Mobile Working and the Anywhere Employee

A new survey has revealed that Australians are more reliant on their mobile devices than ever before, using them to get more work done out of normal office hours. However, experts have warned this addiction is coming at a price, impacting on personal relationships and health. 

The Good Technology study found: 

• 88% of respondents admit to working outside of regular hours on their mobile device
• 39% said they need to use their mobile device outside of regular hours to keep on top of their workload, while only 4% said it was to impress their boss
• 20% admit to taking work calls or answering emails on a family day out  

Commenting on the results Jim Watson, vice president and corporate general manager at Good Technology APAC, said: “We are truly living in the connected age as mobile devices like phones and tablets become indispensible tools to manage our professional and personal lives.”

“As our reliance on mobility continues to grow, there will be an increased need for companies and individuals to manage this more effectively. For example, ensuring that sensitive company information is kept secure, while still giving employees the freedom to use their mobile devices the way they want to be productive and connected in both their professional and personal lives.”

This correlates with another recent study by Siemens who believe that this trend has help create the 'anywhere employee' - who can use modern technology to work from multiple locations - replacing the traditional office-based worker. 

In the past, staff would have had difficulty managing different platforms - such as email, mobile, landline and social media - outside of the office, whereas modern flexible and collaborative tools, as well as cloud computing technology now mean this can be done seamlessly and irrespective of location. 

However, Watson stresses that, “it is important for workers to feel in control and not let their mobile rule them. The technology exists to enhance productivity and enable greater flexibility between work and personal life - not cause us to work all the time. Mobility has ‘unchained us’ from the office so that we can all be productive and connect from anywhere, anytime—whether that’s at home, in the office, while waiting for your coffee at the shop or taking in a child’s cricket game. The idea is to be able to enjoy more of life by being mobile.” 

To maintain a healthy balance, employers should regularly check with staff about their workload and whether they’re workingfrom home, as well as advising them on healthy use of mobile devices.

A web-based time and attendance system can assist employers in effectively managing and tracking their mobile or remote workforce.

A web-based time and attendance system also facilitates real-time project tracking, providing accurate analysis of employee activity anytime, anywhere – increasing efficiency and ensuring that labour-related costs are genuine.

With an online time and attendance system, staff can remotely clock in and out of tasks, appointments and projects via desktop PCs, laptops, notebooks and the latest communications devices and smart phones. They can also view their holiday entitlements, apply for leave, and request updates to their personal records without having to converse with HR staff. 

 

For more information on how a web-based time and attendance system could help you embrace mobile/remote working contact Mitrefinch today on 1300 884 831 (+61 2 8762 7888) or visit www.mitrefinch.com.au

Source: HC Online

Looking To Free Up Valuable Time For Your HR Management Team?

For organisations of all shapes and sizes, the role of a Human Resources Executive generally encompasses many different tasks - from payroll processing, scheduling, award and entitlement calculations, absence management, not to mention keeping track of mobile and flexi workers. 

Helping HR Manage!

By introducing an automated Human Resource Management System, you can lower administrative costs while giving your HR team the time to work on more productive activities and projects. 

Here's how: 

Award Interpretation: Easily calculate base and overtime pay, weekend and public holiday penalties, as well as leave loading and shift penalties, ensuring consistent application of your business rules and compliance with workplace legislation. 

A direct interface to your external payroll application further reduces payroll administration and the potential for costly payroll errors. 

Employee Self Service functionality: enables your employees to directly view any leave accrued, requests for time-off can be requested or approved automatically. 

Employee Scheduling: Assign resources based on predefined budgets and skill sets, keeping operating costs as low as possible. In addition, ensure you have sufficient staff on board to cover the holiday period by limiting how many employees can be off on a given day or time period. Once the limit has been reached no further employees can request leave.

Absence Management: Real-time reports allow you to analyse any particular attendance trends or unplanned absences, as well as the commercial impact of schedules, overtime, absence and stockpiled leave.


