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The benefits that a company offers to their prospective employees play a huge role in attracting and retaining talent. But as we know, different generations are drawn to different types of benefits, and as Gen Z enter into the workforce in full force, we are starting to see the emergence of new, innovative benefits being offered in order to attract this fresh new talent.
The latest new benefit? Gushcloud International – an IP management and licensing company – have recently started offering their employees ‘Tinder Leave’. The company has partnered with well-known dating app Tinder to offer their employees sponsored Tinder subscriptions and an additional paid day of leave for their staff to actively go on dates and seek out new connections in the hopes of improving their wellbeing outside of work.
Dating apps have become a very popular tool for fostering romantic relationships, especially amongst the younger generations. And there is a growing body of research to suggest that employees who are in happy, healthy relationships outside of work tend to be better, more productive workers. One study even found that married men were less likely to report workplace burnout and, as their marital satisfaction increased, burnout likelihood decreased.
From this perspective, companies that consider offering Tinder Leave could be paving the way for employee satisfaction to increase as their personal lives become socially and romantically nourished.
So, is Tinder Leave something that more companies should consider?
There are a lot of interesting benefits that could come from offering this type of perk to employees. For one thing, it’s an innovative way of highlighting a company’s care and commitment to social wellbeing. It also signifies that a business values work-life balance, through actively encouraging employees to take the time to build these connections.
However, there are some potential drawbacks that employers will need to consider, too. For instance, offering Tinder subscriptions could actually prove to be a distraction at work, as employees may be more tempted to be checking their phone and swiping through potential matches. So, when looking at this as a potential offering to employees, it’s important for employers to consider all the factors.
If you would like to discuss how we can help you design and implement innovative wellbeing strategies to improve work-life balance, please swipe right to get in touch with us today.
A new trend has seemingly emerged amongst younger employees, and it’s being dubbed the ‘Great Detachment’.
Taking inspiration for its name from the Great Resignation that happened post-pandemic, the Great Detachment is seeing increasing numbers of staff remaining in jobs that they don’t feel fulfilled or engaged by. Gallup’s State of the Workplace 2024 report discovered that only 23% of employees globally are engaged at work – which means a whopping 77% of them are disengaged.
With the disengagement number so high, it’s no wonder we are seeing a rise to this new trend. And with a market that continues to become increasingly competitive, employees are remaining in their current roles despite their rising disengagement and dissatisfaction.
Being fulfilled in one’s job is an important thing – after all, on average we spend one third of our entire lives at work, so it’s not a huge leap to assume that we want this job to be engaging and fulfilling. However, the reality is that not many people end up working their ‘dream job’ either. In fact, one survey found that only 7% of Americans stated they were in their dream career, and another found that only a quarter of adults in the UK have landed the job they dreamed of having as a child.
So the Great Detachment may not be a new phenomenon – but with a new generation flooding into the workforce, bringing with them carpe diem mentalities that have been forged in the fires of lockdown living, the idea of ‘settling’ in a job they don’t love is unappealing – and it’s resulting in a lack of engagement and a hit on productivity levels.
So, what can employers do to ‘reattach’ their employees?
One technique to consider is creating some ‘squiggle room’. This is the idea of employers actively creating the space for employees to job craft. By encouraging workers to craft their personality and passions into what they do, they will be able to bring a little bit of their dream into their current role. This not only helps to re-engage those staff that are falling victim to the Great Detachment trend, but it also encourages the use of innovation and varied ways of thinking, which can ultimately lead to new and exciting ideas for the business.
Flexibility has become a swaying factor when it comes to employee attraction and retention, and ‘squiggle room’ is rooted in the idea of embracing the fluidity of work. The goals and vision that a company has are set, but the route to achieving those things offers ample opportunity for innovation and flexibility – and those employers that embrace this are the ones who are going to have the most engaged workforce.
If you would like to discuss how we can help with your employee engagement strategies, please get in touch with us today!
