Why the recruitment sector needs flexible working
Guest Blog by Sanj Mahal, Founder & CEO of AndCo While the concept of flexible working may seem at odds with the recruitment sector’s traditional working cultures, early adopters within the industry are reaping the benefits of a different way of working. Flexible working provides an array of benefits to businesses, including improved work-life balance, increased productivity and enhanced motivation. For the...
Employers must introduce more flexibility to support new Fathers who are physically and emotionally worn out
It’s Men’s Health Week from 11-17 June, an annual event that seeks to raise awareness about health issues affecting men. This year the focus is on diabetes, but previous years have looked at waistlines, stress and work and health issues. Talking Talent, a coaching consultancy leading the gender diversity agenda is marking this week by highlighting the challenges and pressures facing new Dads at work and calling on employers to...
Employees who aren’t allowed to work flexibly are twice as likely to experience stress at work
Employees who do not have an option to work flexibly are twice as likely to experience work-related stress than those with flexible workdays, a survey from VitalityHealth has revealed. Britain’s Healthiest Workplace* – an annual survey developed by VitalityHealth and delivered in partnership with the University of Cambridge and RAND Europe, which studies the link between health risks and productivity – revealed that employees...
Is Flexible Working The Way Forward?
Like the world of fashion, innovative work methods, HR trends and management interventions are subject to trends; hip and happening for a time, before quickly falling out of style. However, one particular hype appears to have made a lasting impression; flexible working. What does flexible working mean? For decades, a lot of work in industrialized countries happened in office environments between the hours of 9 AM and 5 PM. However,...
Flexible working makes jobs more attractive, say UK employees
Three quarters of UK employees say that the option of working flexibly would make a job more attractive to them, while nearly a third would prefer flexible working to a pay rise, according to a new study. The research, conducted by Powwownow, found that 75% of workers would favour a job that gives their employees the option to work flexibly – up from 70% in 2017. A staggering 81% of women say that flexible working would make a job...
New Trend For Employees Taking Regular, Short Break From Work Boosts Performance
A NEW TREND for workers to take regular breaks throughout the working day has been identified – but, according to new research, it’s not all bad news for employers and business owners. A survey of 1,000 British adults published by ElectricTobacconist.co.uk as part of theTake a Break Report 2017 revealed that almost 1 in 2 workers (49%) take short breaks from their work as often as every 2 hours, and 15% do so once per...
Uninspiring bosses and low self-esteem stopping Brits from exercising at work
Low self-esteem (22 per cent) and embarrassment around poor fitness (25 per cent) are stopping UK employees exercising with colleagues One in 10 employees (11 per cent) are deterred by the prospect of wearing spandex and gym gear in front of colleagues – a worry that may be fuelled by over a quarter (26 per cent) of managers seeing this as unprofessional 61 per cent of UK employees say their employer doesn’t encourage them to...
Is it time to boot the commute?
Graham Bird, Director of workplace consultancy, Where We Work- explores the effects of a daily commute and explains how the rush-hour race can be reduced … With over 24 million regular commuters making an average daily journey of 56 minutes per day- and as many as 3.4 million travelling for two hours or even longer- it’s safe to say, that many of us are subject to the perils of the daily commute. But, whilst we dutifully continue...
Tech firm eases pressure on working families
UKFast offers extra day off for parents on first day at school As four and five year-olds up and down the country get ready to start their educational journey, working parents are having to make special arrangements to see their little ones off for their big day, or pick them up when the bell goes. But parents at Manchester technology firm UKFast will not have that worry, as CEO Lawrence Jones has offered all parents of new school...
Research finds that ‘workend’ is the new weekend
Research shows 65 per cent of UK office workers have to work at the weekend to get the job done Office workers could earn an extra £3,359 per year on average if paid for weekend work Over a quarter of weekend workers have worked almost a full day (5-8 hours) on a Saturday 9% have pretended they had worked at the weekend when they hadn’t Full-time office employees are finding that their precious weekends are becoming the ‘workend’,...
The case for flexible working
Richard Morris, UK CEO, Regus Consider the typical working day. An early start, a stressful commute to reach a fixed point before 9am, a lunchbreak – often curtailed and spent at the desk – and a tiring journey home, leaving the office at a set time to ensure that travel connections are made. Although the notion of the 9-5 working day was established in Victorian times the fact is that not much has changed regarding...
August is peak season for summer holidays in the UK and workplace productivity usually takes a big hit during this period.
Productivity specialists Workfront has created 5 tips to help businesses motivate their employees in the summer. The tips have come from Workfront’s study into external factors affect employee motivation and productivity. Here are Workfront’s 5 ways to motivate your employees during the summer slump 1- Give positive feedback: When asked ‘what influences you to excel at work the most’ 37% of workers cited ‘praise from my manager...
Should all jobs be advertised with flexible working options?
Every job should be advertised as available for flexible working, the equalities watchdog has recommended. Offering flexible hours to all job applicants will help combat pay disparities between men and women, while increasing job opportunities for disabled people, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The Commission also proposed that businesses should be made to collect annual statistics which set out their pay gaps...
Lack of sickness absence provisions leaving UK workers on financial cliff-edge
A new report has revealed that UK employees are at risk of a severe financial shock in the event of ill-health, with many being unable to pay their household bills for more than six to eight weeks. The report, from health and wellbeing provider BHSF, titled ‘A high wire with no safety net’, details the perilous state of many employee’s finances, with 37 percent admitting that they could not pay their bills in the event of ill health...
Could tech help improve remote worker safety?
Whilst employers have a duty of care to protect employees where possible, lone workers like estate agents, district nurses, carers and enforcement officers can still be vulnerable. New high-tech global tracking apps could hold the answer. The safety of lone workers has been in the spotlight since the disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh in 1986, when she was due to meet a client, ‘Mr. Kipper’ at an empty property...
