• Jill Miller
    • 20 Jun 2017

    It’s late – why are you still here?

    Is that a question asked in your organisation when someone is consistently working late? Or is being seen to work late a sign of commitment? Alternatively, is working late recognised as not ideal, but nothing gets done about it as it’s ‘unfortunately part and parcel of working here’? With 21 June, the longest day of the year, being 2017’s ‘Go home on time day’, it’s time to question...
  • Jill Miller
    • 12 Jun 2017

    Do you know how many carers you employ?

    It’s unlikely that any organisation in the UK will know exactly how many carers it has in its workforce. Some people don’t see themselves as carers despite having caring responsibilities, some people won’t want their employer to know, and others may not be aware of any support or flexibility they can get from work so don’t say anything. But what is certain is that the number of working carers in...
  • Jill Miller
    • 25 May 2017

    We need to be focusing on retention as much as recruitment to meet older workers target

    This week, Andy Briggs, the Government’s Business Champion for Older Workers, called on UK employers to commit to his previously announced target of one million more older workers into the labour market by 2022. Briggs has called on UK businesses to publish the number and percentage of older workers in their workforce, and the target means employers will need to aim to recruit 12% more workers over 50 years old...
  • Jill Miller
    • 7 Mar 2017

    Levelling the playing field requires bold action

    Taking bold action to speed up gender equality is the theme for International Women’s Day 2017. This is yet another wake-up call to employers about the lack of gender balance that still exists in UK workplaces. We all know it’s a problem,...
  • Jill Miller
    • 6 Feb 2017

    It’s national sickie day

    If you’re thinking of calling in sick today, some statistics suggest you may not be alone. In 2011, 1 February was earmarked as national sickie day by business support company ELAS who saw an upsurge in people calling in sick on that day. Since...
  • Jill Miller
    • 2 Nov 2016

    Tackling the top 3 causes of stress at work

    Today we launch our 2016 CIPD/Simplyhealth Absence management survey findings which coincide with National Stress Awareness Day . Our survey found that stress is now the most common cause of long-term absence and the second most common cause of short-...
  • Jill Miller
    • 17 Aug 2016

    Working 9 to 5… 6, 7, 8… is not the way to make a living

    An article a few days ago on potential strike action was focused around whether work-life balance promises were being compromised. The article made me stop and think about how much the term ‘work-life balance’ has grown in complexity over...
  • Jill Miller
    • 3 Mar 2016

    Free pizza just won’t cut it

    I love pizza, and who doesn’t like free stuff? Providing a free dinner can be a default option to try to compensate for a culture of long working hours. For me that just won’t cut it - I opted to work for an organisation that cares about ...
  • Jill Miller
    • 20 Oct 2015

    Are THAT many people really skiving off?

    Non-genuine absence is under the spotlight again this year as organisations are under increasing pressure to cut costs and increase productivity. After seeing this year’s Absence Management survey results I’ve got a strong suspicion that what’s classified as ‘illegitimate absence’ or ‘pulling a sickie’ isn’t always what we traditionally think of as hangover days, daytime...
  • Jill Miller
    • 19 Aug 2015

    Rolling with the punches

    What’s your default reaction when change is announced? Are we so used to it now that we go with it more easily than we may have done 5 years ago, or is there a natural period of entrenchment and regrouping while we work out what it means for us and the rest of our team? In short, how resilient are we to roll with the punches? It’s easy to say ‘we need to be more resilient’ and the phrases we...
  • Jill Miller
    • 6 Jul 2015

    The chocolate approach to well-being

    Were the chocolate manufacturers the original best companies to work for? I’m not talking about the fact I could repeatedly eat my bodyweight in their product – but their pioneering support for staff health and welfare. The first name that comes to mind for me when I think of welfare pioneers is George Cadbury. Still one of Birmingham’s main employers, Cadbury saw real benefit in providing good working...
  • Jill Miller
    • 3 Jun 2015

    Can every meeting be a walk in the park?

    We need to come together to plan a project or take decisions – we send a calendar invite and book a meeting room. It’s our robotic default for decision making, and our calendars look like a meeting treadmill. Often we’re going from sitting at our desks to sitting in a meeting room and back again. Should we be spurred on to think differently by new research published this week in the British Journal...
  • Jill Miller
    • 12 May 2015

    CIPD is opening up the conversation on mental health

    The figures around mental health still astonish me. It’s estimated that 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem at some point in our lives. If we’re not struggling ourselves, it’s likely that a colleague or a friend will be. One of the key questions we ask organisations is the extent to which your well-being activity supports good mental as well as physical health. Do we really still...
  • Jill Miller
    • 2 Apr 2015

    Let’s Stand Out for Autism

    Today is World Autism Awareness Day. The aim of today is not just to shine a light on autism and increase awareness, but crucially it’s about celebrating the skills and talents that people with autism have to offer. It’s also about shifting often rigid mind-sets from focusing on what people can’t do, to making the most of their strengths, and this is particularly key in the workplace. This strengths...
  • Jill Miller
    • 20 Mar 2015

    How much importance do we attach to our happiness?

