From the archive: The way to create a successful workplace is simple, but never easy

From the archive: The way to create a successful workplace is simple, but never easy

This was originally published in December 2020. All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. As is now the way of these things, the famous opening words of Anna Karenina have been used to name a principle that is applied across a wide range of fields. It describes how success can only happen in one way, but failure comes in many forms. More →

Eighty percent of hybrid workers feel anxious about attending day-to-day work meetings

Eighty percent of hybrid workers feel anxious about attending day-to-day work meetings

A survey of 2,000 hybrid workers and reveals that 8 in 10 people often feel anxious or worried about attending day-to-day work meetingsA new report based on a survey of 2,000 hybrid workers and remote employees reveals that 8 in 10 people often feel anxious or worried about attending day-to-day work meetings. The white paper titled Zoomed In, Zoned Out [registration] has been released by Craft Docs, and reports on hybrid and remote workers’ attitudes towards business meetings and other daily workplace processes in 2023. More →

An uncertain world, but CEOs remain broadly bullish about the future

An uncertain world, but CEOs remain broadly bullish about the future

Geopolitics and broader political uncertainty are now the greatest risk to business growth, according to a survey of more than 1,300 CEOs of the world’s largest businessesGeopolitics and broader political uncertainty are now the greatest risk to business growth, according to a survey of more than 1,300 CEOs of the world’s largest businesses. The KPMG 2023 CEO Outlook claims that geopolitics and political uncertainty have become the leading perceived risk this year for senior executives – concerns that didn’t even make the top five in the 2022 survey. More →

Generative AI will outperform humans on traditional recruitment processes

Generative AI will outperform humans on traditional recruitment processes

The use of Generative AI is common with around seven in ten of younger people set to use it to complete job applications and assessmentsA new report from Arctic Shores, a psychometric assessment provider, claims that the use of Generative AI is already common among students, younger workers and job applicants, with around seven in ten of 2,000 respondents to a survey expecting to use ChatGPT while completing a  job application or assessment over the next 12 months, and 17 percent already using it.  With 72 percent of students and candidates using some form of Generative AI on a regular basis – a number that has increased by 50 percent in just four months – the implications for employers and talent acquisition leaders are profound, the report argues. More →

Younger workers ready to embrace their new robot overlords

Younger workers ready to embrace their new robot overlords

Despite warnings that AI could lead to widespread redundancies, younger workers across Europe believe that the recent advances in the technology will 'supercharge' the industry in which they workDespite warnings that AI could lead to widespread redundancies, younger workers across Europe believe that the recent advances in the technology will ‘supercharge’ the industry in which they work. According to the second Young Generation in Tech survey, commissioned by HiBob and Venture Capital fund Eight Roads, almost four in five of the 2,000 20-30-year-olds surveyed in tech across Europe believe AI will have a positive impact on their work. More →

Beady-eyed employee monitoring is also subject to data protection law

Beady-eyed employee monitoring is also subject to data protection law

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is calling on organisations to consider both their legal obligations and their workers’ rights before they implement any employee monitoring in the workplaceThe Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is calling on organisations to consider both their legal obligations and their workers’ rights before they implement any employee monitoring in the workplace. With the rise of remote working and developments in the technology available, many employers are looking to carry out checks on workers. The ICO has today published guidance to help employers fully comply with data protection law if they wish to monitor their workers. More →

Most people get anxious at the prospect of work meetings

Most people get anxious at the prospect of work meetings

8 in 10 people often feel anxious or worried about attending day-to-day work meetingsA new report based on a survey of 2,000 hybrid and remote employees claims that 8 in 10 people often feel anxious or worried about attending day-to-day work meetings. The white paper titled ‘Zoomed In, Zoned Out’ has been released by Craft Docs [registration], and reports on hybrid and remote workers’ attitudes towards business meetings and other daily workplace processes in 2023. More →

Hybrid working is here to stay. Squawk

Hybrid working is here to stay. Squawk

I hold to the idea that nobody knows what hybrid working is, by which I mean there is no universally shared idea about what it isIn his recent book, The Constitution of Knowledge, the author Jonathan Rauch argues that knowledge consists of something about which nearly everybody can agree, and which has been arrived at by a structured, ongoing and benign process of debate and discovery. More →

The workation is taking off – but it needs the right tech to make it effective

The workation is taking off – but it needs the right tech to make it effective

The trend for semi-nomadic working has grown in the past few months, and with it the ‘workation’, as people have looked for last minute sunny getawaysThe trend for semi-nomadic working has grown in the past few months, and with it the ‘workation’, as people have looked for last minute sunny getaways after a somewhat disappointing UK summer. For the unfamiliar, a ‘workation’ is essentially taking advantage of remote working to blend work and a holiday. This could involve taking a summer holiday, and then working from the destination for a further week or two. Some may plan a visit to stay with friends or family, building some days of work into the trip, so they still get the enjoy the evenings with their loved ones. Or they may simply plan a normal working week undertaken remotely from a different location for a change of scene – anywhere from a mountain lodge to city break. More →

Generative AI will affect two thirds of jobs, but most people shouldn’t lose them

Generative AI will affect two thirds of jobs, but most people shouldn’t lose them

Around two thirds (66 percent) of jobs are considered “highly” or “moderately” exposed to Generative AI, according to the AI at Work Report from job site IndeedAround two thirds (66 percent) of jobs are considered “highly” or “moderately” exposed to Generative AI, according to the AI at Work Report from job site Indeed. The report claims finds that all US jobs listed on the firm’s website – from truck driver to software engineer – have skills that can be carried out or augmented by Generative AI. However, only 1 in 5 (19.8 percent) of jobs are considered “highly” exposed to the technology, showing that while it can learn to do tasks within a specific job, ‘GenAI’ is unlikely to fully replace many jobs. More →

Smart technology needs to start with people if it wants to get smarter

Smart technology needs to start with people if it wants to get smarter

A wood carving of a blank, slumped person sitting at a desk with a laptop to depict the dehumanization potential of smart technology“My engineering students had come to class with technology on their minds.” So says artist and design researcher Sara Hendren, author of What a Body Can Do: How we Meet the Built World. It’s a fascinating book in which she consciously pushes back against the prevailing narrative that so-called smart technology has a fix for every problem. As a professor teaching design for disability at Olin College of Engineering, Massachusetts, Hendren draws attention to the assumptions that drive normative behaviours to define what is a ‘problem’ in the first place. More →

Not many people want fully remote work, but nearly everybody wants a better office

Not many people want fully remote work, but nearly everybody wants a better office

Just 7 percent of UK office workers back fully remote work, but eight in ten would like to see significant improvements to their company's office and more support for flexible workingJust 7 percent of UK office workers back fully remote work, but eight in ten would like to see significant improvements to their company’s office and more support for flexible working, according to the Sony State of Offices Report 2023 [registration]. The report from Sony Professional Displays and Solutions Europe suggests that over two fifths (41 percent) of UK office workers still prefer to work from a dedicated company office, and across Europe this trend is even more pronounced with over half (53 percent) favouring office-based work. However, eight in ten (79 percent) in the UK call for improvements to offices, and the tech within them, to better suit their new flexible, asynchronous working styles. More →