One third of UK employees say that they’ve witnessed ageism in the workplace. It takes many forms. Many of use would like to think that we’re sensitive to others and wouldn’t wish to cause offence. Some others don’t seem to have that filter! Take language used. Least likely to cause offence are the terms “older” and “experienced”. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that terms like “sensei” “cougar” “grandma or grandpa” “wet behind the ears” “young whippersnapper” and “fogey” are more likely to cause offence. In 2012 a young worker won an age discrimination claim after showing that her line manager had referred to her as a “kid”, and even described her as a “stroppy teenager”. 88 year old employee Recently an 88 year old medical secretary became the oldest person in the UK to win a claim for ageism in the workplace Because the case has only just been decided we still don’t know how much the case will settle for – we won’t know that until October 2019. You can no longer require people to retire at 65. It’s increasingly likely that employers will have a workforce with older workers who choose to continue to […]
Employees are most worried about their financial position. The Money Advice Service identified that 28.7 million working adults in the UK weren’t satisfied with their finances. The Financial Conduct Authority reported that 25.6 million people were financially vulnerable. There’s a shocking stat out there. Faced with an unexpected £300 bill, 11.8 million adults will borrow money or can’t pay. Only 50% of employees, thinks that their employer cares about their financial well-being. That’s less than those who think that their employer cares about their mental (62%) and physical health (60%). When asked what their top three worries are, employees said Financial worries (30%) Health (25%) Retirement provision (24%) Employees are most worried about their financial position What do employers think their employees are most worried about? When asked what they thought their employees worried about the most, employers gave very different answers. Their top two worries were work life balance (44%) and workload (33%). There’s clearly a difference between what actually worries employees and what employers think their employees worry about. Work life balance worries only 22% or employees surveyed. Employees are most worried about their financial position. The effects of financial worries show themselves in many ways. Physical factors such as loss of sleep and […]
Moving businesses from inadequate to outstanding is a new CIPD report claiming that UK employers are “sleepwalking into a low-value, low-skills economy”. The report attributes this to two main factors: an inadequate education system low employer spend on training As employers we can do little about the first, but we can do something about the second. We can affect how much we spend on training our workforce. Employer spending on training has been reducing year on year since 2005. The UK spends an average of just £ 202.30 per employee on training compared to an average spend of £457.42 per employee across the rest of Europe. The UK is now fourth from bottom place in an EU league table of job-related adult learning. The CIPD is making a valid point. The effectiveness of training isn’t determined by how much is spent on it. It states that UK employers may have found ways to minimise their training spend, without reducing the quality of the training. Using digital training or negotiating better deals with training providers is one way they are doing this. But the situation is very different in America, where the average spend on training per employee is £787.35. However, there is a potential disincentive for employers to […]
The 6 essential aspects of workplace culture are : Purpose Connecting employees to your organisation Opportunity Providing employees with the opportunity to learn Success Giving employees the opportunity to do meaningful work and be in winning teams Appreciation Acknowledging and recognising employees contributions Wellbeing Paying attention to employees’ health and physical and social wellbeing Leadership Connecting employees to purpose and empowering them to do great work Research by OC Tanner* shows us organisations that marginally improve in each of the 6 essential aspects of workplace culture see dramatic improvements. Those improvements show in recruitment, retention, satisfaction and other business metrics. Not convinced? 1 in 5 employees think that there is no reason for their organisation to even exist 38% of employees think that their organisation negatively affects the lives of others More than 1 in 3 employees are often bored with their work responsibilities Nearly half of employees feel that their skills are under utilised in their current role 1 in 5 employees say they do not do their best work because no one else does Almost 50% of employees feel that their employer takes them for granted 49% of employees say that the recognition they receive is not authentic or […]
We’ve had a spate of enquiries this month about dealing with an employee who keeps taking time off to look after their child. Short term, no notice absenteeism is a really difficult issue for employers to cope with. It affects planned work, it affects other team members and it can affect customers. It can be very frustrating especially if it happens a lot. It’s important to remember that your employee has a contract of employment with you. That contract of employment will usually say how many hours a week that they are contracted to attend work. There’s an obligation on both sides here. You as the employer need to provide the hours of paid work that you’ve contracted with your employee. Your employee needs to attend work for the hours that they’ve signed to do, unless they’ve agreed to take annual leave or in some other way agreed to a change. An employee who frequently fails to be available to carry out their contracted hours can be accused of “frustrating” the contract of employment. Frustration of contract can lead employers to a decision to terminate the employment relationship. This kind of decision needs care. The law Parental Leave Parental leave can be used […]
