June 16, 2021
We need to rethink the role of technology in corporate wellbeing
Employers nationwide are taking steps to improve employee wellbeing, reduce stress and improve mental health. For many, they are well-meaning, for example, banning work emails during certain hours of the day, encouraging employees to ‘switch off’. However, the risk with blanket policies like these is that they don’t work for everyone. A recent study from the University of Sussex even found banning out-of-hours emails can have a detrimental impact on employee wellbeing – restricting opportunities for truly flexible working and taking away a sense of control and autonomy. More →
When considering a hybrid working method for your organisation, it’s far too easy to try think of what will work for all employees as a whole, rather than breaking this down and thinking about the different needs from certain groups of people. One example of this is age and experience. Employees from different age groups and at different levels of experience within in an organisation may have very different needs when it comes to hybrid working. Those who have been with the business, or in a similar work environment, for some time may be perfectly comfortable to work from home the majority of the week, with little help or supervision. However, this probably isn’t going to work as well for younger employees with less experience. 
Over the past year we’ve all become accustomed to working from home and now, the number of businesses setting permanent remote working strategies is growing. Consequently, this affects HR departments and their ways of working. The office is losing its status as the daily workplace and communication between colleagues has shifted to virtual channels. In order to manage remote workers appropriately and effectively, a manager who specialises in remote work could become more and more relevant in HR departments across the world. 
Every day, after a leisurely breakfast in bed and the opening of his post, Roald Dahl would wander down his garden to the grubby little hut crammed with personal paraphernalia he had created there. There he would sharpen the six yellow pencils that were always by his side while he worked, settle into an armchair, put his feet up on an old suitcase filled with logs, place an American yellow legal pad of paper onto a makeshift board on his lap and work for two hours. 
Half of workers in the UK (50 percent) say their employers have provided support for their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, while two-thirds of employees globally reported the same (65 percent). This may illustrate a growing awareness and concern from businesses about the potential psychological impact on staff, according to a new study 
HR leaders, heads of real estate and IT decision-makers have not always spent huge amounts of time working together – their roles and responsibilities have often been siloed. But in the new world of work, that’s all changing. These three groups of senior leaders are being asked to collaborate on one of the biggest challenges corporate occupiers, as they try to figure out when and how to return to office-based working and shape the future of work. Failure to collaborate will increase the probability of workplaces having low occupancy rates, low employee engagement and decreased productivity. 
Ten years ago, the day after I left my full-time job at FM World magazine* to set up Magenta I wrote a blog called 
When the global pandemic struck last year, many companies were forced to close offices and enable employees to work remotely – bringing forward their digital transformation roadmap by a good few year. A year on, and while it seems that the Covid-19 restrictions are reducing, there is unlikely to be a complete shift back to the office. Instead, most companies are now planning to adopt a hybrid work model; with employees working a mix of in-office or remotely. 
Organisations and businesses have a lot to contend with as they begin to reopen their offices. From social distancing, working from home policies, office layouts, hand gel stations and more. But there also remains one key issue when it comes to welcoming employees back to the office. And that’s how they will get to work in the first place. That’s because the daily commute is going to look a lot different than it did pre-COVID. Firstly, while many employers and workers see the benefit of meeting in person, the hybrid world we now live in will see workers commuting to the office far less frequently. And, if they do travel to the office, there is an element of hesitancy about how they will get there; a recent study revealed 
The focus on creating a more sustainable workplace is increasing. Many designers, specifiers, manufacturers, suppliers and, of course, users are pledging their allegiance to the cause. Some are driven by a genuine recognition of the climate crisis whilst others are appreciating that commercially, it’s an essential direction. ‘Zero to landfill’ has been given ‘green bragging rights’ for some time. In reality, due to the significantly lower cost of incineration versus recycling, most material isn’t reclaimed, it is burnt. Whilst ‘energy from waste’ might alleviate some guilt, it is still contributing to pollution. 
June 21, 2021
HR should play a more strategic role in business resilience
by Jeanette Wheeler • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace