Our recent survey reveals that over half of offices already have put their Christmas decorations up.
This was researched prior to the 1st of December this year.
It definitely seems there is more early excitement around the start of the festive season.
Our offices are full of fairy lights like we have never seen before. What decorations do you have up?
We are very pleased to collate our latest survey results looking into sexism in the workplace.
96% of respondents say they would respect a man and woman equally as their boss.
Over the years equality is becoming a more discussed topic especially within the workplace. The gap between men and women is reducing but is still prominent in many industries and locations. Will the strive for true equality ever really exist with the clear differences between men and women that will always prevail?
4% of people sadly said they would not respect a man and woman equally - if that was you - who would you respect less and what are your reasons? Please do share....
Does your workplace actively encourage the elimination of sexism? What steps are they taking? Would be great to hear and share ideas.....
We came across an article in the news today about the top skills that employers are looking for. Within the piece it states that the number one skill is verbal communication. Whether this is needed or not in the actual role, it is felt that this skill is the most important over any of other. Do you agree?
Second in the research is teamwork. Although teamwork is paramount when working alongside others, there are jobs that probably require other more important skills over teamwork, so it really does depend on the industry and job role.
Some of the other skills within the top 10 include; commercial awareness, analysis and investigation, initiative and self-motivation, drive, written communication, planning, organisation and time management. Although this list is not exhaustive, it does cover some of the most important skills needed for many roles. As already mentioned some skills may be more important for specific roles that are not highlighted here so although the above are thought to be the most important based on a number of surveys, it is not set in stone.
For example, an IT Software Developers' most important skills may be programming, logical thinking, structured thinking and attention to detail whereas a Sales Managers' most important skills may be verbal communication, teamwork, leadership and negotiation skills etc.
You can see the latest article in the news here.
Love to hear your thoughts on what skill is the most important in your role?
With National Hug Your Boss Day being celebrated next month, we are now gathering data around relationships at work so we can share new statistics and facts.
We are currently asking our users, if they think their relationships with their colleagues could be improved. Do you think they could? Even just a little? Or are they either fine as they are or do you think they are so bad you do not even want to bother to try to improve them?
Whatever situation you find yourself in, let us know and help us build a picture of the current state of relationships at work today.
You can find the survey on our homepage of the website or you can CLICK HERE through to the page. Thank you in advance. We appreciate your input :)
Mental health has become a much talked about subject across the World right now so we have been investigating this delicate field within the workplace and if people felt that mental health had possibly been triggered by certain working situations. With many people working long hours, feeling stressed and struggling to maintain a healthy work life balance it would seem like there could be a link between the two.
The survey asked if people or their friends/colleagues/people they knew had suffered with mental health issues triggered by work related issues. Reassuringly, 70% said no but there were still 30% saying yes, showing us that some working environments may not be right for many. Although the response clearly shows more people stating no, which is great, there is still a large proportion (the 30%) that are suffering, most probably in silence, because of something related to work which could be avoided or addressed. On top of this, we must also account for those who do suffer with mental health issues but do not realise that it is their workplace or job causing it. An interesting statistic according to MIND, the mental health charity found that one in six people suffer from mental health in the workplace.
So, what can we as workers do to try to manage mental health or reduce the potential of it hitting us altogether? Here are some things to think about....
- Take regular breaks and go for a walk to get fresh air
- Create fun social situations with the people you work with, like lunches, drinks, bowling etc
- Listen to music to help you to unwind, de-stress
- Eat healthily and avoid excess alcohol
- Manage the work life balance by avoiding doing too many hours
- Build a to-do list that you can use to make sure you do not become overwhelmed and over-loaded
- Do not leave any problems or uncertainties to brew and always address them with your bosses or colleagues
The MIND website, has some great ideas that we would recommend reading if this is something affecting you. Click here to have a look.
If you are planning to send your loved one a Valentines day present to their workplace, then think again! 21% of people would prefer that the celebration of Valentines Day and gifts sent are left to outside of work and would NOT want anything sent into their workplace.
Embarrassment, shame, discomfort, resentment are a few feelings that may erupt from gifts being received in the workplace. Whatever the reason though, there are a substantial number of people that have the same feelings!
On the other hand though, over 30% would enjoy having flowers sent to them at work. Out of the gifts mentioned, flowers were at the top of the list! Chocolates (25%) were the second most sought after and champagne (14%) the third.
