November 18, 2021
November 17, 2021
Five million UK employees considering ditching home-working due to rising energy bills
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives
Despite having to get up earlier, commute, and the heightened risk of Covid-19 transmission in the office, almost five million UK employees are considering ditching working from home this winter, due to concerns around rising energy costs. More →
November 12, 2021
Hybrid working could save the NHS more than £4 billion per year
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Working lives
Hybrid working could save the NHS more than £4 billion per year by giving workers more time to look after themselves and their families, according to a new study by Virgin Media O2 Business and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). More →
November 11, 2021
Parents are less productive when they feel childcare eats into work-time
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives
Parents who feel shame about childcare responsibilities eating into their work-time are less productive when they are working than those who do not feel ashamed, according to new research by Durham University Business School. More →
November 10, 2021
Working culture should align and balance with commercial objectives
by Siobhan Byrnes • Comment, Flexible working, Property, Wellbeing
Throughout the pandemic, we have had to constantly adapt to new models of work and a new working culture. And what makes this process even more challenging is that we’re having to work against a backdrop of uncertainty at every turn. Business leaders that are emerging from the pandemic successfully have been clear on priorities throughout and know how to balance them. This is certainly easier said than done but is integral to leadership as we enter the next chapter of workplace transformation. More →
November 10, 2021
2021 Digital Etiquette study highlights the rise of the invisible workforce
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives
The 2021 Digital Etiquette Study by Adaptavist, highlights that 43 percent of workers in the UK want to come back to the workplace/office full-time, while the exact same figure (43 percent) favour a flexible/hybrid model and 14 percent want to be remote only. However, as hybrid work increasingly becomes the long-term future for knowledge workers, Adaptavist suggests a growing despair among employees with the tools and technologies they are using to navigate working remotely with many left feeling invisible. More →
November 10, 2021
New research provides insights into post-pandemic workplace
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, Newsletter, Working culture
The latest research from MRI Software, claims that commercial occupiers’ willingness to allow all employees the choice to work remotely fell dramatically from 39 percent to 26 percent between March and September 2021. Seventy percent of survey respondents planned to institute policies that tighten up remote work eligibility and onsite requirements – up from 60 percent in March. More →
November 8, 2021
Are businesses suffering the vacancy effect?
by Jayne Smith • Business, Flexible working, News
As businesses weigh up the pros and cons of remote working, a new white paper, produced by Oktra, reflects on how attitudes have changed over the last eighteen months. In summary, the paper concludes that working from home is generally fine if you’re older, wealthier, male and established in your career. Others may struggle. More →
November 8, 2021
Are these the top ten most annoying behaviours while working from home?
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working culture
With more of us working remotely than ever before, Premier Inn has surveyed over 1,000 working professionals to highlight the most endearing (and frustrating) behaviours displayed by colleagues while working from home. More →
November 3, 2021
The office of the future will be a leader-free, social-space
by Dawn Sharifan • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to work. Every business will need to test, iterate, and refine approaches depending on their team’s needs. However, after the once in a generation changes in the last year, and all of the talk about the office of the future, setting a digital-first baseline is a key first step. This means embracing a mindset shift to thinking of the physical office not as the HQ, but as just one tool at your organisation’s disposal. The HQ, meanwhile, becomes digital. More →
November 3, 2021
Business leaders wary that greater workplace flexibility could encourage ‘proximity bias’
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives
With the vast majority (86 percent) of UK businesses planning to offer employees greater flexibility around where they work, leaders are focused on ensuring employees feel included regardless of their location, according to new research from LinkedIn. This comes as LinkedIn has seen a 97 percent increase in remote jobs being advertised on the platform in the UK from September 2020 to September 2021. More →
November 11, 2021
Hybrid working is both a challenge and opportunity for comms firms
by Andrew Walker • Comment, Flexible working, Technology
Huge swathes of workers have been returning to the office in recent weeks – many for the first time in almost two years. A significant number of companies, however, will never return to the pre-pandemic ‘normal’ of a five-day office week and will instead integrate hybrid working permanently. According to the CIPD, 40 percent of employers expect more than half their workforce to regularly work from home after the pandemic has ended. More →