June 23, 2017
Neuroscience: the next great source of competitive advantage 0
The average worker is interrupted or distracted every three minutes and it takes them fully twenty-three minutes to return to a task after being interrupted. Office workers are overwhelmed by distractions, due mainly to a lack of understanding of how to manage attention. Distractions and the inability to focus negatively affects productivity, engagement, wellbeing and overall performance in organisations. We long to be more effective, but the harder we try, the more tired our brains become. Attention meltdowns are epidemic because workers do not understand what attention is, how to manage it or have access to the best places to support their tasks. In workplaces throughout the world scenarios of near constant distraction have become the norm, to such an extent that often people do not even feel compelled to comment on them and their consequences.
An increasing number of workers are taking on caring responsibilities, be this for children, elderly relatives or other dependents, and it’s becoming a major cause of workforce absence, claims new research. According to data released by group risk industry body GRiD, for 61 percent of employers these issues are a main cause of short-term absence (less than 4 weeks); for 49 percent of employers these issues are a main cause of mid-term absence (4 weeks to 6 months) and for 43 percent of employers these issues are a main cause of long-term absence (in excess of 6 months). They can also be a contributory factor in the development of mental illness or the deterioration of mental health. Indeed, mental ill-health is another major cause of absence, due to the knock-on effects of stress and deteriorating mental health that results in more absence. In terms of what employers are doing to reduce absence and improve attendance, flexible working comes out as the top-rated solution, with 36 percent of employers citing this as one of the measures they have put in place to minimise absence.
HR professionals will, on average, oversee 15 staff with mental health conditions each year, according to new analysis from consultancy, the 
One of the biggest concerns cited by many of those being polled on their views during the General Election campaign has been the high cost of living compared to wages. Now a new report claims that over half (55 percent) of employees are experiencing financial problems, which are affecting their behaviour, relationships and ability to perform at work. Although the nationwide study of the financial wellbeing of UK workers The DNA of Financial Wellbeing 2017 report, claims that nearly a third (32 percent) cite finance as their biggest concern; 66 percent of HR directors, think that financial worries are not of concern to their employees. The findings from Neyber, a financial wellbeing company, shows that 47 percent of workers are borrowing money to meet their basic financial needs, with 25 percent borrowing on a credit card, followed by 13 percent through a bank overdraft and 13 percent borrowing from friends and family. Meanwhile, an increase in so-called zero hour contracts means that nearly half (47 percent) of workers in the North and Midlands have an income fluctuation of more than 10 percent each month.
Seven in ten UK employees – equivalent to 18 million nationally – have gone to work feeling unwell when they should have taken the day off, while less than a quarter (23 percent) say they have taken a day off work sick when they were not actually unwell, indicating that UK employees are three times more likely to go to work unwell than they are to ‘pull a sickie,’ a new report claims. The fourth edition of the Aviva Working Lives Report, which examines the attitudes and experiences of employers and employees on issues affecting the present and future of the UK workplace – also carries a wake-up call to businesses, as more than two in five (43 percent) employees feel their employer puts the results of the company ahead of their health and wellbeing as more than two in five (41 percent) say their work will pile up if they are off sick.
