Search Results for: training

June 27, 2018

Third of UK employees ready to leave as managers fail to meet expectations

Nearly half of UK managers (45.1 percent) are ill-prepared for the role, and a quarter (25 percent) of employees say their manager does not have the right skills for effective management, claims new research by Bridge by Instructure. The study, based on interviews of 1,000 managers and employees across the UK on their attitudes towards both management and learning and development, revealed that more than half of those who responded (53.4 percent) think managers need more training to perform as a manager and, almost half (45 percent) think managers need to be given time to operate as a manager rather than having those responsibilities ‘bolted on’ to their existing role. (more…)

June 26, 2018

UK employers aim to accelerate digital innovation, despite some cultural resistance

by Sara Bean • AI, News, Technology, Workplace

The way to measure an employer’s speed of innovation includes how they find talent, their appraisal process, how employees recommend the organisation they work for to others, and how much employees collaborate, claims a new European study by Cornerstone OnDemand and IDC. “Future Culture: Building a Culture of Innovation in the Age of Digital Transformation” explores the relationship between European organisations’ speed of innovation and talent management, with the research showing that firms with a steady stream of new products and services are more likely to have an ongoing feedback process with employees, rather than an annual performance review, while organisations with a slower rate of innovation often use coaching and mentoring to develop employees.

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June 21, 2018

The future of the workplace emerges from the mists at Neocon

by John Sacks • Features, Furniture, Workplace design

Chicago is one of the world’s great cities. Its dramatic lake and river setting, its magnificent architecture and its raw energy inspire the locals and businesses to achieve great things. People work and play very hard. Competition is fierce both in business as in the way the people relate to each other, and befits a city heavily influenced by waves of immigration down the ages. Apart from somewhat overly aggressive and noisy driving, if there is friction, you don’t sense it and it isn’t obvious. Most locals seem genuinely open and friendly, including to strangers, and happy to get on with their lives without troubling others. Perhaps they’re all being buoyed up by the great street music which is everywhere.

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June 19, 2018

Improving employment of older people could boost UK GDP by £180bn

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

GDP could be boosted by around £180 billion a year if the UK could match New Zealand’s employment rates for the over-55s. While employment of older workers has improved in the UK in recent years, it still ranks only 21st out of 35 OECD countries according to new analysis from PwC. The consultancy’s Golden Age Index is a weighted average of indicators – including employment, earnings and training – that reflect the labour market impact of workers aged over 55. Iceland tops the rankings followed by New Zealand and Israel. For the OECD as a whole, there is a potential $3.5 trillion economic prize from matching New Zealand’s employment rates for the over-55s.

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June 18, 2018

Employers and government need to work together to address looming Brexit skills gap

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

As the UK continues to navigate a period of uncertainty ahead of its exit from the European Union, new research published by the City & Guilds Group and Emsi claims that nine in 10 employers already struggle to recruit the skilled staff they need. With most industries expected to grow between now and 2024, a significant number of skilled workers will be needed to meet demand. However, People Power, a study based on City & Guilds Group interviewing over 1,000 C-Suite employers in the UK and work with Emsi to undertake extensive economic modelling, has found that two thirds of UK employers think that the skills gaps in their businesses are likely to get worse or remain the same in the next three to five years.

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June 13, 2018

US companies are waking up to the benefits of caring for employee mental health

by Colleen O'Day • Comment, Wellbeing

In 2015, the American Psychological Association chose American Express as the inaugural winner of the Organizational Excellence Award, recognizing successful efforts to integrate psychology and prioritize behavioral health and emotional well-being in the workplace. American Express had an employee assistance program (EAP) for workers dealing with depression and other mental health challenges. The EAP was a telephone-consultation system and only about 4 percent of employees utilized it. After the firm added on-site counselors to meet with employees for free—and rebranded the EAP as part of its “Healthy Living” —the usage rate more than doubled.

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June 13, 2018

British employees less confident and more stressed over last three years

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

UK employees could be heading for crisis, according to a three-year study by ADP, which has found that three key measures of employee wellbeing – optimism, stress and skills confidence – have taken a hit since 2015. The exact reason for the changes is unclear, however the timings suggest that Brexit may have played a part, along with the rise in new technologies entering the workplace.

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June 12, 2018

Pay rates for senior management reflect longer working hours argues CMI

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

Business Secretary Greg Clark proposed new laws in Parliament yesterday (June 11^th) that new large firms will have to justify their chief executives’ salaries and reveal the gap to their average UK worker. It means that for the first time, UK listed companies with more than 250 UK employees will have to disclose and explain this difference – known as ‘pay ratios’ – every year. However, according to data published today by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and XpertHR, basic salaries for senior managers have fallen in real terms, with inflation overtaking pay increases for the first time in five years. At a time when government are shining a light on executive pay, and linking it via a ratio to workforce pay, separate CMI research has found managers worked an extra 44 days a year last year over and above their contracted hours – up from 40 days extra in 2015. The same research found 59 percent of managers are ‘always on’, frequently checking their emails outside of work and one in 10 had been forced to take sick leave because of stress.

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June 12, 2018

Firms ignoring employee anxieties about workplace communications

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

UK companies are failing to support employees suffering with work-related performance anxiety, the business world’s equivalent to stage fright, despite it being a regular occurrence for many workers, according to new research. RADA Business, the commercial subsidiary of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art which provides communication skills training for corporate individuals, has published the report Beating Workplace Performance Anxiety, which surveyed 1000 workplaces. The report found that, on average, workers report feeling anxious at least once a week (five times per month). Despite this, few workplaces act effectively to counter incidents of workplace communications anxiety. Only 13 percent of people surveyed said that anxieties round communicating in the workplace are picked up and resolved by the management team.

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June 7, 2018

Overwhelming majority of property professionals now view proptech as an opportunity

by Neil Franklin • News, Property, Technology

The vast majority of property professionals in the UK now regard proptech as an opportunity rather than a threat, new research has found. However, a majority also remain sceptical about their own organisations’ progress on adopting new technology. Those are the key findings of a survey of more than 300 property professionals carried out by Trident Building Consultancy, in association with RICS, GoReport and Teesside University.

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June 5, 2018

Women are less optimistic than men about the future of work

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Women in the US are less optimistic than men about the future of work, according to a new survey from B2B research firm Clutch. When asked how they view their future career, more than a quarter (27 percent) of working women feel worried or neutral, compared to 20 percent of men. Workers overall have a positive outlook about their future careers, the survey finds. Over three quarters (76 percent) are optimistic about their future careers, compared to 1 in 5 workers (20 percent) who say they are worried. However, gender differences correlate with other factors that impact optimism, including decision-making authority at work, according to the survey’s findings.

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May 23, 2018

Flow of gig workers moving in and out of Britain will increase due to Brexit

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

UK businesses are already one of the top employers of short contract “gig workers” at an international scale and with Brexit just around the corner, a new survey commissioned by Graebel and carried out by Wakefield Research found that 97 percent of UK Millennials would be interested in relocating to another country for a contract job. After Brexit takes place, nearly three in five (58 percent) British gig workers are more likely to relocate from the U.K. to another EU country for a contract job, and 72 percent of British Millennials answered the same way. Gig workers in each of the top three gig economy markets (UK, US and Singapore), were asked how companies can cater for the needs of this new generation of workers and how to retain their top talent. New York (33 percent), Los Angeles (21 percent) and Paris (21 percent) are the top three picks for UK gig workers looking to relocate. On the other hand, London is still the top choice for US gig workers (33 percent) and second choice for gig workers in Singapore (26 percent).