advocate the magazine from the uk’s leading employee benefits advisory
SUMMER 2014 | ISSUE#10 | ADVOGROUP.CO.UK
hr zone the hr theories affecting today’s workplace page 10
advo group the essential item for travel this summer page 06
cipd edward houghton on the ‘value your talent’ challenge cover feature page 16
visit us on your smartphone advogroup.co.uk
advogroup.co.uk | what’s inside issue 10
“ what’s inside issue #10 ”
In our cover feature interview we discuss with CIPD’s Research Advisor for Human Capital Metrics and Standards. Edward Houghton, the challenge of measuring and understanding human capital
Welcome to the Summer 2014 edition of Advocate magazine, the quarterly digital publication from ADVO Group, one of the UK’s leading employee benefits consultancy.
Actualisation and Equity Theory.
We are also featuring a fascinating interview with Jamie Lawrence, editor of human resource website hrzone.com. We discuss with Jamie two key concepts effecting employee engagement and employee -employer relationships in today’s workplace; Self-
We also feature a piece looking at one of the must haves for this Summer; travel insurance.
We are also looking at a range of other human resource and occupational health stories such as new research that aims to explore the questions ‘what is it As usual we have a selection that today’s young workers really of compelling interviews this want?’, the survey that suggests month. In our cover feature as many as a third of employees interview we discuss with CIPD’s are currently finding the strain Research Advisor for Human of work difficult to manage and a Capital Metrics and Standards, new report from Monster arguing Edward Houghton, the challenge that reports 1 in 5 employees are of measuring and understanding willing to leave their jobs due to human capital. workplace rivalries.
meet the team at advo group
Advocate magazine will be back again in the Autumn on www.advogroup.co.uk.
For more information visit www.advogroup.co.uk
larry bulmer chief executive
colin boxall commercial director
chris mc cracken director
kevin crew it director
gill mateo operations director
Larry Founded ADVO Group in 1997 and remains fully involved in the dayto-day running of the business
Colin joined ADVO Group’s board in 2008 and has over twenty years healthcare experience.
Chris joined the main ADVO board in 2008 having previously worked in wider financial services.
Kevin is constantly working to make sure that ADVO Groups award-winning ADVO Online service is the best it can possibly be.
Gill joined ADVO in 2006 becoming Operations Director in 2013. Gill has oversight of all ADVO Systems and procedures.
lbulmer @advogroup.co.uk
cboxall @advogroup.co.uk
cmccracken @advogroup.co.uk
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 02
kcrew @advogroup.co.uk
gmateo @advogroup.co.uk
advogroup.co.uk | who we are
advo group who we are and what we do... Advocate magazine is produced by ADVO Group Advocate Magazine is produced by ADVO Group and published quarterly.
ADVO Group Ltd is an independent employee benefits advisory with a broad-based clientele. Our objective is to be seen as the UK’s most trusted adviser on employee benefits solutions.
ADVO can test prospective clients’ arrangements against our connectedhealthTM benefit benchmark. Please be in touch for further details. We also offer a bespoke interactive online system for multi policy management and amendments. Employees can also be given access to their personal benefit details and Total Rewards. Please follow http://soc.advogroup.co.uk for more information.
For general information, and/or to join our online HR community, please follow http://issuu.com/advogroup Speak to ADVO for any specific query concerning:
• UK & International Private Medical Insurance • Online multi policy management • Total Reward Statements • Cash Plans • UK & International Group Life & Dependents cover • UK & International Group Income Protection • UK & International Group Critical Illness cover • Dental & Optical cover • Health Screening • Staff Wellness • Occupational Health sourcing T: 0845 2578833 F: 01622 769211 E: info@advogroup.co.uk
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 03
advogroup.co.uk | contents
CONTENTS ISSUE #10 | SUMMER 2014 advo news Page 06
|
Page 08
|
The essentail item for travel this Summer Travel insurance remains one of the most fundamental necessities for those travelling this Summer.
Larry Bulmer Writes for Health insurance Daily ADVO’s Larry Bulmer provides his thoughts on the question ‘Is it time for flat-rated PMI to catch up with pensions legislation?’.
human resources Page 10
|
Page 14
|
Page 16
|
Page 20
|
Exclusive Interview with Jamie Lawrence, HR Zone Jamie Lawrence, editor of human resource website hrzone.com, discussed two fascinating concepts effecting employee engagement and employee -employer relationships in today’s workplace; Self-Actualisation and Equity Theory.
Changing jobs to escape workplace rivalries An international poll conducted by Monster reveals that one in five (20%) respondents has left a job due to a rivalry in the workplace
Exclusive interview with Edward Houghton, CIPD Edward Houghton, Research Advisor for Human Capital Metrics and Standards for the CIPD discusses tackling the challenge of measuring and understanding human capital. The truth about what today’s young workers want New research from Ashridge Business School, undertaken on behalf of the MSLGROUP for its report, The Millennial Compass explores what really matters to today’s young workers.
occupational health Page 22
Page 24
|
|
A third of employees are struggling to cope at work A survey of 1,200 people within the UK has revealed that one in three people are finding it difficult to cope at work due to psychological factors such as stress and depression. Save lives, save money A new report by the British Safety Council is a clear reminder of the benefits to business of investing in health and safety.
