Columnists
March 3, 2021
HR must catch its breath and address changing expectations after the pandemic
by Hannah Wright • Comment, Technology, Workplace
Someone really should have warned HR and people leaders that we needed to strap ourselves in, right? Even then, would we have ever been completely prepared for the rollercoaster ride organisations have experienced because of the pandemic? As part of Sage’s research, ‘HR in the moment: changing perceptions and expectations in HR’, we spoke to […]
February 26, 2021
The link between wellbeing and green design is driving material innovation
by Craig Stuart • Comment, Environment, Wellbeing, Workplace design
One of the most interesting developments in the way we talk about the design of buildings in recent years is how the issue of wellbeing has found an overlap with environmental concerns. We know instinctively that these are natural partners. What is good for the environment almost always has a direct beneficial effect on people’s […]
February 25, 2021
False positives and the dangers of unrealistic positivity at work
by Jeff Miller • Comment, Wellbeing, Working culture
The vaccine rollout is well on its way, the Government has set out its road map for easing lockdown and it seems there is light at the end of the tunnel. Organisations can hopefully now start to shift mindsets away from the negativity of the past months and create a positive outlook for the future. […]
February 19, 2021
A new mindset on climate change is emerging from the pandemic
by Aki Stamatis • Comment, Environment
Of all the opportunities for positive change driven by the pandemic, the most important may be the least talked about. And that’s in spite of the fact that both workers and organisations as well as governments and other bodies around the world are aware and in favour of it and its consequences are most far […]
February 16, 2021
We must seize the chance to go full circle on sustainable office design
by Joanna Knight • Comment, Environment, JK
The circular economy is the ‘holy grail’. Few people would deny the ambition of keeping resources in use for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value from them, then recovering and regenerating products and materials at the end of each service life. Is this achievable within the furniture and furnishings sector? Many manufacturers and […]
February 11, 2021
The future workplace will only thrive with social and customer experience at its heart
by Sonia Brown • Comment, Workplace design
One important concept the pandemic has taught us is that irrespective of where we work and whatever form the future workplace takes, our brand must remain strong. With much of our workforce now working from home, how do we bridge the gap between corporate and home life? As head offices re-form into social hangout hubs, […]
February 10, 2021
Ten point green plan needs to be embraced by organisations
by Paul Scriven • Comment, Environment
We’ve been talking to our clients a lot over the last eighteen months, informing and educating them about when upcoming green legislation might come into force and what that will mean for the construction industry. So, it’s with interest that we saw the UK government unveil its ten point green plan in mid-November that reflected […]
February 9, 2021
Getting the measure of better working cultures
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design
February 5, 2021
Workplace things we have missed, and those we hope to regain
by Emma Morley • Comment, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design
Let’s be honest, work life pre 2020 had its flaws, whilst the longing for variety of scenery, change of pace and even a train journey (somewhere…ANYWHERE) would be welcomed by many of us right now, many of us had become a bit ‘hamster wheel’ in our approach. Commuting was stressful, expensive and time hungry; our […]
February 4, 2021
When business leaders open up about mental health, we all benefit
by Richard Goold • Comment, Wellbeing
The Covid-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on the way in which we work and has brought in to focus the challenges around mental health and wellbeing. The recognition that we are in the midst of the biggest mental health crisis since the Second World War brings the challenge in to stark focus. Time […]
February 3, 2021
What we all get wrong about motivation and the hierarchy of needs
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Wellbeing
When it comes to understanding motivation, the stepping off point for most people is Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The theory is now nearly 80 years old and its endurance is some kind of testimony to its insight. Yet a recent paper published in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, authored by William Compton of Middle […]
March 5, 2021
A shift from competition to community has never been more important
by Hannah Koole-Browne • Business, Comment
Now, more than ever, both at home and at work, we need to be surrounded by people we can rely upon and trust as we ride the waves of uncertainty. Over the past year, we have learnt that priorities and targets can be shifted in the blink of an eye which has increased the importance […]