News

Number of female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies up by 95% in the last 6 years

Bankless Times has presented data indicating that the number of CEO’s heading fortune 500 companies is growing. The firm’s analysis shows that female CEO’s there have increased by 95% in the last 6 years.

From 21 CEO’s in 2016, the number has increased to 41 today. That’s an impressive feat indeed. However, it belies a sobering fact: women remain underrepresented at the helm of these companies. Women account for a paltry 8.2% of that position’s holders despite the growth.

Not only does it illustrate a clear gender disparity issue in a professional setting. But it also reveals the lethargy in addressing it. This lack of representation means that many women are not getting a fair chance to prove themselves capable leaders and innovators within their respective industries. Research shows that having women in leadership positions is beneficial for businesses overall. Some studies have associated having more women in leadership roles with increased profitability and lowered risk-taking. Others have found that firms with women on their boards displayed higher returns on equity and higher valuations.

Moreover, the studies show the lack of women representation at this level is not due to a lack of interest. Instead, it’s due to the lack of opportunity. The same studies found no barriers to entry into leadership positions for women seeking them. The only thing stopping them is access!

There are various reasons why there is an attrition of women at higher levels in an organisation, but one of them seems to be self-doubt. To reverse this, society needs to start challenging its assumptions about what a leader looks like and what they can do.

Also, women need to encourage each other to take risks, be assertive, and not shy away from stretch assignments. They have to be more vocal about their accomplishments. That’ll get them noticed and rewarded for their hard work. Finally, they must learn how to negotiate effectively to get what they deserve.

Nearly one in three adults working from home say they are lonely

The rise of working from home is adding to loneliness with more than three million people who do this claiming it means they don’t see other people very often, new research from digital board game group Marmalade Game Studio shows.

Its nationwide study found nearly one in three (29%) adults say they suffer from being lonely and one in four of them (26%) say it has a seriously negative impact on their mental health.

More than half (52%) of those who suffer from loneliness say it is because they don’t have many close friends while 28% say it is because they live alone. However, 20% say working from home has added to their loneliness.

Mental health is a major issue among those who suffer from being lonely – around two-fifths (38%) of those who describe themselves as lonely say their mental health issues add to their loneliness. This is in turn has an impact on their mental wellbeing. Around 89% who describe themselves as lonely say it has a negative impact on their mental health while 13% say it has no impact.

The research for Marmalade Game Studio, which publishes popular digital board games such as Monopoly, Taboo, Cluedo and Jumanji, found 70% of those who describe themselves as lonely speak to an average of three or fewer family members or friends on an average weekly basis.

Cristina Mereuta, co-CEO at Marmalade Game Studio, said: “Working from home has inevitably increased as a result of the COVID-19 crisis and while for many it means more time with family, it clearly also adds to isolation for others.

“Staying connected with friends and family is important for mental health with one in four adults admitting loneliness has a seriously negative impact on their mental health.”

Over half of UK workers who are quitting jobs are relying on savings instead of staying in jobs they hate

Nearly 40% of workers across the UK who have either quit their jobs in the past year or are thinking about leaving said that they had asked their bosses for pay rises, more growth opportunities, or more fulfilling work but had been turned down, according to a new survey from collaborative learning platform, 360Learning.

Instead of leaving their jobs for better positions, however, over 50% of these workers said they are or will be relying on savings to make ends meet. Some are being financially supported by their partners (21%) or family (15%), while Universal Credit and retirement benefits are the chosen route for others.

When asked why they had quit or were planning to, 23% cited feeling burned out or stressed, 21% said they were unfulfilled, yet only 13% said it was because of low salaries. This is compared to the US where low salaries were the main reason (22%) people were changing jobs compared to burnout (18%) and lacking fulfilment (18%).

Another 11% of respondents said they quit because they wanted to work remotely and their employer wouldn’t let them. To underline the importance of learning and development in the workplace, 72% of those in management roles who have recently quit their roles said adequate training and support would have helped them manage workplace stress better.

When asked what training they would have liked, responses included having the opportunity to develop managerial skills, up-skilling within the role, courses on how to grow within the company and guidance on how to adapt to the changing nature of work.

In fact, among the managers in the group, 44% said they didn’t receive adequate training at any point as part of their role. Nearly one third (29%) said they were disappointed with their on-boarding training specifically and 38% felt that their on-boarding was not tailored to their role.

Of those who said they lacked fulfilment in their current role, one fifth said their job was boring and another fifth said there wasn’t any room for career development. A further 14% added that the job wasn’t teaching them anything new.

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Diversity is a strategic priority for 6 in 10 start-ups

Nearly two thirds of start-ups (63%) say making their workforce more diverse is a strategic priority in the year ahead, according to research from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency. Innovate UK found a further fifth (22%) of startups say they have done some work to make their workforce more diverse but could do more, and only 16% say making their workforce more diverse is not a strategic priority.

The research found that six in 10 (62%) start-ups are currently recruiting and of these 77% are actively recruiting diverse candidates. Across all start-ups, nearly three quarters (71%) have diversity targets, regardless of whether they are currently recruiting or not.