Down the bottom of the list came Smellies (7%), Candles (3%) and Balloons (2%). As a result of this, if you were considering buying one of these, our advice would be not to bother and save your money!
So, what other little things can you do on Valentines Day that will not embarrass the hell out of your loved one and potentially irritate those around them? We think, save the gifts for the evening or get them out of the way early in the morning rather than sending them to the workplace. Use technology to communicate your love, whether this is by text, email or social media if you need to be in touch within working hours. How about taking them for lunch? Valentines Day is about showing your loved one that you love them, not shouting about it to the people around you, so consider keeping it personal rather than public. Get planning lovers!
In our latest survey we discovered that 46% of colleagues are able to talk freely and openly to each other whilst at work. Not only that but they feel no restriction on when or where they can have an open natter and at any point throughout the working day, personal discussions happily take place.
36% felt that they could talk openly and freely to their colleagues too but they needed to limit this to out of working hours only. Work hours equal work.
Finally, only 18% of respondents felt they could not talk to their colleagues about personal matters. Colleagues are kept at a professional arms length at all times!
So, which category do you fall into? If you are one of the 36%, do you find yourself emailing and texting each other because of the restrictions in place within working hours or are you simply too busy to even consider a personal discussion?
You are sitting with your friends having a catch up when they start talking in riddles and using abbreviations or random words you have never heard before! Corporate jargon otherwise known as corporate lingo, workplace jargon, business speak to name a few is often commonplace amongst large corporate companies and especially those originating in the USA. For some, it can be frustrating to be lost amongst such language so we have collated some common terms and provided you with an explanation for each. There are many references to such jargon which include using abbreviations, nouns, verbs and adjectives. Here they are……….
Abbreviations
COB – close of business
CSW – completed staff work
EOD – end of day
FTE – full-time equivalent
FY – fiscal year
HIBBIS – heads in beds, butts in seats
KPI – key performance indicators
NDA – non-disclosure agreement
PCP – previous corresponding period
POS – point of sale
PQQ - pre qualification questionnaire
RFP - Request for Proposal
RFQ - Request for quote
RIF – reduction in force
SBU – strategic business unit
SME – subject matter expert
TCO – total cost of ownership
TTT - this time tomorrow
WC – week commencing
WE – week ending
YTD – year to date
Nouns
Blue sky thinking: Idealistic or visionary ideas
Cascade: Array of possible actions to take in response to a problem: protocol
Check in the box: complete the task
Flavor of the month: the current popular activity/person as directed by the company/client/management
Hub: an idea which other ideas are linked to
Joined-up thinking: Discussing the viewpoints of each organization and coming to an agreement or compromise
Kill two birds with one stone: doing one action will result in achieving two goals
Low-hanging fruit: Tasks that have the greatest positive effect for the least effort, used when promoting new projects to show the advantages
One belly button to push: Reduced number of suppliers
Raft of measures: A collection of proposals or schemes
Tent pole: the task or item most likely to delay a project or consume the most resources
Silver bullet: One solution for everything
Under-pinning: The foundations of an idea, which helps another related scheme or proposal
Womb to tomb: An idea or program that is killed before it has a chance to grow or flourish
Verbs
Baked In: Same as "included," in principle. Something which has been "baked in" is implied to be impossible to remove
Boil the Ocean: An effort or task which is perceived by the speaker to be impossible or impractical
Build Capacity: Take actions which produce no useful output immediately, but increase the amount of useful work which can be done in the future
Cover all directions of the compass: Try to make things acceptable for all stakeholders
Finish reading this article in our Career Centre.
We are currently asking our users if they are a hard worker, smart worker, chancer or slacker. We believe that being smart in your daily chores is a better option than the others. Being smart means you would not need to be sitting at your desk working (or pretending to be working!) for long periods.
Tell us here in our latest survey what kind of worker you are.....
CLICK HERE to cast your vote.
Our latest findings around office gossip compared how common it was in the workplace across the UK.
67% of workers in London and the South said that is common and rife in their workplace leaving only 33% that do not experience it.
Workers in the North of the UK were the least gossipy of the lot with only 20% experiencing office gossip as common and rife.
We also asked those in the Midlands and East Anglia who were very closely matched like in Scotland and Wales. 54% felt it was common in their workplace around the Midlands and East Anglia areas and 46% in Scotland and Wales.
If we have not covered your location, tell us here if you find office gossip to be a common practice in your workplace?
