September 12, 2018
A new era of technology could resolve UK low productivity at last
A new McKinsey study sets out to address the reasons why the United Kingdom experiences chronically low productivity and what can be done to use technology to improve its performance. In the report, Solving the UK’s productivity puzzle in the digital age, the authors argue that “Britain stands out as one of the worst productivity performers among its peers”. They argue that there are four distinct reasons for the weakness since the economic crisis: “boom and bust” in the financial sector, the strength of employment growth, weak investment and uneven “digitisation”. It claims that the UK is operating at only 17 per cent of its digitisation potential, indicating how much scope for improvement there is.
The number of “gig economy” professionals working in organisations is growing and this trend is expected to continue, a survey by Korn Ferry has claimed. More than half (60 percent) of HR professionals say that compared to three years ago, gig workers now make up a larger percentage of their professional workforce, and 42 percent say they plan on hiring more contingent workers in the future. The reasons, according to the survey, include cost savings, access to high-calibre talent and ease of managing gig economy professionals. Despite the fact that many gig professionals work remotely, 67 percent of the HR professionals surveyed say they are confident they know what the gig professionals are doing on a day-to-day basis, and 42 percent say these contingent employees are easier to manage than full-time employees. However, according to Jeanne MacDonald, president of Global Talent Solutions for Korn Ferry’s RPO and Professional Search Business, organisations should proceed cautiously and ensure they continue to cultivate in-house talent.
The quality of the coffee is the most important feature for office occupants, with two thirds of workers saying a decent flat white or cappuccino is an essential for a productive and engaged workforce. Research by coworking developer Areaworks also found that being closer to the outdoors, and the ability to work from a balcony or roof terrace was an important factor for 64 percent. Hanging chairs, bean bags and flexible spaces are a must for most, as half of office workers want to ditch fixed desks in favour of casual seating and hot desking, making it a top five most favoured feature. the office gimmicks failed to feature on most people’s workplace bucket list. The installation of office gimmicks such as fireman’s poles and ball pits all failed to feature on most people’s workplace list, but slides did make the list, while the majority (66 percent) included a fridge complete with beer and prosecco among their choice items.
We reported 
More SMEs than larger businesses offer flexible working as a way of reducing absences, research from industry body Group Risk Development (GRiD), suggests. The research showed that 35 percent of SMEs with up to 249 employees are actively using flexible working strategies to combat absence compared to just 23 percent of organisations with over 250 employees. Drilling down further into the detail, 38 percent of micro businesses with between 1 and 9 employees use flexible working as a means to reduce absence. Flexible working now means a lot more than allowing an employee to work from home when they are feeling under the weather, and following changes in the law in 2014, it is now an option for everyone with at least 26 weeks continuous employment to request it – not just those with children or carer responsibilities. It also includes part-time working, term-time working, job sharing, compressed hours and flexitime. A greater degree of flexibility can increase productivity and reduce burn out, particularly in stressful occupations.
Most organisations already offer some sort of flexible working and over half of employees now ask to work flexibly, a new survey from XpertHR research has claimed. One in 12 organisations (8.1 percent) reported that all employees worked flexibly, with employers attributing the rise to a more supportive workplace culture and the impact of recent legal changes. The survey found that more than half (55.9 percent) had seen an increase in flexible working requests over the past two years. Three out of four believed that this was due to changes in workplace culture in recent years, attributable in part to a change in the law in 2014 that extended the right to request flexible working to all employees with at least 26 weeks’ service. Flexible working goes across the board, and includes part-time working, variable start and finish times, home-working and other options.
August 21, 2018
How do you make your company culture work for everyone?
by Jonathan Richards • Comment, Workplace
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