June 29, 2023

Over three quarters of hybrid workers watch television during the working day

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

A survey from ink supplier Toner Giant claims that 82 percent of hybrid workers watch some form of television when working from home, with the average worker tuning in for nearly a third (28 percent) of their working hours. The poll of 2,000 hybrid workers across the UK, the survey suggests that men are the ‘biggest offenders’, being 5 percent more likely to watch TV and consuming an extra 19 minutes of television compared to women. More →

June 26, 2023

Four in ten workers do not feel secure in their jobs

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Almost four in 10 workers (38 percent) do not feel secure in their jobs, as lay-offs across industries continue to bite, claimsthe ADP Research Institute’s People at Work 2023: A Global Workforce View. Feelings of job insecurity are highest among the young. According to the survey of over 32,000 workers in 17 countries, half (50 percent) of Gen Z (those in the 18–24-year-old age bracket) say they don’t feel secure in their job. This is double the proportion of over 55s who say the same (24 percent). More →

June 16, 2023

Whinging Poms? Why the UK workforce is one of the unhappiest in Europe

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Nearly all UK workers (90 percent) are not enthused by their work and workplace, according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2023 Report. The UK workforce rate of engagement at work (10 percent) remains one of the lowest in Europe, ranking near the bottom among peer countries (33 out of 38) with countries like the US reporting triple the number of engaged employees (31 percent). The poor state of disengaged workforces is not unique to the UK, with just 13 percent of employees across Europe feeling engaged at work, and the lowest rates of engagement reported in France (7 percent) and Italy (5 percent). More →

June 16, 2023

The retrofit of commercial property should be prioritised over new buildings

by Neil Franklin • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

A retrofit first principle is advocated in a new report, Transform & Renew – Making non-domestic buildings fit for a low carbon future from building consultancy Mace. That and other recommendations set out in the report aim to promote the re-use and repurposing of existing non-domestic buildings which make up about an eighth of total UK building stock but account for a quarter of its carbon emissions. More than 3.5m such buildings require retrofit in the next ten years, Mace suggests in the report. More →

June 16, 2023

Remote workers feel “policed” by unpredictable managers

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Daily monitoring can lead to remote workers feeling that their managers have less trust in them, research from NEOMA Business School reveals. Birgit Schyns, Distinguished Professor of People and Organisations at NEOMA, co-authored a study analysing survey data on 450 employees at UK-based firms. According to the researchers, when working from home, employees can feel that they have less autonomy and are under constant surveillance if monitored too frequently. These feelings can be exacerbated if managers’ behaviour is unpredictable, they say. More →

June 15, 2023

Men and women hide what they know from colleagues in different ways

by Neil Franklin • Business, News

Men and women exhibit different behaviours in the ways they hide what they know at work, according to new research from academics at the UCL Global Business School for Health (UCL GBSH). The findings, published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, suggest men feel more entitled than women to conceal their knowledge: they hide it more often than women, specifically through rationalised hiding, while women use evasive hiding and playing dumb. Men also conceal knowledge more frequently in a female-dominated environment and are more likely to use the same methods as women, since they believe that women will sanction them less than men for this behaviour. More →

June 14, 2023

Younger workers have no idea what the hell older colleagues are talking about

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

A new poll suggests a workplace jargon language barrier may be driving a wedge between generations, with half (48 percent) of Millennials and Gen-Z saying it makes them feel less involved in the workplace. The research from LinkedIn and Duolingo claims that jargon such as “blue sky thinking”, “move the needle on a deadline”, or “circling back to take something offline” is off-putting for younger workers, as 69 percent say their colleagues use too much jargon at work. More →

June 13, 2023

People now less engaged, less fulfilled and more stressed in their working lives

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

New research from the CIPD exploring the quality of UK working lives suggests there has been a negative shift in how people think about and value their work. The CIPD’s Good Work Index 2023 claims that most people like their work and find it satisfying. However, as many as 6-9 million workers, experience poor-quality work in some major respects. CIPD’s survey indicators show that there has been no significant improvement in job quality in the past four years and, in some respects, job quality has gone backwards. Compared to 2019, workers today are less enthused about work, less likely to perceive their work as useful and more likely to simply see work as purely transactional – simply for the money. More →

June 9, 2023

Artificial intelligence will boost short term headcount, claim half of employers

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

More than half (54 percent) of Britain’s employers expect Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies will have a positive impact on their staff headcount over the next two years, according to a survey by Experis, a part of ManpowerGroup. The survey of 2,000+ British employers also suggests that more than two thirds (69 percent) of businesses expect AI tools and technologies – including ChatGPT, Machine Learning and Virtual Reality – to have a positive impact on upskilling and reskilling, as well as on employee training (68 percent). 67 percent of British organisations anticipate a positive impact on employee engagement because of AI technology, and 60 percent think it can positively impact the onboarding process too. More →

June 8, 2023

Corporate real estate strategies are now people centric focused on new ways of working

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Property

Corporate real estate decision-making and people-centric strategies are becoming more integrated, according to CBRE’s 2023 European Occupier Survey. The report claims that 68 percent of organisations have partnered across multiple business functions including HR, IT and Communications when implementing workplace change strategies, indicating the importance of real estate decisions at a corporate level. More →

June 6, 2023

People don’t trust artificial intelligence on decision making ability in recruitment

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

The vast majority of British workers (88 percent) are happy for artificial intelligence to be used in the recruitment process but draw the line when it comes to human decision making, according to a new poll from Totaljobs. The survey, which asked 2,002 UK workers about their thoughts on how AI will impact their working lives, found that nearly three-quarters (72 percent) believe that full disclosure of how the technology is used in the hiring process should be mandatory. More →

June 5, 2023

Think tank seeks funding for Universal Basic Income trial

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

A universal basic income may be trialled in England for the first time, with thirty people set to be paid £1,600 per month over a two-year period regardless of personal circumstances. Researcher Autonomy is seeking funding for the pilot scheme, which it claims “has the potential to simplify the welfare system and tackle poverty in Britain”. People will be drawn from two locations in England to participate, with the scheme testing the effects of basic salary being paid to everyone regardless of wealth or job. More →