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Tag: Survey

  • Two in three UK employees receive no training at work

    Patrick Crowder

     

    66% of UK office workers have no opportunities for training or progression in their current roles, according to a nationwide survey by Just Eat for Business. Additionally, 29% of employees surveyed said that they believe their wage is not representative of their skill level, causing them to feel undervalued.

    The pandemic has changed the way that many people think about work, and employers are scrambling to attract new talented people who will stay with the company long-term. Salaries and pensions are still at the top of the list for potential employees, but training and the opportunity to develop new skills are also major factors. Over a quarter of the respondents stated that they would leave their current job for one with a higher salary, an improved work-life balance, or more seniority.

    The survey comes as part of Just Eat’s Lunch and Learn programme, which combines corporate catering with training. Just Eat for Business Account Management Director Tom Baxter believes that training can be an excellent way to attract and keep employees.

    “Career progression is an increasingly important aspect of work life for employees, particularly given the recent discussions around cost of living and people desiring a better work-life balance overall,” Baxter says, “Progression doesn’t always mean salary increases or promotions – the survey shows employees are just as keen to build upon their existing knowledge and enhance skills. Scheduling regular training, such as Lunch and Learns or catered workshops, is a great way to promote career development and increase employee interaction on a weekly basis.”

    Nobody wants to feel like their professional life is going nowhere, and not everybody has the time to pursue their own personal development outside of their already stressful jobs, so it is vital that businesses work with their employees to help them pursue their goals.

    In a time when employees are taking a hard look at the value of their work compared with what they receive for it, training in the workplace is more valuable than ever in terms of increasing employee satisfaction.

  • One in three UK employees find getting help from HR “hard or nearly impossible”, study finds

    Patrick Crowder

    How well do you know your Human Resources department? According to a new study, about half of you should answer, “not at all”. 

    Research by the HR software company Cezanne shows that only 55% of employees would definitely be able to recognise members of their HR teams if they passed in the hall. 27% of the group surveyed said that they definitely wouldn’t recognise any members of their HR teams, and the remaining people were unsure.

    This seems to represent a problem. We know that many companies have HR departments which offer solid support to their employees – that is not in question. However, the results of this survey show that some HR departments are lacking in engagement. In addition to that, one third of respondents found it “hard or nearly impossible” to get help from HR.

    The pandemic has caused a major shift in the way that people work and interact with colleagues. It has also been a time of anxiety, uncertainty, and depression for many people, so HR departments have recently had to play a much larger role in ensuring the mental wellbeing of their employees. 

    Cezanne’s study shows that, on the whole, employees were at least satisfied with their HR departments’ handling of the pandemic. In response to the question, “Do you trust your HR team more or less now than before Covid-19,” 32% of respondents said that they now have more trust in their HR departments than before the pandemic.  This is a good sign that a good number of companies engaged with their employees and helped them through the pandemic. 

    54% were indifferent, saying that their trust in HR had not changed. This may seem lacklustre but maintaining an existing relationship of trust in the face of adverse circumstances and unknowns is no easy task.

    Of the employees surveyed, 14% said that they trust their HR team less now following the pandemic, demonstrating that there were companies which mismanaged HR since 2020 leading to a drop in employee satisfaction.

    Overall, the pandemic could have been handled much worse by HR teams across the UK, and a relatively small drop in trust during that time is understandable. However, it is also clear that some HR teams are not doing enough to be accessible, understanding of, and helpful to employees. 

    HR is paramount to running and maintaining a healthy business, and the mental health needs of employees are of more concern now than ever before. The HR departments which excel often go well beyond expectations, and it’s up to those departments which are lacking to catch up fast or risk being left in the dust.

    Credit: Cezanne HR https://cezannehr.com/infographics/trust-in-hr/

  • The WFH revolution is here, but the office is still the most popular option, finds YouGov poll

    Patrick Crowder

    New research conducted by YouGov Cambridge as part of their Globalism Project reveals the different ways people wish to work after the pandemic. Their survey of 27 countries asks where people would prefer to work if they had the choice – in the home or office – and how often they would like to do so.

    Denmark and Japan have the lowest desire to remove the office from work life completely, with only 8% of respondents in both countries stating that they would like to work from home full time. US, South African, and Brazilian workers are the most eager to ditch their commutes, with 27-28% saying that they wouldn’t like to work in an office at all.

    In the UK, the most popular option is to work in an office full-time with no work from home element. While 38% of UK workers don’t want to work from home at all, 23% want to work from home “most” of the time, and 21% want to work from home only “some” of the time. This desire for flexibility outweighs the nation’s desire to embrace the home office, with 18% of people saying that they would prefer full-time work in the home.

    As we have seen that Japanese workers have little desire to work from home, it stands to reason that Japan also has the highest number of people who want to work in the office full time, at 52%. Italian workers are second on the list for wanting to retain traditional office life at 48%, trailed closely by Spain and Germany which both saw 46% of workers wishing to keep their offices.

    Most workers in all of the countries surveyed are willing to work from home at least some of the time, with percentages for that option hovering between 20-40% across the board. Some countries, however, are resistant to working from home for most of the time, including Japan, Denmark, Spain, and France which all saw responses for that category falling below 15%.

    Across all of the countries surveyed, working in the office full time was the most popular choice at 32%. While 47% of workers are happy to work from home in some capacity at work (if we combine the respondents who chose to work from home “most of the time” and “some of the time”), only 17% are willing to make working from home their full time job. 

    However you like to work, it seems that there will always be someone else who would prefer something different – and with a bit of added flexibility and solid organisation, that’s not a problem. 

    Data: YouGov Cambridge https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/jgy6eyxvvs/Globalism21_CovidImact_AllCountries_WFHRebase.pdf