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

Preparing for an Olympic Rise in Absenteeism

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!

With the Olympics kicking off in just a few days time, HR professionals have been advised to prepare themselves for a potential increase in absenteeism. 

Think this sounds unlikely? Think again! As if absenteeism figures are anything similar to those recorded during the 2010 FIFA world cup in South Africa, organisations could see a 25% spike in unplanned absence. (Read: HC Online: “Wimbledon, Tour de France, Olympics equals spike in sickies”)

As such, planning ahead is advisable. NSW Business Chamber senior manager of public affairs Damian Kelly said managers could consider rostering staff differently in order to avoid an increase in absenteeism. “It may be the case that some employees may be able to work from home or alter their working hours.” (Read: More than half of employers to change working practices during the Olympics) 

Some businesses will also look to take advantage of the London Games by hosting team-building events and running down employee leave. 

According to Randstad, organisations may find it’s an ideal time to embrace the spirit of the sport, have fun and build employee morale through celebration and a culture of teamwork. 

“Get employees involved in a running or walking club, sweeps or provide TVs where they can have 15-minute breaks to watch highlights or replays,” suggests Paul Dundon, Managing Director of absentee management company Direct Health Solutions. 

Speaking to the Australian Financial Review, Australia Post, a sponsor of the Australian Olympic team, said it was sending some staff to London and providing TVs for other staff to watch some of the events. 

“If a major event is on, we will work with our staff to make appropriate arrangements so they can watch the event,” they said. 

Paul Nesbit from Macquarie University’s graduate school of management said managers should calculate how many staff were needed to maintain services. 

“Identify where people can take legitimate leave and encourage them to take it. Like at Christmas, some people are happy to work through and take time off during different periods,” Dr Nesbit said. 

How might an automated Time and Attendance System help?

A Time and Attendance system is a powerful Workforce Management tool for analysing employee attendance information and the associated costs.

By recording unplanned absences, holidays and paid parental leave, an automated Time and Attendance system provides you with a complete Absence Profile for an individual employee or group of employees for further analysis.

In addition, by measuring work absences an automated Time and Attendance system can identify how these absences impact the organisation's overall productivity, as well as highlighting possible trends (i.e.spike in unplanned absense levels the day after Australia Day or the UEFA Champions League Final ) – allowing you to plan ahead and be prepared next time around.

In-built employee scheduling and rostering capabilities also enable management to plan projected manpower and work schedules according to available resources, skills sets etc...

For more information please feel free to call 1300 884 831 (+61 2 8762 7888 outside Australia), email sales@mitrefinch.com.au or visit us online.

Read More: 

Australian Financial Review (AFR): “As flu hits and Games begin, get ready for more absentees” 

HC Online: “Wimbledon, Tour de France, Olympics equals spike in sickies”

More than half of employers to change working practices during the Olympics

Allowing staff to work remotely can provide a host of benefits for organisations. It means that employees who are unable to get into the office can still work, but from home. In addition, staff can do their jobs on the move, if they need to attend meetings or travel to client sites.

By introducing working from home, and other flexi-time initatives, companies can also boost staff morale, as staff who are allowed to work flexibly are often better motivated and more loyal to their employers.

Of course for many companies in London there will be major advantages this summer when the Olympic Games begin, as workers will be able to avoid the expected public transport disruption and work more efficiently from their own homes.

The British Government has in fact urged companies to encourage and support flexible and remote working practices during the 2012 Games, while Transport for London has also launched a campaign to get more commuters working from home to ease pressure on the Tube, train and bus networks.

According to a new report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), more than half of employers surveyed are making changes to their working practices during the Olympics to enable staff to work more flexibly or enable them to watch key events at work. 

But London Mayor Boris Johnson takes another view. He has argued that home working could become a "skiver's paradise" for many in the capital who he claims will use the Olympics as an excuse to do as little as possible.

"Some people will see the Games as an opportunity to work from home, in inverted commas," he stated. "We all know that is basically sitting wondering whether to go down to the fridge to hack off that bit of cheese before checking your emails again. I don't want to see too many of us doing that."

His comments have been criticised by diversity campaign group Opportunity Now, which described them as "disappointing and damaging" and said it is frustrating that Mr Johnson has not chosen to support the many employers who plan to trial home working this summer.

Speaking to HR Magazine, spokesperson Rachael Saunders said: "Instead of wasting time battling through the tourist crowds, it is far better to be more productive at home - for employers and employees alike.

"Employers in London should continue with their agile and working from home plans during the Olympics and use this as an opportunity to prove outdated viewpoints like this wrong."

