While job seekers in Swansea were recently hit hard by the news that Virgin Media were set to close their Swansea division with the loss of 800 jobs, the town has seen job prospects boosted by a massive recruitment drive by ERS, the UK’s largest specialist motor insurer.

ERS provides motor insurance for specialist vehicles such as classic cars, combine harvesters and the most exclusive of supercars for unique events like the Gumball 3000 Rally.   The company have already recognised the talent potential in the Swansea area, having moved into new 33,000 sq ft premises in Crucible Park, Swansea Vale in 2015 to facilitate its ongoing expansion in the city.

ERS has already doubled its size in Swansea over the last three years taking it to well over 450 employees, and this month held a recruitment drive to hire an additional 100 new team members to work at their Swansea office.

The company are developing employees in Swansea to undertake more specialist roles across functions like IT, claims and underwriting, giving rise to a range of opportunities, which saw them receive over 150 job applications at the recruitment fair.  ERS says it will also invest in training and development over the next 12 months, and will continue to offer further opportunities at all experience levels as the company continues to thrive.

The news of the recruitment drive was particularly welcomed by the many former and current employees from Virgin Media, with those attending saying the news of ERS’ recruitment drive was a boost to their morale.  One described it as “light at the end of the tunnel” during a stressful period in their lives.

Lauren Edwards, Head of HR at ERS, said:

“To be in a position to be recruiting in the current environment is a great place to be – both for ERS and for Swansea.

“We are very sensitive to the impact the closure of Virgin Media’s Swansea office will be having on its employees and so are very pleased to have met so many strong candidates from Virgin, among others at our open day.”

“The event itself was a great success and I was extremely proud to receive comments from attendees on the day about how enthusiastic and friendly our employees who supported the event were – the team did a great job depicting our culture and the best bit about it is that they were just being themselves.

“I am delighted that we are able to increasingly offer not just jobs but real career opportunities as we continue to expand.”

Uxshely Chotai at mental health specialist byrne dean discusses how helping employees become empowered and improving their feelings of self-control can pay dividends in terms of mental health.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” ― Viktor E. Frankl

Out of control work days and their impact on mental health

We’ve all had days where we feel out of control…. most of us have encountered scenarios like these:

• You just don’t seem to be able to stop the endless stream of emails coming into your inbox – before you have had a chance to even deal with one of them, two more appear – fighting for your time and attention.
• You have had no work to do all day and are getting pretty bored, then just as it gets to 5pm and you are getting ready to leave, an emailed marked URGENT pops up in your inbox. Yes – you are going to have to stay in the office late again – you need to get this done by tomorrow morning.
• You have spent the past hour planning how to get through your giant to-do list for the day but then have one colleague after another come to see you asking for your help – pushing that to-do-list completely aside…and forcing you to fall further behind.
• After a tough week of long days at work, you have planned a weekend away with your partner or some close friends, only to get a call from your boss on Friday asking you to help out with something over the weekend.

One of biggest things that affects people’s mental health in the workplace is the feeling of having no control over their workflow and workload.

Having too much work, too little time and then dealing with unpredictability is a recipe for poor mental health. With emails flying into their inbox 24/7, long working days, interruptions throughout the day and nobody to turn to for help, employees often feel as though they have no power to plan their day or their lives, and this can be incredibly overwhelming.

How line managers can help employees regain control

So, what can be done to help employees re-gain control over their professional lives?

There are several steps that employers can take to help their employees to feel more in control of their work-flow and professional lives more generally, including:

Good Work Allocation Practices

Managers should Establish a work-allocation system that is fair and looks at what work everyone in a team is doing. This enables you to ensure that work is distributed evenly.  Being transparent about how work is allocated will ensure that nobody in the workforce feels as though they are contributing more than their fair share.

Regular employee monitoring

It is helpful for managers to check in regularly with employees to discuss whether their workload is appropriate. Ensuring that employees are comfortable with the amount of work they have and are able to cope, is a key way to prevent mental health conditions from arising – and also creates a supportive culture by encouraging employees to ask for help or support if they are feeling overwhelmed by their workload.

Consider whether ‘urgent’ demands are truly urgent

Where a partner/director or someone senior is managing the client’s expectations, start thinking about whether something really is URGENT and whether it really needs to be completed that evening or ‘within 2 days’. Whilst having a culture of fast delivery is great, rushing can create it’s own problems.  An organisation will often get much better work product if they give their team more time to do the work well (rather than asking them to rush and complete it late in the evening or over a weekend).

