New Year memo to self - boost employee health and wellbeing

Christmas is coming fast and with it that annual angel/demon where you are already forgiving yourself for indulging two sizes in the wrong direction with the promise that starting Jan 1st you really honestly will do something about your health.

Of course, businesses do this too. They get to the end of the year, worked and at the moment increasingly partied out, and in the back of their minds they take stock and make very real commitments to making 2012 different, to focusing on improving the health and wellbeing of the bottom line.

Question is, is there a link? Between commitments to improving the health of your business and your own personal vows? I don’t mean, would your business survive next year if you had to be winched out of your bedroom by a crane in January (although that might do it). When I mean health, I also mean psychological and physical health. I mean would the wellbeing of your business be measurably improved if the business and you the employee (whatever your role) made it an explicit targeted measurable goal to make the business more healthy by making everyone in it more healthy?

Put it this way. What if your business sent you this email on Jan 1st:

Dear Max, (my dog’s name as it happens, but go with it)

Hope you had a really great Christmas and welcome back. To get things going – and staying – on the right track for 2012, we’ve decided to do things differently.

Firstly, we’ve decided that it is our business to create a working environment and give you a job that makes you healthy. That it is our business to care about your health and wellbeing, physical and mental. Not just in terms of nutritional food in the canteen, or improved crèche facilities, or marketing ourselves as a great place to work: we mean in the proactive removal of anything and EVERYTHING in your job negatively affecting your health and wellbeing.

So to get the ball rolling, we want to hear some very different New Year’s Resolutions.

• What health targets and plans and facilities we could offer that would make a difference to you (and your families)
• What things (people, processes, ways of doing things around here) that are getting in the way of making your job make you happy (that we can happily change)

Tell us – be honest - and we’ll tell you what we’ll do about it. As adults. Working together. In 2012, we’ll do our part – putting money and board air time where our mouth is – to make you smile when you come to work, to know that the work that you are doing here is the best work of your lives. If you want to work with us to achieve this, were with you all the way. The health of our business depends on it.

from HR

This is a little cheesy of course, but you get my point. Certainly much better than welcome back, can we meet to discuss your workload, cos we’ve got a shedload to get through.

For more on this, check out the free Collaborative Wellbeing – A People Resolutions New Year Manual.

Are your employees saying "Bah Humbug" to the xmas party?

So, it's almost December.  That time of year where everyone's thoughts begin to turn towards the 25th of December and all the Christmas celebrations leading up to it.  The office Christmas party is the regular event of the year for workers across the UK, but are you looking forward to it?  And more importantly are your employees?

The latest research from recruitment firm Monster, shows that 66% of staff do not look forward to office Christmas parties and would prefer to spend time with friends or family.  The most reluctant of countries surveyed was the Netherlands with 91% of them dreading their work Christmas party.

Elsewhere in the research, when given the choice of a Christmas party, a festive bonus, shopping vouchers or extra holiday, only 3% chose the party.  So with only 5 weeks to go until Christmas, it's already bah humbug to the humble office Xmas party.

Secret Santa anyone?

It's no day for a snow day!

When people think back to their working lives from winter 2010, one thing probably sticks out in a lot if people's memories.  The snow.  Or more accurately what the snow caused - 2 hours to make a 10 mile commute to work, being snowed in and dangerous driving conditions.  With the cost of snow related absence costing employers an estimated £2.2 billion, no-one wants a repeat this year.

However with weather forecasters predicting further snow this winter and some predicting it to be even worse than last year, now is the time for employers to make sure they have provisions in place to handle the effects of bad weather.

The legal stance for organisations regarding whether an employee is entitled to be paid when they are unable to attend work due to adverse weather such as heavy snow is neither simple or straight forward. Find out more about the requirements to a robust adverse weather policy here.

IBM appoints first female President and CEO

In another great step for women in business, IBM has appointed Virginia ‘Ginni’ Rometty as the first female president and chief executive officer.

The news says that she was also elected a member of the board of directors, effective at that time. Rometty is currently IBM senior vice president and group executive for sales, marketing and strategy and will succeed Samuel Palmisano, who currently is IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer in January.

Whilst this is great news, it brings with it a realisation that this is an unusual and sensational.  Is that a good thing? Should it come as a massive shock to the business world that this obviously talented woman has been given such a prestigious job in one of the largest organisations in the world?

Where’s Jeff? Take part in our free prize draw and win £100 of Marks and Spencer vouchers!

Meet Jeff - Our Conflict SuperHRo mascot!

Holy cow! Panic has gripped the People Resolutions team!

Following the release of Part 1 of The Conflict SuperHRo’s Manual, our conflict-busting superhero mascot, Jeff (his civilian name – all the good SuperHRoes have one) has gone AWOL from the People Resolutions lair!

Is he alive, is he injured, has he lost his lunch money? After days searching far and wide, the only intel we have is that he is somewhere on our new website - allegedly just one click from the homepage!

But with the rest of our conflict busting squad busy helping HR professionals in conflict busting distress everywhere, we need your help to track him down.

We’re even offering a reward: Find and click on our missing Jeff (pictured right) on our website and you’ll be eligible to enter our free prize draw to win £100 of Marks and Spencer vouchers!

Now up, up and away to www.peopleresolutions.com to search for Jeff!

Absenteesim increases due to extended drink hours

Well, it seems to be that that one last drink at the pub on a Thursday evening does really matter after all.  Personnel Today reports that:

Economists Colin Green and Maria Navarro, using the Government's UK Labour Force Survey, compared work absence rates from before and after the 2005 Licensing Act changes and found that absence rates rose by 1% after more pubs and bars could legally stay open past 11pm. For a workforce of 25 million people, a 1% rise in sick leave equals an estimated 5,349,617 hours or 667,702 sick days in total across all workers in England and Wales.

 The researchers also noted that an increase of 1.5% in health problems among the working-age population equates to an extra 501,000 people reporting ill health following the policy change, with the number of women reporting health problems higher due to a marked increase in female drinking.

‘‘Not all psychopaths are in prison. Some are in the Boardroom.’’

Ever wondered how that big bad boss managed to get to senior management without breaking a sweat?  Well it turns out that he may have an advantage - psychopathy.  Yep, you did read that right.  A recent study in the US had been examining the prevalence of psychopathic traits amongst managers, particularly those deemed as having the potential to continue up the career level.

The results showed that 8 of the 203 subjects, or 3.9%, had scores on a test of psychopathic traits that put them at the threshold for psychopathy. That compares with just 0.2% of the general population. An additional three study subjects had scores that were significantly higher, meaning their psychopathy was likely to be significantly worse.

So why, might you ask, have these personality traits enabled progression to this career level?  The researchers explain: "Lack of realistic life goals, while a clearly negative trait which often leads the psychopath toward a downward spiralling personal life, when couched in the appropriate business language, can be misinterpreted as strategic thinking or ‘‘visioning,’’ a rare and highly valued executive talent. Even those traits that reflect a severe lack of human feelings or emotional poverty (lack of remorse, guilt, empathy) can be put into service by corporate psychopaths, where being ‘‘tough’’ or ‘‘strong’’ (making hard, unpopular decisions) or ‘‘cool under fire’’ (not displaying emotions in the face of unpleasant circumstances) can work in their favour.

In sum, the very skills that make the psychopath so unpleasant (and sometimes abusive) in society can facilitate a career in business even in the face of negative performance ratings."

Metropolitan Police accused of racism by white police officers

The officers, from the Territorial Support Group, are taking the Metropolitan Police to an employment tribunal - but accuse the force of delaying tactics.  One of the officers said he now had nothing but contempt for the force.  Scotland Yard says it rejects the claims and will contest them in court.

This has occurred after the 6 were tried and acquitted in a trial relating to alleged race-related assaults.  The officers accused Scotland Yard of charging them due to fear it would be accused of institutional racism if it did not act on the complaint made by a black officer.

One of the officers stated that "If it had been a white officer making that allegation, then the matter would have been dealt with in-house there and then. That would have been the end of it."

How many hours are you working today?

The standard working hours for office workers in the UK tend to be either 37.5-40 hours - effectively the 9-5 working week (with variations of course).  However a recent study by Aviva has shown that we might be working a considerable number of extra hours - and the majority of us don't get paid for it!

