Abbie gets Activ raising money for Prostate Cymru

The Activ Absence team is proud to announce that our latest recruit, Sales & Marketing Co-Ordinator Abbie Williams, took part in last weekend's 'The Big Walk' - a gruelling 30 mile walk to raise money for Prostate Cymru.

Prostate Cymru is one of the leading charities in wales in the fight against all prostate diseases, benign and malignant. Annually, UK prostate cancer claims 11,000 lives, with up to 32,000 new cases diagnosed. Prostate Cymru is committed to fighting this disease.

The Walk route, image courtesy of Prostate Cymru

The Big Walk was set up in 2014 in hopes of raising funds for prostate cancer sufferers; it’s the biggest charity walk in Wales.  The goals of the walk are to raise money and also to raise awareness and understanding - while funding the latest medical equipment and the training of healthcare professionals. The event is designed to encourage all levels of walkers to enjoy and finish the journey as one.

The first ever Big Walk happened in 2014 with only 60 people taking part, which is a small number compared to the 170 people who signed up to be a part of the walk on Saturday 13th June for the second year.

Abbie Williams and Hannah Baker before the walk

The walk is physically and mentally challenging, with the 2014 group taking 9 hours to walk from the Millennium Stadium (Gate 3) to Kenfig Hill RFC.

Last year Warren Gatland (Wales Head Coach) and Lloyd Peers (Ospreys Second Row) happily helped start the walk and this year the walkers were lucky enough to start inside the Millennium Stadium with Rhys Priestland and Gethin Jenkins present.

Abbie shared the walk with her sister Hollie and cousin Hannah Baker and friend Jade Lines. Abbie started the walk at 8:40am and crossed the finish line with her sister at 5:40pm meaning she took 9 hours to complete the walk.

An exhausted Abbie said: "The Big Walk was definitely one of the hardest mentally and physically challenges I have ever done in my life and I couldn’t have got through it without my friends and family walking with me keeping me going. I must also comment on how amazing the support was from support vans and first aiders who constantly cheered us on throughout the entire walk and never left anyone behind. Right now I don’t feel physically able to take part again next year but I would happily help in anyway to support the event and other walkers. It’s an indescribable feeling when you finally cross the finish line and I am so proud of each and every person who took part.”

Abbie's cousin Hannah, who also took part in the 2014 event, said: “It's a physical and mental challenge from start to finish but reaching the end was a massive feeling of achievement.”

A whopping £9,000 was raised in 2014 surpassing everyone’s estimations and it has yet to be announced how much the 2015 event has raised. It has been said that “The big walk is not a race but a team event, were you can interact with new people from different parts of your community; this gives you an opportunity to help each other reach the finish line.”

Everyone in the Activ Absence and Codel Software teams is very proud of Abbie's achievement, and it isn't too late to donate, just contact Abbie by email: abbie.williams@codelsoftware.com or donate directly to http://www.prostatecymru.com/thebigwalk/

Absences rise as employers fail to deal with mental health - Workplace Savings & Benefits

Absences rise as employers fail to deal with mental health - Workplace Savings & Benefits

Zero Hour Contracts – Free E-Book for Employers

Zero Hour Contracts – Free E-Book for Employers

Small businesses may not be able to follow Virgin’s lead on shared paternity leave

Virgin has introduced a new policy that all businesses should be bringing in to help build equality between mothers and fathers in the workplace, says one of the leading HR Software developers Activ Absence. 

Yesterday, Sir Richard Branson announced Virgin Managements new shared parental leave policy, with parents and those who have adopted now entitled to a year-long shared leave period.

This is an improvement on the Government’s statutory policy introduced earlier this year, which allowed partners to share up to 50 weeks of leave, but only at 90% of pay. 

Adrian Lewis, Commercial Director of Codel, the developers of Activ Absence, said:

“Clearly Virgin is a large business who strive to exceed minimum legal requirements when it comes to staff benefits and I’m sure the Virgin staff will welcome the move.  It’s certainly nice to think that parents will be able to share that important first year.” 

However, Mr. Lewis was a little more cautious as to how this news will be received by smaller organisations, saying:

“It’s admirable that Virgin seek to do so much for their staff, but I’m not sure smaller businesses will be able to handle the complex administration needed to adequately manage statutory shared paternity leave, let alone afford to be so generous. 

Originally fathers were only entitled to two weeks Paternity Leave, and then 26 weeks paid Additional Paternity Leave if their partner went back to work. This new policy allows people to choose who looks after the baby instead of forcing one or both of the parents back to work, but how the new provisions can be monitored and administered practically by smaller organisations is yet to be observed in practice - our software has the provision for it, but many businesses still manage leave via a spreadsheet.”

How software helps HR keep cool & manage staff absence when the weather is warm

It’s finally summer and the weather is slowly but surely rising and becoming hotter.

It’s great news for ice cream vendors and seasonal businesses, but it can be catastrophic for other organisations as staff seek to capitalise on the long awaited hot spell by either ‘pulling a sickie’ or seeking to take all of their annual leave all at once, creating leave clashes and skill shortages for those who remain in work.

Even in the most perfect environment, tempers and nerves can get frayed in the warmer weather and the same conditions that result in perfect, balmy weekends can create a perfect storm for a stressed out HR department as staff absence starts to rise.

Tackling those HR issues which are exacerbated by the warm weather requires a long term strategy and planning and preparation is key to keeping your cool.  Activ Staff Absence Software can help HR by giving them the tools they need to manage absence effectively.

Adrian Lewis, Commercial Director said:

“we aren’t able to put ice cubes in your drinks, but we can certainly help you plan ahead to reduce the stress that a hot spell can bring!”

“Hot weather does usually result in an increase in workplace absence - both in hurriedly planned absence for people keen to capitalise on a heatwave, and unplanned absence from those who have 'Monday-itis'.  The online staff holiday planner in Activ Absence lets managers have clear visibility of who’s off and when, eliminating staff holiday clashes and skill shortages.  Managers can instantly see who’s off and can approve or reject leave requests with a single click, plus sickness absence tools usually have a substantial impact on unplanned absence."

Activ Absence have been providing their absence management software since 2006, and users typically report that the software reduces unplanned absence by up to 30%.  It also reduces the HR Managers workload, leaving them free to deal with other issues which may result from the warmer weather.

Many businesses don’t even have consequences in place if a member of staff does in fact ‘pull a sickie’. Implementing absence management software such as Activ Absence, illustrating short term absence via the Bradford Factor and using ‘return to work interviews’ are all successful ways can at least get the point home that sickies come at a cost, and keeping track of absence enables you identify leave patterns and take further action when necessary.

It’s helpful too, for staff to understand that taking a sick day has a very real cost, both to their colleagues who have to pick up the slack and to the business as a whole.  More than 1/3 of UK staff interviewed in research carried out by PwC admitted to ‘pulling a sickie’ and don’t see it as harmful, however the same research identified that absence costs the UK £9 billion a year.

Managing absence is about more than just software - its about improving staff engagement - and there are lots of affordable ways to do that.

I like to recruit the problem as a cure... in this case, use the warm weather to motivate your team.  Even a simple gesture like buying staff an ice cream and allowing for extra drink breaks can lighten the atmosphere, promote a team atmosphere and make people want to be in work.  Happy workers are motivated workers!

Overall, there is a lot that can be done to reduce tension and stress for the HR team in the summer months, so don’t get over-heated – call us!