    Today is #InternationalDayOfHappiness , championed by the United Nations’ General Assembly. It’s certainly an opportunity to pause for thought about what we value in life. When we think about our life goals, how strongly does happiness feature as an aim in itself rather than a bi-product of other achievements? And to what extent are we prepared to sacrifice our happiness in pursuit of other ventures? The...
  • Jill Miller
    • 13 Mar 2015

    Who has been the most positive influence on your career?

    Throughout our lives there are a few key people who influence our career choices - debate the options, shorten the shortlists and help us decide the path that’s right for us. Of course, not everything always works out as planned, but those peop...
  • Jill Miller
    • 13 Feb 2015

    Do we all need a best friend at work for our well-being?

    Seeing yesterday’s ONS research on Measuring National Well-being reminded me how important our working relationships are to our well-being. Eight hours a day, five days a week is a long time with our colleagues – I know that’s more time than I spend with my family and friends! A study by Relate in 2014 found that employees are about as likely to have as much daily contact with work colleagues (62...
  • Jill Miller
    • 29 Jan 2015

    It’s #TimetoTalk

    Thursday 5 February is #TimetoTalk day. Here at the CIPD, we’ll be encouraging people to take five minutes to have a conversation about mental health, in particular the myths and facts around it. We want to help break the silence as we know that having a mental health problem is hard enough, without feeling you can’t speak up when things are difficult. Just a short conversation can make a big difference to...
  • Jill Miller
    • 19 Jan 2015

    How many of Britain’s secret carers do you employ?

    The issue of how we support people who are juggling caring responsibilities and work is firmly back on the agenda with the launch of the new Labour pledge last week. Liz Kendall MP, Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, has outlined Labour’s promises to provide more support for carers. And the importance of an employer response is steadily rising up HR’s agenda. Over the past few months I’ve...
  • Jill Miller
    • 10 Oct 2014

    The number of reported mental health problems remains worryingly high – how can you best support your employees?

    The number of reported mental health problems remains worryingly high – how can you best support your employees? Since 2009 we’ve seen a significant rise in the number of reported mental health problems. Two-fifths of employers in this year’s Absence Management Survey, which we run in partnership with Simplyhealth, said they’d seen an increase in mental health issues reported by staff. This...
  • Jill Miller
    • 6 Oct 2014

    How is your absence level affected by employee caring responsibilities?

    Our annual Absence Management survey, in partnership with Simplyhealth, has revealed a rise in the number of employees taking time off due to caring responsibilities. So what should you be doing to support your workforce? Recent research from UKCES has predicted that there will be four generations working side-by-side by 2030. With this 4G UK workforce, employers are having to manage an increasingly diverse range of...
  • Jill Miller
    • 23 Dec 2013

    Staying true to who we are

    CIPD research with smaller businesses starting soon! As a small business grows it's easy to lose sight of where you've come from - how do you retain the connection with your roots and entrepreneurial drive as you grow? How to maintain your founding culture and values over time was one of the key challenges that emerged from the first piece of research I did with small businesses back in 2012. In the meantime...
  • Jill Miller
    • 4 Dec 2013

    What’s really keeping our leaders awake at night?

    By Jill Miller, CIPD Research Adviser, @MillerJillC What organisation issues are at the top of the agenda for our HR and business leaders? Are our priorities changing? Would other business leaders agree with us about the impact HR is having on the business? These are the key questions we examined in this year’s CIPD HR Outlook survey. In the report we compare the views of HR and other leaders about what’s...
  • Jill Miller
    • 8 Nov 2013

    Unsuccessful partnerships waste time and damage relationships, so how do you deliver excellent HR beyond your own organisation?

    We’re entering into more and more strategic partnerships and joint ventures with other organisations, but ‘ t he failure rate for alliances hovers between 60% and 70% ’ [1] . This staggering figure, and the fact that many of the reasons for failure are people-centric, provides a strong case for us to look at the role of HR in supporting partnership success. For the past few months, I’ve been...
  • Jill Miller
    • 9 Oct 2013

    World Mental Health Day 10 October

    It’s World Mental Health Day…but what does our annual Absence Management survey tell us about how employers are handling mental health problems in the workplace? 10th October marks World Mental Health Day, and whilst several charities are organising great events to raise awareness of issues surrounding mental health, I thought it’d also be a good chance to reflect on how mental health problems are...