Aviva's "Health of the Workplace Report" 2011, has shown some worrying research regarding the health of the UK workforce, including the staggering fact that on average employees work 1.5 hours extra a day. Two in five
(42%) work up to three hours extra a day.  19% say their employer expects them to work harder for longer.

Whilst most people don't think anything of working extra hours and skipping lunch breaks the results of this trend can be substantial.  The Aviva research also shows that heavy workloads are causing employees to eat unhealthy snacks or skip meals altogether. Nearly 15% of employees believe their health is affected because they are eating unhealthily at work, with almost a third of employees say that they are unlikely to take a lunch break.

On the upside, they also looked at the top reasons why employees were happy in their workplace.  Friendly, supportive colleagues topped the bill at 53% with a good work-life balance coming a close second with 47%.

So are you taking your lunch break today?

Mental ill-health

A recent survey by Unite and Mind has shown that mental ill-health of the UK workforce means that 70 million working days are lost to absences due to mental health problems.  The estimated cost of this to British business is £8.4 billion a year.

However a similar study by The Centre for Mental Health has show that when the costs of sickness absence, non-employment, effects on unpaid work and output losses are combined that figure rises to nearer £26 billion. Divide that up and that's the equivalent of £1,035 for every employee in the UK workforce.

Other research in this area has also found that line managers significantly underestimate that effect that mental ill-health could have on their team and how many people can be affected by it.  This is the most worrying thing of all - that most of the time mental ill-health goes unnoticed, until it has reached the point at which their condition can no longer be managed in the workplace and long-term absence is the only solution.

Should managers be more responsible for keeping an eye on their staff's welfare?  Do they know how to spot a problem?  And do they know what to do about that problem, if and when they do spot it?

Tell us what you think.

What will the next generation of workers demand from their

Recent research by Siemens Enterprise Communications, has shown that one in four teenagers will expect to be provided with a smartphone for their job, whilst more than one in six will want Facebook access during work time.  In addition, of those surveyed, 40% wanted a laptop when they start work, and a further 13% also anticipated a tablet such as the iPad.

The reasons for this seem to be rooted in the mirroring of the available technology from teenagers home lives, into the workplace.  This kind of technology, and access to social networks, is seen as normal in their home live, so they see the use of them in the workplace as a natural progression.

However whilst the cost of providing staff with this kind of technology may be expensive, it also appears to come with a few upsides for employers.  Most teenagers surveyed believe it will help them to increase their productivity, and nearly 70% of respondents to the survey said that smartphones and tablets will make it easier to do their jobs.  Over half said it would make them more efficient in the workplace.

Let us know what you think.  Is advanced and readily available technology in the workplace a help or a hindrance?

Stress tops poll of long-term sickness absence

The joint Absence Management survey, released today by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and corporate healthcare provider Simply Health has discovered that stress is now the top cause of long-term sickness leave for both manual and non-manual employees.


This is blamed on increasing job insecurity and mounting workload.  The report has also highlighted a significant link between job security and mental health problems as those employers planning to make redundancies in the next six months significantly more likely to report an increase in mental health problems among their staff (51%, compared with 32% among those that are not planning redundancies).


In addition a high level of organisational change was reported to be a major factor in the cause of stress. This is particularly prevalent in the public sector, where 50% of respondents reported an increase in stress-related absence.

Say it with a card!

With the economic climate as it has been the last few years, I'm sure that most people have either had the experience of being made redundant themselves, or had someone close to them lose their job.  Losing a job can be a very difficult thing to deal with and the knock-on effects can be devastating - financial problems, loss of opportunities and the general uncertainty.

However Hallmark seem to have come across an opportunity of their own amongst all this.  They have just launched their own range of sympathy cards made for people who have just lost their jobs.

They range from serious and philosophical, to funny and encouraging.  Take a look at the examples below:

Pet Peeves revealed by Linkedin Global Survey

Following on from yesterday's blog about a boss's reaction to poor office kitchen etiquette, it seems appropriate to take a look at a survey published earlier this week by Linkedin that looks at the most common Pet Peeves in the office.

