WelcomeWelcome to the summer edition of the Robertson Cooper Newsletter featuring all our latest news including:
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UK economy missing out on over £12 billion a year because of the well-being gapRobertson Cooper has recently published research revealing that the UK economy could grow by £12 billion a year if just a small increase in staff engagement and well-being levels was achieved. The UK’s largest employer, the NHS, could gain £700m a year alone. The research shows a clear link between well-being and productivity and forms the basis of a White Paper by Professor Ivan Robertson, Managing Director of Robertson Cooper who commented, “Our research has directly linked well-being with productivity. Well-Being can impact not just absenteeism, but also productivity and other bottom-line success factors like retention and customer satisfaction. The research results are a call to action - all too often standalone tactics are implemented to improve the well-being of employees, when what is really required is a comprehensive strategy to address well-being. This should no longer be considered as an added extra – our research has shown that it is critical to the bottom-line.” According to the Health and Safety Executive, the UK economy is losing billions of pounds each year due to absenteeism through stress related illnesses. However, the new research indicates the potential productivity gain for UK organisations in financial terms – that is, the financial impact of improving well-being. In the research we took the improvements in well-being levels that we have achieved with our clients over a two year period (a 7% rise) and combined this finding with established research evidence which describes the correlation between well-being and productivity. We then used an established statistical method for turning productivity improvements into financial benefits. The result is a cash figure that represents the potential productivity gain for an employee earning an average salary (£24,000) if well-being is increased by 7% - this figure was £576 per employee. From here, we multiplied the cash figure by the number of full-time employees in particular sectors and the economy as a whole to provide total financial productivity gains. As a companion to the research, the new White Paper, Improving organisational outcomes by making people feel good discusses the importance of psychological well-being in the workplace. In the paper, Professor Robertson explains the role that psychological well-being plays in delivering the key outcomes associated with successful, high performing organisations. He commented: “All organisations have different requirements for success, but all rely on the energies and discretionary effort of their workforce in order to fulfil their objectives. When staff feel better they work more effectively and employers should now be making this consideration part of their strategic decisions about how to recruit, develop and retain talent in their workforce. Our research shows that by implementing approaches which increase the engagement and motivation of employees, businesses can release the well-being advantage that will, in turn, have a huge impact on their profits.” To download a copy of the white paper, please click here. |
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Kent Police drives down absenteeism by 25% in just two years – saving 18,600 days per yearKent Police is one of the UK’s largest police forces employing around 6200 police officers and staff. In 2002, the Home office set challenging targets to reduce absence rates across the Police Service in England and Wales to 64 hours per head for officers and 66.6 hours per head for support staff by March 2008. When this initiative began in 2003, Kent’s absence rates were at 94 hours for officers and 88 for support staff. Kent’s first step was to conduct a Quality of Working Life audit in 2003 using ASSET, Robertson Cooper’s risk assessment tool, to identify the barriers and enablers to well-being at work and, in turn, the causes of absenteeism. The survey revealed various hotspots and an action plan was drawn up to drive improvement. Kent’s action plan included the following initiatives:
Two years after the original audit a second ASSET survey was conducted to measure the impact of Kent’s interventions. The results showed that staff were reporting improvements across the board including:
Kent Police is now well on its way to achieving its Home office targets. With the help of senior management commitment, the efforts of the workforce and input from Robertson Cooper, they are now successfully creating a culture that encourages attendance and ensures that staff are supported in building their resilience. Our client Paul Smith commented: “As a result of these well-being initiatives, we have reduced absenteeism by 25% and this equates to significant cost savings. Our workforce is now collectively fitter and healthier than the general population in the UK.” |
QuizThe answer to last month’s quiz question was Wilhelm Wundt, who is widely recognised as the founding father of the modern discipline of Psychology. The winner of the signed copy of Cary Cooper’s new book Inspiring Leaders and a copy of our interactive stress management CD ROM resource, Under Pressure is Sarah Rees-Williams from Kleinwort Benson Private Bank – Congratulations Sarah, the prizes are on their way to you. This edition’s quiz questionBurrhus Frederic (BF) Skinner was an influential American psychologist, thinker and author at Harvard University during the middle of the 20th Century. He is particularly associated with the Behaviourist movement, which held that the observation of behaviour is the best way of investigating psychological and mental processes. One of Skinner's more unusual experiments examined the formation of superstition in animals - this edition’s quiz question is: Which animal did Skinner conduct his superstition experiments upon?
Click here to submit your entry. All correct entries answers will go into a hat and the winner will be drawn at random. Good luck! The winner will receive £20 worth of John Lewis vouchers and will be announced along with the answer in the next edition of the newsletter. |
And finally...We hope you enjoy this issue and welcome your feedback. Please email your comments and suggestions for future issues to ben.moss@robertsoncooper.com |
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