Opinion – Page 11
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OpinionCathy Brown: Employee engagement enables growth of individuals and organisations
We all get more out of going to work if the organisations we work for have an engaging culture, a philosophy that there is a ‘better way to work’.There are four factors that are present in high-performing organisations with highly engaged employees: they have a clear story about the organisation ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Cast your votes?
By 7am on Friday 24 June, we should have the results of the EU referendum.Unsurprisingly, this was the main topic dominating conversation at EB Towers yesterday. Political decisions and preferences, of course, played a part in these conversations, but the question we heard more than any other during the course ...
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OpinionEthel Maldonado: Volunteering brings CSR policies to life
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies too often sit on a website, poorly communicated, rarely visited and even more rarely understood by employees. So what can really bring them to life?Employee volunteering is the most powerful mechanism that we come across at Business in the Community. For example, 80% of employees ...
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OpinionMalcolm Hurlston: Share schemes boost savings and productivity
Owning shares in the company they work for gives employees an extra stake, and when their company performs well they benefit too. Share plans work best as part of a full programme of employee engagement. As well as dividends and probably capital gains, employee shareholders can vote and the [Employee ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: How cool is your office?
Once upon a time when we asked that question, the most common answer (other than the people) was likely to be along the lines of a decent coffee machine, free fruit or, in some lucky organisations, the on-site gym.Now, however, that list is increasingly likely to include things such as ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: Striking the right work-life balance
The Britain at work report by communications consultancy Lansons also found that a high proportion of respondents regularly put in more than their required hours, with 50% working up to an extra hour each day and 28% working for one to two hours past their set working time.Most of us ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: How much freedom should employers give staff?
In it, the agency’s co-founder Jenny Biggam explained why the organisation has done away with a number of typical workplace conventions in order to give its staff greater freedom. This includes doing away with job titles and enabling staff to contribute their skills in order to shape the company; flexible-working ...
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OpinionStewart Allanson: Employers must prepare for the workforce revolution
New technologies and increasing mobility are revolutionising the workplace, with huge implications for employers.Not since the industrial revolution of the late 18th and early 19th century has there been such far-reaching change and now, just as then, there is tremendous opportunity mixed with unprecedented risk.Smartphones and devices are the biggest ...
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OpinionDenise Keating: Flexibility increases wellbeing
Employers typically offer formal flexible-working policies, such as leave for parents, and flexibility around sabbatical or other opportunities.The reality is that flexible working is driven only when an employee has a need, such as childcare and eldercare.On the other hand, agile working is where an employer provides employees with flexibility ...
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OpinionTobin Murphy-Coles: The employer conundrum that won’t go away
Organisational chaos and disruption is something everyone in the HR and benefits industry has felt as a result of the economic downturn, and its effects rumble on as business leaders continue to scrutinise their costs.But one positive effect of this disruption is that it makes organisations stop and think about ...
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OpinionJenny Davidson: How can a reward strategy drive employee engagement?
In the past, pay and benefits have tended to be described as a ‘hygiene’ factor, with little impact on employee engagement. More emphasis was given to career development and employees’ relationship with their manager (leadership).The employee’s perception of pay and benefits, and how fairly they are rewarded within the organisation, ...
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Opinion
Suzanne Hughes: Embedding wellbeing and engagement in the workplace
EXCLUSIVE: As a major employer in the UK, understanding levels of employee engagement and wellbeing at Santander is critical. It’s well known that better engaged people are happier people, and the bonus is that the research tells us happier people are more productive too.To help us continue to track and ...
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OpinionDavid Webb: Make the most of change
Yet mention change and often the initial reaction is hostile. We can still be locked into a primeval fear of the unknown.Many employers recognise the need to manage change effectively to keep staff working at their best. Handling change badly can have a wider, damaging impact on how an employer ...
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Opinion
Stephen Menko: A happy workforce is a productive one
At a time when employees are often faced with increasingly tight deadlines and managers are tasked with getting more from limited budgets or personnel, every aspect of working practice is being evaluated by HR professionals to see what might yield better results.There is certainly a changing perception among HR professionals ...
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Opinion
Peter Nuttall: Happy staff equals happy customers
Yet, employee engagement remains one of the three top challenges facing organisations.It is important that employees are treated as customers, sovereign within an employer’s internal marketing efforts and crucial to the delivery of an organisation’s promise to its external consumers. Underestimating the emotional bonds employees desire to have with the ...
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Opinion
Catherine Park: How to involve staff in benefits
These should be based on employee research to enable employers to find out what benefits their staff value. Employee surveys can help identify these preferences, but is important for employers not to rely on just one method of communication, such as email surveys, because a proportion of staff will not ...
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Opinion
Lynne Graham: How healthy eating is tied to employee engagement
Showing that you care about every aspect of the work experience is the bedrock of employee engagement. It provides the foundation of trust from which employees are prepared to work harder and smarter.We know that diet can have a massive impact on a person’s ability to do their job. We’re ...
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Opinion
John Lionis: Do benefits really improve employee engagement?
It looks like the key driver for shaping a benefits strategy, replicating 2011’s result, is to improve employee engagement.My question is this: to what extent can employee benefits influence your emotional attachment to the business, or how much you are willing to help your colleagues, go the ‘extra mile’ or ...
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Opinion
Viki Holton: How to motivate staff
They offer the right salary, more or less, they appreciate staff and make them feel valued; and extra effort is not taken for granted. Compare that to a business where staff feel overworked and underpaid, are micro-managed, unappreciated and, worst of all, the goals keep changing.The principles of employee engagement ...
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Opinion
Karen Reid: Staff wellness plays role in engagement
When planning our wellness week, as well as being a ‘fun week’, we were conscious of the important role it should play in employee engagement. Our objective was to encourage staff to take steps towards a healthier lifestyle and set personal goals for the whole year.The week proved extremely successful. ...