Despite the demand for diverse talent, Innovate UK found that more than half (57%) of companies say it is difficult to find and recruit diverse talent and three quarters (74%) cite a barrier that can prevent them hiring more diverse talent. The biggest barriers start-ups face are a lack of applications (not enough opportunities to interview diverse talent – 24%) followed by a lack of candidates with experience in similar roles (13%).

Start-ups believe the greatest actions that could encourage more diverse talent to enter their sector are education-linked. The top solutions – both cited by a third (34%) of start-ups – are incentives to study STEM subjects at schools and universities, and publicly funded apprenticeships, work placements and secondments.

Start-ups are extremely positive about the tangible business advantages that a diverse workforce brings. Nearly three quarters (73%) say it improves their ability to innovate, two thirds (66%) say it’s an important part of the company’s ethos, and more than half say it improves the ability to attract talented candidates (58%) and commercial performance (56%).

Surprisingly, two thirds (66%) of start-ups say a diverse workforce is not more attractive to investors, highlighting the work to be done to showcase the positive benefits of diversity in early-stage businesses to the people that help fund their growth.

Jonny Voon, Head of the Sustainable Innovation Fund at Innovate UK, says: “It’s no surprise that start-ups are choosing to prioritise diversity. Our research shows that a diverse workforce brings immense benefits to start-up life, boosting everything from workplace culture to R&D and business performance. But while start-ups are keen to expand the diversity of their workforces, it’s clear that finding the right talent remains challenging.”

Murgitroyd appoints new Global People Director

Murgitroyd, the pan-European intellectual property protection business, has appointed John Gillies as its first Global People Director.

The company is growing quickly and has made two acquisitions since September 2021, increasing its headcount to 440 and reinforcing its position as a leading consolidator in the European IP sector.

John will lead Murgitroyd’s people strategy, provide support and strategic direction on HR issues and work alongside the company’s leadership team to underpin Murgitroyd’s culture, ensuring that the right training, mentoring and people policies are in place to support its ambitious growth plans.

He joins Murgitroyd from KCA Deutag, a leading international oil and gas drilling, engineering and technology company. John was previously HR Director at ScotRail and Director of People & Development at Police Scotland. Announcing this appointment, Gordon Stark, CEO of Murgitroyd, said: “John’s appointment is an excellent step for Murgitroyd. He brings an impressive range of people and HR expertise, which will help us to continue to attract, develop and retain the best people and enable them to deliver exceptional results for our valued clients. We see this important new role as a key appointment in investing in our future growth and ongoing success.”

Is the UK’s skills crisis reaching a tipping point?

The number of applications per vacancy have steadily decreased as the skills crisis continues to grip the UK, with figures dropping 40% between January and February 2022. That’s according to the latest data from the world’s largest network of job boards, Broadbean Technology.

According to the statistics, the number of professionals applying for new jobs fell 37% between February 2021 and February 2022 as vacancies spiked 52%. While this data highlights a concerning picture for the UK’s skills availability, pre-pandemic comparisons provide a clearer indication of the talent crisis facing the recruitment sector.

Broadbean’s analysis revealed a 55% decline in the number of people applying for new jobs between February 2019 and February 2022, indicating the extent of the impact of Covid and Brexit on the UK’s labour market. Across the sectors, the data reveals a significant decline in the number of people applying for roles across the engineering, IT, retail and healthcare sectors. In the retail arena, applications per vacancy fell 45% between January and February of this year, while figures in engineering and IT were down 41% and 38% respectively. Medical and nursing job applications also reported a 30% decline which is indicative of the continued pressure being felt across the healthcare sector as it attempts to play catch up on routine services following two years of significant demand.

Alex Fourlis, Managing Director at Broadbean Technology commented: “The UK’s skills crisis has been well documented over the last year, impacting almost every business, of every size, across every sector. The uptick in recruitment activity at the beginning of 2021 was initially welcomed with open arms in a Covid-hit economy, but we all soon felt the squeeze on resources as we found ourselves in a unique scenario where everyone was recruiting at the same time. And while Brexit may feel like a lifetime ago, the impact this has had on the labour market wasn’t immediately felt, largely due to the pandemic. There is no quick solution to rebuilding dwindling talent pools and we fully expect this squeeze on resources to continue over the coming months. We do, however, expect to see more employers and recruiters using innovative technology and maximising partnerships with external talent suppliers to tackle this skills crisis.”

One in three office workers wait over a month to have expenses reimbursed

Over a third (38%) of office workers have to wait more than a month to receive their expenses back, new poll data has revealed. The Inconvenient Expenses poll, conducted by Just Eat for Business on LinkedIn, reveals workers attitudes towards handling admin for expenditures like lunch, as well as finding out the average time it takes to submit and process these expenses.

The study was conducted to encourage businesses to take advantage of employee benefit services like Just Eat Pay – a prepaid voucher available with daily or monthly allowances, which works to reduce the hassle of processing complex and costly food expenses.