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 04
the truth about what today’s young workers want page 20
advogroup.co.uk | contents
the business benefits of health and safety page 24
a third of employees struggle to cope at work page 22
an interview with jamie lawrence, hrzone.com page 10 advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 05
advogroup.co.uk | the essential item for travel this summer
the essential item for travel this summer www.advogroup.co.uk With the summer holiday season once again just round the corner, many of us are beginning to plan all the essentials for our trips abroad. From last minute diets and designer sunglasses to guide books and new sandals, the list of preparations for going overseas often seems limitless. However, one of the most commonly neglected items on the to-do list prior to going overseas is without doubt one of the most fundamentally important; travel insurance. Costs incurred for unexpected and often urgently needed medical treatment abroad, without appropriate travel insurance, can rapidly spiral out of control leaving holiday makers with unimaginable financial costs. Medical cover provided by travel insurance policies will provide peace of mind that in the unwanted event of requiring medical care abroad, costs
will be contained. However, as the nature of the trips we take overseas become increasingly varied, often action-packed, and as our travels reach increasingly remote regions of the globe, the potential need for increasingly comprehensive cover becomes ever more apparent. This year’s World Cup, hosted in Brazil, for example, will see vast numbers
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 06
of football fans across the world making the trip to Rio, all eager to support their nation’s team in the world’s most anticipated football tournament. Unfortunately though, for many football fans, the trip to Rio will provide, above all, unforeseen medical costs, as well as financial costs incurred through stolen goods and issues with travel arrangements.
advogroup.co.uk |the essential item for travel this summer
Whether attending the World Cup in Rio or not, business travellers need to also ensure that the most suitable level of travel insurance cover is in place. Unforeseen and unfortunate events overseas, whether medical or otherwise, can have significant detrimental financial implications for uninsured businesses across the world. The provision of comprehensive travel insurance should therefore be no less of a prioritisation for businesses than for tourists and holiday makers. Specialist business travel insurance will reassure everyone involved; travelling employees will feel secure
and have peace of mind, while employers know their staff are fully protected whilst overseas.
no need for you to ask awkward and personal medical questions, nor will you feel you have to send a less qualified member of staff because the Finding the right cover for the business better qualified member of staff has traveller is where ADVO Group can an existing medical condition. As an help. It’s vital to take independent extra benefit, employees can use the advice to ensure that the right cover is same insurance cover when travelling in place prior to travel. Non-specialist for pleasure, which they may end up business travel or tourist insurance depending upon this summer! can’t be relied on as it won’t provide for specific business needs such as Policies can include; single trip, annual flying out a replacement employee if cover, sports cover including skiing it’s required. Business travel insurance and personal travel cover. For more can be taken out without excluding information visit advogroup.co.uk or existing medical problems. There’s call 0845 2578833.
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 07
advogroup.co.uk | advo’s larry bulmer writes for health insurance daily
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 08
advogroup.co.uk |advo’s larry bulmer writes for health insurance daily
is it time for flat-rated private medical insurance to catch up with pensions legislation? advo group’s larry bulmer shares his thoughts with health insurance daily www.healthinsurancedaily.com ADVO Group CEO, Larry Bulmer, recently gave his expert industry opinion to the Health Insurance Daily website, providing his thoughts on the question : “Is it time for flat-rated private medical insurance to catch up with pensions legislation?”. Larry Bulmer writes:
“With employees having to work to greater ages surely it is time for PMI to catch up with practices in the group risk market.
Flat or claims-rated private medical insurance (PMI) has been around in the large and small corporate market for years. Favoured by companies with larger schemes the premiums are mainly driven by the claims history. Over a period of time most companies will pay a bit more than they claim which is the “admin charge”. Groups with as few as 50 members can have this type of contract but it is more often seen in the groups with larger populations above 200. The relative merits or otherwise of this type of contract for smaller staff populations is regularly debated. But that’s for another day.
One of the attractions of this type of scheme is that premiums are the same (hence flat) for all members on the scheme. But its not all members I hear you say – what about those over 65? True, the rate does change at age 65 –
typically doubling or more dependent on various factors. It has always been at age 65, originally chosen to fall into line with the state retirement age I would think. Is this though relevant today? I would say categorically not. Group risk contracts write benefits to SPA (State Pension Age) or SRA, (state retirement age) whatever this may be for the individual concerned. With employees having to work to greater ages surely it is time for PMI to catch up and address this anomaly?
“
With employees having to work to greater ages surely it is time for PMI to catch up and address this anomaly?
