Search Results for: work-life balance

Three reasons why National Work From Home Day has it all wrong

Three reasons why National Work From Home Day has it all wrong

by • Comment, Flexible working, Public Sector, Technology

Last Friday was National Work From Home Day in the UK. Each year, the TUC and organisers Work Wise seem to take this as an opportunity to analyse data about the uptake of flexible working and arrive at the wrong conclusions. This year, its analysis of the ONS Labour Force Survey found that the number of people regularly working from home had increased by more than 800,000 since 2005, taking the total to over 4.2 million. These are solid enough data, but what are we to make of TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady’s conclusion that: “these figures show millions of British workers have adopted homeworking and are enjoying a better work-life balance, while saving time and money on costly commuting that benefits no-one”? There are several reasons to suggest that he’s got that wrong to a large extent.

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Commuting costs the UK £148 billion annually, claims new report

Commuting costs the UK £148 billion annually, claims new report

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

CommutingIn spite of the growth of flexible working in the UK, commuting to an office each day costs British workers and the national economy some £148 billion annually. That is the key finding of a new report from recruitment firm Randstad. The study claims that an average commute for staff in the UK covers around 22 miles, taking around 43 minutes. The report claims that the time spent commuting continues to increase as people move further away from their main place of work, especially in the South East and North West of England. London workers – unsurprisingly – spend more than anybody else on commuting. There are also major differences across sectors with the workers in financial services, accountancy and IT industries subject to the most costly commutes.

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Microsoft named most attractive major employer to work for worldwide

Microsoft named most attractive major employer to work for worldwide 0

by • Company news, Flexible working, News, Workplace

Microsoft US HQMicrosoft has been voted the most attractive employer of the world’s top fifty companies. Over two thirds (67.8%) of respondents in the Global Randstad Award survey 2015, said they would like to work for the multinational tech company. The IT industry was revealed as the most popular sector by 69 percent of men and 70 percent of women, with the runners-up being Sony and Samsung. Microsoft was voted the most attractive employer within the IT industry for its highly educated potential workforce, being the primary global employer brand for women and for its ‘drivers of choice’; named as salary, career progression, pleasant working atmosphere, interesting job content and strong leadership. In the survey, respondents said the most important reason why they’d leave an employer is a limited career path with the most mentioned reason to stay being a good work-life balance.

Managing the Millennials should be no different to the other generations

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

Mult-generational workersThere 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.

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Happiness and wellbeing must be at the heart of the economy finds new report

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Happiness and wellbeingTo mark International Day of Happiness, a major new report has revealed that a country’s GDP fails to reflect levels of people’s happiness, which, it says, “are not easily reducible to monetary values”. Wellbeing and policy was commissioned by the Legatum Institute, which established the Commission on Wellbeing and Policy to advance the policy debate on social wellbeing and is chaired by the former head of the civil service Lord Gus O’Donnell. It finds there is growing recognition that the measures of a country’s progress need to include the wellbeing of its citizens. The report adds that with job satisfaction on a long-term downward trend in most advanced countries, and people ranking time spent with their manager as among their least happy moments in the day, there’s a lot more employers can be doing to address levels of wellbeing and happiness at work.

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

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Women in work indexA strengthening economy has helped the UK to rise up to 14th 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.

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Workers face burnout as work continues to erode personal lives

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

burnoutOver two thirds of UK professionals (69 percent) are required to work outside of their regular office hours more than they were five years ago, according to a recent research from serviced office provider Regus. The survey canvassed the opinions of over 3,000 business people in the UK on their attitudes and approaches to work. A similar proportion of workers (72 percent) say that fixed hours are no longer suited to their duties; perhaps offering some explanation as to why so much extra time is spent at the office. Three quarters (76 percent) of respondents also reported a rise in remote workers, further suggesting that the concept of 9-5 day in the office is outdated. An earlier report from Regus, published in January found that the past five years have also seen a growing concern that workers face burnout.

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Over a third of Scottish businesses are based at home (and a fifth started there)

by • Flexible working, News

Scottish businesses home workingOver half of businesses in Scotland started in somebody’s home and over a third are still based there, according to a new report from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and researchers from the University of Glasgow. The study of 1,000 Scottish businesses found that 39 percent are based from home and a further 19 percent began life there. The FSB claims that Scottish home based firms turn over around £20 billion a year with three quarters of them with a turnover of less than £100,000 and – perhaps unsurprisingly – only 3 percent with a turnover greater than £500,000. Two thirds also employ at least one additional member of staff. The report’s authors are now calling on Government to acknowledge the significance of these firms and develop policies to help them thrive.

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Connecting to the workplace out of office hours can damage wellbeing

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Out of office hours workplace connectivity damages employees' wellbeingThe use of tech outside of office hours can have a detrimental effects on workers’ wellbeing according to a paper presented this week at the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology conference in Glasgow. A meta-analysis by Svenja Schlachter and colleagues from the University of Surrey sought to determine the effects of being constantly “switched on” for work and found a blurring of boundaries between work and private life. The research showed that employees use a number of devices outside of office hours in the hope that staying “switched on” will increase flexibility and efficiency and because they believe there is a strong expectation to be available 24/7. This often has a negative effect on their work-life balance and increases stress.

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Flexible working could boost economy by £90 billion, claims report

by • Flexible working, Knowledge, News

Laptop on Kitchen Table with Cup of CoffeeThe widespread adoption of flexible working in the UK could boost the economy by as much as £90 billion each year according to a new report from mobile tech firm Citrix and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). The study of 1,272 British knowledge workers claims that their ‘best case scenario’  calculation is based on saving UK workers £7.1 billion in commuting costs and over half a billion hours spent travelling. This would add around £11.5 biliion annually to the economy. The report also suggests that an even greater boost to GDP could come from the introduction of a large number of currently unemployed and underemployed individuals such as the retired, disabled and  stay-at-home parents. By tapping this pool of talent the report claims that the economy would benefit by up to £78.5 billion annually, equivalent to nearly 5 percent of GDP.

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Employers unprepared for employee take-up of new flexible work rights

by • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

Employers unprepared for new flexible working rightsThe new Shared Parental Leave legislation comes into force next week (1 December), but according to a new report, employers are unprepared for the changes. The Workforce View 2014/15 – an annual barometer of the views and attitudes of UK workers and employers by ADP,  also indicates that employers have underestimated the likely level of interest amongst employees. More than one in five (21 per cent) HR Directors admitted they are not ready for the requirements of the legislation, while 70 per cent say they predict little or no interest from employees in the first 12 months. Yet when employees were asked their views, a third (33 per cent) of 16- to 34-year-olds said they anticipate taking advantage of it within the next five years. Shared parental leave is a new right that will enable eligible mothers, fathers, partners and adopters to choose how to share time off work after their child is born or placed. It will be an option for parents with a child due to be born on or after 5 April 2015. (more…)

UK Government announces new research programme into workplace wellbeing

by • News, Public Sector, Workplace, Workplace design

workplace wellbeingThe 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.

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