Black History Month creates space for all to reflect on the struggle of Black Americans and Black people across the world to get to where they are today. Battling through constant, overt oppression to be able to have the same rights that were automatically extended to their white counterparts has made it possible for Black people to gain access to many more opportunities than were previously within their reach.
However, racism runs deep; while activists such as Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and Rosa Parks paved a path for a better future, there is still work to be done now to continue to eradicate the oppression that black people face across the globe.
Just as the world has modernized, so has racism. What was once brashly overt has now evolved into more subtle, micro-aggressive tendencies. The disconnect occurs because these microaggressions are broadly considered ‘less racist’ than things were fifty years ago, so it’s not seen as racism at all – which gives these behaviors the power to continue.
The workplace is a prime example. Many companies are more intentional about creating hiring targets to diversify their workforces – and this is great – but we’re also seeing that they are significantly pulling funding on their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. It seems that just as the workplace begins to take a step forward, it takes two steps back. Without a comprehensive DEI change initiative and commitment to link the initiative to the mission, vision, and values of the company, this creates an environment where microaggressions will emerge and those employees of color will not truly feel that they are valued members of the team.
Microaggressions are indirect, subtle, or unintentional discriminatory actions against members of a marginalized group. Some examples of these behaviors are not introducing specific people in a meeting, praising an idea from one person and ignoring the same idea when presented by another, speaking with a condescending tone, consistently mispronouncing someone’s name, confusing a person of a certain ethnicity with another person of that same ethnicity…the list goes on. A recent study even discovered that 25% of black women have been sent home from work because of their hair. These actions may seem small if you do not regularly experience them yourself, but the racial undertones that they hold are problematic and create a tense and unproductive culture.
For example, Dr. Claudine Gay was the first black woman to be selected the president of Harvard University by the Harvard Corporation – comprised of 12 board members responsible for university affairs and three members of the second-highest governing Board of Overseers – and yet not even a year later and she has been forced to resign due to incessant plagiarism claims from her academic dissertation from 1997. Upon further exploration, most of the “errors” that have been identified are pedantic. Additionally, the few that have been raised as cause for concerns were not only deemed understandable by those she quoted, they were also completely missed by the institution under which she wrote it, along with the Harvard PhD committee who failed to highlight these when awarding her the Toppan prize for the best political science dissertation in 1998. Regardless, Dr. Gay has come under fire, and the microaggressions in this situation are rampant; after all, we haven’t seen any other Harvard presidents be picked apart for their academic writings from two decades ago.
If this situation was copy and pasted onto a white man, it is very likely that the outcome would be entirely different, and it’s these systemic barriers that employers need to recognize and challenge to truly further the progress of the many Black transformational leaders who fought for civil rights and equality for all Americans.
The first step to challenging these inequities is acknowledging that they exist in the first place. Nearly two-thirds (61%) of Black employees experienced racism in 2021, and this number is only going to begin to decrease if companies can successfully identify these microaggressions and uproot them. We know that diverse companies are more profitable, but in order for employers to unlock these benefits they have to successfully foster a safe and inclusive environment. This starts by acknowledging that racism is still an open wound in the world of work, and that putting a band aid on it doesn’t help it heal. They must clean it out, and slowly begin to sew it up – which requires organizations to break the habit of assuming that the wound has already healed.
If you would like to discuss how we can help further your DEI strategy and help foster a culture that unlocks the best out of all your people, please get in touch with me at marty@orgshakers.com
This article was first published on 2nd February to mark the start of Black History Month 2024 in the U.S.
We are all familiar with the idea that a happy employee is a more productive one.
Smart employers are always taking into consideration rising trends, to ensure that their people are feeling valued and recognized – and one new component to improving employee happiness seems to be rising fast: voluntary benefits.
Voluntary benefits – also known as supplemental benefits or employee wellbeing benefits – are offerings that employees can choose to purchase in addition to their core benefits package. These will often include a range of options, such as life insurance, dental and vision coverage, disability insurance, wellness programs, legal services, and even pet insurance.
Their appeal is rooted in their flexibility – employees can pick and choose what best suits their lifestyle and their financial context, making them more uniquely tailored to an individual’s needs.