”
It may be that some large schemes where insurers have flexibility have
done this on a per scheme basis, but for the large amount of flat-rated schemes that are not on a bespoke basis this can have a significant impact on premiums. And as employers have to disregard age when evaluating employees, there is nothing they can do nothing about this. With age discrimination legislation and retirement ages harmonised and insurers espousing how good their systems are it seems to me to be a simple, yet well overdue development”.
For all the latest articles from ADVO Group including opinion, insight, exclusive interviews and wider industry news from the worlds of humna resources and occupational health visit ADVO Group’s news section of their website at news.advogroup. co.uk. For more information of ADVO Group’s services speak to one of their expert and fully independent advisors today on 0845 2578833 or email info@ advogroup.co.uk.
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 09
advogroup.co.uk | interview with jamie lawrence
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 10
“
advogroup.co.uk | interview with jamie lawrence
it’s important employers provide transparent materials to help employees get the most from their health insurance jamie lawrence, hr zone
”
www.hrzone.com
Jamie has been editor of HRZone.com for over a year. He is particularly interested in how HR technology can add value to the workplace and how our continually improving understanding of what makes people human can create more harmonious working relationships. In our latest interview we discuss the fascinating concepts of ‘actualisation’ and ‘equity theory’ in today’s workplace. How central do you see health insurance as an employee benefit in the human resource industry? It’s clearly a key benefit offered by employers and often forms the backbone of benefits packages. It’s more popular with employees in particular life stages, such as those with families. However, younger employees are increasingly seeing the advantage of private health insurance.
It’s also a misunderstood benefit so it’s important that employers provide transparent materials to help employees get the most from their health insurance. Preexisting conditions, for example, is a misunderstood and quite scary clause – as an employer, your promotional material has to be realistic about what health insurance can provide and not overstate its remit.
HR issue for 2014? It’s engagement, just like it was in 2013. The business case for engagement is clear but things take years to trickle down through all organisations.
Look at free-range eggs. People were talking about them in 1999 and only now are supermarkets finally eliminating caged eggs from their shelves. Things just takes ages to trickle through and we’ll still be dealing with the subtleties of engagement, optimising, improving, measuring etc, for many years. Ultimately it’s still an embryonic area of study and an embryonic practice in the workplace.
Just below engagement there are simmering cauldrons filled with topics from neuroscience and psychology. This is very exciting and it’s helping HR professionals better understand Ultimately employers must create what makes people human. It’s also benefits packages that appeal to scary – no manager likes to be told everyone. Flexible benefits are a good that the words they use can activate way of achieving this as employees can peoples’ flight or fight response, but it choose the benefits that appeal the can. There’s a lot more we are learning most to them. Communication is key about human beings on a daily basis. – if employees don’t understand the value of benefits then they are unlikely And, of course, HR technology is to derive value, which means the developing incredibly rapidly and employer’s money is being wasted. is becoming so advanced that the whole organisation is looking to gain What do you think will become, or value from it. For the first time, HR has become, the most talked about professionals must become technology
buyers, a massive responsibility. So naturally the industry is responding and providing lots of talking points and discussion around what HR technology can deliver, how it can be implemented, what makes a good system, and what vendors are the best to work with. You recently posted a fascinating blog post on the HRZone website entitled “The next great war for talent will be fought on selfactualisation”. Could you outline the argument you put forward in this post? So this blog post came about when I was thinking what the next big step would be in the war for talent. In working life, talented employees have choice and companies that want to succeed must have good people working for them.
There’s a lot of research now out that says that even in the face of lower salaries employees are likely to stick around if they receive some other form of incentive in the workplace – the studies vary on what this incentive is. For some it’s benefits, some it’s work/ life balance, etc.
What do you think are some of the main barriers preventing employers from encouraging and providing the resources for their employees to reach self-actualisation in the
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 11
advogroup.co.uk | interview with jamie lawrence workplace? As I alluded to above, to help employees self-actualise initiatives designed to help them must be extremely targeted. Ultimately HR as a department does not know employees well enough to help them achieve this goal. The only way to help employees self-actualise is to know them better and create more targeted environments, and this can’t be done while HR bears the brunt of people responsibility.
What can be done? Well, we must devolve much more people responsibility to line managers – these are the people who (should) know employees best and are in the best position to assist staff with company resources to self-actualise. This hasn’t historically happened, even when the will’s there, due to poor technology. The latest HR systems can provide line managers with powerful dashboards which allow them to take greater control of their team. Without this control, it is hard to take on people responsibility alongside day-to-day duties and therefore it’s hard to develop environments that are targeted to specific employees. Lack of money, as always, has been a barrier. It’s hard to measure selfactualisation and therefore it’s hard to sell self-actualisation to key stakeholders. Technology will help address this, as will the increasing
body of research that shows the link between contented, driven employees and organisational performance.
general principle behind this?
