How employers are using everything – from creative training to interior design – to create world-class working environments.
The Guardian did a feature mid March on all the aspects employers are undertaking to engage employees. A wellbeing article stated ‘A happy, healthy workforce makes good business sense’ Julia Perrin, HR Director at law firm Sackers, whose employers benefit from wellness initiatives including free daily fruit, in house pilates classes and weekly massages. As a result of these practices and others such as preventing a long working culture Sackers has a very low turnover. Many companies also offer free yoga classes. ‘After all, if your employees are free from illness and anxiety, they feel good about coming to work and they’re not stressed or suffering, they’re going to enjoy their work more and you’re going to get the best out of them’.
Forward-looking companies are promoting social media not banning it. The Guardian feature had an article named ‘Engage the workforce, manage the brand’ and stated the reluctance of some organisations to embrace social media. Recent research published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) charts how social and digital technologies can be used to recruit talent, engage the workforce as well as manage brands.
Yet despite the obvious benefits of social media, only one in four people use it for work compared with three in four who use it for personal reasons, says CIPD research adviser Jonny Gifford. Furthermore, half of all organisations ban social media on office computers, even though 70% of people own a smartphone.
A CIPD study, Social Media and Employee Voice shows how changing the pattern of communication provides a richer, more authentic employee voice, which brings greater job satisfaction and productivity. It also says social media offer opportunities for internal collaboration and career development and better internal communication.
The full article can be found here.
The Guardian feature also touched upon diverse workforces and it’s benefits which employers have been prioritising for a number of years. The benefits to both communities and employers are profound and as a result the concept has transformed business.
The Guardian list of the UK’s top employers
To be certified as a Top Employer, companies are thoroughly researched by the Top Employers Institute. This research is validated by Grant Thornton. The companies have been scored on these criteria:
Primary benefits – pay, pension, shares and other monetary benefits.
Secondary benefits – provision of non-monetary benefits, such as leave allowance, flexible working and wellbeing policies.
Training and development – the initiatives and programmes that help an employee to grow in their role.
Career development – talent management, succession planning and performance management for the long term.
Culture management – the facilitation of social interaction, employee input, diversity initiatives and social responsibility schemes that create a positive work environment.
The ful list of UK’s top employers can be found here.
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