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workplace

Missing Millions – the training gap in the UK workforce

11 March, 2020 By WiC

  • only 33% of working age people in the UK feel positive about their future career prospects
  • 34% of respondents have either not received workplace training in the last five years or have never had any such training – equating to 17.8 million people with outdated skills.
  • 31.3 million people (60% of respondents) feel their skills are underutilised

In its latest research report, Missing Millions, City & Guilds shines a light on the worrying reality of the UK’s skills and productivity crisis.

As productivity continues to decline, it’s widely understood that businesses and Government need to prepare to meet the demands of the workplace of the future and ensure the country has the skilled workforce it will need over the next decade. However, the research reveals that people across the nation are being denied access to training and opportunities to upskill that would enable them to be more productive.

According to the report – which is based on findings from labour market economists Emsi and a poll of 5,000 working age people – only half (53%) have received workplace training in the last three years, and a third (34%) have either never received training, or did so more than five years ago. The lack of opportunity for skills development leads to only a third (33%) of the UK working age population feeling positive about their future career prospects.

In addition to this, 60% of respondents stated that they felt the skills they did have were underutilised at least 50% of the time, suggesting that employers are not fully capitalising on the skills they already have within their businesses.

Kirstie Donnelly, Interim CEO at City & Guilds Group, commented:

Today we are fortunate that unemployment sits at its lowest level since 1975, but this masks the fact that many people in the country are in fact underemployed and could contribute far more to society if given the opportunity. By unlocking more people’s full potential, we can both increase opportunities for social mobility and help to drive up productivity.

Over the last decade, we have witnessed continued cuts to adult education funding, which has meant that certain groups of people have effectively been ‘left behind’. As the impact of Artificial Intelligence and the fourth industrial revolution continues to totally reshape the labour market, we need to see urgent action from the Government to reverse the decline of the lifelong learning sector – ensuring people in all areas have access to critical skills development and employers have access to the talent they so desperately need.

The research found:

  • Those from lower socio-economic groups were much less likely to have received training in the last five years (44% vs 68%) and were less satisfied with their career prospects (22% vs 39%) than those from higher socio-economic groups;
  • Those living in the North East of England faced a significant disadvantage in access to training and opportunities for progression when compared with other regions. Only 21% of people in the North East felt positive about the jobs market in their local area, compared to 45% in London;
  • Those working part-time – significantly more women than men – were also less likely to have received training in the last five years than those working full-time (61% vs 72%). Part-time workers were additionally far less likely to believe there was opportunity to progress than their full-time counterparts (22% vs 36%);
  • People highly value the training they do receive – 77% of those who had received workplace training stated that it had enabled them to be more effective at their job.

Kirstie continued:

From better provision of training and education across regions of the UK to better access to childcare giving more part-time workers the chance to upskill, we need to see immediate action from government and policy makers. We are already lagging behind the other G7 countries when it comes to productivity so it’s critical that we address this challenge head on if we are to retain our status as a leading global economy post Brexit. Harnessing the full potential of the people that are already in work – and are yearning to learn – would be a significant step in the right direction.

As a result of the findings in the report, City & Guilds is calling for government and policy makers, employers and individuals to take action:

  • Employers need to invest in skills development for people at all ages and levels of their career. They also need to get better at recognising and utilising people’s full skillsets.
  • Individuals need to start looking for more opportunities to upskill themselves outside of the workplace or put themselves forward for training at work, as well as showcasing their full range of skills to employers, both current and potential.
  • Government and policy makers need to urgently review adult education and create a system that encourages lifelong learning, retraining and reskilling. They need to provide better careers guidance and advice to people at all stages of their career.

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Visit our searchable Knowledge Bank for a range of reports and studies on gender diversity, leadership and related topics.

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Filed Under: Reports Tagged With: personal development, workplace

Get the most from your 2020 annual leave

6 January, 2020 By WiC

Holiday

Research from tombola shows that 44% of Brits don’t use up all their holiday allowance.  The main reason?  “Too busy” say 38%.

Other standout stats from tombola’s study

  • 24% of us take a break that lasts between 6 and 10 days in one go and 20% take 3 days or less.
  • 23% of us are working at least 1 unpaid week each year, losing an average of £529 per week. (ONS data)

With that in mind tombola have gathered a handy list to help people get the most of their annual leave in 2020.

