November 10, 2022
The argument about what it takes to encourage people to come into the office more often seems to have boiled down to an equation. It’s now common to hear somebody argue that the office has to be worth the commute it takes to get to it. So, if you want people to spend more time in the building, you need to do the maths. O must be greater than or equal to C More →
November 4, 2022
It is ironic that while we live in a world in which we are witnessing the automation of more and more human skills and capabilities, we are often best able to understand the way people function with symbols of mechanisation. That is the underlying conceit of what turned out to be one of the animated film events of recent years, Pixar’s Inside Out. The movie depicts the inner workings of the human brain as under the control of tiny people, literally inside our heads, making decisions on our behalf we only half understand. More →
November 3, 2022
The rising cost-of-living is impacting life and work in all four corners of the UK. Research from BCC has found that businesses feel compelled to increase their own prices. With costs rising, businesses are facing growing pressures. Not least the need to attract and retain the talent they can depend on to deliver. Research has shown that taking time to upskill current employees, especially in terms of their digital skills, benefits both productivity and engagement at all levels of an organisation. Our own Tech and Battle for Talent report recognises that 42 percent of employees in organisations across the UK would be more likely to stay in their current role if employers provided regular and intensive training, while 47 percent would be happier. More →
November 2, 2022
Writing about change isn’t easy, but too many people try it. I tried it with Elemental Change (LID, 2020). Jennifer Bryan succeeded where I didn’t, and managed a short book about change. Her book Leading People in Change also succeeds where I didn’t by focussing on one aspect of change, leadership. So far so good, despite my initial uncomfortable reaction to the title suspecting it might be a handbook for ensuring people did what we wanted them to do, regardless. Fortunately, not so. More →
October 24, 2022
For as long as we’ve been in this industry, we’ve sat and chatted with leading lights from the London furniture market, first listening to fantastic tales and raucous anecdotes, and later telling our own recollections of Cologne. We originally wondered whether these stories were simply that – mere myths and Chinese whispers. Then, of course, we headed to Orgatec, we walked the halls of the Messe, we spent our evenings in the Alter Markt, and we returned to Blighty with our very own Cologne anecdotes. More →
October 20, 2022
On the 8 December, you’ll be able to get your hands on a new book called Out of the Blue: The inside story of Liz Truss and her explosive rise to power. Or not. At the time of writing, its publication still seems to be going ahead, but I’m not even sure this introduction will be current by the time I press ‘publish’ so I wouldn’t bet on it. I imagine the publishers of the book haven’t given the green light to the printers just yet but nothing a change of title, a hasty rewrite and few extra chapters can’t fix. More →
October 19, 2022
The last few years have seen our approach to work change dramatically. Technology has helped to unlock whole new ways of communicating and interacting, providing the flexibility for employees to work in a way that suits them best and creating a large number of remote workers for the first time. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, this switch was on the cards. From an employer perspective, digital tools can allow for communication across the world, opening up access to a whole host of talent and wider consumer exposure. More →
October 13, 2022
Recent statistics underline the extent to which hybrid working is now a permanent fixture of US business life. A recent report suggests that 74 percent of US companies are using or plan to implement a permanent hybrid working model, whilst 44 percent of US employees prefer a hybrid work model, compared to 51 percent of employers. 55 percent of employees want to work remotely at least three days a week and 59 percent of employees are more likely to choose an employer that offers remote work opportunities over one that doesn’t. More →
October 5, 2022
Whenever I first meet a potential client or am brought onto a new change project, there are three questions I ask: why, why now and why should anyone care about your change? Now the first two have typically been thought through and there are answers for them – not necessarily crystal clear and concise answers, but answers, none the less. However, the third question, in my experience, is rarely even considered, much less discussed or thought through. If it has been thought through, then this is many times expressed starting with the words, “effective…efficient…,” which is what I would call the management spiel. These are not answers that will motivate or galvanise employees and teams to support and adopt a change. More →
October 5, 2022
This winter will be tough for many UK households. Rising energy bills are driving a huge upswing in inflation, causing real incomes to fall as the cost of living goes up. And despite the UK Government’s announcement that energy prices will be ‘capped’ at an average of £2,500 per year, the Bank of England believes inflation will remain high for at least the next two years. According to government estimates, a £2,500 energy bill is almost double the average household’s energy bill in 2021. And as employees continue to work from their home office regularly, energy consumption is likely to rise. More →
September 30, 2022
Neil Usher is an energetic, wiry critic of workplaces and offices. Long ago – in 2018, actually – his proposal that the good office is composed of 12 simple elements, beginning with daylight, was also energetic and wiry. Here he widens out from the delicious nitty-gritties of temperature control and lighting in The Elemental Workplace to the wider phenomenon of work. As the title already suggests, the style is laden with expletives: there are no fewer than 25 mentions of the word ‘crap’. He is withering, too, about the ‘easiest fat-arsed squatting duck of targets, the hapless office, with its rituals and theatrics’. On top of a fresh, Elemental-style bow to the nostrum of inclusion, there is a critique of management fads, but also reference made to (white male) privilege, plus, in a lofty manner, ‘our essentially Stone Age cognitive wiring’.
November 11, 2022
Problems at Twitter, grease proof chairs, and the trouble with AI
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design