Tackling presenteeism in the banking sector: the role of work-life integration
Presenteeism costs UK businesses ten times more than absenteeism and poses serious risks to worker wellbeing. A new study by the Bank Workers Charity and Robertson Cooper recommends work-life integration—blending work and personal domains—as an effective solution. Flexible working practices implemented through this approach increase motivation, job satisfaction, productivity, and employee retention.
Men ‘twice as likely’ to have flexible work hours requests knocked back
An Australian survey reveals men are twice as likely to have flexible work requests denied compared to women, despite 60% of men wanting flexible hours. The findings highlight a lack of senior management support for male workers seeking workplace flexibility.
Do I have to agree to a flexible working request?
Employers can refuse flexible working requests only on specific statutory grounds, such as business costs, inability to meet customer demand, or staffing issues. All employees with 26 weeks’ continuous employment can request flexible work once per year, and employers must handle requests reasonably and timely.
Will Zuckerberg’s move shake up paternity culture?
Mark Zuckerberg’s two-month paternity leave announcement has sparked conversation about workplace culture in the tech industry, where companies like Netflix and Spotify offer generous family leave policies. However, uptake remains low in the UK despite new shared parental leave legislation, with 41% of employers citing cultural stigma as the primary barrier to fathers taking extended time off.
The beautiful benefits and challenges of whole business offshoring
Expensify takes its entire workforce to a foreign location annually for a month-long offsite, boosting productivity and team cohesion while eliminating workplace distractions. The unconventional practice serves as a recruiting benefit and creative catalyst, pushing employees out of their comfort zones to solve problems collaboratively.
Will flexible forms of working be the answer to work-life balance?
Flexible working offers potential benefits for work-life balance, but success depends on addressing unconscious bias in performance reviews, building trust-based organizational cultures, and fostering open communication between employers and employees about suitable arrangements.
How to make flexible working work for your business
New legislation allows all employees to request flexible working arrangements. While research shows flexible workers are more productive and engaged, businesses must balance this with measurable business goals and clear performance expectations to make flexible working succeed.
Flexible working changes – a smorgasbord of opinions on right to request
From today, 20 million UK workers have the statutory right to request flexible working. While business benefits include improved staff relationships and productivity gains, success depends on line manager attitudes and organizational culture rather than legislation alone.
Employers urged to be more transparent about flexible working
Employers are missing out on talent by failing to advertise flexible working options in job postings. Only 25% of job adverts mention flexible working despite 40% of full-time employees wanting it and 91% of managers willing to discuss it.
Are the parents on your side?
Companies can boost employee engagement and retention by supporting parents with practical parenting skills training, not just flexible work arrangements. Research shows parenting programs reduce parental stress while improving workplace productivity and job satisfaction among working parents.
Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer hits on HR blunder again
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer faces fresh HR backlash after implementing a forced ranking system that requires managers to rate employees on a bell curve, with bottom performers facing termination. The policy contradicts research showing that forced rankings reduce risk-taking and stifle innovation, particularly concerning for a company losing market share.
Interview: Kristiina Mäkelä, Associate Professor, Aalto University
Kristiina Mäkelä, Associate Professor of International Business at Aalto University, discusses how geographic proximity influences HR department evaluations. Her research shows that on-site evaluators rate HR departments higher than off-site evaluators due to social pressure, first-hand experience, and frequent interactions, with important implications for remote work evaluation practices.
Interview: Andrew Millard, Senior Director Marketing EMEA, Citrix
Andrew Millard, Senior Director Marketing EMEA at Citrix, discusses how mobile working arrangements expose underlying trust issues in workplaces. He argues that collaborative technologies should focus on enabling connection and engagement rather than monitoring, with successful flexible working balancing both business and employee needs.
It’s not (just) about the money, money, money…..!
Employee benefits must go beyond salary to retain Generation Y talent. Modern workers prioritize flexibility, performance-based evaluation, and meaningful work over traditional compensation, requiring organizations to rethink benefits packages and invest in manager skills and technology to support remote work and collaborative performance management.
Yahoo! I’m working from home today…
In 2013, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer banned remote work, requiring employees to relocate to offices for better collaboration and innovation. While flexible working is widespread across UK and US employers, Mayer’s decision sparked debate about whether in-person presence truly drives competitive advantage in fast-paced industries.
Facilitating the cultural shift to remote working
Successfully implementing remote working requires building organizational trust, updating HR policies to treat office and remote workers fairly, and shifting manager mindsets away from presenteeism toward performance-based evaluation.
The future of flexible working in the 21st century
The UK Government is expanding the right to request flexible working to all employees, regardless of reason, expected to become law in 2014. This shift contrasts sharply with high-profile executives like Marissa Mayer, who banned Yahoo employees from remote work, raising questions about workplace culture and productivity expectations.
News: flexible working tightens grip on UK firms
Flexible working has become standard in 94% of UK firms, yet persistent negative attitudes threaten to limit its full business potential, according to an Institute of Leadership & Management report. While managers recognize flexible arrangements boost retention and commitment, some fear career damage and organizational culture barriers remain.
Blog: why Marissa Mayer is right to ban remote working
Marissa Mayer’s Yahoo ban on remote work makes business sense for troubled companies needing innovation and strong communication. Like turnaround efforts at Energis and Chemistry, office-based work enables better collaboration, faster decision-making, and the “collisions” that drive creative solutions.
Yahoo boss bans remote working
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has banned remote working, requiring all 11,500 employees to work from company offices starting June or face termination. The decision, intended to improve collaboration and company culture, has drawn criticism from industry leaders who argue remote work is now more effective than ever.
