January 14, 2021
New research by MHR International, shows one-in-three working parents (33 percent) have lied to their boss about how they are coping with the balance between home schooling and work during the current lockdown. More →
January 14, 2021
Asana, the work management platform, has launched a new research study, which highlights the increased levels of imposter syndrome, anxiety and burnout now being felt by British office workers. At a time when many workers are now facing the reality of a new national lockdown, over two-thirds (69 percent) claim they are currently suffering from imposter syndrome, and nearly half (45 percent) say this has increased while operating in a remote working environment. More →
December 29, 2020
New research from IPSE, the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed, claims that the number of solo self-employed people in the UK has fallen by 5 per cent compared to last year. The total number of solo self-employed (excluding those who have others working for them) has fallen from 4.6 million in 2019 to 4.4 million. Until now the sector had been growing continuously for 11 years – by a total of 40 per cent. More →
December 18, 2020
Originally published in March, right at the start of all this. Makes me wonder how far we’ve come in nine months. In Dorian Lynskey’s The Ministry of Truth, a “biography” of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the author describes how Orwell’s book was the end point of an obsession with utopian (and ultimately dystopian) fiction that characterised the first half of the Twentieth Century, and reflected the competing political, social and economic ideologies of the era. More →
December 18, 2020
A review of research in organisational and workplace psychology conducted by an international team of academics claims that working from home has been more disruptive for women than men. The review paper, entitled COVID-19 and the Workplace: Implications, Issues, and Insights for Future Research and Action and originally published in American Psychologist, features urgent insight from UCL School of Management Professor, Sunny Lee into the sex- and gender-related implications of changes in work practices that have taken place over the course of 2020. More →
December 11, 2020
Employee monitoring is an emotive topic. Businesses may wish to monitor their staff for a variety of reasons. For instance, they may wish to prevent the unauthorised disclosure of confidential or sensitive information, or detect attempts to steal valuable intellectual property. In the current conditions, dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses have opted to use automated means to monitor staff productivity. However, from an employee’s perspective, the use of monitoring software may be intrusive if not distressing. Further, if it has been implemented without regard to data protection law, it is potentially illegal. More →
December 10, 2020
Productivity, morale and the ability to serve customers are being hamstrung by technology issues at European mid-size businesses, accordingly to research commissioned by Ricoh Europe. The research explores the remote working experience of 632 European office workers during the Coronavirus pandemic, at firms with between 250 and 999 employees. It claims that these companies are failing to adapt to the challenges of remote working, setting them up poorly for future success. More →
December 9, 2020
December 4, 2020
A new study from Perkbox claims that the increased amount of time spent at home together under lockdown has actually strengthened many people’s personal relationships. Just under half (45 percent) of employees claim that their relationship with the people they live with has become stronger during their time working from home together. 51 percent say that their relationship is the same as before, with just 4 percent feeling that their relationship is now not as strong. More →
December 4, 2020
A newly commissioned survey of 1,000 people conducted by Censuswide on behalf of KnowBe4, claims that almost a third of respondents (28 percent) feel less loyal to their employer post-furlough. Of these individuals, 70 percent conceded to either not feeling supported by their employer, receiving little to no information or guidance prior to returning to work and/or did not receive regular communications from them. In fact, the actions employers take, or lack thereof, to ease the transition from furlough appears to play a significant role in employee sentiments upon their return to work. More →
December 3, 2020
In the face of the revolutionary and long-lasting changes to workplaces across the world resulting from the pandemic, some commentators have suggested that the wide-spread necessity of adopting remote working practices may have made the office obsolete. However, such a dramatic upheaval to the very foundation of the workplace and working dynamic won’t come without a cost, and new data suggests that perhaps the office isn’t the dinosaur many assumed, but still a central pillar to effective businesses as part of a hybrid working strategy. More →
Heightened anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic has led to employees working longer hours and taking fewer sick days, all the while becoming less fulfilled by work and life, according to the latest analysis from
January 5, 2021
We shouldn’t become village idiots in our new ways of life
by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Comment, Flexible working, Technology