In this column, we provoke fresh thinking and round up some of the weird, wonderful, quirky, surprising – and shocking – stories out there
British Army ends beard ban
The British Army has lifted its century-old ban on beards.
However, it only permits a full set beard between 2.5mm and 25.5mm, trimmed off the cheekbones and neck, with “no patchy or uneven growth” and “no exaggerated colours”.
The Army is the last of the British armed forces to lift the ban on facial hair.
The Royal Air Force permitted beards in 2019 and The Royal Navy has long allowed a full beard and moustache. Some foreign armies, such as those of Denmark, Germany, and Belgium, allow troops to grow a beard.
Previously, the Army only allowed beards for health, religious or operational reasons, as long as they did not put their operational effectiveness, health or safety at risk.
There may still be specific occasions where the personnel are required to be clean-shaven, the Army said.
Home workers miss benefits
People who work from home – particularly men- full or part-time are less likely to get pay rises and promotions, finds research from the University of Warsaw.
UK managers are 11% less likely to promote staff working entirely from home than those completely office-based. Hybrid workers were on average 7% less likely to be promoted, finds the survey of 937 UK managers. Managers are 9% less likely to give a pay rise to staff working entirely from home than to those who were completely office-based, and 7% less likely to give one to hybrid workers.
The research highlighted a significant gender gap, with managers 15% less likely to promote men who worked entirely from home than those who were fully office-based, and 10% less likely to give a pay increase. The figures for women were 7% and 8%, respectively.
The researchers found that in organisations with demanding work cultures, the managers were around 30% less likely to promote and 19% less likely to give a pay rise to men who worked entirely from home than to men who worked solely in the office. The figures for women were 15% and 19%, respectively.
In organisations with more supportive environments, no penalty to staff for flexible working was found.
Researcher, Agnieszka Kasperska said that in more supportive organisations, with less pressure and long working days and where family-friendly policies exist, we don’t find such negative consequences of remote work.
Quit-tok is on the rise
Following in the footsteps of ‘quiet quitting’, where employees do as little work as possible in their job, we are seeing a new trend: ‘Quit-tok’, where employees release covertly filmed resignation meetings and dismissals on the social media site, TikTok.
In their article for Personnel Today, Harriet Willis and Anna West from law firm Travers Smith, warn that although these videos have the potential to encourage transparency in the corporate world, there is an obvious reputational risk for businesses which become the latest viral internet sensation. They report that one content creator, Brittany Pietsch, filmed her redundancy meeting in which she was told by HR that she hadn’t met the required performance standards, but couldn’t get answers to her questions because her manager wasn’t present on the call. The CEO later apologised on X for “not being more kind and humane”.
Willis and West urge employers to consider having meetings in person where possible, with a manager and HR member present, and if a meeting is to be held virtually, to ask the employee at the start of the meeting not to record it, making sure they are clear and consistent on organisational policy on recording meetings. They suggest employers could also point employees towards appropriate whistleblowing forums and encourage employees to approach HR or their manager directly with any issues.
However, the most important step, they write, is to make sure managers and HR teams have sufficient training and are well prepared for difficult meetings so they are conducted legally, professionally and with empathy.
We can see coaching increasingly playing a role in a number of ways as employers navigate this challenging territory.
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/quit-tok-filming-meetings/
Doctors on the move
Thousands of doctors may be considering leaving UK practice and moving abroad, finds research from the General Medical Council (GMC).
The GMC’s survey asked more than 3,000 doctors how likely they were to move outside of the UK to practise medicine in the next 12 months. Some 13% said this was very likely, and 17% that it was fairly likely.
If these groups did quit the UK, this would amount to 96,000 doctors leaving the UK over the next year, estimated the GMC.
GMC’s latest survey identified six groups of doctors based on their attitudes towards staying in the UK health service. These were those with ‘deep discontent’ who are most likely to leave in the next year, sceptics concerned about working conditions and the UK healthcare system, those who are burnt out, those interested in the career progression advantages of moving abroad, doctors open to opportunity and a new challenge abroad, and those happy in the UK.
More than 75% of doctors reported feeling under-valued professionally, saying they were concerned with pay.
The GMC’s survey also polled more than 1,100 doctors who had moved abroad since 2018. A fifth had moved to Australia, and one in 10 to New Zealand. Around a third returned to their home country after working in the NHS.
- Contributions to this slot are welcome.
Email: liz.hall@coaching-at-work.com