Firms need to embed lessons from pandemic in a new work culture

Firms need to embed lessons from pandemic in a new work culture

work cultureOrganisations should build on the lessons they have learned about themselves and their employees during the pandemic and embed them into their work culture. That is the main claim of the tenth annual Global Human Capital Trends report from Deloitte. More →

Wellbeing nosedives as people miss interactions with colleagues

Wellbeing nosedives as people miss interactions with colleagues

wellbeingWellbeing amongst professionals has taken a dive since lockdown restrictions were enforced in March, according to a new survey by recruiting firm Hays.  From a survey of over 16,200 professionals, close to two thirds (61 percent) rated their wellbeing as positive before restrictions were put in place, but only 35 percent said it remained positive since lockdown. Those who rated their wellbeing as negative rose from 7 percent to 23 percent. More →

Organisational change is best achieved by `kinetic’ leaders, claims report

Organisational change is best achieved by `kinetic’ leaders, claims report

organisational changeDeloitte has published its 2020 Global Technology Leadership survey, “The Kinetic Leader: Boldly Reinventing the Enterprise,” which sets out to examine the broader scope and evolution of tech leadership roles. The findings claim to reveal the increased need for agile and kinetic leaders — change instigators adept at driving tech-enabled transformation and organisational change. More →

People miss the office but most do not want to return full time

People miss the office but most do not want to return full time

The latest report on the attitudes of people towards their working lives after lockdown comes from Okta, Inc. in its report The New Workplace: Re-imagining Work After 2020, which claims to highlight the technological and cultural challenges office workers have faced as well as the lesson businesses can take to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. The research, which was conducted by YouGov, surveyed 2,000+ office workers across the UK, also found differences about the impact our new way of work has had on London based workers compared to workers in the rest of the country. More →

Global carbon dioxide emissions fall dramatically because of lockdown

Global carbon dioxide emissions fall dramatically because of lockdown

Carbon dioxide emissions have declined rapidly during the Covid-19 lockdown according to a new global academic study, but experts are warning that the reductions may be short-lived as normal economic activity resumes. The findings appeared today in the journal Nature Climate Change. The international study of carbon emissions found that daily emissions declined by around 17 percent between January and early April, compared to the previous year and could decline anywhere between 4.4 percent and 8 percent for the whole of 2020, the largest annual drop since the Second World War. More →

Pandemic emphasises the importance of kindness

Pandemic emphasises the importance of kindness

Almost three-quarters of UK adults say it is important that we learn from the coronavirus pandemic to be more kind as a society, according to a new survey. The survey was published by the Mental Health Foundation to mark the start of Mental Health Awareness Week, which this year has the theme of Kindness. Two-thirds of people say that when others are kind to them, it has a positive impact on their mental health, according to the survey of 4,256 UK adults aged 18 and above.

More →

Majority of UK businesses now automating key processes

Majority of UK businesses now automating key processes

The UK is making great strides in adopting process automation technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) and process mining, according to new research from digital intelligence company ABBYY. The research report, The State of Process Mining and RPA (registration), claims that 64 percent of UK businesses are already using process mining technologies, with almost 3 in 10 (28 percent) currently using RPA and a further 34 percent intending to start in the next year. This comes as no surprise, since a vast majority believe that process mining (91 percent) and RPA (87 percent) are, or would be, useful to their business. More →

CIPD Festival of Work goes digital for 2020

CIPD Festival of Work goes digital for 2020

There’s just one month to go until CIPD hosts its Festival of Work, which has moved online for the first time. Extended to three days, it will provide even more access to expert masterclasses, discussions and skills sessions, and a taste of large-scale events of this kind for the future. It is following a well trodden path in the current climate as a number of other events have moved online. (For an up to date list of workplace events and their status visit our Events page). More →

Lockdown drives shift in attitudes to environmental issues

Lockdown drives shift in attitudes to environmental issues

Almost two-thirds of workers (64 percent) have evaluated their environmental impact during the coronavirus pandemic, and the majority (53 percent) are seeking permanent changes to their working week once lockdown restrictions ease, according to a new survey. More →

Building systems must be rethought before a return to the office

Building systems must be rethought before a return to the office

Preparing an office for safe re-occupation is about much more than turning on the lights.  Once it is agreed who will be working and when, there needs to be a thorough re-evaluation of air conditioning and ventilation systems, according to the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). The Institution, whose membership includes the UKs leading experts on ventilation and air quality in buildings, has produced a series of guides for businesses looking to understand how their workspaces can be re-populated while minimising risk to their staff. More →

Pandemic threatens the transition to clean energy

Pandemic threatens the transition to clean energy

The coronavirus pandemic risks cancelling out recent progress in transitioning to clean energy, with unprecedented falls in demand, price volatility and pressure to quickly mitigate socioeconomic costs placing the near-term trajectory of the transition in doubt. Policies, roadmaps and governance frameworks for energy transition at national, regional, and global levels need to be more robust and resilient against external shocks, according to the latest edition of World Economic Forum’s Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2020 report published today. More →

Firms should pass three tests before bringing their people back to work

Firms should pass three tests before bringing their people back to work

commercial propertyA statement from UK HR body the CIPD says that as well as being aware of official advice, employers should not bring their people back into the workplace until they have taken all practical steps to ensure employees feel safe. In light of the government guidance on working safely published this week, the CIPD is urging businesses to ensure they can meet three key tests before bringing their people back to the workplace. More →