Help employees to appreciate career progress potential

An individual is likely to be much better able to cope with the demands of a stressful job and a lack of control if they feel appreciated and know that they are going to progress in the company (whether through financial incentives, changes in titles or otherwise). Knowing that their hard work has a purpose and that they are working towards a goal, can help an employee to feel better able to manage stressful times.

The skills employees can cultivate to help themselves regain control

It isn’t all down to the employer, however employers can encourage employees to develop skills and understandings that enable employees to re-gain control over their professional lives:

Employees cannot manage their own workflow, but they can manage their thoughts, reactions and responses

Whilst an employee may not be in control of their workflow or the situation in their office, it is empowering for them to realise that they are however always in control of their thoughts and emotions. This skill enables them to respond more healthily to their boss giving them more work or a new deadline.  Changing the thought process from thinking ‘How am I ever going to get this done’, then worrying and getting stressed, they could change their thought pattern to ‘I will try and do my best with this but may not get it all done’, then calmly try to do as much as they can and not feel bad if they cannot meet an unreasonable deadline. Whilst it may seem difficult to change thought patterns – with some awareness of what thoughts are triggering a stress response, it is possible to encourage thoughts which are likely to be more helpful and better for mood/health.

Discourage high flyers from placing over-expectations on themselves

Often pressure to be perfect comes from within – and lowering our own expectations can make a huge difference to mental wellbeing.  Very often feeling the need to get something done quickly or dealing with all of the work they have to do that day on time, is a self-imposed deadline. Chances are, an employee would not get in trouble or fired if they were slightly late in meeting a deadline or replying to an email.  Ironically, most employers would prefer their workforce responded slightly less quickly but stopped taking off lots of days off sick for stress/anxiety/depression. It’s important for managers to encourage employees who seem frequently stressed to ask themselves how much of the pressure they are experiencing is self-imposed because they want to do a good job.  Desire to excel is great, however this should not come at the detriment of their mental or physical health.

Encourage employees to say ‘no’ if they need to

An employee can start to feel comfortable saying “no” and asking for help. Very often when an employee is stressed it can be easy to lose sight of the help available. Employees also often feel uncomfortable turning down work, despite already having too much to do. If employees remember that their employer would probably much prefer them turning down one piece of work or asking for help rather than ending up chronically stressed and sick – maybe they would be more likely to get the help and support they need or not feel bad when they have to say that they can’t take on any additional work.

What is ‘control’, anyway?

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” –  Viktor E. Frankl

The irony is that the inner battle for control which often contributes to anxiety and depression is often an illusion.  In reality, we never really have any control over anything external to us, and our lives are constantly changing.

Often the difference between mental wellbeing and mental ill health is the understanding that while we have no control over our workloads or when that email will appear in our inbox, we all have total control over our own thoughts, actions and emotions.

It therefore not only benefits employees, but also business leaders to accept that we never really have control of anything external – but we can always change our thoughts and responses.  Learning therefore that you always have control over how you respond to a particular situation, is a truly empowering thing – for business leaders and their most motivated staff.

About the author

Uxshely works in the mental health awareness training team at byrne dean, after a successful career in finance law.

Having experienced first-hand, the fast-paced and demanding corporate environment, Uxshely is committed to ensuring that employees are provided with the tools and support network they need to thrive. She has seen that both employees and employers can greatly benefit from making health and well-being a priority.

After graduating with a first from Oxford University in Law and French Law she has continued her education in a range of disciplines which now enable her to help others to improve their mental and physical health. The qualifications she has undertaken include a masters in nutrition for public health, training to become a psychotherapist and hypnotherapist, meditation teacher training, a biomedicine diploma and training in neuro-linguistic programming.

Uxshely is passionate about encouraging kinder, fairer and more productive workplaces by enabling employees to achieve optimum mental and physical health.

New research has revealed the extent of pay rate rises in the construction industry as skills shortages take hold, with some roles seeing hourly rates more than doubling in the last four years.

According to the data from software and service supplier, Engage Technology Partners, Crawler Crane Operators have noted the greatest increase in rates (82%) in the years 2015 – 2018, with much of this demand likely coming from the Crossrail project.