In this way, voluntary benefits are a fantastic tool for making your employees feel valued, as they offer the opportunity for personalization that standard benefits packages don’t.
Because of this, 86% of employers now consider voluntary benefits crucial to their overall wellbeing strategy. And with 63% of employees saying they would consider changing jobs for better voluntary benefits, choosing the right ones to make available is now more important then ever. So, here are some key voluntary benefits employers should be considering in order to keep their employees happy, healthy, and productive for the year to come:
- Legal Services – this would see employers provide access to legal advice and services, which can prove to be invaluable when dealing with personal legal matters. Additionally, employers can look at offering identity theft protection to help workers protect their personal information (especially with cybersecurity threats continuously rising).
- Supplemental Health Benefits – this has typically taken the form of dental and vision insurance, critical illness insurance, and accident insurance, but now some employers are expanding this scope to also offer supplementary mental health benefits too. This also encompasses physical health benefits such as subsidized gym memberships or nutrition counselling.
- Pet Insurance – the significant rise in pet adoptions during the pandemic has now made offering pet insurance as a voluntary benefit a very attractive one for a lot of employees.
- Educational Assistance – while 80% of working adults are interested in going to school, only 40% know their employers offer a tuition reimbursement assistance program. This can be a great voluntary benefit to consider as it is applicable across generations and ultimately strengthens the skills and knowledge of the employee you are investing in.
- Life and Disability Insurance – the interest in term-life insurance and disability insurance continues to grow amongst employees, and so this would prove to be a popular offering for many as a voluntary benefit.
In the evolving landscape of employee benefits, voluntary benefits stand out as a key differentiator—one that can set your organization apart in the quest to enhance employee happiness whilst at the same time attract, retain, and motivate top talent. If you would like to discuss the support we can offer in helping design and select your benefit packages, please get in touch with us via our website.
Up to 70% of companies with flexible work schedules are planning to increase the days employees must work in the office by 2025. However, with many major companies – including Disney, Apple, Google, and Zoom – issuing ‘Return To Office’ (RTO) mandates this year, there has been a significant rise in the latest ‘quiet’ rebellion … ‘hushed hybrid’ working.
‘Hushed hybrid’ working is when, contrary to company policy, managers quietly allow some employees to work from home or work flexibly. According to a survey by Owl Labs, 70% of managers have allowed team members to work from home despite an official company policy mandating otherwise.
The rise in this trend signifies a strong disconnect between executives and middle managers that could result in unwanted ripple effects if this gap were to widen.
As first point of contact between employees and the wider organization, it’s important that middle managers feel able to communicate employee feedback to the company’s leadership. However, the rise of this trend suggests that many middle managers believe senior leaders are not prepared to listen to employee’s views on hybrid work, preferring instead to stand behind their RTO mandates.
But whilst ‘hushed hybrid’ working may provide middle managers and their teams with a convenient workaround, it is an ultimately unsustainable solution that could damage the wider culture of the organization.
For one thing, managers letting some if their team quietly work from home whilst others are required to come into the office will inevitably create tension between employees. Pair this with the element of secrecy that is rooted in ‘hushed hybrid’, and you create a recipe that could result in a workplace culture which becomes ‘toxic’.
In addition to this, ‘hushed hybrid’ also plays a role in the widening the gap between policy and practice, which should be a huge ‘red flag’ for HR as, if RTO policies are not being followed by managers, it raises alarms of what other policies are being flouted or simply ignored.
All of this risks a collapse of trust across the organization.
Instead, middle managers need to feel that they can openly and honestly communicate with their leaders to give feedback on policies that don’t seem to be working well.
We have all seen the problems with the rise of these ‘quiet’ trends since the pandemic ended, so it’s important for employers to break the cycle of these hushed practices by fostering a culture of openness and honesty so that they can enhance their workplace culture and become an employer of choice.
If you would like to discuss how we can help coach your leaders in communication, as well as foster a culture of openness in your workplace, please get in touch with us today, or book in an hour with one of our experienced HR practitioners through our confidential online consultation service OrgShakers CL!CK.
