October 10, 2025

A break in the workspace-time continuum

The fracturing of time and place underlies every one of the great workplace issues of our time. Everything that springs from this – the where, when, how, what and why of work – is defined by the shattering of any fixed idea we may once have had of a time and a place to work. Because the challenge to these traditional ideas is now so inextricably linked in our minds with new technology, we might often forget that people have been asking questions about how we can get the most out of each day for thousands of years. Tempus fugit after all, and as a consequence we’ve always known that how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. (more…)

October 10, 2025

Can we all stop shouting about AI (and start listening to each other instead)?

by Stephanie Fitzgerald • AI, Comment, SF

Recently, the conversation around AI has been hotting up. This is not as a result of experts sharing new and innovative developments, but rather through grown adults exchanging insults and name-calling. LinkedIn is flooded with posts shouting about how the only people who don’t support and advocate for AI are running scared. Scared of progress. Scared of technology. Scared of the future. These posts read as childish and bullying and, whilst admittedly likely to be AI generated (or at the very least having had AI cast a glance or two over the content), they are positioning humans in a dichotomous way; for or against. You’re either with AI and therefore in the gang, or you are an ignorant luddite who is unwilling to get with the programme.

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October 9, 2025

Is a smart building worth it? My research says the answer is an unequivocal yes

by Dr Matthew Marson • Comment, Property, Technology

For my book, The Smart Building Advantage, in which I tracked the evolution of the recent built environment, I trawled through more than a decade’s worth of data. I wasn’t short of material. I studied the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, 22 Bishopsgate in London and NEOM in Saudi Arabia, amongst many extraordinary examples of how buildings and technology can work together. From these, I concluded that smart buildings are like chameleons in the way they’ve adapted to meet the shifting demands of the corporate zeitgeist. (more…)

October 8, 2025

The real reason why your workplace strategy isn’t working

by Jennifer Bryan • Comment, JB, Workplace

In a world where how we work keeps evolving, it’s worth stepping back to ask: What are you about as an organisation? Not your product. Not your structure. Your purpose. Your direction. Your why. What are you ultimately trying to achieve as an organisation and why? What’s the bigger outcome you’re working toward? How do you want your people, your customers, your industry to be different because you exist? These aren’t just philosophical questions. They’re practical ones because your answers shape everything including your strategy, your team structures and your culture. It also shapes a seemingly straightforward question on your workplace strategy. (more…)

September 30, 2025

Business leaders are told to move fast and break things. But sometimes they shouldn’t

by Matthew Bothner • Business, Comment

Business leaders are often told to embrace uncertainty, shake things up, and move fast. But this mantra masks the dangers of disruption, which can just as easily harm as help. In recent research with Richard Haynes, Ingo Marquart, and Hai Anh Vu, we examined a disruptive leadership approach called “annealing.” My summary view: Although annealing can prompt change and innovation, most leaders should pause and reflect before trying. (more…)

September 24, 2025

Young people aren’t lazy or disloyal. They just expect different leadership

by Claudia Chianese • Comment, Workplace

For decades, the idea of a “good job” was measured with a simple formula: a stable contract and competitive salary. That rule does not seem to hold in the same way for Generation Z, broadly understood as those born between 1995 and 2010. As they join the workforce in greater numbers, this new cohort is helping to redefine what work and leadership mean. Salary still matters, of course, particularly when it comes to gaining independence in a time of high living costs, but many young people no longer see pay as the decisive factor in choosing or staying in a job. Instead, they are attentive to whether companies are genuine in their values, whether their work carries purpose, and whether employers are aware of their social impact. (more…)

September 23, 2025

Hybrid working is here to stay. Squawk

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

In his recent book, The Constitution of Knowledge, the author Jonathan Rauch argues that knowledge consists of something about which nearly everybody can agree, and which has been arrived at by a structured, ongoing and benign process of debate and discovery. Without this social architecture, things unravel and sometimes in catastrophic ways. The undermining of knowledge and the processes that lead to it has been one of the defining characteristics of authoritarians for the entirety of human history. They know if you can get people to believe absurdities, you can get them to commit atrocities. Or at least shut up and let you get on with the business of despotism. (more…)

September 18, 2025

Lead boldly, pivot strategically: redefine change leadership, before it redefines you

by Jennifer Bryan and Louise Robey • Business, Comment, JB

Change management is no longer just a discipline, it’s a mindset. In today’s hyperconnected, rapidly evolving business landscape, the ability to lead through constant transformation has become the defining characteristic of exceptional leadership, and one that is weighing heavily on all leaders. When leaders claim that “people don’t like change,” they’re missing a fundamental truth about human nature. We navigate change every single day, adapting our morning routines when a loved one falls ill, finding alternative routes when our train is cancelled, or pivoting our plans when circumstances shift. Change itself isn’t the problem. The issue is that people don’t like being changed or having transformation imposed upon them without agency, understanding, or involvement. (more…)

September 17, 2025

People are still powering productivity in the era of AI

by Nick Gold • AI, Comment, Workplace

Employee productivity has been cast into the spotlight in recent months, thanks to the acceleration of AI. Our new research shows that 50 percent of businesses are prioritising employee productivity over the next two years, budgeting for resources that promote individual staff performance and effectiveness. AI’s growing role in the workplace is, of course, a key driver of this trend. But it’s not the only factor. Increased remote work and other operational challenges mean businesses are looking to maximise efficiency and get the best possible return on their investment. (more…)

September 16, 2025

Just one more CoreNet? Give it to me.

by Esme Banks Marr • Comment, Property

Last week, CoreNet Global’s EMEA Summit returned to Amsterdam, and with it, the familiar rhythm of connection, conversation, and the occasional déjà vu. I’ve attended a handful of these, and every year I tell myself I pretty much know what I’m in for… and yet, I keep coming back. Why? Well, let me unpack. First, let’s talk about the setting. Amsterdam is one of those cities that feels like it’s permanently on the front foot. It’s forward-thinking, relentlessly innovative, and always busy shaping the future. From cycling-first urban design to a thriving HQ and campus workplace scene, it’s a natural stage for a conversation about “Innovate to Thrive”, this year’s conference theme. I’ve always had the sense that the city itself lives that mantra. (more…)

September 16, 2025

AI, automation anxiety and the future of work: lessons from Daniel Susskind

by Jo Sutherland • AI, Comment, Workplace

When I joined the audience at Gresham College for Professor Daniel Susskind’s inaugural lecture on automation anxiety, I expected the familiar line: AI is coming for our jobs. That’s not what I heard. Instead, Susskind, Professor of Business at Gresham, made a surprisingly nuanced argument, explaining that the real story was less about the number of jobs losses, and more about how the very nature of work is shifting. This piece reports on that event (available to watch below) and reflects on what his ideas mean for workplace leaders – and, from my vantage point as a communications professional working with organisations through workplace and digital transformation, how we talk to and engage our colleagues through the change. (more…)

August 22, 2025

Updated: We need to acknowledge the role privilege plays in the ways we talk about work

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

Over the weekend of the 9th of August, I listened to two episodes of Andrew Keen’s podcast which feature conversations with a couple of well-known people from our own domain of work and workplaces. One was Julia Hobsbawm and the other Dror Poleg. It seemed that Julia had introduced Keen to Dror so a link between the two existed. Another link formed in my mind as I listened: the unspoken role of privilege underpinning both conversations. albeit in different ways. (more…)