Sarah Williams FCIPD

My obsession with selectively presenting data to support a belief continues... The CIPD have published their annual report on Health and Wellbeing today with one of the key findings being, "Working from home can lower absence and boost productivity". What the data also shows (included below for organisations that can work from home). 63% of respondents said there had been no productivity gain, or it had got worse 56% said sickness absence rates had stayed the same or got worse 73% said mental health issues had stayed the same or got worse 61% said musculoskeletal issues had stayed the same or got worse 76% said presenteeism had stayed the same or got worse 70% said Leavism (yeah I'd never heard of it either) had stayed the same or got worse On four of the six questions, those reporting a decline outweighed those reporting an improvement. So the headline could have been "Working from home can lead to a deterioration in mental health, increased musculoskeletal issues, greater presenteeism and worse leavism." But why let data get in the way of a good argument? We need to be more rigorous and thoughtful in the way we talk about work in order to create better working futures and to drive the productivity that the country desperately needs. That might include hybrid and home working, but if it does let's get there on the data and evidence, not just a popular belief.

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Are you starting an apprenticeship? Feeling a little wobbly about it? Here’s the thing - it’s not that you made the wrong choice, that there’s something wrong with you, or that you’re not meant to be there. Starting any job is HARD and exhausting. There’s so much to remember, and you feel like you’re doing way more click-through corporate training rather than the work you were hired to do. You might feel useless, like everyone else knows what they’re doing, even the other apprentices…how did they learn to be so confident?! I’m here to tell you that you’re going to be ok. It will feel wobbly for a little bit, and you might not shake off that “newbie” feeling until 3 months or more down the line. It’s normal. You will make friends. You don’t need to be extroverted. As you meet more people, there will be some you naturally connect with, perhaps even share the same hobbies. For people reading this (especially apprentices or ex apprentices!) please share your top tips for starting a new job confidently, and finding your tribe within work.

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One of the real joys of group mentoring is the questions that surface. They’re often the ones we’ve all quietly wrestled with, but don’t always say out loud. This morning, halfway through the Fletcher Building mentoring programme, Bernice Cumming emailed me and asked me about exposure, the part of the P.I.E. model (Performance, Image, Exposure) that accounts for 60% of career success. Her reflection was so powerful: “I’ve just received significant recognition for my work and while I’m grateful, I also felt uncomfortable with the attention. Why do women hang back from promoting themselves, and why do we feel awkward being recognised?” This is exactly the tension so many women experience: ➡️ Social conditioning to be modest and collaborative. ➡️ Workplace penalties for being “too self-promoting.” And here in New Zealand, the added weight of tall poppy syndrome makes standing out feel even riskier. What I shared with her and with all my mentoring programmes is that the discomfort is normal. It’s not a signal to shrink back, but rather that you’re stretching into new territory. Exposure isn’t just about you; it’s about making your work, your team, and even your profession visible. A few strategies I invite everyone to explore: 🌱 Treat recognition as collective, not just personal. 🌱 Practise gracious acceptance: “Thank you, I appreciate that recognition.” 🌱 Build your “exposure muscles” in small steps. 🌱 Anchor it to purpose—visibility as impact, not vanity. And for those who like homework: Herminia Ibarra on networks, Sylvia Ann Hewlett on Executive Presence, and Adam Grant on recognition are great places to start. Thank you Bernice for naming what so many feel—you’ve given others permission to explore it too 🙏 And... how incredible that after I replied to Bernice (and before I drafted this post), I bumped into her while waiting for coffee with a former mentor on the programme, and she gave me permission to name her! 🙌 #womentoleadership #mentoring #groupmentoring #careerexposure

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“Resignation is just simply out of the question” – John Podesta Apart from the inevitable headache that receiving an unexpected resignation from one of your team brings, for example potential falls in productivity while the leaver works their notice, loss of valuable knowledge and skills, time spent advertising, interviewing, hiring and training the new person (and let’s not forget how much all that activity costs!). There is another cost that is often ignored or forgotten. What is the impact on the remaining team members when you lose someone? Sometimes this cost can be greater than just the financials connected to a resignation. In Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model (1965), he talks about teams Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing, as natural steps teams go through as part of their development. But Tuckman also refers to the “Adjourning” stage, (sometimes referred to as “Mourning”) when anything a team is set up to do comes to an end, or the team loses someone who is regarded as core to that team, there is often a feeling of genuine loss amongst the remaining group. The team member who resigns unexpectedly might be the most liked, the best performer, the one person everyone trusted in the team, if you as the manager of that team were not expecting this resignation, you can go from being a high performing team, right back to “Forming” or even “Storming” described by Tuckman in his model. Regular check-ins with your team members will help you determine how people are feeling, what is going well for them, what do they need support with and even if they are feeling unhappy and considering moving on. If through these regular conversations you know about a possible resignation you can do something to counter it, or at the very least plan what to do when the inevitable happens. Replacing someone for a specific job might be considered easy to do, what is not always as easy is to replace the impact a specific person has for the better on your team. Have a good week all. #resignation #BruceTuckman #TeamDynamic #TeamAppreciation 

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⚖️ Ooh I felt uncomfortable researching this case, so many errors made! A powerful reminder from the tribunal: cancer is legally recognised as a disability — and how employers respond to sickness absence can make or break trust. An employment tribunal has ruled that finance & IT director Mr. L Ralfs was harassed and subjected to unfavourable treatment by The Arbib Education Trust after disclosing a relapse of Hodgkin Lymphoma shortly after starting his role. Key findings: ❌ He was warned his sick pay entitlement would be reduced if illness recurred. ❌ He was denied an inflationary pay rise on grounds inconsistent with policy. ❌ His discrimination appeal was mishandled and never properly reviewed. ❌ His manager told him he had “failed to consider the impact” of his illness on colleagues. The tribunal found this amounted to disability-related harassment, victimisation and constructive dismissal. 💡 Lessons for leaders & HR: Cancer = automatic disability under the Equality Act. Treat absence management accordingly. Never allow pay or career progression to be penalised because of disability-related absence. Follow grievance and appeal policies to the letter. Process matters as much as outcome. Above all: communicate with empathy. Words like “impact on colleagues” can cross the line from concern into harassment. As employment lawyer Jainika Patel noted: most disputes of this type can actually be minimised by way of sensitive and considerate communication. 👉 Do organisations train their managers well enough to handle difficult conversations around serious illness? #EmploymentLaw #EqualityAct #DisabilityRights #HRPolicies #WorkplaceHarassment

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