the Index, with Norway maintaining pole position, followed by Denmark and Sweden. These three countries have consistently occupied the top three positions in the Index since 2000 and the reason is that they all have a much fairer balance between genders on managing work and family life. By comparison, although the UK is in the top 10 performing OECD countries on female participation in the labour force, this is negatively impacted due to the low proportion of women in full-time employment; suggesting that flexible working is having a negative impact on many women’s career prospects.

January 15, 2015

Discrimination concerns inhibit LGBT people from being ‘out’ at work

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people are worried about harassment from colleagues or being passed over for promotion if they come out at work; and while two thirds of people are out at work in the Netherlands less than half are prepared to divulge their sexual orientation at work in the UK. These are the initial findings in a global study to prove the importance of implementing effective policies to support LGBT people at work. “LGBT Diversity: Show Me The Business Case” by business consulting firm Out Now measures the financial savings companies can make by encouraging people to be open at work about their sexual orientation or gender diversity. The report is drawn from an analysis of Out Now’s LGBT2020, a global research initiative involving more than 100,000 LGBT people worldwide.

November 26, 2014

Unions and employers call for greater uptake of flexible working

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

The release of two new sets of employment data has prompted the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to issue separate rallying calls for the greater uptake of flexible working. Responding to a YouGov survey, which found that over two-fifths (42 percent) of UK workers would not feel comfortable asking their employer for more flexible working practices, the CBI called on firms to encourage and respond positively to such requests in both their own interests and those of employees. Meanwhile, the TUC used the publication of new figures from the Office for National Statistics, which showed that under-employment remains at pre-recession levels and there remains a shortfall in the number of full-time job opportunities, to suggest that part of the solution to both problems lies in the promotion of flexible working rights.

October 31, 2014

UK Government announces new research programme into workplace wellbeing

by Mark Eltringham • News, Public Sector, Workplace, Workplace design

The UK Government’s interest in what makes us happy continues unabated with the news that it has officially launched its new What Works Centre for Wellbeing. The centre will commission researchers to study ‘the impact that different interventions and services have on wellbeing’. It will focus initially on work and learning, communities, cultural and sporting activities. It claims that the results of the research will help the government, councils, health and wellbeing boards, charities and businesses make decisions on what ‘really matters for the wellbeing of people, communities and the nation as a whole’. The centre is the latest addition to the What Works Network, which was launched by the government last year to improve public services through evidence-based policy. It builds on the work of the Office for National Statistics which has been tasked with measuring national wellbeing, and of the Commission on Wellbeing and Policy.

October 28, 2014

Great Place to Work Institute reveals world’s best multinational workplaces

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace

Google Offices in Amsterdam

The Great Place to Work Institute has released its latest list of the 25 multinational companies that it believes are “leading the way into a more hopeful economic age”. The full list is available on the organisation’s convoluted and impenetrable website and as part of a new report, The Dawn of the Great Workplace Era, which describes a world in which “all people can expect to work for an organization where they trust their leaders, enjoy their colleagues and take pride in what they do”. This year’s list of firms has been chosen from 6,200 companies worldwide based on employee surveys and an assessment of each company’s policies. The Top Five for 2014 – Google, SAS Institute, NetApp, W L Gore and Associates and Belcorp – have been ranked as the top multinational workplaces, “for demonstrating rising levels of trust, camaraderie and pride.” These are the companies that “are taking steps to ensure that promotions go to those who best deserve them, to increase transparency, and to encourage employees to balance work and life,” according to China Gorman, CEO of Great Place to Work.

October 22, 2014

Companies continue to neglect the strong business case for health and wellbeing

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

The Government must comprehensively reform its strategy if it’s to tackle the barriers that remain for many businesses in implementing health and wellbeing programmes. This is the message from the Health at Work Policy Unit’s first paper which was launched yesterday (21 October 2014) by Lancaster University’s Work Foundation at an event featuring Professor Dame Carol Black and Professor Sir Cary Cooper. The Way Forward: Policy Options for Improving Workforce Health in the UK examines why a large number of businesses have continued to neglect health and wellbeing given the strong business case and identifies the barriers facing employers at three main stages: planning, implementation, and evaluation of these policies. However, according to the lead author, Dr Zofia Bajorek, these barriers can be overcome by developing a health and wellbeing strategy which illustrates the potential for competitive advantage, investing in and executing evidence based outcomes which must then be measured and reported. More →