The time it takes to reimburse expenses is a contributing factor to how workers feel about handling admin, as over a quarter (28%) of workers revealed they wish that submitting expenses wasn’t their responsibility, while 1 in 3 admitted they find dealing with expenses annoying.

Mike Chappell, Co-Founder and COO at Formspal, speaks on the often lengthy process of expense processing, and how this admin time could be better used by businesses: “Concerning expenditure reporting, employees and finance teams alike must deal with a lot of tedious and time-consuming manual labour. It’s impossible to send a request to finance unless it has been reviewed and approved by management, and the finance team must first process the claims and balance the transactions before issuing refunds.”

Lucy Cantan, Sales and Partnership Director at Just Eat for Business, weighs in on the polls: “Completing and processing admin for expenditures such as lunch or work dinners can be time consuming for all involved – whether you’re an employer or employee. However, it’s really important that everyone receives what they’re owed and continues to benefit from paid-for meals and travel costs. “That’s why we encourage businesses to take advantage of schemes like Just Eat Pay, which reduces the hassle of completing and processing expense forms, and means employees and employers alike can focus their efforts elsewhere.”

Scottish women earning less than £20,000 least able to work flexibly

Women earning less than £20,000 are the group of workers in Scotland least likely to have access to flexible working compared with men and people in other salary brackets, according to new research by Flexibility Works.

While the proportion of Scottish workers who can work flexibly has risen overall as a result of the pandemic – 60% of workers say they’re now working flexibly compared with 46% pre-pandemic – some groups are missing out (1).

Nearly half (45%) of Scottish women earning less than £20,000 say they’ve had no access to any flexible working in the last six months. This compares with 32% of men who earn less than £20,000. The Scottish national average is 33% - a third of Scottish workers say they’ve had no access to any flexible working in the last six months. The issue is all the more significant because there are more women in the lowest salary bracket than men. A total of 42% of women in the research sample group of more than 1,000 Scottish workers earned less than £20,000, compared with just 21% of men (2). This is in part because the burden of childcare still falls more on mothers, who then look for quality part-time work (3).

A total of 44% of women working in all frontline roles (including those earning more than £20K) say they had no access to flex in the last six months, compared with 32% of men working in frontline roles. Women working in frontline roles mainly worked in health, education, retail and social care, while men in frontline roles tended to work in retail, transport and storage, health, construction, and education.

Women tend to want more flexible working than, with 71% of all Scottish working women saying they’d like flex, or more flex than they have now, compared with 65% of men.

The figures are from a report called Flex for Life 2022, published recently on the anniversary of the first coronavirus lockdown, by Flexibility Works, a social business that supports organisations become more flexible workplaces. The Scottish Government supports Flexibility Works and commissioned this latest report.

Phoenix Group becomes first financial services organisation to adopt social value portal measurement tool

Phoenix Group, the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business, has become the first in the financial services industry to adopt the Social Value Portal – a tool which will enable it to measure and manage the contribution that its business and supply chain makes to society.

The partnership with Social Value Portal will enable Phoenix Group to demonstrate the holistic financial and non-financial benefits of its community engagement programme, which creates benefits for a wide range of local communities where the Group’s offices are based, including Edinburgh, London, Telford and Birmingham.

From fundraising for charity partners, to improving financial literacy in schools and supporting local businesses and councils, Phoenix Group’s community engagement programme aims to create opportunities for social mobility and address societal needs. By using the Social Value Portal, Phoenix Group will be able to quantify the difference it makes through these initiatives.

Andy Moss, Phoenix Life CEO and Group Director, Heritage at Phoenix Group said: “As a purpose-led business, enhancing our social value is really important to us, creating that all-important ‘life of possibilities’ for our customers, colleagues and communities – that is our purpose. By measuring and reporting our progress through the Social Value Portal, we will be able to elevate our community engagement programme to ensure we are best serving the needs of society. The insights gathered from reporting social value will also help us to shape our future community engagement strategy.”

Social Value Portal is an online tool that helps organisations to measure, manage and maximise social value in the community. It currently supports over 150 businesses across public and private sector to report both non-financial and financial data, rewarding them for enriching the lives of those who live and work in the community in which they operate.

Phoenix Group’s purpose is focused on “helping people secure a life of possibilities” and its Community Engagement Strategy always looks to drive that forward, finding ways to support those in need and collectively addressing key societal issues across the UK and into Europe.

Together, we can build workplaces where employees of all ages feel respected, valued and able to fulfil their potential.

With a third of workers now over 50 and five generations in the workplace for the first time ever, it has never been more important for organisations to harness the potential of their multi-generational workforce.

Wherever you are on the age inclusion journey, Age Scotland can support your organisation in a number of ways.

• We offer HR consultancy programmes to support organisations with bespoke, fully-funded support. • Our training workshops cover topics such as age inclusion, unconscious bias health and wellbeing and pre-retirement planning. • Our employer network brings organisations together to share experiences, good practice and insight.

To find out how we can support your organisation, visit age.scot/workplace or email jonathan.park@agescotland.org.uk