The Work Clinic

Got a problem in your team? No worries. Just organise a team bonding exercise to discover what your colleagues are really made of. I've highllighted some wacky teambuilding suggestions.

I recently road tested three separate teambuilding events. I learnt how to juggle and mastered the trapeze in a Circus Skills training day, took part in a treasure hunt, and attended a conference with 160 senior manager delegates, which involved creating a symphony orchestra by learning to play a piece of music in just 90 minutes.

HR is always saying that it whole heartedly supports personal career development, but too often does not back it up with requisite supporting action. For example, when professionals want to do courses to help their career but are blocked from doing them if they are not directly related to their job. John Hine, expert in the field of human development, says that this is a real gripe for many professionals who are determined to forge ahead with their careers.

Do employees know what their company benefits package offers? And what’s more, do they care? Debby Hannaford, reward director at Oval Financial Services, a national insurance broker and financial services company, says:

"More and more companies are taking the time and effort to put together what they consider to be good benefits packages, but research Oval survey shows value of staff benefits we recently conducted with YouGov found that employees often don’t understand or appreciate the benefits on offer to them...

Did you know that the UK is officially the fattest nation in Europe and that 6.5 million days every year are lost through stress-related illness according to statistics released from Preventicum (London centre of preventative medicine)? How about that one in three people will develop cancer in their life, one person dies from cardiovascular disease every three minutes, there are one million undiagnosed diabetics in the UK and 16 million people in the UK have high blood pressure? Scary facts.

Yet, according to Dr Garry Savin, medical director at Preventicum, a screening process can detect many diseases early on which means that something can be done about it before it's too late.

As employers are recognising the benefits to investing in the health of their employees, more and more employers are now offering employees health-checks as rewards in place of traditional cash incentives to help promote staff wellbeing. Savin says:

"People are any organisation’s key asset. We must not underestimate the importance of making sure key people are fit and well, to ensure a healthy, successful business. Prevention is far better than cure. Health assessments are essential to detect illnesses before they become incurable. Early diagnosis can mean less expensive, less emotionally draining treatment and hopefully cure of the disease.

Health assessments are a valuable benefit – employees feel valued and cared for and employers are safe in the knowledge they have a healthy staff and a good retention tool."

The 'reward for failure' among Britain's top executives was more than £10.5 million last year according to research carried out by law firm Pinsent Masons. That's the amount paid to chief executives at FTSE 250 firms who left their business under dubious circumstances, an average of over £1 million each.

And the figure could be as much as 10 times that sum claim lawyers, as there are some businesses that are yet to publish their annual report with details of director remunerations, and some elements of a settlement do not have an immediate financial visibility, such as enhanced pension rights and share options.

It may sound odd, but if your name is Steve, your star sign is Capricorn, and you live in the South East, you’re one of the country’s most ambitious jobseekers. Recruitment company Reed has surveyed over 850, 000 jobseekers and arrived at some interesting conclusions about salary expectations in the UK:
• The average UK male expects to earn £3,600 a year more than the average UK female
• Jobseekers between the ages of 45 and 50 expect to earn the highest salaries
• Jobseekers in the South East command the highest salaries.
• The most popular job sectors last year were administration and secretarial positions; IT and telecoms, and accountancy
• Capricorns topped the poll, with summer-born Virgos (24 August to 23 September) having the lowest salary expectations

Read on to hear whether your name marks you out as a potential big earner or as a perennial office junior ….

Analysis by the National Statistics Office has revealed that women in their 40s are the biggest losers in the pay divide between the sexes. According to the NSO, women between 40 and 49 years of age earn on average 20% less than men. The gap is even wider in the case of female managers.

Figures from the 2007 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) and the Labour Force Survey (LSF) show that while earnings for men and women are similar when they join the job market, at 18 to 21 years old, a gender pay gap appears after their first decade in the workplace. The gaps progress as follows:

Every other article we read or news bulletin we watch seems to be about the expected credit crunch, and it was only a matter of time before the business world began to tighten its belt.