Human beings have extremely strong drives for fairness and justice. This is Do you think we will reach a point so powerful that humans often choose when the majority of employers are an economically sub-optimal outcome very aware of this issue and how to if they feel the alternative option is deal with it? unfair. This desire is no different in the workplace and if the employee feels It’s hard to tell. We don’t like to admit it their relationship with their employer but many companies remain profitable is unfair then this will strongly affect and grow without paying attention their motivation, drive, wellbeing, to concepts such as happiness, productivity and happiness. engagement and career development. Often these companies operate in Unfortunately, the employee/employer industries with high turnover. There relationship is fragile and is affected will always be a cross-section of by internal and external factors businesses that operate with business that are extremely hard to govern models that place little value on the and control and which silently and needs of the employee. constantly swing the balance between fairness and unfairness in the eyes of Innovation often comes from two types employees. of business: strong multinationals and fast-growth SMEs. Multinationals This is a natural state of being in life have the clout and money to innovate, and in the world of work and is not while fast-growth SMEs have the something that can be changed. But flexibility, modern infrastructure and it does mean that if companies want lower cost-of-innovation. Both also engaged, contented employees, they have to compete heavily for the top must ensure they take action to keep talent, so SMEs and multinationals the relationship fair in the eyes of the in key industries will realise the employee. importance of pushing staff towards self-actualisation and if there’s an Perception is fundamental. When initial impetus it will come from these considering the effect of decisions on companies. employees, companies must ask the question ‘What will this look like?’ Another blog post that you They also need to ask the question of published on the HR Zone website decisions they DON’T make as it’s the talked about Equity Theory in the absence of action that often angers workplace. Can you outline the employees the most.
“
to help employees self-actualise initiatives designed to help them must be extremely targeted
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 12
”
advogroup.co.uk | interview with jamie lawrence
“
open, honest and transparent communication is the most effective way to protect the fragile employee relationship
What steps do you think employers can take to make sure that their employees feel their relationship is equitable?
work looks like is key – the number of interactions that occur in the workplace every single second is just astounding. I don’t just mean verbal interactions, I mean casual looks, Ultimately, open, honest and body language, a glance of an open transparent communication is the most email, hushed voices walking along the effective way to protect the fragile corridor, and other things that confer employee relationship. The reasons silent information. All these things behind decisions must be explained can create perceptions in the minds of – even when they are sensitive. employees that are not at all helpful. Generally employers respond better if they understand why a decision has There are two events that damage been made, even if they don’t agree the psychological contract. The with it. The old-fashioned ‘decision by first is explicit actions or decisions authority’ does nothing except harm taken by employers, and the second the employee-employer relationship. is assumptions and perceptions of situations by both employer and Training line managers to recognise employee. The second type of event where there’s a ‘perception gap’ – is like an insidious disease that can where employees and employers see a rip apart the employer/employee situation differently – is fundamental relationship a little bit at a time, like to stop the constant gentle erosion a marriage breaking down. Often it’s that takes place in every employer/ the employee assuming or perceiving a employee relationship. This can lead situation in a bad light. to resentment, dissatisfaction and a reduced tendency to ‘go the extra mile.’ Employees must remember that everyone has a tendency towards the Is there anything that employees second type of event and it is the job of themselves can do help draw their the employee to never assume that an employers attention to this issue? action is malicious or designed to take advantage. Questions and transparency Having a growth mind set and an are the enemy of assumptions and they awareness of what the eco-system of help keep maintain the psychological
”
contract. Giving people the benefit of the doubt is another key skill. What other information and news can we expect to find on HRZone?
HRZone is a site for the modern HR professional looking to keep up-todate with innovation in HR while also honing their practical skills and knowledge. We focus on nononsense, easy-to-follow insight and advice so that HR professionals can get what they need from us quickly and efficiently. HR is an incredibly busy function and we aim to provide everything that HR needs to know in a way that’s easily consumable. As well as on-site editorial and blogs, we offer premium content, webinars, Google Hangouts and twice-weekly email newsletters.
For more information on Jamie and HR Zone visit www.hrzone.com. For the latest interviews from ADVO Group visit news.advogroup.co.uk.