Comprehensive Reporting: All of your employee data, files and correspondence are centrally stored, making the filing and retrieving of vital information quick and easy to manage. The stored information can be used to run reports on past and present data, such as training and development requirements. 

To find out how you can improve efficiency in your HR and Payroll Department contact Mitrefinch today on +61 2 9762 7888 or visit www.mitrefinch.com.au

Show your Payroll People some Love this Week

Many of us don't give payroll a second thought - that is until something goes wrong somewhere and we get paid incorrectly, but for the large part all we are concerned with - is how we are going to spend it come pay day!

Regardless of company size or industry, payroll professionals are tasked with managing one of the largest costs a business has, ensuring all legislative requirements are being met and keeping up with the changes, developing processes to ensure we are paid on time and correctly, as well as providing a wealth of employee information for the business to use in effectively managing its employees.

This week, it's National Payroll Week (NPW) in NZ, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of the payroll function within a business and how those professionals in the Pay Office manage to get our wages processed on time, every pay run.

As part of the week’s festivities, the New Zealand Payroll Practitioners’ Association (NZPPA) in conjunction with HAYS, are hosting a number of free* breakfast briefing sessions throughout the week in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Each session will have three speakers and morning tea available while giving attendees the opportunity to network with industry peers. 

In addition, NZPPA are distributing posters and postcards which promote the payroll profession to organizations all over New Zealand, they are also running a “Best Payroll Team” photo competition with $500 in prize money on offer. 

Organisations are encouraged to get involved in NPW by hosting their own morning tea or lunch with the payroll team, or simply just take the time this week to drop by your Pay Office and thank your payroll person for a job well done!

For more information on National Payroll Week please visit the NZPPA website: www.nzppa.co.nz

Here at Mitrefinch we are proud sponsors of NPW. Our Time and Attendance System (Mitrefinch TMS) aims to make life in the pay office a little less stressful come pay day by  automating the transfer of hours and rates to their payroll system, ensuring compliance with entitlements, and improving overall productivity and efficiency.

*Free for NZPPA members, for non-members a $12 fee will be payable.

Increased Fatigue and Health Risks associated with Shift Work

Working irregular hours could increase the risk of developing significant health problems such as heart disease or a stroke, new research suggests. 

Publishing their work in the British Medical Journal, a team of researchers from Canada and Norway analysed data from a number of previous studies involving shift workers. 

They calculated incidences of coronary events, heart attacks and strokes across more than two million employees, and found that these events were more common in shift workers than any other group.

In total, there were 17,359 coronary events of some kind, including cardiac arrests, 6,598 heart attacks and 1,854 strokes caused by lack of blood to the brain. 

The researchers calculated that shift work is linked to a 23 per cent increase in the risk of having a heart attack, a 24 per cent rise in the risk of a coronary event and a five per cent greater chance of suffering a stroke. 

Dan Hackam, associate professor at Western University, London, Ontario in Canada and leader of the study said shift workers were more prone to sleeping and eating badly, the BBC reports. 

Shift work patterns and extended working hours can also impact on fatigue, increasing the potential for workplace Health and Safety issues. 

Ensuring that workers are given adequate time to rest between shifts, is key to managing fatigue successfully. Employers may find that carefully planned Rosters and Work Schedules can help minimise the disruption to employees' body clocks caused by working outside normal waking hours and mitigate some of the health risks associated with shift work. 

Jane White, research and information services manager at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, told BBC News: "Avoiding permanent night shifts, limiting shifts to a maximum of 12 hours and ensuring workers have a minimum of two full nights' sleep between day and night shifts are simple, practical solutions that can help people to cope with shift work." 

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland advises organisations to consider the following factors when reviewing Roster design: 

• Length of shifts - depends on physical and mental load of the work 
• Distribution of leisure time - allow for adequate rest and recovery 
• Regularity of shift system - allows workers to prepare for work 
• Length of shifts worked - this can contribute to fatigue 
• Previous hours and days worked - the effects of fatigue are cumulative, workers may have sleep debt due to the length of previous shifts 
• Type of work being performed - pay particular attention to the level of physical and/or mental effort required 
• Time of the day when the work is being performed - remember that disrupting the body's circadian rhythms can cause fatigue and affect performance 

An automated time management system can also assist organisations in implementing an effective Fatigue Management plan. 

