(PR in) HR Pulse | HR News Round-up: 10th – 16th July 2023
Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash
Defining bullying in the workplace
Bullying in the workplace could have a legal definition.
Last week (11th July), Rachel Maskell, the Labour and Co-operative MP for York Central proposed the Bullying and Respect at Work bill and is awaiting a second reading on the 24th of November.
If passed, the bill will make it mandatory for businesses to establish formal practices for investigating, reporting and reprimanding incidents of bullying and allow the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to investigate and take action against workplaces and organisations thought to have a culture of bullying.
The bill will also introduce a Respect at Work Code to ensure work environments are, at minimum, positive and respectful - allowing workers to take their workplace bullying claims to employment tribunals.
Ben Wilmott, Head of Public Policy at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), says bullying is a serious and evident workplace issue which has a detrimental effect on individuals' health and wellbeing. Wilmott explains that implementing a new legislation for bullying will be particularly difficult as there is no formal definition for what bullying is.
The CIPD’s Bullying and Incivility at Work research shows nearly a fifth (15%) of UK employees experienced workplace bullying between 2016 to 2019.
According to Fox & Partners, the number of bullying claims cited at employment tribunals increased by nearly half (44%) between March 2021 to March 2022 - there were a total of 835 claims (rising from 581).
A 2021 analysis from Acas estimates workplace conflicts such as bullying cost UK businesses c£28 billion a year.
Sources: People Management and HR Magazine.
Generative AI could save c2 months of work per year
New research from Viser has found, on average, employees could save 1.55 hours a day when working with generative AI - totalling c390 hours or c56 days (based on a 7 hour workday, not including an hour’s break).
The study also revealed more than two-thirds (67%) of respondents believe developing their AI skills is essential for their career development.
More than half (52%) of employees think their employers should instigate proactive steps to upskill their employees. However, over half (56%) of employees also say their employers aren’t incorporating the use of AI into the workplace.
Viser’s research suggests employers are reluctant to prioritise upskilling employees' AI skills because nearly half of employers place heavier importance on leadership skills (43%) and soft skills (40%) when considering an employee’s career development - only 10% of employers prioritise tech training.
The research also shows more than a third of employers are sceptical about the benefits of integrating AI into their businesses when considering data privacy (38%), working with inaccurate data (37%) and the added stress of working with generative AI (36%).
However, nearly half (40%) of respondents say using AI would promote a better work/life balance and nearly a third (31%) believe it could help close the UK’s current skills gap.
Ben Harris, VP of Sales at Visier, says that in order for the UK to adapt to the changes AI has had on workplaces, businesses need to adopt the use of AI and address the tech skills gap. Harris adds that by doing so, businesses will be able to boost productivity, create transferable skills within their organisation and reduce redundancies.
Source: HR Review.
Ethnic and LGBTQ+ leadership is now more prevalent than ever
DIAL Global's recent report shows ethnic and LGBTQ+ representation in leadership roles has increased by a quarter (22% respectively) between May 2022 and 2023. Ethnic representation rose from 59% to 81% and LGBTQ+ representation rose from 34% to 56%.
The report found that more than three-quarters (78%) of the 87 UK companies surveyed have initiatives to help improve ethnic diversity in leadership and two-thirds (66%) of businesses have someone from their leadership team acting as an executive sponsor for a LGBTQ+ employee organisation.
Leila McKenzie-Delis, Founder of DIAL Global, says this increase in ethnic representation is likely down to the government’s recently published guidance regarding measures to address and close the ethnic minority gap which could lead to the introduction of new legislation.
McKenzie-Delis adds that the increase in LGBTQ+ representation is more of a societal change as employees are, now more than ever, comfortable expressing themselves.
Source: HR Magazine.