Culture
Getting the right culture within a business is key to its success.
This cannot be manufactured, it needs to be grown, developed and nurtured with having the right people and behaviours.
Culture should be at the forefront of everything you do, whether it be in written documentation or the behaviours of Senior Management.
If the wrong culture is created this will be shown in retention results and the attitudes of those who remain.
Total Jobs Survey
Respondents to a survey conducted by recruitment website Total jobs have given a damming report on the topic of physical contact at work. Whilst 76% want the amount of physical contact they experience in the workplace reduced, 42% would like an outright ban on certain interactions.
These results reveal that many employees could be uncomfortable with the idea of more affectionate greetings at work.
Businesses have a duty to protect staff from harassment at work at the hands of colleagues, management and third parties such as clients or service users. Therefore, any complaints of unwelcome physical contact must be investigated thoroughly.
Number of hours worked should be shown on certain pay-slips
From 6 April 2019, a new law came into force which states businesses have to include hourly figures on pay-slips where a worker’s pay varies according to the time worked. As a new requirement, it is key that this is understood because a failure to do this correctly could lead to a business breaching the right to receive a written itemised pay statement.
Payslips may still vary in their appearance as businesses can determine how the hourly figure will be displayed. There is a choice between including one figure that totals all the hours which vary pay, or separate figures for each pay variation. As an example, a salary paid worker who is paid an additional sum for working six hours’ overtime and four hours at Sunday rate may have either ‘10’ stated on their pay slip or ‘6 hours’ overtime, 4 hours Sunday rate’.
Symptoms of mental ill-health ‘getting more severe’ for a third of employees
A third of workers suffering from mental ill-health felt their condition worsened over the past 12 months, research has revealed.
In addition to finding symptoms became “more severe” for 34% of people in 2018, the study of 2,000 UK employees said more than half (54%) were not aware of any formal support within their Company to help with their mental health.
Of those surveyed by Mynurva, 49% did not feel there was an appropriate culture in their workplace to enable people to open up about their mental wellbeing.
More than 54% said they struggled to find time to attend medical appointments, and 40% had missed one or more appointments concerning their mental health because of work commitments.
The results were echoed by Westfield Health’s wellbeing index. It revealed 31% of employees felt under pressure to constantly stay late, while 30% said they ate at their desk, 39% arrived early, 29% took work home and 25% missed lunch.
40% of workers said they had taken time off work due to mental health but gave their employer a different reason for their absence. When asked why they felt unable to tell the truth, the most common response was they feared people would assume they were making it up.
There is a clear need for businesses to think about the future. A culture that rewards staying late and heaps pressure on its staff will pay the price in days lost to mental health issues due to burnout.
By not dealing with these issues, not only does this have an impact on company bottom line, but it can also cause a drop in productivity levels, affect workplace morale and impact the wellbeing of other members of staff.
If you need help or wish to discuss any of these topics do contact us.