From the archive: Flexible working may improve productivity, but does it diminish creativity?

From the archive: Flexible working may improve productivity, but does it diminish creativity?

flexible working and creativityOriginally published in December 2014. Homeworking seems to have become a bit of a hot topic this year, but one sentence published on the www.gov.uk website brought a cold sweat to the brows of many managers and employees across the United Kingdom. “From 30 June 2014, all employees have the legal right to request flexible working – not just parents and carers.” More →

Work is the silver lining to the pandemic for employees

Work is the silver lining to the pandemic for employees

pandemicThe COVID-19 pandemic has brought anxiety to many, but people are positive about their work, claims a new survey from The Myers-Briggs Company, which looks at how people’s personality type influences their feelings about the pandemic. More →

People working from home hide mental health impact from employers

People working from home hide mental health impact from employers

working from homePeople working from home during the pandemic are experiencing higher levels of stress and withholding mental health conditions from their employer, for fear of a negative impact on career progression, according to a new health and safety at work report by Lloyd’s Register. More →

Workers hatred of Mondays and Fridays threatens post Covid-19 environmental dividend

Workers hatred of Mondays and Fridays threatens post Covid-19 environmental dividend

workersWith the Government setting out its roadmap for the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, workers are set to return to offices later this year. However, new working practices mean they will still split their time between the office and home. More →

Gig economy workers to make up fifth of employees in financial services firms, claims report

Gig economy workers to make up fifth of employees in financial services firms, claims report

gig economyMore than half of financial institutions say they expect to have more ‘gig economy’ based employees over the next three to five years, according to PwC’s report, Productivity 2021 and beyond: Upskilling the workforce of the future to create a competitive advantage in financial services. The second iteration of PwC’s productivity research, that surveyed over 500 financial services businesses globally, and received over 60 percent of responses from C-suite leaders, looked at some key workstreams implemented by financial services businesses and evaluated its impact on productivity. More →

Hybrid working is the new expectation of pressured employees

Hybrid working is the new expectation of pressured employees

The past twelve months have proved to be a watershed year fohybridr workplace digital transformation and the urgent shift to remote working has seen the world experience two years of digital transformation in two months. New research from Microsoft Surface claims to examine the impact of this transformation on the UK workforce, suggesting that employees are happier, but under more pressure working from home – despite almost 9 out of 10 (87 percent) of employees reporting their businesses have adapted to ‘hybrid working’. More →

The best places to live for work-life balance

The best places to live for work-life balance

work-life balanceAs Brits continue to spend an extensive amount of time at home, the importance of maintaining a good work-life balance has never been so vital. For their 2021 Work-Life Balance Index, money.co.uk have delved through ONS data to uncover where in Britain is best situated for its residents to achieve a good work-life balance. More →

Firms split furniture budgets between home and office

Firms split furniture budgets between home and office

home officeAs lockdown looks set to be extended until mid-March and many business professionals continue to work remotely, a new study by lighting supplier Ultra LEDs claims that only now are workers investing in their home office as they plan for the future. More →

Working from home causes people to drift into a ‘cycle of fatigue’

Working from home causes people to drift into a ‘cycle of fatigue’

working from home and fatigueWorking from home is exacerbating an ‘always on’ culture. Data from a study of UK employees, conducted by virtual team building company Wildgoose claims that over half of respondents are struggling to keep their workloads within working hours. More →

Getting the measure of better working cultures

Getting the measure of better working cultures

For now, just forget the cyborg monkeys and spinach sending emails, the real short term tech action is all about how to gauge what workers are thinking or doing, and what to do about it – especially if whatever they are thinking and doing is not what the org wants for them or, more importantly, itself. Things are getting crazy. More →

Working from home wellbeing outcomes vary enormously across groups

Working from home wellbeing outcomes vary enormously across groups

working from homeWith working from home set to continue for millions of UK workers, research by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) claims that there are key health and wellbeing disparities between different groups of people who made the move to home working as a result of Covid-19. More →

Working from home spells trouble for the careers of younger workers

Working from home spells trouble for the careers of younger workers

working from homeLockdown meant that the choice to work from home was made for us. However, for many the decision to continue to do so post-lockdown will be a personal choice. The question we should all ask ourselves is, whether when we are outside of any lockdown restrictions, is working from home really a workplace revolution or simply an act of selfishness? For thousands of workers who’ve spent years of their lives commuting to offices that feel more like soul-less factories than inspiring and engaging workplaces, it’s no wonder that enforced work from home has proven popular. More →