Human Capital Online: Company implants microchips into employees’ fingers

According to Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher at HR think-tank Reventure and campaign director of a future that works, this new workplace practice is a sign of how “unhealthy” workplaces could become in the future.

“This is the concerning result from the increasing role technology is playing in the workplace, especially for younger people,” Dr McMillan said.

“Whilst technology has undoubtedly increased productivity and connectedness, it seems to be having a troubling impact on work patterns and the ability of workers to switch off from their job.”

A four-day work week – just the beginning

Inside Small Business

The five-day work week has been a permanent fixture in Australian workplaces, however, the Greens have suggested that a four-day work week could be feasible.

Dr Lindsay McMillan, from global HR think-tank Reventure and lead researcher of the national campaign to renew workplaces – a future that works welcomed the announcement as the start of a robust debate about changing entrenched work practices.

“The debate around the four-day work week and penalty rates signals Australia is coming in the right direction when it comes to workplace wellbeing and engagement,” Dr McMillan said. “However, these one-off conversations will not achieve genuine change – we need to take a holistic approach to our workplaces.”

Is your organisation in a funk?

After our recent post on Dr Fiona Kerr, and the discussion of the core elements of leadership that can rewire the brains of employees – including creating a sense of shared purpose – I was interested to see the new report Delivering Purpose and Meaning from Reventure’s workplace campaign a future that works, citing both the issues and their recommended solutions. 

Smart Company: Telstra pledges to make job interview shortlists include at least 50% women

Telstra’s move to introduce a requirement that women make up at least 50% of recruitment and interview shortlists has prompted HR experts to encourage SMEs to think about ways they too can shake up their hiring processes.

In an announcement to coincide with International Women’s Day, Telstra chief executive Andy Penn unveiled a plan to build the telco’s “female talent pipeline” by requiring that interview shortlists for roles be made up of at least 50% women candidates, or 25% for roles in which there’s a known gender imbalance in available candidates in the job market.

Human Capital Magazine: Six steps to build a culture of purpose and meaning

For many employees, a lack of purpose and meaning makes the work day a daily grind in which the only thing keeping them going is the prospect of returning home.

Indeed, a new report by global HR think-tank Reventure has found that 72% of Australians are looking for greater meaning in their work and almost 50% say they will be looking for a new job this year.

Released as part of Reventure’s workplace campaign a future that works, the report Delivering Purpose and Meaning proposes six strategies to deliver change in workplaces around Australia.

The Australian: Embrace change to deal with a more fragmented markeplace

A workplace relationships and health survey has found a high number of Australians are stuck in a working funk, with the thought of going home at night the thing keeping them there.

The report commissioned by a Future that Works and undertaken by human resources expert Lindsay McMillan, found 72 per cent were looking for greater meaning in their work, and close to 50 per cent will be looking for a new job this year.

The report defines steps to build a culture of meaning and purpose, including fostering employee participation and inclusion, communicating the alignment between roles and goals, encouraging autonomy and reinforcing engagement.

Facebook introduces 20 days of bereavement leave: What’s your business plan for supporting grieving staff?

Australia would benefit from having a broader conversation about approaches to bereavement in the workplace, says director of workplace issues think tank Reventure, Lindsay McMillan.  

“I’m very impressed with Facebook’s intent here—simply because it recognises that as employees at work, we are whole-of-life people. [Facebook’s policies are] integrated from birth until death,” he tells SmartCompany.

“We know that Australian workers are under immense pressure to deliver on results,” says McMillan, who believes a recognition of the longer term impacts of grief on staff members can help staff loyalty.

Time for workers to embrace the right to disconnect

INSIDE SMALL BUSINESS

Australian workers should be given the right to switch off from emails outside of working hours to combat technology-related stress, according to leading HR expert, Dr Lindsay McMillan.

“Policy-makers, employers and unions must recognise the negative impact that technology-related stress is having on employees, and take steps to improve the work-life balance,” said Dr McMillan.

“According to my research of more than 1,000 employees last year, almost half of employees agreed that technology brings with it the feeling of being “always on.”

Stop reading this ... you're meant to be on holidays

Lindsay McMillan  |  SMH

Does the "ping" of an email alert on your phone continue to dominate your life long after you've left the office?

Do you find yourself consumed by the need to urgently return a work call while your kids are trying to get your attention?

Well, join the club.

According to my research which gauged the opinions of more than 1000 workers, 2016 saw almost half of employees agreeing that technology brings with it the feeling of being "always on" and makes it difficult to completely shut-off from work.

A future that works: 2017 must be the year of workplace renewal

INSIDE SMALL BUSINESS

After a worrying 2016 for Australian workers, 2017 must be the year to embark on a major workplace renewal and reform agenda, according to Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher at HR think-tank Reventure.

“As we start a new year and Australian employers and employees get ready to return to work, we must start looking at what has be done to improve workplaces,” said Dr McMillan.

“The future that works campaign is all about improving workplaces for employees by providing research and strategies that actively tackle the challenges facing the workplaces of 2017.”

Australian workforce focuses on negatives: Reventure study

The Australian  |  January 14, 2017

Reventure lead researcher Lindsay McMillan.

Human resources think tank Reventure is hoping for a more positive year after its snapshot of the Australian workforce for 2016 found issues ranging from bullying and harassment to the gender pay gap and growing job insecurity are worrying Australian workers more than ever.

Lead researcher Lindsay McMillan says the study of employee sentiment of more than 1000 workers has shown people are more worried about negative workplace events than previously.

How leaders can be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs

by HCA

The next Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs must be to relinquish total control and delegate to others.
 