How To Get The Most Annual Leave in 2020

One of the best ways to maximise your leave is to book time off around statutory holidays.

Get 16 Days Holiday in the Spring by Booking 8 days off at Easter

  • Monday 6th April
  • Tuesday 7th April
  • Wednesday 8th April
  • Thursday 9th April

Then a second set of days.

  • Tuesday 14th April
  • Wednesday 15th April
  • Thursday 16th April
  • Friday 17th April

Book 7 days off and Unwrap 16 at Christmas

Christmas 2020 is a long way off, but a bit of forward planning will have you the envy of your colleagues.

Next year, book these dates for holiday success.

  • Monday 21st December
  • Tuesday 22nd December
  • Wednesday 23rd December
  • Thursday 24th December

And then book this second set of days to cover between Christmas and New Year.

  • Tuesday 29th December
  • Wednesday 30th December
  • Thursday 31st December

Some people like to take an extra day (the 2nd January) to ease their way back into work, but as the 2nd this year falls on a Saturday, if you’re a Mon-Fri worker then you won’t go back to the office until 4th January 2021.

That’s 16 consecutive days off for just 7 annual leave days.

Harvard economist Juliet Schor says:

The pace of work has increased quite dramatically. We are working much faster today than we were in the past. And that contributes to our sense of being overworked and frenzied and harried and stressed out and burned out by our jobs.

 

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Filed Under: WIC News Tagged With: workplace

Over half of mothers change jobs after maternity leave

17 September, 2019 By WiC

mothers are frustrated say data

Women are a key part of a growing contingent workforce of freelancers, consultants and part-timers. Despite numerous government policies to attract more mothers back into the workplace, retention is still a significant struggle.

To find out why this is the case, John Williams, Head of Marketing at Instant Offices, explores how employers can tackle retention issues and attract workforce of mothers.

Several data collected indicates working mothers who return part-time, combining professional careers with raising a family, are increasingly frustrated by the type of space they work in. The research shows that the modern workplace often fails to cater for their needs as they face the pressures of combining busy working lives with lifestyle and family obligations.

retaining the skills of mothers

Blending lifestyle and work for working mums

According to UniSpace, lifestyles and workplaces are blending together, as the working day demands more of our time and technology encourages an “always available” work culture. For mothers, in particular, Office designers have started to recognise the pressure to achieve a lifestyle and workplace balance – particularly for those who are in part-time roles and arguably have to juggle time more than ever before

The data from WorkingMums.co.uk indicates that the number of female workers seeking part-time work, at all levels of the company, is increasing rapidly, but that the number of available opportunities is failing to increase at the same rate.

What do the numbers say?

From a survey of over 2000 women, it shows nearly one in five (18%) UK working mothers have been forced to leave their jobs because a flexible working request has been turned down.

Breaking down the statistics, around 12% said their employer did not even seem to consider their request at all, and over a quarter (27%) said the reason given for turning down the request was not one which is allowable under flexible working legislation.
A further 41% on maternity leave said the refusal of flexible working would mean they might not return to their job, while 50% said they had not even discussed flexible working before going on maternity leave. In fact, a whopping over half of (60%) of women have admitted to changing jobs after maternity leave.

The survey also shows the availability of flexible working is the key career development issue for working mums, with homeworking being valued highly, particularly for those wanting to work full-time. Other barriers included childcare costs – half of women currently on maternity leave said childcare costs could prevent them from returning to work.

The rise of female workspaces

The growth of the contingent workforce has been one of the key drivers behind the move towards coworking. The rise of female-specific coworking spaces is a significant extension to this trend and highlights some of the limitations of conventional space for female workers.

Due to the lack of flexibility, the introduction of female only workspaces such as The Wing, a US based women-only workspace have been created to cater for busy mothers and women by featuring facilities from onsite creches, childminding to gyms, hairdressers and cafes.

While these spaces may initially be viewed as coworking spaces, their ultimate objective is to become networks that facilitate female entrepreneurship and support women at every stage of their journey.

