At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 19-25 November 2021
Here are the headlines you might have missed between 19-25 November 2021.
Employers asked to be lenient with dog owning employees
HR Review: More than three million people brought home puppies during the pandemic and research now says new dog owners don’t want to go into the office. Before the lockdowns, sixteen percent of owners felt comfortable leaving their dog alone for more than six hours a day – that number is now at 3 percent. Read Story.
Men say they can’t talk about mental health in case it ruins their careers
HR Review: One man in five dies before he reaches 65 in the UK according to the charity Men’s Health Forum. The research comes on International Men’s Day today and also found 75 percent of premature deaths from heart disease are male. 67 percent of men are also overweight or obese and four out of five suicides are male. Read Story.
Diversity and inclusion policies lack data on return on investment
HR Magazine: Having a diversity and inclusion policy is the least effective D&I initiative when it comes to providing any information about return on investment (ROI). According to new research from recruitment firm Templeton Partners, 45% of companies surveyed said they had implemented a diversity and inclusion policy, but only 24% said they could attribute this to yielding any type of success – such as recruiting a candidate from a BAME background. Read Story.
Older workers hide age to beat bias
HR Magazine: New research reveals the lengths older workers are going to in order to find work, with nearly half admitting they have had to lie about their age. But even if they are hired, they still don’t get the same opportunities as young people. According to a poll of 2,000 workers aged 45-plus by Working Wise, 44% admitted altering their age on their CV to make them seem more attractive to employers. Read Story.
One in five employers do not provide ill-health prevention support to staff
Corporate Adviser: 21 per cent of employers are not supporting the prevention of ill-health in their employees by providing available assistance such as early intervention support, according to research by Grid. According to the research, employers may be missing out on more readily available assistance as prevention, and early intervention support become more varied and comprehensive. Read Story.
AMII calls on sector to address mental health ‘iceberg’
Healthcare & Protection: Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries (AMII) chairman Dave Middleton has called on the health insurance industry to tackle the “iceberg issue” of mental health in the workplace. Speaking at the trade body’s health and wellbeing summit last week, Middleton (pictured) praised efforts to reduce the stigma around mental health, but noted there was still a long way to go. Read Story.
Employers tell HR Review they could do more for employee wellbeing
HR Review: More than half of organisations believe talent scarcity is one of the biggest issues affecting their organisation, according to an HR Review poll. The results were revealed at our last webinar, where we discussed talent scarcity and what to do about it. Read Story.
Covid continues to drive higher claims in group risk market
Corporate Adviser: Covid is continuing to drive higher claims in the group risk sector, with MetLife UK reporting its second highest quarter for group life claims. The insurer paid out a total of almost £50m in claims in the third quarter across its three core divisions: group income protection, group life and individual protection. Read Story.
Staff wellbeing programmes help social relationships and reduce bullying
Workplace Insight: Programmes aimed at supporting employees’ health and wellbeing can also benefit their social relationships and reduce bullying, according to a new study by researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA), working in collaboration with Vitality. Read Story.
Firms overestimating employee loyalty after pandemic, research finds
People Management: The majority of employers believe staff loyalty has increased following the pandemic, despite only half of employees feeling the same way, research has found. A poll of 491 senior managers and 1,061 employees, carried out by Sapio for WorkNest HR, found 64 per cent of senior leaders believed staff became more loyal because of their company's response to the pandemic. Read Story.
Firms facing mass exodus of older workers post-pandemic, report warns
People Management: The end of the furlough scheme has not led to mass unemployment, but firms are now facing a narrower workforce with older employees leaving the labour market, a report has warned. While unemployment in the third quarter of 2021 was only 0.3 percentage points above the pre-pandemic level, a YouGov poll of 6,100 people found that workforce participation has fallen among older workers. Read Story.
Employees ready for hybrid work—employers, not so much
Workplace Insight: Global Workplace Analytics and Owl Labs, have released the annual State of Remote Work 2021 report. More than 2,000 full-time employees across the United States were surveyed to gain insights into who is still working from home, who has returned to the office. Read Story.
2 out of 3 say health perks will convince them to stay or go
Incentive & Motivation: The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted work routines and made many people reassess their careers. Recent research from recruitment website Total Jobs shows nine in ten people are looking for a new position. Now, London Medical Laboratory reveals that two out of three professionals say health benefits are their preferred perks and would make them consider staying at their existing company or joining a new firm. Read Story.
Most men in tech believe women have equal progression opportunities – only a quarter of women agree
Incentive & Motivation: Research released today by NTT DATA UK, a world leader in consulting and IT services, reveals that while 68% of men working in technology believe women have equal progression opportunities in the sector, only a quarter of women in tech agree. Male and female respondents also differ on whether there are enough women in senior positions in technology. Read Story.
A quarter of employees are too stressed to think about healthy eating choices, study finds
Incentive & Motivation: Unmanageable workloads, excessive fatigue and inflexible hours are causing UK workers to make unhealthy eating decisions at lunchtime with many employees returning to the office. An average of 2 employees in every UK small business regularly skip lunch altogether. Read Story.
New research identifies the gifts employees want most from their employers
Incentive & Motivation: TV characters Johnny Rose, Claire Dunphy and Tracey Jordan all have one thing in common with Clark Griswold’s boss in “Christmas Vacation.” They’re bad gifters. It’s a common problem and running joke in our society; consider Rachel Green in ”Friends” who returned every gift people gave her to buy what she really wanted. The sting of a gift falling flat can be emotional, but for businesses, the wasted time and money spent selecting employees’ holiday gifts directly affects the bottom line. Read Story.
