Flexible models of work will shift focus from place to purpose

Flexible models of work will shift focus from place to purpose

A new report from Poly claims that there is a ‘granular shift’ in focus from place to purpose of work as businesses respond to the COVID-19 crisis, redesign their operations and reinvent the way they work. Out of city coworking spaces, ergonomic at-home work setups and virtual water cooler moments will define the new age of flexible working, the report claims. Drawing on experts in the future of work, workspace design and psychology, the Poly report, Hybrid Working: Creating the “next normal” in work practices, spaces and culture, sets out the path to what it refers to (tediously) as the “next normal,” where employees enjoy flexibility and choice, and businesses thrive through motivated, collaborative and productive teams. More →

Don’t be a commute Canute, Boris

Don’t be a commute Canute, Boris

So, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told the British people to get back to work by Christmas. This  means that millions would be renewing their season tickets, getting up in darkness to dress up for work, crowding onto those trains, buses and tubes while swaddled in facemasks and battling their way into the office (which for the time being will be a pretty dull experience with social distancing). More →

People returning to the office fear shared spaces while looking forward to meeting colleagues

People returning to the office fear shared spaces while looking forward to meeting colleagues

returning to the officeMindspace has published the results of a new survey of over 1,000 members across the firm’s sites in the UK, the US, Europe and Israel, revealing the anxieties, intentions and changing habits of many employees in the Western world as they begin returning to the office for the first time since they went into lockdown earlier in the year. Unsurprisingly many of the issues focus on sharing space with other people, especially in building amenities and shared spaces as well as on public transport. At the same time, the things people have missed most about office life are also about the spaces and times they share with other people. More →

Your working day is never finished, merely abandoned

Your working day is never finished, merely abandoned

It’s been talked about for a number of years now but we can expect to be hearing a lot more about the four day week or six hour day soon. The modern conversation has its roots partly in a Swedish experiment designed to limit the hours people work in an attempt to improve their work-life balance and possibly even increase their productivity. Now a growing number of firms are looking to introduce a nominal four day working week or restrict the use of technology – meaning email – outside of certain hours. More →

Flexible working set to double once pandemic crisis is over

Flexible working set to double once pandemic crisis is over

New research from the CIPD claims that employers now expect the proportion of people working from home on a regular basis will increase to 37 percent compared to 18 percent before the pandemic. Employers also expect the proportion of staff who work from home all the time to rise to 22 percent post pandemic compared to 9 percent before lockdown measures started to be imposed. More →

People do more work at home but increasingly worried about cost

People do more work at home but increasingly worried about cost

A new survey from Lenovo claims that nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of people feel they are more productive working from home than when they were in the office and half (48 percent) believe they will continue to work from home more than they did. However, the report also suggests that two thirds of UK employees said they had to purchase new technology themselves to work effectively, spending an average of £271 to upgrade or improve technology while working at home. More →

Some brutal realities about the future of work

Some brutal realities about the future of work

The future of workNo author uses the built environment like J G Ballard. In his 1975 novel High-Rise, the eponymous structure is both a way of isolating the group of people who live and compete inside it and a metaphor for their personal isolation and inner struggles. Over the course of three months, the building’s services begin to fail. The 2,000 people within, detached from external realities in the 40-storey building, confronted with their true selves and those of their neighbours, descend into selfishness and – ultimately – savagery. More →

Business leaders remain confident about post lockdown growth

Business leaders remain confident about post lockdown growth

CEOs and the self-employed are cautiously optimistic about post-lockdown growth, claims a new report. As the country begins to emerge from lockdown, new research from The Institute of Leadership & Management ‘Life after lockdown: future of work’, explores the predicted changes to the workplace following the Covid-19 pandemic. More →

Half of SME employees say working from home negatively affects mental health

Half of SME employees say working from home negatively affects mental health

Findings from a recent study show that there is little additional support from SME’s to meet employee wellbeing standards when working from home, as many make a more permanent change after lockdown. The Working from Home study, conducted by Wildgoose, surveyed employees from 133 companies throughout the UK as the Covid-19 lockdown eases. They were asked how their working day differs at home compared to in the office, whether they would be happy to continue working from home after lockdown is ended, and how companies could improve home working practices. More →

Mental health and coronavirus: a human resources perspective

Mental health and coronavirus: a human resources perspective

mental healthIn March, coronavirus presented a stark challenge to businesses attempting to cope with workplace absence. FirstCare statistics show that during Q1 2020, more than 98 percent of Covid-19-related absences were due to unconfirmed cases, self-quarantining as a precaution, or caring for dependents. This has resulted in huge financial pressure on businesses. Now though, as restrictions are gradually eased, human resources must respond to the mental health challenges the pandemic has manifested in workers, including grief, trauma, PTSD and more general anxiety. More →

Mental health of finance workers seriously harmed by lockdown

Mental health of finance workers seriously harmed by lockdown

mental healthMore than eight-in-ten London-based banking and finance professionals (86 percent) say Covid-19 lockdown has affected their mental health, according to a new survey of white-collar employees by Helix Resilience. According to the survey of 352 banking and finance professionals, over half (52 percent) of respondents claim to be less productive, and nearly four-in-ten (39 percent) say they find it difficult to concentrate outside the office. While most working in the sector (53 percent) feel their employer is doing enough to support their wellbeing during lockdown, a third (33 percent) do not feel supported. More →

Remote working productivity will slump as firms burn up their social capital

Remote working productivity will slump as firms burn up their social capital

remote workingEmployers are walking into remote working productivity slump, as people lose their visibility in an organisation, a new report claims. The survey from workplace software business Names & Faces claims that three quarters (75 percent) of people who report being more productive since working from home already know at least half of their company but that two thirds of people who don’t feel visible within their organisation have experienced a productivity drop while working from home. More →