Creating a balanced workplace

Following responses from a survey by Instant Offices, here are some tips that employers should consider in creating a balanced workplace for all employees:

  • Flexible Policies that benefit all parents: Offering a number of ‘family days’ for both mum and dad to attend assemblies and doctor’s appointments, etc… would enable a fairer system for all involved.
  • Choice of Mobile Working Options: Flexible working with multiple offices/sites and 4G connectivity would greatly help allow fully mobile working for parents who are on the go.
  • Work-life by balance and flexibility for all employees: Providing company-sponsored childcare schemes that would include on-site childcare would improve quality and offer a more practical solution. This includes providing more private space to facilitate phone calls to carers, more flexible hours to work around pick up/drop off hours, and a change in working hours during long summer holidays.

Providing integration of workplace and lifestyle elements in the workplace helps to alleviate pressure on work/life balance – and brings to light recognition of the demands the working day places on them.

balanced workplace for mothers

 

Read more about flexible working here

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Filed Under: Diversity Tagged With: diversity, female, flexible, retention, workplace

Managers: do you recognise the signs of burnout?

27 June, 2019 By WiC

Careers expert Zena Everett is an executive coach, author and an in-demand speaker on career management and productivity. Here she talks about how to spot and stop burnout in your teams – and yourself.

Don’t wait for a sickness note or resignation for proof of burnout in your teams. Here’s some warning signs to look out for and some prevention strategies.

Burnout is defined as a ‘state of vital exhaustion’. How do you know if you are genuinely exhausted with work rather than depressed? A depressed person will take their black dog with them wherever they go. Burnout, on the other hand, is confined to work. Get away from your desk (and your boss) and up a mountain, on a beach, or wherever you go to decompress, and your energy and mood will be restored.
To state the obvious, people should NOT burn out, take a break, return to work and repeat the pattern (although I know some who do). That’s bonkers from any angle: career, psychological, physical or family.

Your job as a manager is to ensure that your team members are happy, engaged and productive (all three feed into the other). Burned-out colleagues are none of these. What are the warning behaviours? Here’s two canaries in the coalmine I look for when coaching:

Burnout Sign #1: Reduced productivity.

Your high performing, perfectionist, people-pleasing, nothing-is-ever-good-enough-for-me, piece of expensive Talent ceases to deliver. They work even longer hours but the standard of their tasks tails off. Talk to them about it. Say that you have noticed the changes and ask what they think is going on. It could be that they are just bored and need more responsibilities. Or they could be overwhelmed by their workload and their own relentless drive to excel. Those are predictors of burnout. Coach them to manage the demands of their role and the pressure they put on themselves.

Burnout Sign #2: Cynicism.

This varies from an increasingly apathetic approach to the job, when people fall prey to office and digital distractions, to downright pessimism about the impact of their work. You’ll hear previously positive people make snidey comments about the customers, other team members, other departments, or senior management. ‘What’s the point anyway, nothing changes around here,’ ‘I don’t mind teaching, it’s just the parents and the children that spoil it’, ‘not him again, what does he want this time?’ etc. It’s sort of funny in the moment, but it’s not actually. Negativity and disengagement will drive more motivated team members away. It’s certainly not enabling a collaborative culture that screams service, success and energy.

What can you do to prevent burnout happening and restore resilience? Step up to the plate and actively help your people to do their best work in a healthier way.
Prevention Strategies

Restore the boundaries.

Employees are happiest and most motivated when they make daily, incremental progress towards their goals.* That’s all it takes! Allow them to get their meaningful work done – with clear role descriptions, targets, performance metrics, deadlines, training and all the resources they need.

Then get out of their way.

When I meet stressed-out people they are often overloaded with pointless projects, routine administration, complicated reporting systems, badly-thought out management initiatives and lengthy meeting schedules. All of these are obstacles to real work. Be brave. Re-evaluate the output you expect from people and clarify how they can achieve it. Then cut out everything else that takes up their time. They’ll thank you for asking some hard questions and challenging fatty work cultures that inhibit productivity. ‘Why are we doing this? Is there a better, more efficient way of achieving the same result?’

Walk the talk.

You are a role model for high and healthy performance. If you are rushing from one meeting to another, snapping at people, over-promising and under-delivering and working stupid hours, then you’ve no time to step back, listen, think strategically and nip problems in the bud before they escalate.

