Search Results for: society

ESG: only a third of people think their workplace has a positive impact on society and the environment

ESG: only a third of people think their workplace has a positive impact on society and the environment

ESGAccording to a poll from YuLife and YouGov, just over a third (39 percent) of people think their place of work has some sort of positive impact on society and the planet. This is in spite of the many announcements from organisations about how ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) can boost employee engagement and help them stand out from their competitors. With many businesses having upped their ESG investment in recent years,  the new YuLife-YouGov report claims to shed light on what UK working adults want and expect from their workplaces, equipping businesses with vital insights into how to focus their ESG programmes most effectively. (more…)

Life scientists want to help society, while engineers focus on advancing their own career

Life scientists want to help society, while engineers focus on advancing their own career

scientistsNew research from Professor Henry Sauermann of ESMT Berlin, and colleagues, claims academics from different fields have different motives for engaging in commercial activities. With life scientists considering social impact important and engineers focusing on career advancement. Interestingly, money was not a motive for engaging in commercial activities at all. (more…)

The workplace of the future and its tech must work for the good of society

The workplace of the future and its tech must work for the good of society

Businesses should focus on the greater good of people and society

Businesses should focus on the greater good of people and society

Modern corporations should work in the best interests of society and people rather than focusing primarily on making money for shareholders as they may have in the past, according to an influential group of chief executives. The body Business Roundtable, which represents the heads of some of America’s largest companies, including Apple, Amazon and Exxon Mobil, has issued a statement of its updated corporate governance principles. (more…)

Workplace wellbeing is focus of new report from British Psychological Society

A new report from the British Psychological Society, Psychology at Work: Improving Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace examines issues around work, health, and disability and recommends ways that policy makers and employers can tackle poor employment practices using interventions that work with human behaviour, not against it. The report has been launched today, Tuesday 14th November, at the BPS All-Parliamentary Group for Psychology’s (APPG) ‘Healthy Workplaces’ event hosted by Dr Lisa Cameron MP in the Houses of Parliament. Psychology at Work: Improving Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace’ was co-authored by Dr Ashley Weinberg, CPsychol AFBPsS, and Nancy Doyle CPsychol AFBPsS.

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University of Bath launches new Centre for Earth System Governance

University of Bath launches new Centre for Earth System Governance

The University of Bath has launched a new research centre focused on tackling some of the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges, after welcoming hundreds of international researchers and practitioners to the city for the 2026 Conference on Earth System Governance. The new Bath Centre for Earth System Governance (BCESG) was announced during the conference, which brought together 456 delegates from 51 countries and featured 96 sessions exploring how governments, institutions, businesses, civil society, and communities can respond to climate change, biodiversity loss and other interconnected environmental challenges. The event reaffirmed the Earth System Governance Project‘s position as the world’s largest international research community of its kind and provided a fitting backdrop for the launch of the new centre. (more…)

Resilience: the expanding global mandate for facility management

Resilience: the expanding global mandate for facility management

Throughout this decade, global challenges have shined a spotlight on the facility management (FM) industry and its professionals like never before.Throughout this decade, global challenges have shined a spotlight on the facility management (FM) industry and its professionals like never before. From pandemics to climate events and geopolitical instability, these challenges have tested organizations in unprecedented ways. While many debated the meaning of  terms like “the new normal,” facility managers demonstrated competence, strategic planning and decisive leadership to keep their organizations and people moving forward. From the C-suite to workers and visitors, organizations have become acutely aware of  FM’s influence as critical enablers  to ensure organizational, environmental and personal health. (more…)

What frictionless work is removing from the working day

What frictionless work is removing from the working day

If you look around most offices at midday on a Tuesday, you will likely see a variation of the same scene: employees sitting at their desks with headphones in and responding to Slack messages while eating lunch. The physical environment of the workplace may still be thoughtfully designed, with ergonomic furniture, curated lighting and acoustic panels; however, the atmosphere often still feels flat. Creating a highly optimised, frictionless workplace means removing physical hurdles and operational delays, but it can also strip away the small moments of variation, spontaneity and connection that give working life its texture. Often, the result of frictionless work is an environment that feels psychologically monotonous and socially thin. (more…)

Fathers who work from home fear ‘return to office’ rules could force them to quit, study claims

Fathers who work from home fear ‘return to office’ rules could force them to quit, study claims

More than one in six fathers who currently work from home say they would quit their job if required to return to the office full-timeMore than one in six fathers who currently work from home say they would quit their job if required to return to the office full-time, according to new research from King’s College London, which suggests employers risk losing experienced staff if they tighten office attendance policies. The report, When Fathers Work from Home, from the King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, argues that remote working has become an important part of family life for many fathers, but warns that workplace cultures continue to discourage men from making full use of flexible working arrangements. (more…)

Navel gazing may not be the answer to the challenges facing workplace professions

Navel gazing may not be the answer to the challenges facing workplace professions

First published in 2016 and republished because the same conversation is happening yet again at the IWFM conference right now: An adherence to strongly held beliefs can make people think and behave in peculiar ways and get them tangled up in peripheral issues that take on a great deal of significance. Early religious artists, for example, spent centuries wrestling with the seemingly intractable problem of whether to depict Adam and Eve with belly buttons or not. (more…)

Government report warns of ‘economic catastrophe’ as young people struggle with mental health

Government report warns of ‘economic catastrophe’ as young people struggle with mental health

Former health secretary Alan Milburn has warned that Britain risks a “generational, societal and economic catastrophe” unless employers and government adapt to rising levels of poor mental health among young peopleFormer health secretary Alan Milburn has warned that Britain risks a “generational, societal and economic catastrophe” unless employers and government adapt to rising levels of poor mental health among young people. An interim review led by Milburn into the growing number of 16 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training argues that businesses will need to provide greater flexibility, pastoral care and mental health support to what he describes as an “anxious generation”. (more…)

Has the algorithm pushed us too far?

Has the algorithm pushed us too far?

‘Why post your selfies if you don't get attention for it, you can't reach your friends and you're just competing with all of this remote, abstracted garbage out there?’When it comes to social media, the clue is in the title. My generation joined Facebook circa 2006 with the ambition of staying connected with friends, sharing photos of nights out and throwing the odd sheep at each other (I guess you had to be there). The purpose of these platforms was clear; we wanted a way to be in touch. A platform to share jokes, stories and pictures, even when we weren’t physically all together. It was the ultimate group hang and one we could join from anywhere. It was fun, it was light, it was ultimately social. Then it changed. (more…)