A study by management consultancy Hays Group has shown that although most companies have not fully felt the impact of current economic events, 16% expect business results to be significantly worse than budgeted levels.

When it comes to salaries at least, it would seem that size doesn't matter. A City & Guilds survey of 1000 adults has shown that fewer than half of them stayed in a role because of the size of their salary.

Work-life balance and good relationships with colleagues are apparently far more important, and according to Bob Coates, managing director of City & Guilds, "With a clear impact on the bottom line, improving workplace happiness is rising up the business agenda. Employers cannot afford to ignore it."

Coates adds that "Companies can no longer rely on those established reward and recognition policies that fail to resonate with employees or combat stress levels in the workplace. By taking such a blinkered approach, they risk the rise of an unmotivated and unproductive workplace, or of potentially losing their staff to competitors."

According to psychologist Cary Cooper, the survey results provide "a call to action for the business community to rethink its reward and recognition strategies and consider employees' needs on an individual basis. A flexible approach is needed if businesses are to create a happy, and by association productive, workforce."

As part of the survey, City & Guilds came up with a 'happiness index', which indicated how happy people are at work. Drum roll, please, for the happiest professions (and the not so happy) ....

1. Beauty therapists
2. Hairdressers
3. The Armed Forces
4. Catering (including chefs)
5. Retail staff
6. Teachers
7. Marketing/ PR
8. Accountants
9. Secretaries/ receptionists
10. Plumbers
11. EngineersArchitects
12. Journalists
13. Mechanics
14. HR
15. Call centre workers
16. IT specialists
17. Nurses
18. Bankers
19. Builders

It's bad enough that 'summer' is over, but now we're faced with 'scientific' proof of what we always expected - Brits are hard-done by and working their fingers to the bone for the benefit of their fat cat bosses ...

According to a new study by management consultancy Hay Group, senior managers in UK firms have among the lowest levels of disposable income in the world.
 
The World Pay Report 2008 places UK executives just 47th in the real pay stakes out of 51 economies analysed. The study also reveals a downward trend for management purchasing power in Britain, with this year's ranking significantly worse than last year's (40th of 47).

Hay Group's analysis finds senior managers in the fast-growth economies of the Middle East, Asia, and Eastern Europe enjoying the highest spending capacity, as demand for management talent far outstrips supply in these markets. Real pay in Western Europe, the US and Scandinavia lags by comparison. The report compares detailed salary information for 51 countries from Hay Group PayNet, the world's largest pay database. 

British executives are the fifth poorest in real terms, according to the report, ahead of only Indonesia and the highly expensive Scandinavian economies. And as the economic downturn continues to bite, and inflation remains stubbornly high, disposable income at senior level is likely to erode even more, further damaging UK Plc's competitiveness when attracting global/globally mobile talent.

Rest of Western Europe

Managers in other Western European countries tend to have spending power towards the middle-to-lower range, the report finds - with the UK the lowest paid among them. Senior executives in Austria (15th in the table), Germany (18th) and Switzerland (20th) fare relatively well.

 
Middle East

The oil-driven economies of the Middle East dominate the table. Qatar boasts the world's best paid managers, who earn over two and a half times the salaries of their British counterparts in real terms.
 
Executives in the United Arab Emirates are the next best paid, while those in Oman (6th) and Kuwait (7th) also enjoy over twice the real incomes of British managers. Even Bahrain, the lowest paid Gulf state studied, lies 13th of the 51 economies analysed by Hay Group.  
 
Emerging economies: Asia

As might be expected, managers in emerging economies enjoy buoyant disposable incomes. China lies an impressive 17th in the management pay table, with executives earning over 1.5 times the real salaries of their British colleagues. Thailand is higher still (10th).  
 
Disposable income in India (38th) remains lower than in other emerging economies. However, with rapid economic acceleration fuelling headline salary increases of 14% a year, disposal income for Indian managers is expected to rise.
 
Emerging economies: Central and Eastern Europe 

The spending power of managers in Central and Eastern Europe continues to outstrip that of those in Western Europe - and as predicted in last year's World Pay Report, the gap has widened.
 
Turkey is the highest placed European country, placed 5th in the global table. Romania and Russia are 8th and 9th respectively, with Poland 14th and Lithuania 16th. 
 
USA

In line with many other developed economies, the US is ranked firmly towards the bottom of the table in 41st place.
 
However, factors other than economics may have an influence. Department head roles are likely to be further down the corporate ladder in US firms than those in many emerging economies.

So if you're just back from overseas holidays and contemplating emigrating .... book those flights.

According to a study on behalf of City law firm Addleshaw Goddard, the culture of working long hours is prompting a legal profession talent drain.

The study, carried out among 13 top law firms, has found that an element of suspicion still clings to the concept of remote working, and even to those employees keen to find work-life balance. And it looks as if the declining economic climate will further damage the efforts of those who have worked to introduce flexibility into the profession. Law firms look set to tighten their belts and become even less willing to allow part-time or home-working - and this means that the number of women working in City legal roles will continue to drop.

The authors of the study call for more team-working, and a move away from the traditional partners-centric working habits. They also encourage 'output not input' and less emphasis on actually being in the office.

It seems particularly unfortunate for those lawyers who have fought long and hard for the working rights that so many of us take for granted, only to have them withdrawn at the first sign of an economic blip.

Swanning about in four star hotels while on business trips may soon be a thing of the past - at least for those of us below board level.

The 'Aldi effect', whereby individuals or companies are seeking out cheaper options, such as the German discount food chain, appears to have spread into corporate travel.

And the biggest winner seems to be Whitbread's Premier Inn chain, whose rooms cost between £49 and around £100. The odd Lenny Henry adverts notwithstanding, Premier's business account has increased by 33% in the 10 months to November 27th, with like for like sales of 8.5% - particularly during the current economic climate.

According to Alan Parker, Whitbread's chief executive, corporate customers now account for two thirds of Premier Inn's sales. Travelodge, Premier's biggest rival, has also seen an increase in business guests, and, having gone one step further, is discussing joint promotions with Aldi.

So next time you're offered an overnight trip to Slough, think carefully.

Work Clinic today comes live - if slightly frostbitten - from the wilds of Surrey. And by day two of this enforced absence from the office, I will admit to a touch of cabin fever. While a certain level of civilisation remains (Starbucks, Sainsburys and the local newsagents) and I am warm and well-fed, I cannot physically get out of the small town where I live. But I am one of the lucky ones. I can work from home. I have a laptop and a phone, and I have remote access to my e-mail.

Not so for much of the rest of the working population - Mr Work Clinic included (he is on housework duty, instead). It rather begs the question 'Why?'. Why, why, why in this day and age don't all employers make provisions for staff (at least those whose jobs allow it) to work from home? Today the roads around this town are icy and treacherous - are organisations prepared to let their staff risk their lives because they, their employers, are bizarrely reluctant to facilitate remote working?

Yesterday, when the snow here was a good foot and a half deep, I stood and watched people trying to drive, because they felt that they absolutely had to get somewhere - more than likely their place of work. Isn't there something wrong with a society where we are willing to put work before our own health and wellbeing? Not to mention that of the emergency services staff who end up rescuing these idiots.

Most of us need to work - I admit that - and a lot of us actually enjoy working. But surely not to this ridiculous extent. And if employers are worrying about time and money lost when staff can't reach the office, then it's up to them to make sure that we can work from home. It's not a lot to ask, surely?

According to The Sun (you don't often read that on Work Clinic ...), the gender pay gap is alive and well, as personified by the hosts of ITV's This Morning - Philip 'Silver fox' Schofield and Fern 'skinny malinky' Britton.

The Sun reports that Schofield is banking £45,000 per show to host the second series of Mr And Mrs while Fern will take home 'just' £15,000 for each programme. 