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 13
advogroup.co.uk | escaping workplace rivalries
1 in 5 willing to change jobs to escape workplace rivalries monster.com An international poll conducted by Monster reveals that one in five (20%) respondents has left a job due to a rivalry in the workplace. An additional 26% have considered leaving a job because of a problematic workplace rival. Monster, the worldwide leader in successfully connecting job opportunities to people, asked visitors to their site the question, “Have you ever considered leaving (or left) your job because of a workplace rival?” and received over 3,300 responses. International findings included: 20% of respondents answered “I have left a job because of a workplace rival” 26% of respondents answered “I have considered leaving a job because of a workplace rival”
54% of respondents answered “I’ve never left or considered leaving a job because of a workplace rival”
Breaking down the numbers by region, German respondents have been the most negatively affected by workplace rivalries: 27% have left a job due to one, and 30% have considered doing so –the highest response rate for both options. Despite Germany’s elevated figures, EU respondents are otherwise the least bothered by workplace rivalries: only 18% have left a job due to one (the lowest response rate,
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 14
internationally) and 57% have never left nor considered leaving a job due to a workplace rival (the highest response rate, internationally). A separate survey on US Workplace Rivalry found that only 3% of respondents consider workplace rivalries to be wholly positive, while 47% consider them wholly negative and 50% believe they are both positive and negative. Other key findings of the survey include:
advogroup.co.uk | escaping workplace rivalries
73% of respondents have a workplace rival
loss. Only 6% claimed it inspired them to do some of their best work
to occur when similarly skilled and motivated individuals work together. Balance is key. Let workplace 40% of respondents rated their Popular methods of handling competition motivate you to perform workplaces as having the highest levels workplace competition include: your best, but don’t get distracted by of rivalry (being highly competitive working hard and focusing on your jealousy. Counter competitive tensions work environments) goals (53%), communicating with your by finding common ground through manager (37%), and learning new sports, shared hobbies, or just having Causes of workplace rivalry included: skills to outshine your competition a drink after hours. If you can’t get the Co-Workers (49%); Boss/ Supervisor (33%) tension under control, find ways to (44%); and Senior Management (31%) distance yourself from your adversary. “Competition doesn’t have to be Explore your options- from switching Workplace rivalry reduced job detrimental to a workplace; in fact, desks, to switching companies- and performance for majority of workers it can often be quite beneficial,” said remember that living (and working) – 55% claim it created undue stress/ Mary Ellen Slayter, Career Advice well is the best revenge.” reduced productivity; 20% claimed Expert for Monster. “Your company very negative impacts including getting works hard to hire the best talent For the latest human resource and into trouble with management and job available, and rivalries are bound news visit news.advogroup.co.uk.
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 15
advogroup.co.uk | INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD HOUGHTON
advogroup.co.uk | INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD HOUGHTON
“
Modern business is composed of intangible assets which for most organisations makes up the majority of value edward houghton, cipd
”
www.cipd.co.uk The CIPD is the professional body for HR and people development. It has over 130,000 members internationally – working in HR, learning and development, people management and consulting across private businesses and organisations in the public and voluntary sectors.
As an independent and not for profit organisation, the CIPD is committed to championing better work and working lives for the benefit of individuals, business, the economies and society – because good work and all it entails is good for business and society at large, and what is good for business should also be good for people’s working lives. The CIPD brings together extensive research and thought leadership, practical advice and guidance, professional development and rigorous professional standards
to drive better capabilities and understanding in how organisations of all kinds operate and perform, and in how they manage and develop their people. A Royal Charter enables the CIPD to confer individual chartered status on members who meet the required standards of knowledge, practice and behaviours. Edward Houghton is the CIPD’s Research Advisor for Human Capital Metrics and Standards. He is responsible for leading the organisation’s human capital research work stream exploring various aspects of human capital management, theory and practice; including the measurement and evaluation of the skills and knowledge of the workforce. He has a particular interest in the role of human capital in driving economic productivity, innovation and corporate social responsibility.
advocate spring 2014 2013 | advogroup.co.uk | 17 55
advogroup.co.uk | INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD HOUGHTON Before joining the CIPD in 2013 Edward completed a number of research roles in government and higher education. Most recently he was a Knowledge Transfer Associate at the University of Bristol leading an innovative knowledge exchange programme between the university and Barclays bank. Over 3 years he managed research investigating business culture, corporate social responsibility and community investment. In this role he specialised in qualitative and quantitative social research techniques and strategic project design, developing metrics for the organisation’s flagship community investment programme in the UK. Prior to this Edward held a number of research analyst roles in regional and local government as well as the private sector, including at the East Midlands Development Agency, Leicester City Council and the Transport Research Laboratory. In the latest in ADVO’s interview series we discuss with Edward the CIPD’s fascinating ‘Value Your Talent Challenge’.
Tell us about the ‘Valuing your Talent’ challenge from it’s beginnings as the initiative through to its open invitation stage and final report. The Valuing your Talent Challenge is an online engagement process through which we’re bringing HR, finance and the wider business community together to tackle the challenge of measuring and understanding human capital. We’re asking business leaders and practitioners to come online and share their insights about human capital in their workplace, and their approach to understanding it according to whatever business context they’re in. HR leaders from FTSE100 corporations will have the opportunity to share their insight with SME leaders and innovators; something we hope will kick start the debate about human capital, and push HR and finance towards thinking more strategically about how they value the human resource in the organisation. The theory behind the social innovation activity comes from the importance of including HR practitioners in the human capital debate, and providing them with the opportunity to share their real insight and experience of HR practice. We’ve done a lot of the leg work already for the community – as part of Valuing your Talent we’ve spoken to 30 organisations about their approach to valuing human capital so that the final framework is being built around
“
Human capital is one of these intangible assets which is highly valuable but difficult to measure
”
practice today. The challenge is asking two things of the community (1) do the guiding principles and framework for measuring human capital make sense? and (2) can you do something neat with the framework, or principles, for your organisation so you can push the human capital debate forward. If you can, then we’re willing to seed fund your idea, and we’ve got a pot of £10k that is up for grabs. The first phase “Insight” runs through until the end of March, and we will then move in to the “Innovation” phase, which will continue until the 12th May. We’ll then judge the best ideas, and announce the winners publicly at the launch of the research on the 25th June.