That’s according to research that’s part of a future that works, a national workplace campaign launched by think-tank Reventure Ltd.
 
After finding that 49% of workers were likely to look for a new job in the next year, Reventure’s lead researcher Dr Lindsay McMillan started the campaign to reshape workplaces.
 
The research included instructive views into what it takes to be a successful CEO from 50 big bosses.
 
McMillan added that this research reveals what it takes to be the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg.
 
“CEOs from around the country have said that the days of hierarchical, dictatorial workplace are over and leaders must lead through engagement, partnerships and compromise,” said McMillan.

The Australian: New world order calls for change in CEOs’ approach

Rapid and unprecedented change in the marketplace driven by ­forces outside of their control, such as Brexit and the Trump presidency, is keeping Australia’s chief executives awake at night, a report reveals.

The report by global think tank Reventure, which involved interviews with 50 chief executives, revealed that the sense of shake-up that had hit the political world with Brexit and the election of Donald Trump was being felt in Australian companies.

The company heads interviewed agreed that the rapidity of change was the most significant pressure point creating an uncertain future. “The rapid nature of change is presenting opportunities for businesses and employees, but also uncertainty around the very nature of how work is conducted,” report author Lindsay McMillan said.

“With the rise of populist movements throughout the world, including Brexit in Europe and Donald Trump in America, traditional business and political models are being dramatically shaken up. It is not just politicians that are being sent a message from these movements, but business people and employers, too.”

The Australian: Give workplace bullies the shove

A workplace behaviour study by global think tank Reventure has found 10 per cent of workers have been bullied or subjected to verbal abuse, and this does not include other serious incidents.

Lead researcher Lindsay McMillan says any abuse is not on, but seeing 10 per cent of more than 1000 workers surveyed experiencing poor behaviour is a wake-up a call.

The survey found 20 per cent of workers experienced high levels of negativity in the workplace, 18 per cent experienced conflict with their boss and 14 per cent suffered a mental or physical health decline resulting from their work.

Inside Small Business: R-E-S-P-E-C-T does not equal wage equality

“The Snapshot tells us that female employees are more likely to feel respect for their boss, but other data also tells us that they are more likely to be paid less by that boss,” Dr Jenny George said, thus highlighting that respect does not lead to wage equality.

Female workers respect their boss more than their male colleagues – even though they are more likely to be paid significantly less by them – a remaining gap in wage equality.

That is one of the findings in the 2016 Snapshot of the Australian Workplace – a national survey of 1001 workers undertaken by not-for-profit global think-tank, Reventure Ltd.

Australian Financial Review: Millennials more stressed out by technology at work than boomers, survey shows

Millennials more stressed out from having to constantly be connected to technology at work than their gen X and boomer colleagues, according to a new survey.  

The survey by research firm Reventure also found women respected their bosses more than men, nearly half of workers were looking for a new job, and found men were more satisfied with their sleep than women, which correlates with job satisfaction. 

Reventure surveyed 1001 Australians across the three age groups for their Snapshot of the Australian Workplace survey in February this year, via a 15 minute online questionnaire. 

SmartCompany: Yahoo Japan looks at four-day work week: Would it work for your staff?

Managing director of HR think tank Reventure Lindsay McMillan says in Australia, we have reached the definition of a flexible work culture and the task is now to get people to have a break from screen.

While a four-day work week may not necessarily be on the cards for Australian businesses, there are things that businesses can do to keep good staff – and there are a number of people dissatisfied with their current arrangements.

“From a study that we did with 1000 Australians, more than 40% of workers are looking for a new job in the current year,” McMillan told SmartCompany.

“If employees don’t have an alignment with [the job] and their purpose and meaning, they just leave.”

ABC Online: Young people 'experience stress from being constantly connected'

Not-for-profit company Reventure conducted an online survey of 1,001 people on workplace stress. Forty-six per cent of overall respondents said they felt like technology meant they were "always on" and couldn't ever completely switch off.

For young people, the survey results were worse. Fifty-four per cent of young people said they had experienced "technology stress" sometimes or often.

"Whilst technology has undoubtedly increased productivity and connectedness, it seems to be having a troubling impact on work patterns and the ability of workers to switch off from their job," lead researcher for the company, Lindsay McMillan, said.

 

Triple J’s Hack: Lead researcher Dr Lindsay McMillan talks tech stress

Fast-forward to 18:16min to hear Dr Lindsay McMillan talk about Reventure’s research - how the increased use of technology in the workplace creates greater levels of stress and leave people feeling they always have to be available.

Not-for-profit company Reventure conducted an online survey of 1,001 people on workplace stress. Forty-six per cent of overall respondents said they felt like technology meant they were "always on" and couldn't ever completely switch off.

For young people, the survey results were worse. Fifty-four per cent of young people said they had experienced "technology stress" sometimes or often.

"Whilst technology has undoubtedly increased productivity and connectedness, it seems to be having a troubling impact on work patterns and the ability of workers to switch off from their job," lead researcher for the company, Lindsay McMillan, said.

Lindsay said work-life balance is "vital", and that it's important that ever-present technology "does not negatively impact on healthy relationships and lifestyles outside of work".

Kochie’s Business Builders: Improving employee retention and job satisfaction in an SME

Nearly half of Australia’s workforce is likely to be looking for a new job in the next 12 months – as workplaces across the country struggle to renew in time to cope with modern challenges.

The Snapshot of Australian Workplaces is a national survey of 1,000 Australians including full and part-time workers and the self-employed. It was commissioned by Reventure Ltd, a not-for-profit global think-tank with the mission to undertake research, encourage debate, and lead action for workplace renewal.