(PR in) HR Pulse | HR News Round-up: 19th – 25th February 2024
58% of working women are advocating for an automatic right to flexible working as a result of frequent rejections
A recent Unison survey has found that nearly a third (30%) of women working in public services have had their flexible working requests rejected. Nearly half (47%) of the 44,065 women surveyed put in the request to establish a better work-life balance, more than a third did so to improve their mental health (37%) or to suit childcare responsibilities and under a third (29%) did so for physical health needs.
In response to the coming implementation of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working Act 2023), a quarter (25%) of women say the Act isn’t sufficient and more than half (58%) advocate for an automatic right to flexible working.
Christina McAnea, General Secretary at Unison, says that although progress towards flexible working is being made, there needs to be a better focus on making flexible working a practical reality for working women, not just a theoretical one.
Source: Employee Benefits.
Managers are ignoring RTO mandates to retain employees
As organisations continue to place return-to-office (RTO) mandates, a surge in RTO shadow policies has emerged - where managers are allowing employees to work remotely, disregarding the official policy to prevent valuable employees from quitting.
The Owl Labs’ recent State of Hybrid Work report reveals that nearly half (42%) of employees would leave their organisations if the option for hybrid or remote working was removed. Nearly all (90%) reported equal or improved levels of productivity when working hybrid - the majority (79%) of managers agreed.
Kristen Fowler, VP of HR and Practice Lead at Clarke Caniff Strategic Search says she assesses an employee's needs when met with a request for flexible working, and is likely to make an RTO policy exception if they are a valuable employee who can maintain their productive levels while remote.
Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs, says that making such exceptions based on a manager’s option may seem unfair to employees who are deemed able to RTO and could cause friction in the workplace in the future.
Source: WorkLife.
Gen Z is asking ChatGPT for career advice because their managers are too busy
INTOO and Workplace Intelligence's new report shows that nearly half (47%) of Gen Z employees are relying on career advice from ChatGPT. Although nearly two-thirds (62%) would prefer to talk to their managers, Gen Z employees feel their managers don’t have time for them.
Jennifer Healy, People and Culture Director at Vivup, says that ChatGPT will only be able to give a basic understanding of how to develop, and employees still need to speak to their managers for tailored advice and potential opportunities currently available within the organisation.
Hayley Saunders, HR Technical Consultant at AdviserPlus, says that many managers lack the tools and skills needed to effectively support their teams, relying on HR support which has interfered with the trust-based relationships they need to build with their teams.
Saunders adds that this is particularly true for Gen Z employees who may already feel disconnected from their managers as they are more used to flexible or remote working environments.
Source: People Management.
And here are links to other really interesting news stories this week:
HR Magazine: Half of neurodivergent employees don’t feel supported at work
HR Review: 51% work beyond their contracted hours every day
Personnel Today: Increase in young people not in work or education
The HR Director: The rise of ‘poly-employment’. What does it mean for the world of work?