By tracking and monitoring employee time and attendance data, a time management system allows you to analyse the amount of time your staff are spending at work, overtime hours, and associated productivity levels. 

Alerts can be set to notify Supervisors or HR when a particular employee is approaching their work hour limit, enabling them to adjust rosters and shifts accordingly. 

A time management system also automates compliance with current workplace legislation and modern awards, as well as any organisation-specific work rules, and can easily accommodate any new changes. 

This ensures that employees are only permitted to work if they satisfy all the associated rules, providing you with ‘peace of mind’ that they are alert to perform their duties in a safe manner. 

In addition, by automating annual reporting and maintaining a complete audit trail, a time management system ensures you have all the required information to hand in the unfortunate event of an accident and subsequent legal action. 

For more information on how an automated time management system can assist with effective fatigue management contact Mitrefinch today on 1300 884 831 (+61 2 8672 7888 outside Australia), email sales@mitrefinch.com.au or visit us online.

Stress Down this Friday

During the course of our working week, most of us experience some degree of work-related stress - be it pulling together a report together for the CEO, responding to a large tender, dealing with an irrate client, or having to tolerate an intolerable colleague!

The effects of stress can not only lead to lost days, but also a less productive workforce, and poor decision-making, nevermind the negative effects on employee health and wellbeing.

Only this week, a Women's Health Study found that women under a lot of stress at work are almost 40% more likely to have a cardiovascular event – which is quite alarming!

While WorkCover’s 2011-2015 Occupational Disease and Wellbeing Strategy, also found that the number of claims for occupational diseases in NSW is increasing – with more than 17,000 claims for mental disorders such as work-related stress, anxiety and depression between 2007 and 2010. 

In a bid to encourage employees to reduce stress levels at work, this Friday (July 27) is Stress Down Day, an initiative that aims to raise awareness and funds for Lifeline.

Everyday, Lifeline receives 1,250 calls from Australians in need of support. Sadly up to 50 of these calls are from people at high risk of suicide.

As part of Stress Down Day, organisations are encouraged to let employees take time out from their busy day to have fun, stress less and feel better  -  be it by wearing Stress Down slippers all day, going to work in pyjamas, or organising a stress free morning tea.

Some organisations have gone a step further and encourage "wind-downing" for their staff every Friday. Take for example, Kellogg’s Australia, where employees enjoy a 4½ day week, and head home at 1pm every Friday. “They get home to their families and get their shopping done. It is part of our culture,” HR director Michelle Bakar said.

HC Online advise that Friday perks needn’t be a costly exercise. Here are some benefits and perks that cost very little but may work for you and your team:   

Casual dress
Inviting employees to dress casually on Fridays has two major benefits. Firstly, employees who are heading out socially after work appreciate the option to come to work dressed casually. Secondly, it doesn’t cost the employer a cent, and can be an easy way to drum up engagement.

Free lunch
Providing a wholesome, fresh lunch for all employees (such as fruit, yogurt, pasta, rice, vegetables etc) on Fridays, may be one way for teams to wind-down together and casually discuss how the week has been. 

Friday arvo drinks
Putting on drinks and snacks at your workplace is an easy week-to-week recognition strategy to bring teams together, and foster ties between colleagues who otherwise may not have the opportunity to chat and collaborate.

Get your organisation involved! See the Stress Down Day website for more details and resources on overcoming stress - http://www.stressdown.org.au/

Check out our other stess-related blog posts:

Excessive Overtime may be linked to Depression: 

http://mitrefinchaustralia.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/excessive-overtime-may-be-linked-to.html 

Preventable job stress costs economy $730 million annually: http://mitrefinchaustralia.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/preventable-job-stress-costs-economy.html