A source from the show told the Sun: "Fern asked for the same pay cheque as Phil but there isn't a huge production budget.

"Phillip's pay is basically pre-agreed, while Fern is only on an exclusive daytime deal with ITV. Fern won't be aware of this pay difference."

Phillip is believed to be earning more because of his £2 million exclusive contract with ITV, which also includes his presenting duties on Dancing On Ice.

Call me a cynical old grump, but isn't even £15,000 an episode a ridiculous amount of money for sitting on your backside reading from an autocue?

Social work has been in crisis for some time, and more so than ever now, in the aftermath of the Baby P case. According to the Local Government Association (LGA)'s Respect and Protect report, one in 10 social work posts is vacant at any one time.  In fact, so few people now want to work in the beleaguered sector that the LGA is to ask up to 5,000 retired social workers to come back to work.

That's 5000 people who may be out of date with legislation, working practice, even technology. As if the sector wasn't in enough of a mess.

 
Much has been said and written about what organisations lose when their older workers retire, particularly soft skills such as dealing face-to-face with customers, or historical knowledge of the organisation and how it operates. But, except in extreme cases, such as that currently faced by social work bosses, wouldn't it make more sense to keep the knowledge within the company and train younger staff properly, rather than going to the expense and inconvenience of rehiring retirees?

Of course it depends on how long people have been rehired, but have companies thought through the financial implications of training returning retirees? And although personal financial needs may well mean that people are keen to come back to work, surely the majority would prefer to enjoy their well-earned retirement.

After an Easter break where most of us have had at least some sunshine and fresh air, it has come as something of a blow to find ourselves back at our desks, particularly as the sun, no respecter of working hours, continues to shine. Worse still for those of us in urban areas, who may scarcely see a blade of grass from Monday to Friday.

So consider the lucky people who work at Chiswick Park, the West London office park designed by the Richard Rogers Partnership and developed by Stanhope. A survey has found that 85% of respondents believe that the physical environment of the park adds considerable value to their work life.

The park, which refers to those who work there - including employees of Starbucks, Paramount and Setanta - as 'guests', even has its own 'Enjoy-Work management team'. The team aims to help guests achieve work-life balance.

Henry Williams, director at Stanhope, says "The office buildings and surrounding environment have a major influence on an employee's well being, and consequently levels of performance. The survey has been running for three years and these results represent the most positive to date, which suggests that in the current climate the role of the workplace is more significant than ever."

  Arthur Dent, hapless hero of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, believed that 42 was the answer to "life, the universe, and everything." But perhaps not quite everything. According to a survey by YouGov, the average at which people feel totally confident and comfortable about their skills at work is 37 - after 30,000 hours in the job .... You'd like to think that they'd got it right by then.

And, more depressing still, we are unlikely to feel fulfilled at work until we hit 50. But, on a more positive note, it seems that Britain's oldies are now more entrepreneurial than ever. So much so that a new word has been coined to describe them - olderpreneurs.

According to the survey,

• 85% of the population do not intend to stop work altogether post retirement age
• 33% want to continue in full-time work post retirement age
• 31% want to carry on in a similar role but on their own terms
• 8% want to start a business in retirement

Commenting on the findings, John Lawson of financial services organisation Standard Life said: " People do not get old like they used to. The Baby Boomers started a trend for redefining what is effectively their 'third age', and these findings point to a continued trend for re-writin the rule book for younger generations."

What they've failed to point out is that, these days, few of us can afford to stop work post-retirement.

Half of employees feel they are paid less than they are worth, according to a survey by the Institute of Payroll Professionals (IPP). And 6% say they are paid considerably less than they deserve.

According to the same survey, nearly two-thirds of employees would ask their employer for a pay rise if they knew that a colleague in a similar role was getting paid more.

A flashmob infiltrates the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco and performs an adaptation of Lady Gaga's song "Bad Romance." The event was organized to draw attention to a boycott called by the workers of the hotel who are fighting to win a fair contract and affordable healthcare.