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 →

Progress for women in work back at 2017 levels due to COVID-19

Progress for women in work back at 2017 levels due to COVID-19

progressProgress for women in work could be back at 2017 levels by the end of this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to analysis conducted for PwC’s annual Women in Work Index, which measures female economic empowerment across 33 OECD countries. More →

Two thirds of small businesses predict return to business as usual in 2021

Two thirds of small businesses predict return to business as usual in 2021

businessesThere is real optimism amongst small businesses owners that their businesses will return to pre-COVID normality by the end of the year, claims Tide. In a study conducted amongst small business leaders (of up to 50 employees), over two thirds (64 percent) agreed it was likely that with the successful vaccine roll-out their businesses could get back to normal before the end of 2021. More →

Zoom fatigue is real and has four basic causes

Zoom fatigue is real and has four basic causes

zoom fatigueThe much discussed idea of Zoom fatigue turns out to be a real phenomenon according to new peer reviewed research from Stanford academics. The study published in the American Psychological Association’s journal Technology, Mind, and Behaviour found that meetings conducted via video calls leave participants feeling more exhausted and emotionally drained than those held face to face. The study found the four most important factors that make video calls so exhausting; the constant need for eye contact, the ability to see one’s own face constantly during meetings, the need to sit still for long periods and difficulties in interpreting or communicating via body language. More →

UKGBC launches framework for defining social value

UKGBC launches framework for defining social value

frameworkThe UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has published a Framework for Defining Social Value in the Built Environment, designed to help built environment practitioners define and deliver social value on their projects. Social value is often considered especially hard to define for built environment projects, as each project serves a different community with their own unique set of requirements.  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 →

UK workers put in £24 billion worth of unpaid overtime during the pandemic

UK workers put in £24 billion worth of unpaid overtime during the pandemic

overtimeUK employers claimed £24 billion of free labour last year because of workers doing unpaid overtime, according to new analysis published by the TUC. More than three million people did unpaid overtime in 2020, putting in an average of 7.7 unpaid hours a week. On average, that’s equivalent to £7,300 a year of wages going unpaid for work done. More →

Quarter of Brits addicted to checking work emails when on their phones

Quarter of Brits addicted to checking work emails when on their phones

emailsAlmost one year on and a third lockdown in, it seems the pandemic has Brits re-assessing and taking more control of their work-life balance, however not everyone seems to be so successful. A 2021 survey conducted by money.co.uk, claims 25 percent of the UK workforce still can’t keep themselves from checking work emails regularly when they’re on their phones. More →

People with meaningful jobs try to improve their companies

People with meaningful jobs try to improve their companies

meaningfulEmployees who find their job meaningful increase the likelihood of better performance reviews by suggesting ways of improvement for their companies, claims research from Trinity Business School. According to the study, undertaken by Amanda Shantz, Associate Professor and MBA Director at Trinity Business School, finding your work meaningful increases the likelihood of receiving a better performance review because it improves your ‘promotive voice behaviour’. More →

Isolation of employees is IT teams’ greatest home-working concern

Isolation of employees is IT teams’ greatest home-working concern

employeesThe feelings of isolation being experienced by employees is the biggest concern IT and cybersecurity teams have around home working, say almost one third (31 percent) of respondents to the latest Twitter poll run by Infosecurity Europe. The objective was to investigate views on the current threat landscape, as remote working remains the norm and ‘lockdown fatigue’ sets in. More →

Workplace digital divide is forcing employers to rethink the way they communicate

Workplace digital divide is forcing employers to rethink the way they communicate

employersIn March 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic forced countless employers around the globe to send their non-essential employees home. Few organisations had a contingency plan for such a scenario, meaning the overwhelming majority of employers had to rethink their operations and communication functions on the fly. More →