As we look to 2025, enlightened organizations will be planning to invest in enhancing the capabilities of their senior leaders.
Why now?
Because across multiple areas of business, opportunities are emerging to gain significant competitive and commercial advantage – and smart companies know that seizing these opportunities means shaking things up: Appointing new leaders. Building new teams. Giving existing teams important new goals and objectives. Enabling and empowering executives to think and act differently. Strengthening working relationships across the senior leadership group.
And for these changes to be successfully implemented, the development of key executives is vital.
At the same time, cost management is at the forefront of the C-suite’s agenda, which is why we have created the Executive Action Series – a leadership development program which is laser-focused on the five areas that will create the greatest return on investment:
1. Customer Experience
Customers are the fuel that keeps the fire burning for organizations, and so 2025 needs to be all about driving customer experience. This means personalized marketing that delivers what someone needs when they need it, an easy setup and installation, and efficient problem resolution. The idea is that companies will be creating business strategies that promote a sense of individuality and value for each customer, making their experience unique to them and putting their specific needs at the forefront.
2. Generative AI
A recent survey from Access Partnership discovered that 93% of employers expect to use generative AI in the workplace in the next five years. While the presence of AI isn’t necessarily new, generative AI has opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for organizations, and is seemingly the harbinger for the age of working smart. But in order to optimize its uses, business leaders need to have a deep understanding of generative AI to unlock its full potential.
3. Remote and Hybrid Working
The tug-of-war between employers issuing ‘return to office’ mandates and employees wanting flexible working arrangements has been going on since lockdown ended. But aside from flexibility being a strategy for attracting talent, the digitalization of the working world has seen the barriers of place and time evaporate, allowing organizations to gain access to the best talent on a global scale. Hybrid and remote work, if managed successfully, can play a huge role in a business’ economic strategy.
4. Skills-Based Hiring
Employers have increasingly relaxed their need for qualifications in favor of skills, aptitude, and attitude. Skills-based hiring continues to gain momentum, and by identifying areas where this can be woven into business strategy, employers will catalyze social mobility and foster a more diverse workforce.
5. Resilience
An organization that can foster resilience is going to be best prepared for disruptive events that can happen at any given moment (economic downturns, cyber-attacks, global pandemics, etc.). Having the knowledge to recognize, predict, and mitigate risk will be fundamental to the health and sustainability of a business.
The Executive Action Series is divided into five modules that are spread across the corporate calendar. Each module covers the theory behind best practices, and then brings these to life through a combination of case studies, real-world scenarios, and visits to organizations where these practices can be experienced first-hand. Participants will also hear directly from world-class subject matter experts, as well as collaborating with other leaders in their organization.
Each module will help equip leaders with a variety of new tools and knowledge that will create resilience and sustainability for the future:
Module #1: Leadership Portrait
We use comprehensive diagnostics, alongside personal and team reflection, to gain actionable insights into individual leadership brand and enhance contributions to team effectiveness. We also consider how the ensuing levels of trust allow leaders to leverage differences of opinions for enhanced outcomes.
Module #2: Shaping Strategy Through Customers, Diversity & AI
Together, we examine the impact on strategy of three levers that the research above identifies as critical to current success: customer experience, workforce diversity, and generative AI. Further, we introduce world-class thought leaders to facilitate discussions about key issues that will be important to future success.
Module #3: Activating Strategy
At this stage, we explore a range of powerful tools for activating strategy through operations, including effective leadership of large-scale change and the impact of operational choices on customer experience. We also introduce the concept of the Program Acceleration Office as a best practice for optimizing a portfolio of projects.
Module #4: Winning Through Talent
Knowing that 46% of CEOs have Talent in their Top-3 immediate priorities, we explore the evolution of the workplace and the talent strategies that will help us win the war for talent. What can senior leaders do to enable the recruitment, development, and retention of the right people across the right organization?