EWP operators saw the second greatest rise in pay with a 77% increase, while Electrical Testers ranked third on the list with a growth in wages of 66%. In comparison, roles such as Maintenance Carpenter and Ground / Highway Labourer have reported a dip in pay, noting a decrease of 27% and 19% respectively over the last four years.

This information comes at a time when the latest Barbour ABI Economic & Construction Market Review suggests the industry is facing a dip in activity, with the value of new construction contracts awarded in June 2018 reportedly the lowest figure in more than five years.

Drey Francis, Director at Engage commented on the data:

“The construction industry has long struggled with a skills shortage that has arguably been exacerbated by the stereotype of the industry as ‘male-only’ and the perception that it is not a ‘career of choice’ for most. However, this dearth of talent has led to many employers using financial incentives to source the professionals they need to do the job – hence the stark rise in hourly pay that we’ve noted in recent years.

“Given the current drop in project contracts, though, this increase in pay is certainly a worry for employers who will have to juggle resourcing needs and strict budgets. However, while the likes of Crawler Crane Operators can currently demand higher wages, firms can streamline costs elsewhere – through more efficient administrative reporting and timesheet monitoring systems – to better ensure their business withstands this slow period.”

New research from Solicitors Percy Hughes & Roberts reveals that employees across a wide range of industries are too worried to report injuries sustained in the workplace to their employer in case it ‘makes their boss angry’.

38% of respondents who had been involved in an accident told researchers that they did not report it because they were worried their employer would be angry, or they did not believe anything would be done as a result, according to the survey carried out by the Wirral-based legal specialist, which questioned 650 respondents about their experiences regarding workplace injury.

Messy Workstations and Slipping Hazards represent biggest safety hazards

The research also highlighted messy workstations and slipping hazards as the most commonly seen hazards in workplaces across all industries. Some 24% of respondents had witnessed messy workstations in their workplace, while 27% had come into contact with slipping hazards.

Alison Beech, Partner at Percy Hughes & Roberts, said:

“The results of the survey are incredibly worrying, and employees should never feel worried about the stigma of reporting an incident if they are injured while carrying out their job.

“It is an employer’s duty to keep their workforce safe, and this means if any incidents take place, it is their responsibility to ensure that it is dealt with correctly. Employers have insurance policies in place to prepare for eventualities such as these, which are used for any compensation payments, so employees need not worry about the financial side of making a claim for compensation.”

Environment & Agriculture ‘most unsafe’ industries

The industries with the most respondents who said their workplace was either “unsafe” or “very unsafe” were Environment & Agriculture (27%), Energy & Utilities (22%), Engineering & Manufacturing (19%) and Recruitment & HR (16%).

Alison said:

“It is interesting to see that more people in retail, sales and healthcare view their workplace as unsafe, as opposed to arguably more obvious sectors such as construction and manufacturing. Employers in these sectors are subject to the same penalties as those in those that are perceived as more dangerous, so it’s vital that immediate action is taken to remove hazards from all workplaces.”

Today’s Migration Statistics Quarterly Report – released today, for the year ending March 2018 reveals that, just one year before Brexit, the UK is facing a major talent crisis ahead of the UK’s exit from the EU.

Jonathan Beech, Managing Director of Migrate UK, a law firm specialising solely in immigration law for organisations and individuals says the UK should be concerned.

The statistics show a worrying drop in EU workers, many of whom are employed in industries such as IT, banking and finance where there is already a major shortage of skilled professionals.  Jonathan says:

“Today’s net migration figures for the year ending March 2018 show EU net migration continues to decline from its peak of + 189,000 in June 2016 to +87,000, its lowest level since 2012. This is just one year before Brexit and shows greater numbers of EU migrants are now opting to remain in their respective countries, rather than working or studying in the UK.

“The majority of the current fall in numbers is from citizens of western European countries that make up the ‘EU15’ group coming to the UK for a definite job. There has also been a continued fall in EU2 eastern European countries such as Poland, Romania and Croatia and EU8 citizens moving to the UK to seek work.