Everyone's pet peeves will be slightly different, but the research has shown that the top 5 global office pet peeves are:

1. People not taking ownership of their actions
2. Constant complainers
3. Dirty common areas
4. Starting meetings late or going long
5. People who don't respond to emails

Start looking at the data on a country by country basis though, and there are key peeves that seem to grip entire nations.  For example, you might want to think twice before discussing last night's Eastenders in Brazil as 83% of workers there voted excessive gossiping as a pet peeve compared to just 62% globally.  Workers in India seem especially  annoyed about loud or irritating mobile phone ringtones, and the workforce of the US are concerned with people who take food from the refrigerator that isn't theirs.

Overall though the prize for the most peeved country goes to India, with the least peeved population being Italy.

Let us know what your pet peeves are!

Crying over spilt milk? At least there is some left!

A news story came out of the US this week that caught my eye.  I've heard all sorts of conflict stories from all sorts of different companies and as such I thought I'd heard it all.  But it turns out I was wrong.

The story involves the President of a PR firm sending a rather blunt email to his staff (full copy is available here), threatening them with being fired if they didn't sort themselves out.  So what was this behaviour that the President got so angry about?  In-fighting? Bullying?  No - it was about milk.  Skimmed milk to be exact.

At some point, we've all gone to make a tea or coffee in the morning, only to find that someone has used the last of the milk.  However, the President of this company must have been having a particularly bad day as it resulted in him sending out a mass email including the following:

"I am gravely serious when I write this - if I catch someone not replacing the milk.......then I am going to fire you. Im not joking. You will be fired for not replacing the milk, and have fun explaining that one to your next employer. This is not a empty threat so PLEASE don't test me."

Should caste discrimination be included in The Equality Act 2010?

After the landmark case of Mr and Mrs Begraj against the law firm that employed them both, there is now increasing pressure on the government to activate a provision included in the original Act to add caste to the current definition of race.

Whilst the case in question is re-scheduled for next year, the discussion of whether or not to add caste discrimination to the Act rumbles on, however the government seem to be reluctant to move forward with it.

The Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance (ACDA) said "we have brought our findings to the Government and they seem now to have kicked it into the long grass, it has baffled us and we wonder whether there may be outside influences at play. It's been over nine months now."

Let us know what you think...

EU Officials refuse to work a 40 hour week

With everyone having to tighten their belts this year, it's no surprise the the public sector austerity measures have made their way to Brussels.  But they have been met with an overwhelming 'Niet' by the EU's 55,000 officials.

Full details here...

New BBC Three show to help unemployed find work

Seven employers (Argos, Greggs, Hilton Worldwide, Scottish Power, Starbucks, Timpson and Virgin Media) have joined forces with BBC Three to offer paid placements to unemployed people, with a total of 23 paid placements.

The show titled 'Up for Hire' which launches on 20 October, aims to address the challenging issues of getting the unemployed work opportunities. All placements are for three months initially, apart from Virgin Media, which has a one-year apprenticeship on offer.

£1million + settlement for female Microsoft executive

The Telegraph reports that: 

Natalie Ayres worked at the computer software company for 15 years, rising through its ranks to become the general manager of its “Small-Medium Enterprises and Partners Group”.
The married mother was seen as an outstanding candidate and was widely tipped to succeed Alistair Baker as managing director of Microsoft UK when the position became vacant in the summer of 2006.
However, the role was handed to Gordon Frazer, a general manager at Microsoft South Africa, allegedly before Mrs Ayres had even completed the interview process. When she left at the end of that year, it was under a “compromise agreement”, which sources at the company said ran into seven figures.

Research shows Chinese staff most likely to pull a 'sickie'

Research from the Workforce Institute at Kronos conducted by Harris Interactive, has shown that China topped all other surveyed regions with 71% of employees admitting to calling in sick when they were not actually sick. France had the smallest number with only 16%.

Other results included India with 62%, Australia with 58%, Canada with 52%, the US with 52%, the UK with 43%, and Mexico with 38%.

When asked why they felt the need to have a day off, the most common response was that they felt stressed and needed a day off.