Module #5: Sustaining and Evolving a Resilient Strategy
To sustain success, we must smooth out the peaks and troughs that are typical of ongoing change. We explore the latest methods of building strength and flexibility throughout the organization to cultivate resilience across your workforce, your culture, and your strategy, and to help weather turbulent business cycles.
To ensure skills and insights gained from the program are applied when executives return to the workplace, Program Guides will provide virtual facilitation between modules and encourage ongoing collaboration through small group peer support coaching.
If you would like to discuss the Executive Action Series in more detail, please get in touch with us via gordon.robinson@orgshakers.com or anya@orgshakers.com
You can do a lot in sixty minutes.
In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright marked the dawn of aviation with their FOUR successful sustained human flights. All four of these happened in the space of just one hour!
In 2022, Filippo Ganna cycled 56.8km in one hour setting a new world record. To achieve this, he sustained an average speed of over 35mph for a full 60-minutes. Try matching that at your next spinning class!
And, today, it’s estimated that Jeff Bezos will be earing around $3.5 million an hour.
(So, Jeff, if you read the whole of this article it will have taken up just $120,000 of your valuable time which I’m sure you’ll agree is great value!)
What we are seeing here is that although 60-minites may seem like a relatively short amount of time – the length of a lunch break, the time it takes to travel home, the duration of an episode of TV – it’s also possible for an hour to be highly productive … and maybe even groundbreaking.
At OrgShakers, we believe in The Power of the Hour … 60-minutes where leaders can bounce around ideas, receive expert advice, or get the objective feedback they need to start something incredible. After all, every successful business we’ve come to know started with an idea – and someone who was willing to listen.
That’s why we have launched our brand-new consulting service: OrgShakers CL!CK.
OrgShakers CL!CK is a one-hour, private and confidential online consultation with one of our seasoned HR professionals. It offers instant advice and is designed specifically for those times when you need help figuring out how to overcome a challenge, when you need advice on your HR processes, or if you simply just want a sounding board for new ideas to see what sticks.
With years of first-hand corporate experience on a global scale, our team can advise you on any HR question you may have, whether that be the day-to-day tactical challenges or a complex strategic issue.
If you would like to learn more about this service and book in time with one of our team members, head over to https://orgshakers.com/orgshakers-click/
Since the mid-1980s, many organizations have invested in the development of supply chain hubs based in mainland China. Famed for their high-quality workforce and low production costs, it is no surprise that in 2008 the US foreign direct investment in China peaked at $20.9bn. However, recent years have seen this fall dramatically, with 2022 showing an 18-year low of $8.2bn in investments.
From the pandemic and natural disasters, to trade wars being waged with western economies, the current direction of travel is towards ‘friendshoring’ with more than 90% of North American manufacturers relocating some production from China in the past five years.
Also known as the ‘China Plus One’ strategy, investors are moving key stages of their production to other countries, whilst maintaining a presence in China so that they can benefit from the country’s wealth of resources and well-established supply chain processes.
But this raises a key question for employers: where is the best place to invest?
61% of the 500 executive-level US managers surveyed by OnePoll said they would pick India over China if both countries could manufacture the same materials.
Expansion into India has been gaining significant traction over the years; a study from the Boston Consulting Group discovered that exports to the US had increased by $23bn.
Similarly, in June last year, Apple announced plans to shift 18% of its global iPhone production to India in an effort to diversify its supply chain.
With India offering competitive cost structures, large labor pools, scaling capabilities, and favourable government incentives, it is no wonder that organizations are looking to invest.
However, a major challenge is that India is far from homogenous in terms of the availability of appropriately skilled labor, and the quality of local transport and technological infrastructure. And when you add into the mix the complexity of customs, regulatory, logistics, and Indian manufacturing supply chain requirements, it’s clear that if organizations want to smoothly and successfully integrate their business in India, they need to take a considered, 360-approach to unlock the full potential of the opportunity.
This is where OrgShakers can help.
Through a robust and objective seven-stage assessment, we will work with you every step of the way to ensure that your organization is able to optimize all the opportunities that India offers as a manufacturing and service destination.