Largest fall in EU nationals since records began – 39% of Employers have already lost key staff

Jonathan says that in addition to today’s figures,  the labour market statistics from the Labour Force Survey up to the latest period (April to June 2018) show that there were 2.28 million EU nationals working in the UK, 86,000 fewer than a year earlier; this is the largest annual fall since comparable records began in 1997.  Jonathan continues:

“These figures are to be expected given our latest research of 1,000 HR directors which found that 39% of employers said they had already lost EU workers because they are either returning home or leaving to work in another country, while 59% of employers said they had paid out up to £100,000 since Brexit on extra benefits in a desperate bid to retain much needed EU skills.

“Indeed, our research found that 66% of HR directors polled have struggled to find sufficient skills since the Brexit referendum, particularly within the banking (86%), finance (83%) and IT (79%) sectors and a combined 67% of HR directors reported that an uncertain future and unknown immigration legal requirements after an EU exit were the main reasons why workers were leaving the UK.

Jonathan called for urgent clarity on the post-brexit status of EU workers in the UK to avoid the exodus becoming worse.  He said:

“After years of uncertainty, the Government must give some form of guarantee that the status of EU workers in the UK is legally binding and safeguarded against any threat of change in the future, otherwise EU workers will just continue to leave – its recently proposed EU Settlement Scheme granting settle status to EU citizens who have lived continuously in Britain for five years is in the right direction, it’s currently still just a proposal, not a guarantee.”

A major new independent survey of over 1000 UK jobseekers and employers has painted a troubling picture of recruitment agencies in the UK.

Research reveals that an unregulated industry with no barrier to entry has led to wildly fluctuating service levels. These include an over reliance on technology and shady practices such as publishing fake job advertisements as a way of getting people to sign up with their agency.

Less than 5% of respondents would trust a recruitment agency

The research: “Trust in Recruitment”, undertaken by Explain The Market for the peer-to-peer recruitment recommendation platform AnyGood? found that over half of all respondents (52%) that have used recruitment agencies in the past year did not feel that they were dealt with honestly and less than 5% would trust a recruitment agency to advise them whether a role or candidate was right for them.

“Based on my career in pharmaceuticals, education and the charity sector, I can only think of one or two recruitment consultants that I have ever trusted”, said one London based jobseeker.

Poor knowledge, lack of expertise, lack of client care and even fake job ads

Specific problems cited by respondents included the fact that recruitment agencies rarely put the needs of an individual hirer or jobseeker above making a profit, often have little industry or sector expertise, don’t listen to requirements and post fake job advertisements to lure in talent.

There was also a feeling that recruiters relied too much on technology with over 90% stating that it was important to ensure that recommendations came from real people and not algorithms.

“You don’t really trust an app or a website on its own. I need to talk to the people who are really in the know about the job,” said one respondent – a hiring manager from a property business.

Candidates believe Online technology is ‘unjustly’ screening them out

A job seeker from Birmingham said:

“Everything is online, no issue with that. I can’t see that trend ever slowing down but sometimes I feel like I’m written off before anyone has a chance to get to know me or even talk to people who know what I can do.”

Clients and Candidates struggle to identify ‘the good guys’ in recruitment

In an industry where lack of faith is so widespread, professionals working within the recruitment industry are concerned that it’s hard for clients to identify ‘the good guys’ – because as a profession, they get tarred with the same brush.

“This is an industry ripe for disruption,” says Juliet Eccleston founder of AnyGood? a platform where professionals recommend their peers for roles.

“Let’s be clear – there are undoubtedly good honest recruitment firms out there but it is also apparent that trust in the recruitment sector as a whole is at an all time low. What we have today is an under regulated unlicensed third-party intermediary with levels of service that simply would not be tolerated in any other sector. Think estate agents and Purple bricks. Think travel agents and Airbnb. Then think recruitment agents – with our research showing that over 45% of respondents were now using recruitment agencies less or not at all, the writing may well already be on the wall. This research is just the start of a campaign to clean up the sector – it’s being openly shared and we hope that it can be the start of a conversation for change.”

“For some companies, fines issued for breaches in health and safety could be the difference between staying in business or facing bankruptcy. Although these penalties may seem tough, they are in place to urge companies to assess their current health and safety procedures and commit to further improving standards.”

“Without regular checks, a seemingly safe workplace can hide serious health and safety risks likely to cause harm to employees, visitors or members of the public. In reality, it may be impractical to prevent every imaginable hazard, but no one wants to think that they could have done more if an accident was to take place.”

