Childcare
Government claims success for childcare roll-out
The Government is claiming success for the extension of free childcare to two year olds,...read more
Staff sacrifice work/life balance in recession
Almost 40% of employees say they have had to sacrifice some aspect of their work-life balance to keep their job in the recession and 66% think things will not improve in the near future, according to a survey by psychologist Richard MacKinnon. Plus other news.
Almost 40% of employees say they have had to sacrifice some aspect of their work-life balance to keep their job in the recession and 66% think things will not improve in the near future, according to a survey by psychologist Richard MacKinnon.
It found three quarters of employees felt it was their responsibility to achieve a good work life balance, not their employers’, but 70% were worried that their personal life would affect their work performance.
MacKinnon thinks companies should do more to help staff achieve a good work life balance and says a start would be to get senior managers to set a good example.
The survey also found that those working in the public sector felt the pressure to work longer hours than those in private organisation. Women and single people felt reducing their hours, even temporarily, would harm their careers. Women felt additional pressure to work long hours and be on call at all times.
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Baby brain labelled a myth
Pregnancy and motherhood do not cause memory or concentration problems, say Australian researchers.
They studied 1,241 women both before and after they had babies and pronounced “baby brain” a myth. They said that some manuals which talked about “baby brain” actually primed women and their partners to blame any memory problems on pregnancy and motherhood, but this was not in fact the case.
They added that any absentmindedness was probably due to women shifting their focus of attention to the baby.
Companies need to market via social networking, says poll
Some 88% of marketing people see social media as playing a crucial part in brand marketing in the future, whiel only 34% say their company has a social media strategy in place, according to a survey by creative and marketing industry recruiter Major Players.
The survey of 420 people shows that 60% felt their roles needed to change to incorporate social media and 51% would like training in this area.
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HR managers need to plan more for upturn
Almost 70% of HR employees felt managers need more help to plan for the aftermath of the recession, including attracting new skilled staff to the business, according to a Henley Business School study.
The study, entitled The Corporate Learning Priorities Survey 2010, surveyed 119 HR professionals.
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Irrelevant health questions could be banned
Employers could no longer be allowed to ask candidates questions about their health which are unrelated to the job they are applying for, according to a new clause inserted into the Equality Bill.
The Bill which is currently before the House of Lords, could mean employers who do not make reasonable adjustments for employees with health problems which are unrelated to their ability to do the job could face tribunal.
Meanwhile, the Government has been defeated over provisions in the Equality Bill aimed at placating churches who want to be allowed to discriminate against gay people and transexuals who apply for jobs. The Government had suggested that religious organisations be allowed to discriminate for those jobs which “wholly or mainly” involved taking part in services or rituals or explaining the doctrines of religion.
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Search for talent the main problem for companies in the future
The lack of appropriate talented staff should be the main concern of business managers in the future, according to a report published by international recruiter Manpower at the World Economic Forum.
The problem was due to the predicted fall in future years in the numbers of working age people and the changing nature of work. It said those with the most in demand skills would have more choice of jobs and companies would have to rethink how they recruit and retain these individuals.
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Jobs upturn in financial sector
An increase in the number of jobs in banking, financial services, retail and fast-moving consumer goods has been noted by multi-sector recruiter Badenoch & Clark.
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Nannytax launches petition on new safety regulations
Nannytax, the leading website for all things to do with nannies, is petitioning the Government to include nannies in new rules regulating who has contact with children and vulnerable adults.
The new Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), which is coming into effect later this year, aims to prevent unsuitable persons from working with children and vulnerable adults, with the idea that anyone who comes into contact with these groups will have to be registered. However, it excludes nannies.
A Nannytax spokesperson said: “We believe this is a huge mistake and represents a dangerous loophole by discriminating against nannies, and therefore we have submitted a petition to the Government website.”
To join the petition, click here.
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