Each stage of our assessment aims to marry the needs of your organization with the rich resources India has to offer. In these stages, we will cover:
Client Intelligence – our process starts with you. By understanding your business model, competitors, target consumers, pricing dynamics, ESG commitments, and other key factors, we will ensure our assessment is rooted in the needs of your organization.
Governmental Packages – the Indian government is putting significant investment behind its ‘Make in India’ initiative which was announced in 2014. Given the challenges in integrating national, state, and provincial departments, however, an experienced ‘navigator’ is required to find the way through the bureaucratic maze.
Cultural Wisdom – each state in India has its own language, business etiquette, and customs – and the fit between these and your organization’s requirements must be carefully balanced. Also, if required, we can offer cultural sensitivity training for your executive teams to ensure that integration is as smooth and seamless as possible.
Location/Infrastructure – India has one of the world’s largest populations and one of the largest economies to go with it. However, according to the World Bank, its overall logistics infrastructure ranks 38th in the world. Therefore, finding the exact right location for your needs is going to be a key aspect of a successful expansion.
Local Partnerships – we will leverage our local networks to identify the local experts and advisors who can help foster the strategic partnerships you will need to optimize your operations in India (including public-private partnerships where appropriate).
Talent Acquisition – with a workforce that is comprised of 500 million, India has a vast supply of educated talent at its disposal. Through partnerships with local universities and colleges, we can help you sustainably hire the high-quality talent you will need to drive your business plans forwards. And while China was lauded for its lower labor costs, recent data shows that salaries have nearly doubled in the last 7 years, while India’s salaries remain at a more consistent and highly affordable rate.
Regulatory Compliance – from import licenses and export licenses to special operating certificates, we will help you understand what is required of your company based on your operating model in India.
If you would like to discuss our Supply Chain Diversification Partner Program in more detail, please get in touch with me at anju.jain@orgshakers.com or you can contact OrgShakers through our website.
Anju Jain, PhD is a global business executive who has held a variety of roles spanning Marketing, Finance, Purchasing, Operations, and Human Resources in Fortune 500 and mid-sized organizations.
For 17 years, Anju worked with Caterpillar in multiple cross-functional roles in the US and Asia markets. As the Head of HR of Caterpillar India and ASEAN, she had responsibility for coordinating the business strategy while designing an aligned people strategy.
Having a digital avatar is no new feat. With the likes of Bitmojis, personalised emoticons, and The Sims games, the concept of creating a virtual lookalike hasn’t come out of thin air.
But with the world of work becoming increasingly digital, especially in the wake of hybrid and remote working, this begs the question just what role a digital avatar of oneself might play.
For one thing, we know that the metaverse boasts for its users to create their own avatars which they can control using virtual reality technology. The idea is for employees to be able to attend a digital office, surrounded by other digital versions of their colleagues, whilst still working from the comfort of home. Whilst the metaverse has since lost some of its traction, discussions around the possibilities of having AI-powered avatars have continued to gain momentum.
Most notably, founder and chief executive of Zoom, Eric Yuan, believes that in as little as five years’ time, employees could be sending their AI avatars to Zoom meetings in place of themselves.
This is based on the idea that employees would have their own ‘large language model (LLM)’, which essentially uses the underlying services of AI tools like ChatGPT to train the model on their individual speech and behaviour patterns which would allow the avatars to generate accurate and personalised responses to queries and requests.
This may sound like the plot of a futuristic sci-fi movie, but the concept of having AI mimic us isn’t as foreign as you might think. After all, Gmail has an inbuilt AI tool which can summarise and suggest replies to emails based on previous conversation points and common phrasing that the user uses.
However, despite the fact that LLMs can do passable impressions of people, there is no evidence to suggest that they can actually do useful work on behalf of someone. Not to mention the fact that if an AI version of an employee is doing their job for them, at what point does the human employee behind the avatar no longer become useful? Should an employer pay someone when their virtual counterpart is doing the brunt of the work?
On top of this, having an avatar attend meetings runs the risk of completely losing any possibility of fostering friendships and connections at work.
