The role of compensation and benefits manager in charge of a company’s pension plan has always required multiple skills. Not only must you know about the pension scheme itself, you also must be an honorary actuary and an expert in finance, accountancy, and tax.

The European Pension System: State of Play – Q&A with Paolo Lippi – mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19 – Mathematical modeling of tumors – COVID-19, Coping with Uncertainty

In the December 2020 issue The European Pension System: State of Play – Paolo Lippi Q&A with Paolo Lippi mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19 – Sanjay Mishra Mathematical modeling of tumors – Nikita Simonov COVID-19, Coping with Uncertainty – Jayne Morriss

Andreana Drencheva, Kristin Hildenbrand and Mike Duffy Jr. Through choice or by necessity, some of us are becoming self-employed for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence from multiple countries suggests that self-employed workers are one of the groups hardest hit by the pandemic. Support offered by governments varies. Yet, for some, self-employment may represent the only way of earning a living and remaining active in the labour

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust the obesity epidemic once again into the spotlight, revealing that obesity is no longer a disease that harms just in the long run but one that can have acutely devastating effects. New studies and information confirm doctors’ suspicion that this virus takes advantage of a disease that our current U.S. health care system is unable to get under control.

Modern businesses understand that when they recognise their employees, business performance improves. Recognition is one of the most basic ways to strengthen the employer-employee relationship, but many companies only recognise employees in an ad hoc way. Recognising employees in a consistent, frequent and meaningful way ultimately boosts both productivity and the bottom line.

Social Recognition for Employee Engagement: Q&A with Achievers – Obesity Harms the Body in Real Time – Self-Employed? How to Protect Your Wellbeing

In the November 2020 issue Social Recognition for Employee Engagement: Q&A with Achievers – Jon Maddison Obesity Harms the Body in Real Time – Cate Varney Self-Employed? How to Protect Your Wellbeing – Andreana Drencheva, Kristin Hildenbrand, Mike Duffy Jr.

In the July 2020 issue The Best Compliant Model for Expatriates – Pasquale Gorrasi Interview with GEB’s Eric Butler on The Response To Covid-19 IBIS 2020 Conference Report Gig-Working to Dramatically Change Employment Landscape – Andrew Cunningham R&D: Weight Loss: The Tricky Last Few Pounds – Peter Rogers R&D: Coronavirus: Why Some People Lose Their Sense of Smell – Simon Gane, Jane Parker Employee Benefits 2045: Where Could We Be

The Best Compliant Model for Expatriates – Interview with GEB’s Eric Butler on The Response To Covid-19 – IBIS 2020 Conference Report – Gig-Working to Dramatically Change Employment Landscape – R&D: Weight Loss: The Tricky Last Few Pounds – R&D: Coronavirus: Why Some People Lose Their Sense of Smell – Employee Benefits 2045 – Where Could We Be 25 Years from Now?

We are currently seeing a lot of interest around managing burnout within teams. The difficulty employees face in trying to maintain a good balance in life, carry very heavy loads (work, mental and emotional) – especially in companies that have had to maintain normal productivity, and the lack of effective social support largely explain the phenomenon. Preparing these people for a return to work cannot be improvised. That’s why

Troubled times give birth to individuals with valuable personality profiles: the “positive deviants”. They are known to transgress the rules and push past established norms for the good of all. They contribute enormously to innovation by deviating from existing habits without knowing much about why they were so ineffective. The period we are going through gives us the opportunity to innovate around our approach to work. But we don’t

I’ve often been asked if I have any advice on how to structure the psychological approach to post-lockdown. I hereby invite you to utilise the “RARE” method: – Recognize: sensitize teams to be able to detect weak signs shown by people in psychological distress (a secondary prevention technique) – Act: teach teams how to start a conversation with someone showing signs of distress – using the right tone –

Many people will be experiencing painful emotions in the times to come. For some this will manifest as fear and guilt; for others, shame at not being able to meet performance expectations. Asking these people to “make an effort” or “smile a little” has a name in psychology: surface acting. Very damaging, this request to act “as if” everything was going well creates emotional dissonance and weakens commitment, well-being

At the end of a webinar a manager told me: “Some of my employees feel guilty for not being able to manage everything at once: teleworking, their children, household tasks… I would like to help them, but I don’t know how”. Guilt is an emotion that is as unpleasant as it is useful: it appears when we feel we have caused harm and urges us to remedy it. However,

We haven’t all experienced lockdown in the same way. Some have felt indispensable, others useless. And others have lacked recognition because teleworking has rendered their contribution invisible. These differences naturally give rise to tensions like mutual stereotyping, disintegration of teams and declining performance. How can these be avoided? Psychology’s solution is the “superordinate goal”, i.e. a goal that can only be achieved through the active participation of each member

Have you ever heard of the “bystander effect”? In psychology it is the phenomenon that the more people there are in a place, the less likely any one individual is to help someone in trouble. It is basically due to a dilution of responsibility (there are lots of people; someone else is bound to help on my behalf). When coming out of lockdown, many employees will experience bouts of

Are you familiar with the concept “locus of control”? In psychology, it’s the way we determine the cause of what happens to us. We can divide ourselves into two categories: – The “internals”: what happens to me depends on me… if I fail it’s my fault. These people progress more quickly in their careers but go through intense phases of guilt and self-questioning. – The “externals”: what happens to

The current situation is exceptional for everyone and that includes managers. Assuming one’s managerial responsibility means explaining the reasoning behind decisions that are misunderstood or poorly received by one’s colleagues whenever possible, and apologizing wherever mistakes have been made. While it is normally legitimate to expect exemplary behaviour from managers, calls for excellence in the current crisis are as futile as examples of leniency are essential.

We’re not all going to come back with the same emotional charge at the end of lockdown. Some will have spent their time enjoying the first rays of spring sunshine while others will have been cooped up with their children and stifling workload. Still others will have been exposed on the front-line on a daily basis. Taking time out at the end of lockdown to ensure a coordinated response

Imagining life after Covid-19 is not easy. One may feel rather stuck in this exceptional period and emotionally depleted. The situation calls for us to forgo a cognitive bias called “availability heuristics”; that is our tendency to have our thoughts consumed by which is directly in front of us. Indulging our availability heuristic inhibits both present-day creativity and positive future projections. The good news is that you just have

One of the most common causes of smell loss is a viral infection, such as the common cold, sinus or other upper respiratory tract infections. Those coronaviruses that don’t cause deadly diseases, such as COVID-19, Sars and Mers, are one of the causes of the common cold and have been known to cause smell loss. In most of these cases, sense of smell returns when symptoms clear, as smell loss is simply the result of a blocked nose, which prevents aroma molecules reaching olfactory receptors in the nose. In some cases, smell loss can persist for months and years.

So you’ve done everything you’re supposed to. You’re eating in a calorie deficit, are exercising a few times a week, and are getting close to your weight loss goal. And then you hit a plateau with only a few pounds to lose – and they just won’t seem to budge.

New research shows the significant role gig workers will play in the economy as businesses reshape for the future. A report called Gig Economy: Financial Security or Greater Control shows that 18% of UK HRDs expect over 75% of their staff to be gig workers in just five years, while 26% of European HR directors believe their workforces will have 51-75% of gig workers within the same period.

Do you know what it means to have a “sense of coherence”? In psychology, it is a characteristic of people who are healthy, live longer, are happier in the different spheres of their lives and perform better at work. People with this characteristic are defined as follows: – they perceive the world as understandable – they have confidence in their resources (physical, psychological, social…) to cope with difficulties –

In February this year, we launched our discussion paper “2045: the future of work – the changing face of employee benefits” looking at how employee benefits (EB) may change over the next 25 years, based on the trends we were seeing in the industry and the world of work. Just a few months on, the changes that we suggested might take decades are already happening because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate of change happening in the global EB industry, such as the delivery of digital benefits solutions and virtual healthcare provision, has accelerated beyond anything that could have been predicted at the start of the year.

During the week of 11-15 May 2020, global benefits, HR, and mobility professionals took part in one of the most prestigious and longest-running – now virtual – international HR conferences in the world.