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 18
Why is it so important for businesses to be able to construct this human capital framework? Modern business is composed of intangible assets which for most organisations makes up the majority of value within the organisation. Human capital is one of these intangible assets which is highly valuable but difficult to measure. Business leaders often note the importance of understanding the value of people when they speak about people as the “business’ greatest asset”, but because its intangible they struggle to measure it in a robust or meaningful way. There are also wider business concerns for sustainable business’
advogroup.co.uk | INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD HOUGHTON of tomorrow – driving performance, managing people risk, and investing in future skills-needs, are all issues that are top of the agenda for business today and to which leaders need help making strategic decisions. This isn’t just the domain of the FTSE 100s, but also SMEs building their HR function and investing in their people – it can be hard to know where to start, and often the first thing they need to understand is who their people are. The framework will help to clarify exactly what the makeup of their workforce is, and help them to invest in building their capability and talent.
and valuable as a methodology for helping organisations measure human resources more coherently and to a higher standard. How valuable is it to be able to utilise social media technology in the ‘Valuing Your Talent Challenge’ for generating feedback on the framework?
listening to the voices of a variety of professional backgrounds and building the framework accordingly.
What will be the future plans for the framework once finalised? Will it be built upon further in the future?
We have always said that this is only the beginning of our work on human capital, so the framework we present Social media allows us to bring a whole will be the first iteration of a number set of stakeholder groups together of future versions. We want to build on to collaborate on solving the human it few further research and refine it, capital challenge and it lets us do this but I anticipate that the core structure in an open and innovative way. We’ll be and theory for it will not change too able to get great ideas from anybody radically. When you look at the detail Why do you think a framework who wants to participate, and will of the framework, for example where of this nature has hitherto been mean that because its a social tool, the it started to reference the different missing for organisations? development of the idea is transparent types of data sets and measures, we and visible to everyone. may want to nuance it accordingly, Frameworks exist, but what we’re or suggest specific metrics that doing is building this one from Social media is helping us to link many businesses can use, but I would say the knowledge of the practitioner different professions and seniorities, that our immediate plans are to share community. Because its crowd sourced and by doing this the framework will the framework far and wide and roadit will be useable to all organisations become owned by those who develop test it, to explore how best it can be – and because it is designed to be it. The importance of this is that when applied. flexible and is fundamentally nonit comes to using the framework, it proprietary, businesses can build will have already been road-tested to When will we next be able to find and use it however they see fit. We some extent, and will be grounded in out more about the development of want business to use it according to real-practice. this process? their own context and needs, so it may be that the framework sparks a How important do you think it is to The Valuing your Talent Challenge conversation in a business about data get feedback from such a diverse will now be live until we launch the analytics, or workforce planning – mix of business professionals and research on the 25th June – you will these small conversations might nudge industries in the development of the be able to get involved and follow the a small business along the right track framework? conversations and projects on the to thinking more strategically about Valuing your Talent Challenge website its workforce needs and give a lone Its hugely important to get feedback www.valuingyourtalentchallenge. HR manager the right ammunition to from a diverse mix of professionals co.uk, and you can also follow our CIPD raise big questions of the management because human capital is relevant Twitter, and #valuingyourtalent, which team. Or it may be that a sophisticated to all. It forms such an important will continue to update you on the organisations frame their own people part of our local, national and global ideas coming out of the community. strategy around our framework economies, that any business and and measure accordingly. The main any profession has an interest in it. For more information on the CIPD visit purpose is for it to be accessible We are therefore making sure we’re www.cipd.co.uk
“
Social media allows us to bring a whole set of stakeholder groups together to collaborate on solving the human capital challenge
”
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 19
advogroup.co.uk | the truth about what today’s young workers want
the truth about what today’s young workers want www.ashridge.org.uk What do today’s young workers want, what is most important to them, what are their ambitions, and how loyal are they? Just some of the pressing questions answered in new research from Ashridge Business School undertaken on behalf of the MSLGROUP for its report, The Millennial Compass. The report was important to understand more about this sector – known either as Millennials, Generation Y or simply under 30s – because they are the ones that will be the leaders and managers of tomorrow and will map the future success of businesses and organisations around the globe. The research discloses startling results and it follows previous studies on young workers conducted by researchers Carina Paine Schofield and Sue Honoré. It also identifies trends that have emerged with many of them now having been working for 10 years or more. Millennials are focused on achieving through personal networks and technology, having a good worklife balance and getting high levels of support from their managers. They don’t want to be tied to an
organization, a timetable or a hierarchy, and they’d rather avoid the stress they see their senior leaders shouldering. They may lack some of their predecessors’ relationship, communication and analysis skills, but they’re confident in their abilities to run business in a new way. The Millennial Compass also reveals how common these trends are – or aren’t – around the world. Does a 25-year-old working for a company in Beijing feel the same way about work as his or her counterpart in London,
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 20
Sao Paulo or Atlanta? The research identifies which traits can indeed be considered universal and which ones vary with geography, politics and economic factors.
A total of 1,293 Millennial employees from Brazil, China, France, India, the UK and the USA responded to the survey. The study found that what’s important to them in their working lives varies somewhat by country, but several key findings emerged.
advogroup.co.uk | the truth about what today’s young workers want
The Ambition to Move Up Millennials are often cited as demanding work-life balance, which for them means working to live versus living to work, as the previous two generations were raised to do. Even so, the majority of Millennials surveyed in all countries describe themselves as more ambitious than not. Goodbye, Loyalty Loyalty doesn’t appear to be a particularly strong work value for Millennials. On average, 30% of those surveyed worldwide intend to leave their organizations in the next year. Nearly half say they plan to depart after two years, leaving only 57% still working for the organizations they’re with today.
The Impact on International Business While they have a strong desire for work-life balance, Millennials seem to be closer to their immediate families and friends than ever before. Even though they travel virtually in and out of their comfort zones all the time, they’re less eager to make a physical move. These trends could impact the future of international business as well as Millennials themselves who may miss key career opportunities. Millennials See the Boss as a Friend Perceptions of their relationship with the boss are fascinating. When asked about the role their manager currently plays, most survey respondents chose, “friend.” This answer ranked first in the USA, the UK and Brazil; second in China and third in India. In France,
Millennials see their boss as a peer.
Millennials with Younger Bosses Feel More Engaged Does youth motivate youth? Our research says yes. Millennials with younger (Gen X and Millennial) managers believe their skills are better utilized than those whose managers are from the Baby Boom generation. To demonstrate this point, Millennials in India are way ahead of other countries in believing their organization harnesses their talents (75% agree). China is second at 63%. Correspondingly, Millennials in these countries have the highest percentage of young managers.
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 21
advogroup.co.uk |a third struggle to cope at work
a third of employees are struggling to cope at work news.advogroup.co.uk A survey of 1,200 people within the UK has revealed that one in three people are finding it difficult to cope at work due to psychological factors such as stress and depression. The survey was published by the Depression Alliance as part of Depression Awareness Week which came to an end earlier this month. Following on from the results of the survey, a new report entitled ‘Depression in the Workplace in Europe: new insights from business leaders’ is showing how some of the largest company’s in the UK such as Royal Mail, Barclays and Unilever are implementing new policies to tackle depression in the workplace. These new policies will be providing greater levels of structured support for affected employees. Tim Munden, Vice President HR, Unilever UK commented “At Unilever we firmly believe that addressing depression through our mental health policies benefits both our business and our employees. We aim for a 10% reduction by 2015 in work-related
mental ill-health cases and working days lost to mental ill-health.”
Emer O’Neill, CEO of Depression Alliance commented “Depression is the biggest mental health challenge among working-age people and often leads to considerable loneliness and isolation at work. However, many companies aren’t properly equipped to manage employees who suffer from depression so providing support to these individuals in the workplace is essential. We have just launched, Friends in Need, which provides anyone with depression with a free and easy way to connect, either online or by meeting in groups and taking part in local activities, all of which help stop the feelings of loneliness and isolation.”
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 22
“
many companies aren’t properly equipped to manage employees who suffer from depression
”
For the latest new from ADVO Group visit news.advogroup.co.uk.
For more information of ADVO Group’s services speak to one of their expert and fully independent advisors today on 0845 2578833 or email info@ advogroup.co.uk.
find out how cash plans help everyday expenses speak to one of our employee benefit advisors today on 0845 2578833
For more information on Advo Group Limited, visit our website www.advogroup.co.uk Advo Group Limited, ADVO House, St Leonards Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 0LS is registered in England (No. 4500663) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
advogroup.co.uk | the business benefits of health & safety
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 24
advogroup.co.uk | the business benefits of health & safety
save lives, save money the business benefits of health and safety britsafe.org With the recent publication of UK Q1 business investment figures, a new report by the British Safety Council is a clear reminder of the benefits to business of investing in health and safety. Effectively investing to reduce workplace risks can save lives and save money. The business benefits of health and safety: a literature review pulls together evidence into how much money can be saved by avoiding damage caused by health and safety failures. The British Safety Council report shows the true cost of accidents, injuries and ill health to the UK economy to be £13.8bn in 2011/2012 (HSE, 2013). As the economy recovers, there is a danger that new, inexperienced workers will add millions more to that figure. Alex Botha, Chief Executive of the British Safety Council, said: “At a time when the latest GDP figures show the country slowly returning to economic health, we know that making workers ill and injured hurts all of us. What this literature review tells us loud and clear is that getting health and safety right makes good business sense and can save organisations money.
