British Social Attitudes Survey reveals deep concerns over diversity

The publication in March of this year of the latest British Social Attitudes survey is certain to cause many UK businesses to question how effective the diversity agenda has been.

Speaking on Radio 4 yesterday, report author Professor David Voas (Professor of population studies at Manchester University) confirmed that the majority of people in the UK regard Britain as deeply divided on religious lines, and that tolerance towards religious diversity breaks down when it comes to feelings about Islam.

Responding to the finding that 52% of respondents agree that Britain is deeply divided along religious lines, Professor Voas stated that this “was not necessarily to say that it should be, but mainly people making an observation.”

Professor Voas added that this perception is relatively new, and that religion now seems to be joining race and social class as a major source of social division.

The positive news from the report is that 70% of respondents agree with the proposition that we must respect all religions. (Even the 60% of respondents who describes themselves as unreligious are of this opinion!) The bad news is that there is also, according to the report, “a strong indication that tolerance of diversity is limited when it comes to Islam.” In particular, the report reveals that although only 15% of respondents would be bothered by the construction of a large church in their community, the majority would be concerned by the construction of a large mosque.

Interviewed on the Radio 4 Sunday programme, Professor Voas explained:

“There seems to be willingness to pay lip service to the virtues of religion and the desirability of respecting religion, but when it comes down to specifics, people tend to show surprising levels of intolerance and anxiety about particular groups, with Muslims being the main target of that. The report certainly tells us we have something to worry about. It’s clear from the study that although some of the antipathy toward Muslims comes from those with a generalised dislike of anyone different, there’s something like a fifth of the population that respond negatively only to Muslims. Relatively few people feel unfavourable towards any other religious or ethnic group on its own. So there’s obviously something about Islam and current events that hasn’t helped and does worry people.”

Those with responsibility for diversity within UK businesses will be concerned that the report suggests that there is, according to Professor Voas, “more anxiety as a result of concerns about extremist violence and to some extent religious oppression, so our attitudes towards religion generally have been affected by some of this anxiety and it is likely to be making us less tolerant.”

British Social Attitudes Survey Homepage

Daily Telegraph Article

• If the British population is as “deeply divided along religious lines” as the report suggest, how does this affect the way that diversity should be addressed within the workplace?

Taking bullying seriously: The Church of England

This morning's Radio 4 Sunday programme included a fascinating news item concerning bullying of ministers within the established church. But banish the idea of a bullying bishop or a vengeful verger: most of the reported bullying, intimidation and harassment comes from the parishioners rather than the clergy.

The issue is clearly being treated seriously not only within the church but within the UK Trade Union movement.

Responding to claims of abuse, harassment and bullying, the Church of England has issued a Dignity at Work booklet, offering “practical advice to help prevent bullying and harassment, and to deal with any cases that occur”

A telephone helpline has been set up by the Faith Workers Branch of the trade union Unite, which says intimidation of ministers and priests from all denominations is a hidden problem. A bishop is among the 150 clergy and ministers who have sought protection with the trade union Unite from what it describes as a culture of bullying in the established Church. Apparently most of those who have sought help are members of the Church of England but Roman Catholic priests, rabbis and imams have also joined Unite, according to the national officer for the union’s faith workers’ branch.

The natural response to such cases may be one of surprise or even an accusation of hypocrisy. After all, surely the church is the last place where you'd expect to encounter such behaviour, isn't it?

But rather than criticise the church, it would be more appropriate to applaud it for implementing good business practice firstly by accepting that a problem exists and subsequently introduding processes to address it in a sensitive and effective manner.

Radio 4 Sunday Programme

Times Online: Clergy and ministers need protection from Church bullying, Unite union says

Unite (Trade Union): Faith workers branch members’ information

Church of England: Dignity at Work booklet

 

• HR Professionals: if your organisation has introduced an anti-bullying policy, has it been effective?
• Business Studies Students: assuming that your school has an anti-bullying policy, how effective do you believe that it has been, and how would it transfer into a work environment?
• Clerics: is there a reluctance to admit that bullying behaviour actually occurs within the church?

In search of the lost chord: HR Carnival 2010

Along with upward of 70 other fellow HR bloggers, the HR Case Studies team posted a video entry on the January edition of HR Carnival: a fortnightly showcase of the best (and worst!) from the HR and management blogging world.

In case you missed it on HR Carnival, I've posted it here for the education and amusement of the wider community!

So here's your chance to meet the entire staff of the HR Case Studies organisation, in their extensive (and expensively furnished) state of the art office environment.

(Graham plays a Takamine EN-10 acoustic guitar with D'Addario strings. He is available for concerts, recitals and major sponsorship deals. And tuition)

Jonathan Ross: Lessons for HR (!)

Jonathan Ross’s decision to leave the BBC may be a disappointment to some and a welief to others, but at least it serves as a weminder to HR pwofessionals of the importance of welevant and wealistic pwocesses.

