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Alan Sugar gets WFH wrong again, Pregnant works get a leg up & Resenteeism takes HR by storm
While HR’s January forward planning is now beginning to take root, the perennial issues of talent management, inevitable lay-offs and senior leadership buy-in to wellness initiatives are still plaguing us. On top of that, there’s a new HR buzz phrase to contend with. Plus, some dinosaurs of business seem intent on dragging us back to the 1980s…
Alan Sugar hits out at WFH again. Are firms starting to agree with him?
Alan Sugar hits out at WFH again. Are firms starting to agree with him?
Persistence is an admirable trait in many ways, but only when it’s in pursuit of something worthy of the chase. In the instance of Alan Sugar, that stalwart of frivolous television and out-of-touch tweets, he’s back and hammering away again at working from home – and this time, it’s hybrid working. Despite searches for fully remote roles hitting an all-time high (up 123% in February alone), Sugar thinks that even two days per week out of the office is a bridge too far.
"The annoying thing, as far as I’m concerned,” Sugar told the Daily Express, “is the exploitation of the working-from-home syndrome. The truth of the matter is, you have to work with your people in your office. That’s why you have offices, right?"
He also told the Radio Times, “Of course it bloody matters where you work from. There’s all this bulls*** about working from home – what difference does it make if the job gets done? Well, it don’t [sic] bloody get done, it’s as simple as that."
Thankfully, HR has advanced beyond feudal mentalities and listens to data, not emotion, and realises that working from home has proved time and again to boost productivity.
Protection for pregnant staff gets legal boost - how will it impact HR?
Labour MP Dan Jarvis has proposed a new legislation that would see pregnant workers of all genders have added protection from adverse discrimination under the law. Currently, pregnant employees cannot be made redundant while on parental leave, but Jarvis has proposed that these protections be applied from the moment the employee notifies their boss of the pregnancy, the whole way through to 18 months after returning to work.
Is Jarvis right that pregnant people deserve more protection? The answer is yes. According to a study by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, at least 54,000 women a year are pushed out of the workforce after becoming pregnant. Additionally, research from Culture Shift shows that 21% of workers know someone who has faced maternity discrimination at work, while 12% have experienced maternity discrimination themselves.
Research also suggests that, because of this discrimination, a saddening 1 in 4 expectant people hide their pregnancy.
Gemma McCall, the Co-Founder and CEO of Culture Shift, said: “Society assumes all women will become mothers- and yet, we don’t like it when they get pregnant and we employ them.”
Protection for pregnant staff gets legal boost - how will it impact HR?
Labour MP Dan Jarvis has proposed a new legislation that would see pregnant workers of all genders have added protection from adverse discrimination under the law. Currently, pregnant employees cannot be made redundant while on parental leave, but Jarvis has proposed that these protections be applied from the moment the employee notifies their boss of the pregnancy, the whole way through to 18 months after returning to work.
Is Jarvis right that pregnant people deserve more protection? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. According to a study by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, at least 54,000 women a year are pushed out of the workforce after becoming pregnant. Additionally, research from Culture Shift shows that 21% of workers know someone who has faced maternity discrimination at work, while one 12% have experienced maternity discrimination themselves.
Research also suggests that, because of this discrimination, a saddening 1 in 4 expectant people hide their pregnancy.
Gemma McCall, the Co-Founder and CEO of Culture Shift, said: “Society assumes all women will become mothers- and yet, we don’t like it when they get pregnant and we employ them.”
Could new 'resenteeism' trend take quiet quitting to a worrying level?
Workers rate companies from best to worst for 2023
We all know that HR loves a buzz word or phrase, and we haven’t let you down! The new kid on the buzz word block is ‘resenteeism’, and it looks like it’s an even more worrisome trend than quiet quitting.
According to RotaCloud, a staff-management software company which posted a blog about the term on its website: “Resenteeism describes the feeling of staying in a job despite being fundamentally unhappy. Concerns around the cost of living, job security, or a lack of preferable alternatives means that many people are choosing to stay where they are, but actively resenting it.
“This resentment can extend to their workplace, the organisation as a whole, and even the people they work with. In short, resenteeism is a bitter pill for all concerned and a worrying new workplace trend,” the blog concludes.
Tell-tale signs include changes in attitude or behaviour, a lack of enthusiasm, and a decline in the quality of an employee’s work.
The antidote, as ever, is communication – most importantly, listening.
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