Hybrid working stops us from connecting emotionally
HR Review: Keeping employees emotionally connected is the greatest challenge to hybrid working and HR professionals say this is impacting on building a remote workplace culture. A report by employee engagement platform WorkBuzz found two-thirds of the 300 HR professionals and business leaders who were surveyed found it difficult to keep employees emotionally connected. Read Story.
Concerns raised over cleaning staff ‘burnout’
Facilitate Magazine: A continuing shortage of contract cleaning jobs could put remaining workers at risk of “burnout” and increase costs for contractors, warns the British Cleaning Council (BCC). In an interview on BBC Radio 4, group CEO at The Exclusive Services Group and BCC chairman Jim Melvin said that its members were trying hard to cope with a staffing crisis. Read Story.
Employers not fully grasping workplace absence during pandemic – Howden
Healthcare & Protection: Less than a third of employers believe they have a true grip on the sickness absence situation experienced in their organisation over the last two years. Just 29% of employers said they believed they had accurately recorded all employee sickness absence during the pandemic. Read Story.
An emerging crisis of trust at work fuelled by remote work
Workplace Insight: Qatalog has published a survey of 2,000 knowledge workers which uncovers a crisis of trust within the modern workplace, fuelled by a chronic lack of visibility within companies. The study claims that remote work is feeding a chronic visibility problem within the modern workplace. Read Story.
More than half of employers feel they don’t know their employees
Workplace Insight: More than half of the nation’s employers (53 percent) feel that they don’t know their employees even slightly well on a personal level, claims a new office worker survey. The Lunch Break Bonding survey, conducted by Just Eat for Business, delves into office workers’ perception of social lunch breaks, scheduled meetings and team building events, and is paired with expert commentary on the importance of positive office relations at work. Read Story.
Brits reluctant to take a sick day during the pandemic
Workplace Insight: British workers took the seventh lowest number of sick days in Europe last year, according to new research that identifies the countries who are most and least notorious for pulling a sickie. With the cold winter months right around the corner and Covid infection rates on the rise, many are predicting a challenging few months ahead. Read Story.
Health and protection cover relate to improved mental health – HSBC
Healthcare & Protection: Having sufficient protection for unexpected healthcare costs and seeking financial advice appear to substantially boost mental health, according to research from HSBC. The bank’s study also revealed other strong correlations between financial, physical and mental health, including that wider financial planning showed notably improved mental health. Read Story.
Employees are too scared to admit mistakes
HR Review: UK businesses are losing critical data, such as customer orders and financial data, because office workers are too scared or too embarrassed to report data loss. A Veritas study said this was because of ‘damage’ that workplace ‘blame cultures’ are having on the success of cloud adoption. Read Story.
Top executives aware of race bias in recruitment
Personnel Today: More than half of senior executives in UK organisations believe it’s harder for employees from ethnic minorities to get promoted, regardless of their performance. Executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates found that 54% of C-suite leaders think it’s more difficult for those from certain ethnicities or backgrounds to gain access to senior roles. Read Story.
Third of people working while ill but presenteeism pressure drops – Canada Life
Healthcare & Protection: More than a third of employees have continued working despite being ill during the pandemic, with younger people even more likely to do so. Encouragingly there was a drop in self-reported presenteeism from last year although the figure still remained a stubbornly high. Read Story.
Workers expect flexible tech and wellbeing support from employers
Facilitate Magazine: Almost three-quarters of UK workers polled in a survey would choose their next employer based on flexible technology and health and wellbeing support. The survey of hybrid office and home-based workers by ergonomic office furniture company Ergotron, shows that 73 per cent of UK workers believe that the provision of ergonomic work conditions, as well as support for their health, would play a bigger role when choosing a company to work for. Read Story.
A quarter of employers don’t support employees who are carers
HR Review: Carers are at risk of leaving work unless employers put in more measures to help them says Carers UK. The charity today on Carers Rights Day has released its research, which shows that despite employers being more supportive, a large number of carers still want to leave the job. Read Story.
Work the most secure it has been in a decade, CIPD finds
HR Magazine: According to a new report from the CIPD, nearly one in five (18.6%) workers are in non-permanent contracts, down from 19.2% in 2010, and people are generally now more able to work the hours that they want. Read Story.
A third of employees have worked while unwell in the last 18 months
Corporate Adviser: More than a third of UK adults have continued to work while feeling unwell in the past 18 months, according to research from Canada Life. Over the last 18 months, 35 per cent of UK adults have continued to work despite being ill. The figure rises to almost half (46 per cent) among those aged 18-34. Read Story.
Two-thirds of working carers have given up career opportunities because of responsibilities, study finds
People Management: The survey found that while half (51 per cent) of unpaid carers – people who provide care for someone with disabilities or an elderly relative or loved one – said their line manager was supportive and understanding of their additional responsibilities. Read Story.
Six in 10 would change jobs for better parental leave
Personnel Today: Six in 10 parents or expectant parents would switch jobs for better parental leave, a survey by Virgin Money has found. Almost the same proportion (58%) feared that they would miss out on promotions or career opportunities while taking maternity or paternity leave, and over half (52%) are afraid of losing their job. Read Story.
Refusing flexible work to employees costs UK firms £2bn
Personnel Today: Refusals to accommodate flexible working requests are costing businesses almost £2bn a year, one of the first reports to quantify the economic benefits of flexible work has revealed. Flexonomics, commissioned by construction giant Sir Robert McAlpine and flexible working campaigner Mother Pukka, found that flexible working annually contributed £37bn to the UK economy. Read Story.