All Opinion articles – Page 22
-
OpinionProfessor Alex Bryson: Has the pandemic changed how to motivate employees?
Debate on how to motivate employees goes way back. Employers have two sets of tools in their toolbox. The first are pecuniary rewards, so beloved by economists, for extrinsic motivation: more money, and linking pay to performance can deliver greater worker effort if designed properly. The second are the non-pecuniary ...
-
OpinionJeff Fox: The future of total reward and what businesses need to do today
Over the past 18 months the world of work has changed immensely. The Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic has altered not only our patterns of working, but also the expectations employees have of their organisations.The workforce has adapted to become more agile and flexible, but in order for employees to stay engaged, ...
-
OpinionCharles Cotton: Total reward can help attract and motivate staff in a turbulent job market
Under a total reward approach, all aspects of the employee experience are recognised, with focus given to non-financial rewards alongside pay and those perks with a monetary value. Examples of the non-financial elements making up total reward include access to career development training, freedom and autonomy, supportive line managers, recognition ...
-
OpinionMark Ormston: Key considerations to introducing a salary sacrifice pension scheme
When introducing a salary sacrifice pension scheme, early engagement with payroll is key, as it is vital to involve them as soon as possible in the discussions. An employer may discover the systems or software currently being used have certain limitations or missing functionality to meet desired requirements.Employers should consider ...
-
OpinionKaren Plumbley-Jones: Guidance for employers on the furlough scheme end
How many jobs have been saved by the furlough scheme? We won't ever know the answer to that question, but 11.6 million jobs have been supported by the scheme at some point. That equates to roughly 40% of the total UK workforce and we have seen far fewer redundancies than ...
-
OpinionPaul Hollick: The future of staff travel schemes
Prior to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, mobility was beginning to gain pace as a form of business travel. This took the form of staff travel schemes based around a mobility allowance offering a wide range of options that were not just trains and other forms of public transport, but car ...
-
OpinionDiane Lightfoot: Recruiting and retaining diverse talent requires different thinking
The recent Recruitment and Employment Confederation survey, Labour and skills shortages, published September 2021, found that labour and skills shortages are the key issues currently facing recruiters. The impact on lower-paid industries such as hospitality, construction, transport and social care has been well reported. But it is expected that higher-paying ...
-
OpinionRichard Freedman: Government launches consultation on making flexible working the default
The UK government has launched a consultation considering various reforms to the existing flexible working legislation.The consultation sets out a number of proposals for reshaping the existing regulatory framework to facilitate the objective of expanding the ability to work flexibly. The most striking element is the proposal to give all ...
-
OpinionElaine Bremner: Benefitting from an inclusive culture
When it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in the workplace, a lot needs to be done to ensure all employees, regardless of their background and identity, feel safe and empowered to bring their true selves to work. CIPHR's Workplace discrimination report, published in September 2021, found that a ...
-
OpinionRanjit Dhindsa: Introducing mandatory ethnicity pay reporting
On 20 September 2021, UK MPs took part in an e-petition debate on the introduction of mandatory ethnicity pay reporting for UK organisations.The petition, which received more than 130,000 signatures, followed the introduction of mandatory gender pay reporting and the publication of the McGregor-Smith review of race in the workplace, ...
-
OpinionSophi Berridge: Equality and inclusion in the workplace leads to a more equal society
In many organisations, the secrecy that surrounds pay spawns a workplace of exclusion and division. Such employers adopt high risk recruitment practices, requiring a candidate's previous job salary on its application forms; not advertising a clear ‘rate for the job’; and leaving details such as name, age, sex and gender ...
-
OpinionAvneet Kaur: How to focus on health equity and improve employee resilience
Over recent years, diversity has increasingly become a topic organisations want, and need, to engage with. Stakeholders, including governments, prospective and current employees are asking to see a more proactive approach by organisations, and the proof of progress.Indeed, in Aon’s recent Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) in the Workplace report, ...
-
OpinionAhmed Al-Nahhas: How employers can help staff mental wellbeing
A recent tribunal ruling threw into question whether some employers truly understand the impact post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can have on staff from a military background.The tribunal found British Airways (BA) had discriminated, harassed and demonstrated a lack of empathy towards an RAF veteran with PTSD, who worked as an ...
-
OpinionStephen Perkins: Can an agile reward strategy deliver an employer’s philosophy?
My answer about whether an agile reward strategy can deliver an employer’s philosophy is yes, provided there is honesty and openness among all concerned about what holding fast to the corporate reward philosophy means. The offer may be to recognise predictably what workforce members contribute over the longer term.Alternatively, offer ...
-
OpinionJulie Morris and Michelle Last: Should fertility support be a statutory right?
The number of people undergoing fertility treatment in the UK increases steadily each year. In 2019, more than 53,000 patients underwent around 69,000 fertility treatments. While we await the latest data, this upward trend means it is increasingly likely that employers will be faced with requests for work absences from ...
-
OpinionLee McIntyre-Hamilton: National insurance rise causes concern among employers
Given the sizable budget deficit and the demands of the NHS and social care, it will be no surprise to many that taxes are set to increase with the new 1.25% health and social care levy. However, the timing and nature of the rise has rightly caused grave concern among ...
-
OpinionHelen Burgess: It's a good idea to plan festive reward strategies early
People are starting to talk about Christmas, so it’s a good idea to think about a festive strategy now.Requests for leaveIf an organisation’s holiday year runs to the end of the calendar year, it should remind employees to book and use their holiday entitlement to avoid a last-minute rush for ...
-
OpinionAndrew Crudge: Should the menopause be included in the Equality Act?
There is a strong case to add the menopause as a specific protected characteristic under the Equality Act. As it stands, where an employer discriminates against an employee because of issues relating to the menopause, the employee may possibly have grounds to bring a claim for sex, disability or perhaps ...
-
OpinionKate Payne: Is the GMP equalisation update realistic?
When it comes to guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) equalisation on past transfers, the new Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA) guide does a good job of explaining the total mess schemes find themselves in as a result of the 2020 Lloyds judgement, and how the obligation might be discharged in a ...
-
OpinionKavitha’s keynote: Hybrid working models are the future
Every week it seems different organisations are revealing details of their new hybrid working models. This week in particular, we’ve reported on a number of UK employers that have introduced such initiatives, as staff return to workplaces.Zoom, for example, has decided to allow employees to have a mixture of remote ...