“Competency is the most vital skill to managing health and safety in the workplace, and every level of an organisation should be involved. Training directors, line managers and workers to be more aware of risks and understand what action needs to be taken when a hazard rises will help to promote a safe and healthy workplace.”

Guest Article by Alan Price, Employment Law Director, Peninsula Group

It hasn’t been a good week for Tui’s PR team.  Earlier this week, the company fell foul of advertising chiefs, resulting in its commercial for a ‘perfect summer holiday’ being banned from TV screens.  Then a Gloucestershire Radio boss reported that they were left stranded by the airline at St. John’s International Airport in Canada following an alleged ‘pushing’ incident, with the family being branded as ‘disruptive’ and several members being barred from joining the flight.  The family said they knew nothing of the allegations – and it’s not a smart way to treat a media boss, who complained publicly of a lack of care and published footage of what they said was subsequent ‘gloating’ behaviour from a Tui steward.

Now, in the latest row Tui have been branded ‘sexist’ in their marketing to children.  Cabin crew were observed selecting different stickers for different genders in their children’s holiday packs – with boys being given stickers saying ‘Future Captain’ while girls received ‘Future Cabin Crew’.

Dame Gillian Morgan, 65, noticed the stickers following her flight to Bristol from Paphos, Cyprus, where she observed stewardesses handing out the stickers to children on board the plane – and her frustrated response received coverage from several national newspapers.

In an interview with Metro, Dame Gillian said it was “deeply sexist” and was “absolutely sure” it was deliberate for airline staff to hand stickers by gender.

Dame Gillian said:

“The stickers were gender neutral but it’s the way that they were handed out that makes it complicated,” she told the Metro.

“I was with my great-niece and my great-nephew and of the two of them, she’s going to be the pilot, he’s going to be the cabin crew!” 

“There must have been a way of doing it with a bit more thought. I was quite upset by it really.”

The point has not been lost on other passengers, either, who have voiced their disapproval on Twitter over the Summer.  Back in May, djdump@St_Pirran told the airline “@TUIUK your cabin crew today chose “future tui cabin crew” stickers for the girls and “future pilot” for the boys, no female pilots then? ”

The airline was quick to defend the stickers as ‘gender neutral’ and “part of our activity packs which are intended to be used by crew to interact, engage with and create special moments for our customers on their holiday.”

Of course, this hastily issued response would be easier to swallow if the airline’s employment reflected gender diversity – in an irony not lost on reporters, as of April 2017, 5% of TUI’s 870 pilots were female and 21% of its 2,500 cabin crew were men.   One only hopes that by the time the children involved reach maturity, the airline industry makes some progress – as of now, the stickers reflect a disappointingly accurate portrait of gender diversity (or lack thereof) at one of the UK’s largest holiday companies.

Personal Branding: It’s More Than Self-Promotion

The London HR Connection is delighted to welcome one of the UK’s leading experts in personal branding and its value at every level in business life to speak at its September event.

When Jennifer Holloway tells people she specialises in personal branding, the first comment she usually receives is: “That’s all about promoting yourself, isn’t it?”  But whilst raising your profile is part of the equation, a bigger part is getting clarity and confidence from understanding your personal brand in the first place.

It’s especially pertinent for people with a highly technical background who, when they find themselves promoted to a leadership role, can struggle to connect with their teams in a personal way, instead of a purely technical one.

This was the case when Jennifer was approached by Susannah Paxton at Bupa to work with its finance and actuarial teams to help them strike the balance between conveying not just what they know, but who they are.

In this session Jennifer and Susannah will discuss the objectives that were set, the action that was taken and the outcomes that occurred.

When it comes to personal branding, Jennifer Holloway knows her stuff. She spent 15 years in corporate life doing PR and dealing with the media, before launching her own company in 2008, when her own brand was at the heart of her business. She now delivers personal brand workshops and seminars, as well as one-to-one coaching, to FTSE 100 clients across the UK and Europe, including Santander, Vodafone, RBS and Bupa. She is also the best-selling author of Amazon’s #1 book on the subject – ‘Personal Branding for Brits.’

In her eight years with Bupa, Susannah Paxton progressed from being a PA to an internal communications executive, before finding her niche as a learning and development professional. Her initial focus was on the company’s finance employees but, 18 months ago, her remit widened and she designed – and now manages – a development programme for 700 employees, which includes addressing people manager capability.

To learn more or to book tickets, visit the HR Connection website.