Stress still a problem for employers

NEARLY 40 per cent of UK employers have reported an increase in work related stress. With the average cost of absence per year reaching approximately $1,426 per employee, managing workplace stress is growing challenge for employers. The most common causes of work related stress were:

Workload/volume of work 58%

Organisational change/ restructuring 34%

Pressure to meet targets 32%

Three-quarters of employers were taking action to identify and manage workplace stress and 52 per cent of respondents had a written stress policy and/or guidance in place.

Source: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

Workplace sabotage more common

MORE THAN HALF of working Australians believe they have been a victim of workplace sabotage at some time in their working lives, according to a survey of 807 workers. Males are more likely to have been the victim of a sabotage plot than their female counterparts and nearly a quarter of people surveyed complained that their bosses or colleagues took credit for things that were really a team effort.

Source: Talent2

Sales bogged down in admin

JUST 21 per cent of sales professionals’ time is spent on active selling or prospecting according to an international annual study on productivity. A labour productivity report based on 2,500 company studies in 12 countries (including Australia) found sales staff spend their remaining time on:

Problem-solving 14%

Travel 20%

Administration 27%

The survey measured sales effectiveness against eight key areas of competency for sales professionals and showed debriefing after sales calls as the greatest area of deficiency, with 60 per cent of sales people rating poorly.

Source: Proudfoot Consulting

Aiming for work/life balance

A FULL 86 per cent of workers believe work fulfilment and work/life balance are top career priorities, a report on workers’ attitudes to work/life balance has found. However, the growing awareness of the need to strike this balance has produced a new problem for employers, which is not being fully addressed. Office relationships have taken a back seat as workers try to perform at work and still have time to spend with family and friends.

Source: Spherion Corp

Long and short serving staff feel differently

SOME 53 per cent of workers who have been on a job for 15 years or more believe that employees in their organisation are treated with dignity and respect regardless of their position and background. In contrast, 75 per cent of the newer workers feel the same way. The survey results suggested that longer-term employees are far less positive about several aspects of their work experience compared to colleagues hired within the past two years.

Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting

UK: Money can’t buy happiness

TWICE as many employees would rather work shorter hours than win the lottery, according to a UK survey. The study on work/life balance also revealed that the number of women working more than 60 hours a week had doubled since the year 2000. The results suggest that employers need to be careful to build team-based activities into work time if they want to achieve an effective team environment.

Source: Locher Human Resources

Gender diversity linked to the bottom line

COMPANIES with the good gender diversity have been found to perform better in two measures of financial performance, according to a US study of 353 of the Fortune 500 companies. In those organisations with the highest representation of women in senior leadership experienced 35 per cent higher return on equity and 34 per cent higher total return to shareholders.

Source: Catalyst/Workforce

Australian organisations lag behind in health

MORE Australian organisations exhibit unhealthy traits and behaviours that prevent them from turning decisions into action than their European and American counterparts. The results of more than 50,000 responses to an online evaluation tool and individual company surveys worldwide showed that most organisations are unhealthy and only 31 per cent of participants reported traits and behaviours found in one of three healthy organisational profiles.

Source: Booz Allen Hamilton

Admin staff earning more

SOME 31 per cent of administration staff have received a salary increase over the past six months, compared with 37 per cent who said they had remained the same. Administrative staff were paid more than they would have a year or so ago because good staff are getting harder and harder to find. The survey found that annual salary ranges for administrative workers were between:

31,000 and $40,000 – 27%

$41,000 and $50,000 –19%

$51,000 and $65,000 –11%

Of those that had increased, 9 per cent said the increase had been in the range of $1,000 to $2,000.

Source: OfficeTeam

Australian performance tracking is off track

NEARLY 80 per cent of performance management systems in Australia are antiquated according to a survey of 140 managers from a wide variety of businesses and enterprises. In addition, only 22.8 per cent are capable of producing meaningful reports. Furthermore, performance data is used in only 11.8 per cent of organisations to help identify top performers and only 20.6 per cent of organisations use performance data for identifying potential successors.

Source: Performance Management Institute of Australia

Workplace kitchens prove a battleground

A FULL 37 per cent of respondents to a survey on workplace relations say they have a kitchen Nazi in their office and 88 per cent of people were able to cite at least one office kitchen crime. The greatest kitchen offences rated by the respondents were:

Leaving dirty plates and cups in the sink 27%

Leaving rotting food in the fridge 22%

Dipping wet teaspoons into the sugar bowl 13%

The results indicate that Australians like to have a sense of pride about their workplace, and many are not afraid to pull their peers up about grubby or inconsiderate kitchen behaviour.

Source: LinkMe.com.au