How to Best Look After Your Team
Looking after your team is a no-brainer as a business. They’re the people who drive your productivity, and even a couple of absences can have adverse ripple effects across your firm. But perhaps more pertinently, from a business perspective, there are understandably strict protocols and regulations in place to protect workers in the workplace. If you’re found to have contravened these, you could be liable for fines and litigation. As...
6 tips to enjoy working from home
Over the last couple of years, there have been several seismic changes to how we work. Unprecedented events like the Covid-19 outbreak have meant that office spaces have been left empty or at reduced capacity for months. The number of people working from home has more than doubled since the pandemic began, which has meant that many people have had to adapt to this new way of working. Although many have taken happily to the flexibility...
‘Ride out the wave’? Only by keeping available staff on board
With Omicron surpassing 200,000 daily cases and the government warning that some workforces could see absence rates as high as 25%, many businesses are facing enormous staffing challenges as they begin the new year. Will it be possible for companies to ‘ride out the wave’, as per Boris Johnson’s aim for the NHS? Only with a crystal-clear employee relations strategy and optimised management processes, asserts Toma Pagojute, chief HR...
How to support your workforce remotely this January
Amy Tomlinson, Head of HR at MetLife shares five tips on how you can show your workforce that you’re there for them as they continue to work from home this January. “A supportive workplace is essential. Happy employees are more engaged, creative, and open to making constructive suggestions that can help the business prosper. It’s important to maintain momentum to regularly check in with colleagues and employees, particularly in the...
Hiring slowed in November amidst Omicron variant
After a year where vacancies have hit record levels, the number of job adverts have taken a downward turn – where in November vacancy volumes were the lowest seen since May. In November, national vacancies dropped -9%, ending an 10-month hiring spree where vacancies steadily increased by +6% each month from early 2021 (an average of 32,377 new professional vacancies per month). The findings – from professional services recruiter...
The Do’s and Don’ts of Workplace Etiquette this Covid Christmas
Business leaders provide their insights on what needs to be considered this Christmas 9 December 2021 – We’ve had lockdowns, remote working, hybrid working and now the complications of the new Omicron Covid variant. Throw all this into the mix and it’s hardly surprising that employers aren’t clear what Christmas in the office should look like this year. Might it even be best to cancel office celebrations altogether? Here,...
Preparing your workforce for Plan B
With Covid cases on the rise again, it’s possible businesses will revisit their remote working approach once again and a continued people-first approach will be crucial to approaching any change. People teams remain central to an organisation’s response to the pandemic. People/HR teams therefore have an ongoing opportunity to ensure that people’s needs, and expectations are at the forefront of any hybrid or home-based ways of working....
Adapting employee training programmes in the pandemic
Shelley Frosdick, Managing Director of The PHA Group It’s no secret that staff training has had to evolve in many ways over the course of the pandemic, bringing with it plenty of new challenges – but also valuable opportunities for improvement. At The PHA Group, we recently launched the PHAcademy, a comprehensive training programme that is tailored for the various roles within our business. Introducing a formal training programme...
A Dog is for life, not just for lockdown
with 60% of new dog owners saying that they decided to adopt or purchase their pet as a direct result of the pandemic, many fear for the longevity of these pups’ ‘forever homes’ The past two years have seen a record increase in pet ownership amongst the UK population, and it is not hard to guess why. A report in March 2021 from the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association counted a total of 3.2 million new pet owning households...
Two thirds of young people say Covid-19 has made it harder to find decent jobs
New research published today by the Institute for Employment Studies details the struggle that young jobseekers are facing in the post-lockdown labour market. Young people were among the hardest hit groups in the Covid-19 crisis, seeing the largest falls in employment, disruption to education and continued negative impacts on their mental health, aspirations and future prospects. Key findings include: Three quarters of young...
Are businesses suffering the vacancy effect?
As businesses weigh up the pros and cons of remote working, a new white paper, produced by office design experts Oktra, reflects on how attitudes have changed over the last eighteen months. In summary, the paper concludes that working from home is generally fine if you’re older, wealthier, male and established in your career. Others may struggle. Organisations are tempted by a reduction in premises costs but concerned about losing the...
UK workers looking forward to returning to the office, but worry about impact on health
As businesses continue to return to the office, new research from Canada Life1 today reveals the hopes, fears and concerns of employees. Over half (55%) of employees expecting to return to the office having worked from home say they are looking forward to returning, while 63% added that they will enjoy the buzz of the office. A clear consideration for many people returning to the office is the attitude of their co-workers, with 54%...
What You Can Do To Help Keep Your Employees Together And Productive
If you want a business filled with employees who are happy working with each other and productive, then you will need to create a culture that welcomes hard work and pushes everyone on in a friendly way. If you’re not sure where to get started, then this article is for you. Recognise Their Progress If you want your employees to be happy within the workplace and satisfied with their job role, then you should be recognising their...
Heading to work in an office for the first time? Here’s everything you need to know
Thousands of Brits will be starting a new office job or making their first visit to the workplace in the coming months and could therefore be entering an office environment for the first time. Office work is one of the largest industries in the UK, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many British workers have found themselves working from home as a result of movement restrictions. This has meant...
Majority (67%) of employees in the UK and Ireland are reluctant to return to the office
The majority (67%) of UK and Irish office workers are reluctant to return to the office post-Covid. That’s according to a new European study by global workplace creation experts Unispace. The study – which combined the results of an in-depth survey of 3,000 office workers, 2,750 employers in leadership roles at organisations with 50+ employees, and interviews with global senior leaders in Real Estate, HR and Operations – also revealed...