“Take something like work-related back injuries that still plague too many workers. Changing the way tasks are carried out to protect people’s backs is an opportunity for an employer to improve the operation and efficiency of their business. The literature review captures one study that shows how a £16,000 investment to tackle back injuries resulted in £192,000 of savings and benefits due to reduced sickness absence, better productivity and lower insurance premia. “The potential for a return on investment in managing work-related risks is the real story of health and safety, not the myths of conkers being banned. And it’s a story that should be better known. ” The literature review examined research conducted over the last 20 years, mostly from the UK but also
from Europe. The costs of ill health and injury were drawn from the Health and Safety Executive for GB and from Eurostat and the European Agency for Occupational Safety and Health for European comparison. In total over 50 pieces of evidence were assessed and grouped into costs, benefits and return on investment in occupational safety and health (OSH). The main findings include: • Costs of failure Evidence from HSE shows that occupational safety and health failure cost GB £13.8bn in 2011/12, with work-related ill health costing £8.4bn. The majority of this burden is picked up by individuals through loss of income and rehabilitation costs (£7.09bn, or 57%). Taxpayers also significantly contribute to this bill through increased health and social care costs. • The benefits of well-managed health and safety Studies from GB and EU show that investing in OSH can reduce sickness absence, reduce injury rates, increase productivity and enhance an organisation’s reputation. Research shows that 61% of workers said they would work harder for an employer who invested in their health.
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 25
advogroup.co.uk | thanks for reading
thank you for reading see you in the autumn for the next edition of advocate magazine! issuu.com/advogroup Thanks for catching up with us here at ADVO Group for this Summer 2014 edition of Advocate magazine. Advocate will be back once again in the Autumn to provide you with the very best human resource, occupational health, employee benefit and private medical insurance news, interviews, features and more! ADVO Group’s account on Issuu.com will continue to be the primary home for Advocate magazine.
The best way to stay in touch is by subscribing to the news section on the ADVO Group website. You can do this by entering your email address at news.advogroup.co.uk/subscribe. The subscription process is incredibly simply and best of all; it’s absolutely free! If you’ve got a story that you think belongs in Advocate magazine, whether it’s news focusing on private medical insurance, human resources, occupational health or if you’d like to be interviewed then don’t hesitate to get in touch. Send your inquiries to info@advogroup.co.uk
In case you missed our key contacts at the start of the magazine you can get in touch with any of them on the contact details below. Larry Bulmer Chief Executive lbulmer@advogroup.co.uk
Chris Mc Cracken Director, Commercial cmccracken@advogroup.co.uk Colin Boxall Director, Corporate cboxall@advogroup.co.uk Kevin Drew Director, Advo SIS kcrew@advogroup.co.uk
Gill Mateo Just to remind you about who we are Operations Director and what we can offer, ADVO Group gmateo@advogroup.co.uk is a multi award winning employee health benefit advisory looking after the requirements of many customers, from small businesses right up to multi national corporations. Whatever your private medical insurance or employee benefit needs, we are here to help. We offer entirely indepent, free and expert advice so don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and give us a ring on 0845 2578833. You can also email us at info@advogroup.co.uk.
advocate spring 2014 | advogroup.co.uk | 26
You can also get in touch by calling us on 0845 2578833, faxing us on 01622 769211. We also have three offices across the country. Head office: ADVO House St Leonards Road Allington Kent ME16 0LS
Oxford Office: 8 Old Station Yard Abingdon Oxfordshire OX14 3LD
You can also get in touch through any of our social media channels. You can find us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+. Thanks again for reading and see you in the Winter for the next edition of Advocate magazine.
advogroup.co.uk | thanks for reading
find every copy of advocate magzine online at issuu.com/advogroup Issue #09 spring 2014 Exclusive interview with personal trainer matt roberts, cancer research uk’s groundbreaking new smartphone game & is this the end of the pay rise?
Issue #08 spring 2013 An exclusive interview with Professor Greg Whyte, ADVO’s Nadiya Hasan’s fantastic health insurance award win and ADVO’s donation to Computers 4 Africa.
Issue #07 autumn 2013 Exclusive interview with Wahanda CEO, Lopo Champalimaud, the rise in cancer patients facing workplace discrimination and how flexible working could add billions to the UK economy.
don’t miss a copy, subscribing to our issuu channel... its 100% free!
Maidstone Office ADVO House, St Leonards Road, Allington, Kent, ME16 0LS
Tel 0845 2578833 Fax 01622 769211 Email info@advogroup.co.uk Web advogroup.co.uk
ADVO Group | Employee Benefit Consultants ADVO Group Limited Registered Office ADVO House, St Leonards Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 0LS Registered in England No 4500663. The ADVO Group Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority