September 8, 2020

Healthcare appointments routinely missed due to work pressures

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Research by employee benefits provider Unum claims two fifths (42 percent) of UK working parents and carers of children surveyed, had cancelled, or weren’t able to make a health care appointment due to work pressures. This figure is in stark contrast to employees without caring responsibilities; only 23 percent of whom have ever had to cancel or weren’t able to make an appointment. This highlights the disadvantage that working parents and carers of children are immediately faced with when it comes to achieving a good work-health balance. More →

September 8, 2020

Artificial Intelligence is critical to organisations, but many unprepared

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology

A new report from information technology company Wipro Limited claims that enterprises of the future will be built on a foundation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Analytics, Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Automation. According to the ‘State of Intelligent Enterprises’ report, these technologies are central to solving business problems and driving innovation. Most businesses consider AI to be critical to improve operational efficiency, reduce employee time on manual tasks, and enhance the employee and customer experience. More →

September 8, 2020

Is music at work a privilege for the powerful?

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News

Seniority in the workplace could be directly correlated to how often you listen to music whilst you work, claims a poll of 1,000 UK office workers. The research, which was carried out by London office developer CO—RE, suggests that business owners and C-suite executives were the most likely to listen to music in their working environment. More →

September 7, 2020

Homeworkers supporting local economies through Covid-19

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News

While city centres are taking time to recover, there’s better news elsewhere, suggests Vodafone research into small business employees. Local economies are benefitting from the rise in homeworking, with 25 percent of homeworkers spending at least once a day at their local coffee shop or café. The research, which surveyed 1,003 small business employees, also claims that working from home has not hindered Brits’ productivity, with 40 percent of workers putting in an average of 642 additional hours, equal to 26 extra days, since lockdown began back in March. More →

September 4, 2020

Workers feel unsafe returning to the workplace after COVID-19

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

Insurance provider Protectivity has asked office workers around the UK how they’re feeling about going back to work as COVID-19 lockdown restrictions ease, what changes they have made during the lockdown period, their thoughts about attending workplace events over the next few months and how they’re feeling about their pets post-lockdown. More →

September 4, 2020

UK business leaders predict office downsizing in the coming year

by Jayne Smith • News, Property

A new independent survey by Accumulate Capital suggests how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected UK businesses and their commercial property needs. The property development firm commissioned an independent survey of more than 500 senior decision-makers from businesses all over the UK and the majority believe there will be a need for downsizing to smaller office spaces in the future. More →

September 3, 2020

UK firms optimistic about COVID-19 recovery prospects

by Jayne Smith • Business, News

What impact is COVID-19 having on business confidence? And what recovery strategies are companies prioritising in response to the pandemic? Recruitment company Robert Half recently surveyed more than 1,500 executives to understand how they are responding to this ongoing period of unprecedented economic change. More →

September 3, 2020

Long hours main reason workers take their employer to tribunal

by Jayne Smith • Legal news, News, Workplace

UK workers are most likely to log a claim against their employer for making them work excessively long hours, claims new data by health and safety training provider DeltaNet International. The data, which looks at the number of employment tribunal cases over the last five years, suggests there have been 160,299 jurisdictions (complaints) in relation to employers breaking the Working Time Directive, which outlines the maximum weekly working hours. Under the directive, a UK employee cannot work more than 48 hours a week on average – normally averaged over 17 weeks – unless there is an exception. More →

September 2, 2020

New strategy tackles the post-COVID climate emergency

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News

Supported by its Green Building Councils and their members, the WorldGBC (World Green Building Council) network has launched Sustainable Buildings for Everyone, Everywhere — a new strategy to accelerate and mainstream the transformation of built environments around the world. Based on climate science and the Global Goals of Sustainable Development (SDGs), the strategy tackles global warming, health and wellbeing and resource impacts to deliver quality infrastructure — a critical need for our planet, communities and economies in the context of the COVID pandemic.
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September 2, 2020

Stress and burnout threaten the benefits of working from home

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

A new study by Adaptavist, suggests the threats to long-term productivity and employee wellbeing posed by improvised solutions during the transition to remote work. Overall, 82 percent of people report they are equally (47 percent) if not more productive (35 percent) working from home, and company-wide communications have improved during the pandemic. However, the lack of a shared understanding of which tool to use and how to communicate with it, combined with the ‘always on’ nature of working from home, brings added stress and motivational challenges for remote workers. More →

September 2, 2020

Video call fatigue amounts to millions of unproductive businesses hours

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Wellbeing

A recent study, which was commissioned by Bayfields Opticians & Audiologists and questioned 2000 people, claims people spent an average of three hours and 12 minutes each week on video calls – an increase of 120 percent compared to before lockdown. Connected Brits admit to spending hours getting ready for work-related video calls during lockdown and struggling to get back into the zone once the call is over, leading to millions of hours of ‘wasted’ work time since lockdown.

September 2, 2020

Are employees more productive since lockdown?

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News

With many companies announcing that they will not force employees back to the office until next year, 34 percent of UK workers have admitted to feeling more productive since working from home. That’s according to new ‘Work Different’ research from Qualtrics.

The research, which surveyed 2,000 UK workers, also claims that a third (31 percent) of workers have felt creative since working outside of the office, while over a quarter (27 percent) believe it’s been easier to collaborate with their colleagues since the coronavirus lockdown began. More →