Delegate, manage upwards, push back, re-negotiate and say No.

All of these are crucial yet basic leadership skills. Don’t send out of hours emails (save them in your draft folder or use the timed sending facility if you really must write them), or finesse tasks that don’t need finessing (that power-point deck is just fine). I hear of so many managers who CREATE stress.

  • Get proper training on the granular details of managing work-flow.
  • Only hold meetings that are absolutely necessary, keep to an agenda and don’t let anyone waffle.
  • Be on time.
  • Look like you can cope with more responsibility, not that you are about to combust.

Disconnect and build real connections.

No one can be ON all the time. Do less but think more: you’ll be more valuable that way. You rarely get your best ideas in the office.

  • Encourage your people to take their holidays.
  • Exercise. Breathe.
  • Find a hobby or a challenge outside work that nourishes you.
  • Take a real lunch break and eat with your team.
  • Talk, don’t email.

Someone said at one of my recent Crazy Busy™ sessions that the only creative thing their Creative Director did was create email chains.

Reward results, not presenteeism.

Flexible working is a no-brainer. Trust people with the freedom to do their work in the most appropriate place and don’t be petty about checking up on them. There is no correlation between long hours cultures and productivity, quite the opposite. A sense of control over where and how we do our best work is a crucial aspect to motivation.

Build co-worker support systems.

Eating together, talking about how to improve processes, doing pre- and post-mortems, building in planning time, asking for support and advice. I’m not sure that hackneyed team-bonding initiatives like away days are as effective as regular, shorter team pow-wows when you can really communicate, allow everyone’s voice to be heard and get solutions from the people at the front line. Problems don’t get solved by paint-balling.

*Conclusion of a reassuring three-year study by Teresa Amabile of Harvard Business School on how to create forward momentum with clear goals, autonomy and a genuinely respectful culture. It confirms what your management instincts have been trying to tell you: HR interventions that work are lean, honest and relatively obvious. Read her book with Steven Kramer, The Progress Principle: Using small wins to ignite job, engagement and creativity at work.

Next Steps

I hope that’s helpful and I’d love your feedback and experiences. As ever, please feel free to share with anyone you think would benefit.

Pick up the phone if I can help build resilience and coping strategies with my executive coaching or if you need a lively, practical speaker on career management or productivity topics at your next conference.

ZENA EVERETT
Phone: +44 20 3287 9505 | Mobile: +44 (0) 7968 424650
Email: zena@zenaeverett.com

ZenaEverettLogo

 

Your session was great – informative, interactive, fun and engaging, can’t ask for more! ICAEW SME Conference Organiser

Here’s my short animation on how to stop our brains getting so frazzled

 

Click HERE for details of sessions I can run in your business

(This is a WiC promotion on behalf of Zena Everett)

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Filed Under: WIC News Tagged With: development, leadership, workplace

UK workplace culture stalls women’s careers

13 February, 2019 By WiC

workplaceculture image

UK workplace culture stalls women’s careers say three in four women and two in five men reports year-long study involving almost 6,000 UK employees.

Everyday examples of unintentionally gender biased behaviour in workplace culture are stalling women’s careers, according to a year-long study released on 13 February 2019 by Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge.

Involving 5,814 UK employees, this research sheds new light on the implications of the way people tend to think about the strengths, attributes and potential of men and women. This is not a simple issue. Few people are intentionally sexist. The research found that gender double standards are perpetuated by both men and women.

Almost three in four (74%) female employees believe their workplace culture makes it more challenging for women to advance their careers than men. 42% of men agree. While many studies have focused on women’s perceptions alone, this research also reveals men’s views and the gulf between the two, identifying where focus is needed to ensure equality of opportunity.

These findings are released as part of Murray Edwards College’s Collaborating with Men programme. Delivered through research and workshops with large UK employers, the initiative enables employees across the genders to work together to solve cultural issues in their own workplace. It was launched after a 2014 survey of the all-female College’s alumnae reported workplace culture issues to be a greater barrier to career advancement than challenges relating to balancing work and family life.

