Columnists
August 18, 2021
Workplace technology helped meet short term lockdown challenges, but its real impact is yet to come
by Simon Haighton-Williams • Comment, Technology
Thinking back to the fast pace of life 18 months ago, the working day looked very different. COVID-19 forced a significant adjustment in how many workforces operate, including the enforced use of multiple workplace technology tools to collaborate. How will our use of collaboration tools change as we go through pandemic recovery? How can businesses […]
August 10, 2021
The reason we can’t stomach so many opinions on the future of work
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design
There’s a scene in the 1986 horror movie The Fly in which Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) persuades the reporter Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) to try two steaks, one of which Brundle has just sent between two teleportation pods in an effort to work out why they can’t process organic matter, including the organic matter belonging […]
August 5, 2021
We need to take a long term view on workplace sustainability
by Guenaelle Watson • Comment, Environment
One of the more welcome outcomes from the pandemic has been a reinvigorated and better conversation about the environment in general and workplace sustainability in particular. There were some immediate quick wins in the Spring of 2020. Cleaner air became evident in atmospheric readings and satellite images. People literally took to the streets as traffic all […]
August 4, 2021
No rush to get back to the office despite easing of restrictions
by Alexandra Anders • Comment, Flexible working, Working culture
Restrictions may have been lifted but there is no major rush for everyone to head back to the office. Many firms are being cautious about bringing employees back and the official government guidance is for employers to plan a gradual, safe return to places of work. Official guidelines aside, this doesn’t even start to factor […]
July 23, 2021
The unshocking truth about work and workplaces
July 16, 2021
Is it time for a carbon tax?
by Joanna Knight • Comment, Environment, JK, Workplace design
Most people now recognise that we are facing a climate emergency – the record breaking temperatures in the US are, perhaps, another reminder. Many would agree that economic and legislative change is the only way forward to achieve a sustainable change in behaviour. Who should pay for greater environmental responsibility? Is it time for a […]
July 15, 2021
The weird science of personal creativity
by Robin Bayliss • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design
Perhaps the most famous single act of personal creativity – with apologies to Archimedes – is Mary Godwin’s moment of inspiration for the story of Frankenstein in 1816. It was born from a wet summer in a villa on the shores of Lake Geneva, largely spent with her future husband Percy Shelley, John Polidori and […]
July 14, 2021
Time to get real on what companies need from their real estate
by Dotan Weiner • Comment, Property, Wellbeing, Workplace design
As businesses return to their offices they are faced with a challenge – how do they reappraise their space requirements post-Covid? Social and technological advancements are changing real estate from being a fixed physical product, into flexible, employee-centric spaces that enable new models of hybrid working and business operations. These have a significant impact on […]
July 9, 2021
Yoga is not a wellbeing strategy
by Stephanie Fitzgerald • Comment, Wellbeing
One of the problems facing businesses right now isn’t the so-called mental health pandemic, it’s that no one seems to know what to do about it. The increased focus on employee mental health and wellbeing has seen progressive leaps in the conversation that were unimaginable 10 years ago. Even the most cynical manager has had […]
July 8, 2021
Not waving, but drowning: why we need to take languishing more seriously
by Dr Melanie James • Comment, Wellbeing
The word ‘languishing’ is being bandied around in the media as the world tries to recover from the pandemic and is experiencing many struggles resuming a semblance of ‘normal life’. Recent articles in The New York Times and The Guardian have detailed languishing as an inability to focus, being off peak performance, feeling joyless and […]
August 20, 2021
Gig economy could lead to a labour shortage…but better off workers
by John Colley • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace
The long-term impact of COVID-19 on the economy (and the gig economy) will not be clear for some time. But in the UK, the easing of pandemic related restrictions has coincided with significant labour shortages and the driving up of wages. Statistics show that wages have risen 7.4 percent in the past year, and the […]