Columnists

To boost productivity in the UK, we need to think big and different

by • Comment, Technology

The decline in UK productivity since the Great Recession of 2008/2009 has been a matter of concern for business leaders, policymakers, and economists alike. Despite hopes that the pandemic would act as a catalyst for transformation and boost productivity, recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the UK still lags behind […]

Generations in the workplace: setting the record straight

by • Comment, Workplace

If there were an algorithm to create a word cloud in response to searches for ‘What millennials want in the workplace?’, you’d expect to see Google spew out terms such as ‘flexibility’, ‘meaning’, ‘fairness’, ‘equality’, ‘inclusivity’, ‘opportunity’, ‘connections’, ‘socialising’ and ‘experience’. Do the same with ‘Gen Z’ replacing ‘millennials’ and – guess what – you’ll […]

Understanding the power of mindset and what it can do for you

by • Business, Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace

An individual’s mindset influences everything that they do. Built around a set of established values, beliefs, and attitudes, your mindset frames your outlook and guides your behaviour, demarking your perceived limitations. It’s something that influences every area of our lives, from the relationships we form to the way we approach challenges and change. When you’re […]

A balanced approach: making hybrid working work, and accepting it isn’t optional

by • Comment, Flexible working

Hybrid working is back in the headlines – not that it ever really left. A recent report from the Centre for Cities warns hybrid working will result in an “unintended economic impact” and is calling on national government and the mayor of London to do more to remove barriers to getting people back into the office. […]

Are workplace gyms and other perks out of step with hybrid working?

by • Comment, Wellbeing

It should go without saying that looking after employee mental health and wellbeing is important. If employers do not prioritise employee wellbeing, the whole team can feel the impact of this. There is compelling evidence that suggests strong employee wellbeing is a precursor to a more resilient workforce, which enjoys better staff retention, engagement and […]

Businesses need to take real action to create a more sustainable workplace

by • Comment, Environment, Workplace design

For the last decade, if not longer, we’ve heard businesses saying they are focused on reducing their environmental impact. It’s been written in annual reports and immortalised in pledges shared with stakeholders, but the question still remains – what action is actually being taken, including in the creation of a sustainable workplace?

Embrace the chaos: the office must find a new purpose, conference concludes

by • Comment, Flexible working, Property

What is the purpose of the office? That was the central question at this year’s British Council for Offices (BCO) conference which took place in Dublin. A big ask. Nonetheless, the speakers and delegates that arrived in Dublin were up for the task. In the opening address, BCO senior VP & conference chair Despina Katsikakis […]

Instilling company culture across geographic divides

by • Comment, Workplace

Company culture is one of the most fundamentally important facets of the modern workplace. In the last year, it has been identified as an important factor for 46 percent of job seekers, while 88 percent found it at least relatively important, and 15 percent of job seekers have declined a job because of the company’s […]

Throwing open the window to a new world of work

by • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

While at work in a Viennese Obstetric Clinic in the mid 1840s, a Hungarian physician named Ignaz Semmelweis noticed that mothers were far less likely to succumb to a potentially fatal infection called puerperal fever when the medical staff treating them washed their hands. When he started collecting data to confirm his insight, he found […]

A Newtonian perspective on productivity, reason and creativity 0

by • Comment, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

On the doorstep of the British Library, you will find Edouardo Paolozzi’s imposing statue of Sir Isaac Newton. At first glance, this position seems to make perfect sense. Where better for a monument to the Enlightenment’s poster boy than raised on a plinth at the entrance to the world’s second largest library? And yet, there’s […]

Getting back to the idea of a better future

by • Comment, Technology

A recent edition of Jon Connell’s daily newsletter The Knowledge included this nugget: “Last month, I heard one of the world’s most successful fund managers admit that the charts and models he previously used “gave almost no clue” as to what to do with money now. (His one firm prediction, that the US dollar would […]

What are the main issues that stop people embracing change?

by • Comment, JB, Workplace

Many times we talk about resistance – the resistance to change – how we manage it, the reluctance of having to deal with it, the disruption it causes either positively or negatively.  But rarely do we talk about why people are resisting – what is driving the resistance.

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