Focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses is more likely to boost performance, according to research from the CIPD. The findings of the research with the UK Civil Service won’t come as a surprise to advocates of a strengths-based approach, but as Jonny Gifford, senior research adviser for organisational behaviour at the CIPD, said, “The strengths-based […]
The CIPD has called on the UK government to support investment in skills for all, particularly future-relevant skills and lifelong learning. In its Manifesto for Work, launched in May, the CIPD called on the government to support investment in skills, lifelong learning and improvements in employee wellbeing and engagement by reforming the apprenticeship levy as […]
Many professionals fudge the facts to make their organisation look good, finds research by the CIPD. Hundreds of teachers and IT and HR professionals withhold or misrepresent the truth to cast their organisation in a good light. The report finds that HR professionals tend to identify more strongly with their employer than the wider profession, […]
By Liz Hall In the wake of the EU referendum, businesses need to equip leaders with core skills, including coaching, according to the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). John Yates, group director, ILM, urged businesses not to “feel disheartened by the impending upheaval, but invigorated to shake things up, challenge the status quo and […]
The CIPD is urging employers to do more to support workers anxious about the UK’s decision to leave the EU, and not to cut back on training and development at this time, after a survey underlined high levels of pessimism about the future. Public sector workers, voluntary sector workers and young workers are feeling particularly […]
By Liz Hall Coaching and mentoring are gaining prominence as ways to raise skills in Asia, according to a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management. Coaching and mentoring are the most cited methods of raising skills (57 per cent of respondents). Raising skills […]
Corporate scandals are eroding trust in senior leaders and will have a damaging impact on employee engagement, warns the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Only 36 per cent of workers trust their top leaders, according to the CIPD’s latest Employee Outlook report, a quarterly survey of 2,000 UK employees. Some 58 per cent […]
Earlier this year, a report laid some of the blame for rising stress at the feet of incompetent bosses. Managers’ lack of competence and misplaced confidence in themselves is creating a stressed-out, unfulfilled workforce, according to research from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), carried out among 2,000 UK employees. There is a clear link between […]
Stress levels at work are now the major cause of long-term absence, says a new CIPD report – but coaching could well be the answer to effective attendance management
News that stress now tops the league of causes for long-term absence in the UK has thrust coaching into the limelight as an effective intervention. Stress has overtaken musculoskeletal problems as the top cause of sick leave, while 39 per cent of employers say absence due to mental health problems has risen in the past year, according to the Absence Management survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Simplyhealth.
Top causes of stress at work include workloads, management style and considerable organisational change and restructuring, says the report. Dealing with sick days costs employers an average of £673 per absent employee a year, up £73 from 2010.
The survey identifies 23 absence management approaches, including return-to-work interviews, attendance bonuses, stress counselling, employee assistance programmes (EAPs) and changes to working patterns.
Although coaching is not cited as an option for managing absence, CIPD adviser Jill Miller, believed some respondents were thinking about coaching when answering about support provided for line managers to manage absence/attendance. She pledged to consider including coaching in next year’s survey.
She said: “Line managers play a key role in effective absence/attendance management, and coaching is a good way of developing capability to do so.”
She said that line managers need to focus on regaining the trust of their employees and on openly communicating.
Kent County Council has recognised the critical role of line managers in its successful “attendance policy”, training them in coaching skills, managing difficult conversations well, stress management and living well, positive management of mental health and managing change successfully. Return-to-work coaching is also on offer to staff.
There is a particular increase in stress-related absence among public sector organisations, with 50 per cent of respondents reporting a rise, according to the report.
Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 6
Employers are missing a trick in the current climate by not focusing on developing business awareness through coaching, warns the UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Although the percentage of organisations using coaching and mentoring has dropped to 77 per cent, compared to 90 per cent in 2009, most (84 per cent) of […]
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