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Articles by Steve Tonks
UK Strikes: A Lesson on Employee Experience
This summer, the UK faced its biggest rail strike in 30 years, and it’s now expected that teachers and NHS staff will join the strike action too. We are seeing similar movements in the private sector, with BT workers voting overwhelmingly to take strike action for the first time in 35 years. Amid today’s cost of living crisis, more frontline, deskless workers are demanding pay increases to combat inflation, as well as more flexible working options.
Improving employee experience amid most intense union action in 30 years
This summer, the UK faced its biggest rail strike in 30 years, and it’s now expected that teachers and NHS staff will join the strike action too. We are seeing similar movements in the private sector, with BT workers voting overwhelmingly to take strike action for the first time in 35 years. Amid today’s cost of living crisis, more frontline, deskless workers are demanding – and rightly so – pay increases to combat inflation, as well as more flexible working options.
Four-day week: Don’t ignore deskless workers' employee experience
In June 2022, 70 UK companies kicked off a four-day working week as part of the world’s largest trial of this new working pattern, with no loss of pay for employees. This experiment seeks to address a myriad of workplace issues such as stress and burnout, job and life satisfaction, health, sleep, energy use and travel. The trial comes at a time when more than half of UK businesses are facing a significant talent shortage, which is set to cost the economy £120 billion by 2030.
Four-day week: Don’t ignore deskless workers
In June 2022, 70 UK companies kicked off a four-day working week as part of the world’s largest trial of this new working pattern, with no loss of pay for employees. This experiment seeks to address a myriad of workplace issues such as stress and burnout, job and life satisfaction, health, sleep, energy use and travel. The trial comes at a time when more than half of UK businesses are facing a significant talent shortage, which is set to cost the economy £120 billion by 2030.
What business leaders can learn from the rise of cross-industry U.K. strikes and union activism in the U.S.
It’s ironic that Britons, who stereotypically bask in small talk about the weather, are experiencing a so-called “summer of discontent” as temperatures hit record highs. The strike action in late June of railway workers, followed by criminal barristers, is likely to be copied in the coming weeks by inflamed teachers, airport staff, and healthcare workers, among others. With the cost-of-living crisis raging, it’s a tinderbox.
Overhauling the deskless employee experience
From Travel for London tube staff subjected to a tide of verbal abuse and physical attacks during the pandemic to hospitality workers reporting soaring levels of customer aggression in the wake of Covid, the safety and wellbeing of thousands of deskless workers has hit headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Overhauling the deskless employee experience
From Travel for London tube staff subjected to a tide of verbal abuse and physical attacks during the pandemic to hospitality workers reporting soaring levels of customer aggression in the wake of Covid, the safety and wellbeing of thousands of deskless workers has hit headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Scrapping outdated payday cycles to battle record-high inflation
By Steve Tonks, Senior Vice President EMEA at WorkForce Software of the UK population frequently feel monetary stress, with financial anxiety being a leading cause of poor mental health for three fifths (60%) of employees. It is clear that financial wellbeing has a domino effect on mental wellbeing.
Developing vaccine policies for deskless workforces
During the most recent wave of Covid cases, some of the largest brands in the UK, including Next, Ikea and Ocado, made the decision to cut sick pay for unvaccinated staff who were self-isolating. This move by employers to ‘encourage’ staff to take the Covid vaccine follows a year of debate over mandatory vaccination, particularly in frontline sectors like health and social care.
How to support deskless workers
Ask a group of marathon runners to describe the mental stages they go through during a race, and they’ll often give you eerily similar answers. The first few miles pass in a blur of nerves and excitement, before you find your stride around a third of the way through. But push on for another third, and you suddenly ‘hit the wall’. Physical and mental exhaustion, coupled with disbelief at the distance you’ve still got to run, leave you struggling for motivation to go on.
Managing the Employee Burnout Epidemic
Approximately one-third of an adult’s life is spent working. Working grants the opportunity for professional advancement; it can support a person’s daily life, pay for life’s major events and serve as a much-needed social outlet. However, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, employees are being denied the day-to-day benefits that work can provide and are now finding themselves under more stress.
2022: Challenges on the horizon and how to overcome them
Well, here we are. Almost into 2022. And doesn’t it feel a little risky to start looking to the future? After all, our predictions for 2021 ended up about as useful as, well… our predictions for 2020. Thankfully, the world now seems to be in recovery, and we can safely plan our management strategies without worrying we’ll have to rip them up in a few weeks. But first, we need to reflect on the past 18 months and their extraordinary impact on the world of work.
Protect retail workers from more than just COVID
By Steve Tonks (pictured) SVP EMEA, WorkForce Software As the onus, once again, falls on retail and transport workers to support new rules around mask-wearing, employers must ensure they support their frontline employees, both practically and mentally. Rapidly changing compliance rules place an increased risk and responsibility on the shoulders of frontline employees.
How AI can help HR prevent ‘The Great Resignation’
After a year of pandemic-related worry and isolation, increased workloads, and little to no time off, employee burnout continues to grow with as many as three out of four workers experiencing burnout on the job. Not only this, but employers and employees are increasingly misaligned on vital issues such as job training, scheduling flexibility and salaries, which ultimately affects both employee experience and heightens employee’s perceptions of the workplace.
Three Workforce Management Strategies to Thrive in a Post-Pandemic World
Article by: Steve Tonks, Senior Vice President EMEA – WorkForce Software | Published: 25 February 2021 Steve Tonks, Senior Vice President EMEA – WorkForce Software 25 February 2021 It goes without saying that navigating the waters of the COVID-19 pandemic was a journey riddled with trial and error as businesses were forced to think outside of the box just to keep the lights on.
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