Perhaps surprisingly more senior women report greater challenges to career progress. Half of senior female employees say their own workplace culture ‘often’ or ‘always’ presents career advancement challenges for women, compared with 36% of junior female employees. This has implications for career development and promotions.

The research found that the culture of UK workplaces is especially failing women of colour. Over half (56%) of women from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic or mixed race background say their workplace culture ‘often’ or ‘always’ presents career advancement challenges for women. This compares to 48% of white females.

Dr Jill Armstrong, lead researcher and Murray Edwards College Bye-Fellow comments:

Women are well equipped to excel in leadership positions, but they’re not rising from middle management in the same proportions as men. Those involved in the study have been surprised by the gender gulf in perceptions about the effect of unintentionally gender biased thinking. It’s workplace culture that has to change if we are to create equality of opportunity. That has to be done in partnership with men.

The latest study explores seven key ways in which gender stereotypes and unintentionally exclusive behaviour can damage women’s career progression opportunities:

  • Women being judged more negatively when they behave in the same way as men
  • Men and women being evaluated differently due to stereotypes around strengths
  • Informal (social) networks that are important for decision making being male-dominated
  • Men having more access to sponsorship from senior leaders
  • Women not always being credited for their contribution to meetings
  • “Benevolent sexism”, which is well intentioned but still hinders promotion prospects
  • Women being interrupted in meetings

Double standards at root of women’s career progression challenges

Women being judged more negatively for behaviours that male colleagues also exhibit is one of the key examples of gender bias for organisations to address, according to the research.
43% of female employees say they have directly experienced being judged more negatively than men for the same behaviour in the last 12 months.

Dr Jill Armstrong comments:

Both male and female employees acknowledge that in many workplaces men get away with behaving in ways that are not considered acceptable for women. Female anger is still particularly unpalatable – we saw that with the uproar about Serena Williams at the US Open. What is perceived as decisive and strong from men, can be caricatured as bossy or aggressive from a woman.”

More than half (53%) of women have seen these double standards affect other female colleagues in the last 12 months. Yet only 18% of men have noticed this happening to female colleagues over the same year, suggesting that while many men are aware women face greater career progression challenges, they rarely notice the ways in which this manifests.

Crucially, the researchers found these double standards are perpetuated by female as well as male bosses. Well over half of the employees surveyed (55% of men and 59% of women) report personally being treated differently because of their gender by a female boss.

Stereotypes lead to women losing out on challenging opportunities

According to the participants’ rankings, one of the other most important issues for UK employers to address is stereotypical views on men’s and women’s strengths. This is likely to lead to biased decisions when filling leadership positions.

Previous academic research has established that traits commonly valued in potential leaders such as ambition, a single-minded commitment to work and risk-taking are frequently associated with men. Today’s study found these assumptions are perceived to affect women’s promotion into leadership positions.

According to two-thirds (64%) of female employees, stereotypical views about female traits, such as building good relationships, attention to detail and strong admin skills leads to them being perceived in their workplaces as good managers rather than good potential leaders. Only 29% of men believe this happens.

Kirsty Peacock, HR Director, Dentons UK & Middle East LLP, who has enrolled teams onto Collaborating with Men workshops comments:

I’ve tried many gender equality initiatives and this is the first one that’s started the conversation in a constructive way. Staff fill in a survey beforehand and the workshop begins by sharing the results. Being confronted by your own colleagues’ experiences is really powerful and the anonymity reduces the emotion that often comes with this subject.

It’s moved the conversations we’re having away from blame and defensiveness towards a positive dialogue, with everyone creating the solutions together. We already have great gender equality policies and processes, but this is enabling us to think about our culture on a deeper level.

Jason Ghaboos, researcher and Murray Edwards College Bye-Fellow comments:

Men can sometimes wonder whether it is their place to give a voice to these issues, and I have heard from male allies that their motives for being involved in gender issues are questioned; by both men and women. It needs to become more normal for men and women to talk about this.

Gender inclusivity is not a ‘women’s issue’. To class it as such is unhelpful and masks the complexity of the issues, and the nuance required of interventions. Often solutions in the past have focussed on what women need to do to improve the situation. In truth, meaningful change can only occur when women and men work together to improve the workplace culture for all.

 

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Filed Under: Reports Tagged With: career, culture, diversity, female, workplace

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