• Make sure that you have a wobust succession plan in place for your high performers and key talent
• If an employee thweatens to leave, incweasing his wemunewation won’t always wetain him or her; pwoviding twaining is often a more effective wetention stwategy
• Check that your key talent have wetention clauses in their contwacts, so that if they wesign, you can legally wequire them to work their notice pewiod
• When wecwuiting new employees, if the ability to communicate clearly is important, make sure that this is stated as a wequirement in the job specification
• By all means use the buddying approach to welcome newly wecwuited employees into the company, but keep them away from Wussel Bwand: he’s twouble!

Jonathan Ross to quit as TV and radio host with the BBC

• Are there any more HR pwocesses that Wossy would stwuggle with?

Bumper year ahead for HR Professionals and Recruiters

Rejoice! If the results of a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers are to be believed, 2010 promises to be positively the best year since the invention of sliced bread for the UK’s HR and recruitment community!

HR Magazine: One in three employees make it their new year's resolution to quit their job

Apparently a third of UK employees (33%) say they have not felt valued by their employer during the recession and would leave for another job if they could.

So, let’s look at what this means for those HR and recruitment professionals who have been twiddling their thumbs over the last year or so.

According to the International Labour Organisation, the general level of employment in the UK amounts to 29,475,000 individuals aged 16 and over. That therefore means that if 33% of this population moves jobs, 9,825,000 individuals will be on the move in 2010.

Clearly all annual leave for HR Managers and recruiters will be cancelled, and weekend working will be required to cope with the fact that on every day this year 26,917 posts will need filling, with a corresponding number of exit interviews and inductions.

The manufacturers of “Sorry you’re leaving” and "Good luck in your new job” greetings cards will already be rubbing their hands with glee as they prepare for the 134,589 cards that will be sent each week.

Assuming that each departing employee receives the stingiest of leaving presents (a Parker Jotter Ball Pen (stainless steel with chrome plated trim, priced £3.49)) this still amounts to a boost of £34,288,250 to the economy. Good news again!

If each departing employee invites 10 colleagues for a swift pint at the local pub to mark their departure, that’s 98,250,000 pints (or a mere 12,281,250 gallons) of beer to be commemoratively swilled away. At an average price of £2.60 per pint, that’s a staggering £255,450,000. A Labour victory at the election is almost a cast-iron certainty, as the tax revenue from increased alcohol consumption alone will be sufficient for Alistair Darling to lower income tax. Hallelujah!

And just think of all the other new suits, ties and briefcases that will be needed as employees move into their new jobs.

I feel most sympathy (or perhaps jealousy) for the new breed of cyber-recruiters. Assuming a miserly 20 applications for each vacancy that needs filling, that’s still 196,500,500 CVs to sift during the course of the year. If I were a recruitment consultant, I’d make sure that my laptop was backed up regularly, as there will inevitably be frequent system failures due to the excessive demands on all networks.

It’s going to be a tough, but nevertheless good year. I’m sure we’ll survive together!

Gray hair is a glorious crown; it is found in the way of righteousness (Proverbs 16:31).

For those readers of HR Case Studies who possibly feel that the Christmas and New Year break (especially when combined with the adverse weather conditions) has added a few years and pushed them a bit nearer the biblically allotted span of three-score years and ten, never fear, Management Today has some good news for you!

The Management Today list of the Top 100 Entrepreneurs features an extraordinary 68 who are aged 60 or over, with no fewer than 11 who have passed their 70th birthday!

In a culture that seems to be increasingly obsessed by youth, it’s good to see that those of more mature years appear to have the staying power that may well be, like, lackin' in da kids of today, innit?

So, fellow wrinkly readers of HR Case Studies, award yourself a pat on the back.

Because you’re worth it!

MT: The staying power of silvertops

• Do the management development processes in most organisations favour the rapidly rising young person, to the detriment of the wise and experienced older person?

HR Professionals in a dither over Performance Management

With the joys of Christmas and New Year behind us, the next event in the calendars of many employees will be the annual objective setting element of the performance management process.

As this important activity is generally agreed to be owned by the HR function, it's seriously disappointing to read the results of the most recent CIPD survey into current trends and practice in performance management.

The Performance Management in Action report not only reveals that the UK's HR professionals are card-carrying members of the Don't Know Party, but also paints a picture of a function that has ownership of a process that it simply doesn't believe in.

Click here to enlarge

After removing the ditherers of the HR profession, we're left with the following depressing results:

Most HR professionals disagree that Performance Management:

• has a positive impact on individual performance
• has a positive impact on organisational performance
• helps line managers to manage people better
• helps line managers' capabilities to manage people better
• can impact on employee well-being
• can help people understand the organisation's strategic priorities
• can help individuals understand how their behaviour and actions affect the achievement of the organisation’s strategic priorities

As the Performance Management in Action report correctly notes, it is the application rather than the process itself that makes the difference in terms of performance management. But it’s still a concern that at a time of year when employees are entering the first stage of a cycle which will almost certainly affect their career development and pay, the custodians of that process are at best ambivalent, and at worst entirely negative about its validity and effectiveness.

CIPD Report: Performance management in action: current trends and practice

• Do you think that it’s just the HR profession that’s skeptical about the performance development process?
• Can any of the positive effects of the performance management process outweigh the negative view that’s reported above?
• Does the lack of belief in the performance management process reflect unfavourably on the HR profession?