Of course while many employees will work to their full potential at home, it can be difficult to monitor what workers are doing when they are not in the office, which is why timeand attendance software and mobile clocking systems can be an effective tool.

One in five Aussies work at least 50 hours a week - is your Organisation tracking Unpaid Overtime?

One in five Australian employees are working at least 50 hours per week according to the International Labour Organisation. While figures released by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the UK, show unpaid overtime worked last year equated to 1,968 million hours, with 5.3 million workers putting in an average of 7.2 additional hours per week.  

Now that's a lot of hours worth of work going unpaid!

Commenting on the findings, Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, said that this data sheds light on the "valuable but too often unrewarded" extra hours that workers put in.

"But while many of the extra unpaid hours worked could easily be reduced by changing work practices...a small number of employers are exploiting staff by regularly forcing them to do excessive amounts of extra work for no extra pay”.

"This attitude is not only bad for workers' health, it's bad for the economy too as it reduces productivity and holds back job creation."

What's more, if employees are having to frequently work excessive hours, workplace health and safety standards may slip, increasing the organisations exposure to workers' compensation or other claims due to fatigue or stress related injuries.

Employers should be doing more to recognise the unpaid overtime put in by their staff – but first they need to have a system in place to effectively measure and report on overtime.

As a provider of Time Management Systems, we are often asked about the value of having an automated Time and Attendance System when an organisation only employs salaried staff. 

By having all staff clock in and out of work, managers and supervisors can easily identify just how much unpaid overtime employees are putting in and if there is a particular pattern forming - e.g. are staff required to work longer hours around the end of the month or busy trading periods. 

Armed with this information you may be able to justify hiring additional staff or bringing in contract labour during periods of increased activity, or at the very least acknowledge the efforts of your team - perhaps introducing a Time in Lieu scheme or incentives for those that put in the hard yards? In the long run, this ultimately benefits you as a motivated and happy workforce generally means increased productivity!

Flexible or remote working policies could also help. By working from home, employees can cut out their daily commute, giving them more time in the day to work and allowing them to clock off on time. Employee Self Service tools would allow staff working remotely to log their work hours or allocate their time to specific jobs/projects via Online Timesheets or PC based clocking tools.

With cold and flu season underway, is your business prepared for Winter Absenteeism?

With the arrival of Winter in the Southern Hemisphere, have you noticed an increase in the number of employees calling in sick?

Safeguard your business against Winter Absence

While we generally don’t get the sub zero temperatures experienced by our counterparts in the US and Europe, I'm sure i'm not the only one tempted to hit the snooze button and hide under the doona on these chilly mornings!

However, in addition to "illegimate sickies", the cooler weather also brings an increase in cases of genuine sickness, like colds and flus, which can directly impact a company’s bottom line.

According to research compiled by Kimberly-Clark Professional:

• It is estimated that the flu impairs a workers performance by between 20 and 40%
• On average 6.5 working days of productivity are lost per employee annually
• 10% of all illness related absenteeism is due to the flu

This unplanned absenteeism and drop in productivity, is a major concern for many organisations and employers must consider both the direct and indirect costs incurred when an employee is absent.

Organisations need to be proactive and plan in advance to safeguard their business from the effects of Winter Absenteeism.

Steps you can take to combat Winter Absence

If you can’t measure it, it’s pretty hard to manage it – as a first step, businesses need to establish an effective means of measuring and monitoring employee absence.

By effectively measuring absence and sickness in the workplace management can easily identify:

• How often a worker is absent
• How much working time has been lost
• If there is any particular pattern forming (i.e. a particular worker regularly calls in sick on a Friday morning)
• and Where absenteeism occurs the most (i.e. within a particular department, team)

Armed with this valuable information, management can assess the extent of their absenteeism issues and decide on the best means of tackling the problem.

How might an automated Time and Attendance System help?

A Time and Attendance system is a powerful Workforce Management tool for analysing employee attendance information and the associated costs.

By recording unplanned absences, holidays and paid parental leave, an automated Time and Attendance system provides you with a complete AbsenceProfile for an individual employee or group of employees for further analysis.

In addition, by measuring work absences an automated Time and Attendancesystem can identify how these absences impact the organisation's overall productivity, as well as identifying potential problem areas – allowing management to address any issues before they get out of hand.

In-built employee scheduling and rostering capabilities also enable management to plan projected manpower and work schedules according to available resources, skills sets etc...

For more information please feel free to call 1300 884 831 (+61 2 8762 7888 outside Australia), email sales@mitrefinch.com.au or visit us online.

Also see: Safeguard your organisation from Absenteeism Spike via the Australian Payroll Association website