Whilst AI technology enables employees to work smarter and optimize their skills, are AI avatars one step too far in this technological evolution?
Rising workplace sickness is costing UK businesses billions every year, with an estimated £25bn being lost through presenteeism, according to a new think tank report.
New analysis from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) reveals the annual hidden cost of employee sickness has risen by £30 billion since 2018.
Most of this increased cost, around £25 billion, is from lower productivity, with only £5 billion due to a rise in sick days.
Employees now lose the equivalent of 44 days’ productivity on average due to working through sickness, up from 35 days in 2018, and lose a further 6.7 days taking sick leave, up from 3.7 days in 2018.
Workers in the UK are among the least likely to take sick days, especially compared to other OECD and European countries.
Read the full piece here: https://www.hrgrapevine.com/content/article/2024-08-01-rising-workplace-sickness-is-costing-uk-economy-billions-every-year-think-tank-warns
In recent days, the UK has experienced the worst civil unrest in more than a decade.
After the fatal stabbing of three young girls at a dance class in the UK seaside town of Southport, the spread of misinformation around the perpetrator of this crime, as well as far-right and anti-immigration rhetoric, has sparked a series of riots, looting, and violent attacks against people of colour.
After the arrest of a 17-year-old boy for the murders in Southport, social media posts began to falsely speculate that the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived in the UK in 2023. However, it has since been confirmed that this information is false, and that the suspect was born in the UK to Rwandan parents. But these harmful rumours have led to violent rioting and race-related crime skyrocketing (on Wednesday 7th August, there were plans for more than 100 gatherings of rioters), with many people finding themselves scared to leave their homes for fear of being attacked or discriminated against due to their race, ethnicity, or faith.
Sadly, the UK is not alone in experiencing racially motivated incidents of this kind, and when they do occur, many employers will have team members who feel angry and scared. Therefore, it’s so important for leaders, managers, and HR professionals to be providing the right support during this time:
- Flexible Working – reiterate to staff members that their safety is of the utmost importance to the company, and should they feel more comfortable doing so, they can work from home or any other place they feel safe. It is also worth considering flexibility around hours being worked, as some may feel more comfortable working earlier in the day, as many riots have been scheduled and taken place in the evening.
- Mental Health Support – the rising violence all across the country is going to have a damaging effect on the mental health of those who feel targeted, exacerbating feelings of anxiety, depression, and stress. Employers should remind their teams of the tools they have available for mental health support, whether this be external signposting or through an in-house Employee Assistance Program.
- Reporting a Crime – if an employee were to fall victim to a crime, especially when travelling to and from work, explain the process that they can go through to report this crime if they wish to and assist where necessary. For many people, it can be incredibly daunting to admit that they are a victim and have to report abuse, and so those employers who can support staff during that process will be instrumental to making them feel safe.
It is an atrocious thing when people feel unsafe where they live, and so it is crucial for employers to be doing everything they can to support the physical and mental wellbeing of those staff members affected.
If you would like to discuss these support strategies in further detail, please get in touch with me directly at therese@orgshakers.com
In the largest public sector trial of the four-day week in Britain, fewer refuse collectors quit and there were faster planning decisions, more rapid benefits processing and quicker call answering, independent research has found.
South Cambridgeshire district council’s controversial experiment with a shorter working week resulted in improvements in performance in 11 out of 24 areas, little or no change in 11 areas and worsening of performance in two areas, according to analysis of productivity before and during the 15-month trial by academics at the universities of Cambridge and Salford.
The multi-year study of the trial involving about 450 desk staff plus refuse collectors found:
- Staff turnover fell by 39%, helping save £371,500 in a year, mostly on agency staff costs.
- Regular household planning applications were decided about a week and a half earlier.
- Approximately 15% more major planning application decisions were completed within the correct timescale, compared with before.
- The time taken to process changes to housing benefit and council tax benefit claims fell.
Read the full piece here: https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jul/08/largest-uk-public-sector-trial-four-day-week-sees-huge-benefits-research-finds-