November 5, 2019

HR leaders feel unprepared for the future of work

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

Only 9 percent of chief human resources officers (CHROs) agree that their organisation is prepared for the future of work, according to a new report from Gartner. The study ties in to Gartner Gartner ReimagineHR conference, which took place last week. It concludes that to address the needs of organisations and workers in the future, HR leaders must focus on five areas of work. It suggests that tackling the future of work should not mean looking at the various changing aspects of work, such as AI, the gig economy and the multigenerational workforce, in silos. Istead, HR leaders should focus on the big picture of what the future of work can and should look like in their organisation. (more…)

October 29, 2019

Slow progress with BYOD threatens smarter working in public sector

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

Large parts of the public sector have yet to authorise the use of Bring Your Own Device policies in their organisation, according to new research commissioned by Kyocera Document Solutions UK. A survey of staff across the public sector found that 38 per cent of respondents said that their organisations’ current use of BYOD is unauthorised. The findings provide further evidence of the pressures faced across the government sector to keep pace with the growth of remote and flexible working trends. Public sector organisations that continue to prohibit BYOD risk missing out on the benefits of smarter working, as well as driving staff to ‘shadow IT’, creating a whole host of serious cybersecurity risks. (more…)

October 27, 2019

Over 50s account for total five year increase in night working

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The number of people regularly working night shifts is at its highest level since the Office for National Statistics began collecting records in their current form, according to a new analysis from the TUC. The analysis of official data shows that 3.25 million people (more than 1 in 9 workers) work in Britain’s night-time economy – 100,000 more than five years ago. While the number of over 50s doing night work has accelerated in recent years, fewer young workers are doing night shifts. (more…)

October 23, 2019

Older workers outshine younger colleagues on cybersecurity

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

According to a new report on behaviour and attitudes to cybersecurity among different age groups, employees over the age of 30 are more likely to adopt cybersecurity best practice than younger colleagues who have grown up around digital technology. The report, Meeting the expectations of a new generation. How the under 30s expect new approaches to cybersecurity (registration), also indicates that the younger generation is more anxious about cybersecurity and their company’s ability to tackle the number of security threats.

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October 22, 2019

Women less likely to progress at work than male colleagues after childbirth

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Women and men experience a ‘large divergence’ in their career paths in the years following childbirth, according to a study following more than 3,500 new parents. Only 27.8 percent of women are in full-time work or self-employed three years after childbirth, compared to 90 percent of new fathers. And while 26 percent of men have been promoted or moved to a better job in the five years following childbirth, the figure is just 13 percent for women.

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October 17, 2019

Young people struggle to find secure and meaningful work

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) has published new research exploring young people’s experiences of work and the implications for their future health. Many of the issues raised are common across all age groups, but the report argues that they can be especially pronounced and harmful for younger people as they set about finding meaningful work that is also secure and well paid.

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October 16, 2019

Getting to grips with workplace safety

by Alex Wilkins • Comment, Wellbeing

Business owners can not shy away from ensuring the physical safety of their employees in the workplace. Despite this, many are still failing to have the correct measures in place to best achieve the necessary safety levels that will allow them to operate effectively and without disruptions. (more…)

October 16, 2019

Two thirds of people would trust a robot more than their manager

by Neil Franklin • AI, News

Following the recent report that people would prefer to be replaced by a robot than a human, a new survey from Oracle suggests they also have more trust in robots than their managers. According to the second annual AI at Work study conducted by Oracle and researchers Future Workplace. The study of 8,370 employees, managers and HR leaders across 10 countries, found that AI has changed the relationship between people and technology at work and is reshaping the role HR teams and managers need to play in attracting, retaining and developing talent. (more…)

October 11, 2019

Workers would prefer to lose a job to a robot than a human

by Neil Franklin • AI, News

A new study published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour from academics at the Technical University of Munich and the Rotterdam School of Management claims that most people would prefer to be replaced in their job by a robot rather than another human. The study asked 2,000 workers in Europe and North America to respond to one of two scenarios in which they had to decide on the future of the workforce in an independent organisation or another organisation for which they themselves work which had decided to replace its current workforce completely with either robots or new human staff. (more…)

October 7, 2019

Workplace experience fails to meet expectations in many new projects

by Mark Eltringham • News

The latest report from workplace analysts Leesman explores the success rate of workplace change projects while analysing the factors behind why many fail. The Workplace Experience Revolution Part 2: Do new workplaces work is the product of a nine-year analysis across 557,959 employee responses in 3,932 workplaces worldwide. The first part of the study, published in 2018, unearthed what it claimed was a series of mission-critical ‘super drivers’ that provide the foundations for outstanding employee workplace experience. Part 2 takes this investigation further by exploring the challenges and stresses that organisations encounter when it comes to delivering employee experience in a new workplace.

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October 3, 2019

The art of arranging the world so we do not have to experience it

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace

If you’re a man, each morning as you leave the house you probably perform the bleary-eyed pocket patting ritual that, after a shower, shave and a cup of tea is your sole reassurance that you are in any way prepared for the day ahead. The thinking is that if you’re clean, caffeinated, your flies are up and you’ve got your keys, wallet and phone, you can take pretty much anything the world can throw at you. (more…)

October 1, 2019

Ergonomics regs are still relevant in the age of agile work

by Guy Osmond • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Recently Mark Eltringham of Insight argued that ergonomics regulations have become something of an anachronism in recent years. When I first became involved in the workplace ergonomics industry in late 1992, the new Display Screen Equipment ’computer user’ guidance was about to be given the force of law through the introduction of the DSE Regulations. These regulations were updated again in 2002 but, since then, no changes have been made. (more…)