(PR in) HR Pulse | HR News Round-up: 31st July – 6th August 2023
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Upskilling and retention efforts have reached new heights
MHR Global’s recent report has found that c44,000 active UK businesses have invested in employee training with aims to upskill and retain current staff during the ongoing talent shortage - this amounts to c29 million hours of training.
People Management’s recent LinkedIn poll reveals that the majority (81%, at this time) of the 203 Learning and Development (L&D) professionals who took part feel an increased demand for training and upskilling.
Claire Nutt, Creative Director at Quantum HR says that L&D professionals are under an increasing amount of pressure to combat the skills shortage and keep up with the rapidly changing needs of employees and employers.
The CIPD’s Learning at Work 2023 report shows that although there has been an increase in resources and funding for L&D strategies, more than half (53%) of L&Ds have seen an increase in their workload in the past 12 months.
Martin Coles, Customer Success Coach at GoodHabitz, says one of the key resources L&D teams have been investing in is AI tools. He adds that although some may argue digital learning is a one-directional approach - it has made upskilling staff more convenient, and efficient at a lowered cost.
Stephen Adams, Director at Inspirational Coaching says businesses are now less likely to see employees as just numbers and are investing in longer-term training programmes with a qualification.
Source: People Management.
Does working from home (WFH) lead to happier and more productive employees?
Data from ActivTrak’s Productivity Lab reveals 134,260 employees globally are working c37 fewer minutes daily than in January 2022.
The Office for National Statistics data shows hybrid working rose from 13% in February 2022 to a quarter (24%) in May 2022.
A LinkedIn poll by People Management of 1,577 HR professionals reveals the majority (88%) of HRs haven’t noticed a negative impact on employees' productivity due to remote and/or hybrid working.
The CIPD’s recent Flexible and Hybrid Working Practices in 2023 report found more than a third (38%) of businesses believe working from home (WFH) and/or hybrid working increased the company's overall productivity and efficiency - leading nearly half (46%) of employers to say employees are more productive with flexible working structures.
David Collings, Chair at Trinity Business School, says the time saved when WFH is most likely due to the reduction in commuting time. He adds that evidence from the pandemic shows productivity was unchanged because employees were putting in longer hours when WFH.
ActivTrak’s data also shows that more than a quarter (28%) of employees who WFH put in more than 10 hours a day.
David Atkin and Antoinette Schoar from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Sumit Shinde from the University of California, say employees WFH are 18% less productive than in-office employees - this is a statement shared by a number of other researchers.
The idea that WFH boosts productivity originally came from a 2013-4 academic study run in China by Nicholas Bloom, James Liang, John Roberts and Zhichun Jenny Ying. Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom and his colleagues found that, on average, WFH increased employee productivity by 13% - a statement which is still cited today.
However, the study neglected to comment on the employees' increased working hours which is what led to the increase in productivity and the difficulty WFH employees had when looking to get promoted.
In 2021, Bloom revisited the study sample via a survey and found that the benefit of WFH wasn’t an increase in productivity, but rather an increase in employee engagement and improved work/life balance for working parents, particularly working mums.
Bloom’s final thoughts are that hybrid working leads to happier and more productive employees - WFH should be available to employees but managers should decide what days employees are allowed to WFH. He adds that for hybrid working to successfully benefit an organisation, all members of the organisation need to participate, from the CEO to interns.
Sources: People Management, The Economist and Harvard Business Review.
CEOs and HR professionals need to work together for future success
Research from Personio, which surveyed c2,300 C-Suite leaders and c4,500 HR decision-makers across Europe, shows half (50%) of C-suite executives don’t know how best to work with their HR teams and more than half (57%) of C-suites only work with their HR teams when in crisis.
Pete Cooper, Director of People Partners and Analytics at Personio, says HR teams have already proven themselves as a vital part of businesses' growth during the recent pandemic but still aren’t valued in the long term.
However, nearly two-thirds (63%) of executives are willing to work with HRs and foster a more collaborative relationship and have asked for more visibility on how HR teams can help. Three-quarters (73%) of executives have also asked HRs for hard metrics to ensure their efforts are visible.
Cooper says that for HRs to work effectively with executives and improve businesses overall, they need to be freed from admin roles and establish better communication.
Tim Ringo, Director at LACE Partners, says HRs are crucial to running a successful business and need to be involved in all aspects of it - allowing businesses to stay ahead of the curve rather than reacting to changes playing catch-up.
Sources: HR Magazine, UNLEASH, Personnel Today and People Management.
And here are links to other really interesting news stories this week:
Personnel Today: Systemic reward: why we need a new approach to pay
Employee Benefits: 51% of staff would sacrifice benefits to work from home
The HR Director: Why female employees are less likely to ask for a pay rise
HR Magazine: Tax avoidance loophole sparks concern for employers