Columnists
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 […]
February 3, 2021
COVID-19 is having an unequal impact on the mental health of workers
by Brendan Street • Comment, Wellbeing
When the COVID-19 crisis hit the UK in March 2020, many commented that the virus didn’t discriminate and that its impact would be felt equally by everyone. However, as highlighted in Nuffield Health’s recent whitepaper, the mental health impact of the virus – rising from financial worries, anxiety around health and the direct impact of […]
February 2, 2021
Working from home spells trouble for the careers of younger workers
by Helen Jamieson • Comment, Flexible working
Lockdown meant that the choice to work from home was made for us. However, for many the decision to continue to do so post-lockdown will be a personal choice. The question we should all ask ourselves is, whether when we are outside of any lockdown restrictions, is working from home really a workplace revolution or […]
February 1, 2021
Burnt out remote workers need more help than they are getting
January 29, 2021
There is always a brighter side to uncertainty in business
by Portia Hickey • Business, Comment
The uncertainty and fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic have wreaked havoc on the mental health of nearly all of us. In a recent conversation with an HR leader, she shared with me that every single person on her leadership programme reported suffering disrupted sleep due to their anxiety around business uncertainty. The irony is the […]
January 28, 2021
Philanthrocapitalism: a century-old concept for the modern age
by Richard Glynn • Comment, Wellbeing
Philanthrocapitalism is a term that’s only 15 years old. A modern concept for the modern age. Or is it? In the late 1800s, George Cadbury bought a plot of land five miles south of Birmingham to relocate his factory and expand his chocolate empire. But greater levels of chocolate production weren’t his only concern; he […]
January 22, 2021
Working parents present new and important challenges for employers
January 21, 2021
Hybrid working gives managers the chance to excel
by Paul Jewitt-Harris • Comment, Flexible working
The past year will go down in history as one of dramatic change. One of the most notable upheavals was the almost overnight transition to full-time remote working for millions of ‘non-essential’ employees. With England now in its third national lockdown, many of us will likely not be going back to our offices until April […]
January 14, 2021
2021 presents the tech sector with once in a generation opportunities
by Uta Dresch • Comment, Flexible working, Technology
The COVID-19 pandemic left businesses in an unprecedented position of having to rapidly adapt workplace practices and implement new processes at a moment’s notice. Of course, those companies that were already accustomed to home office set-ups and flexible hours were in a much better place to adapt to these changing circumstances. However, not all businesses […]
January 13, 2021
Office design will respond to the events of the past year as it always has – by getting better
by Oliver Ronald • Comment, Workplace design
You may have heard that history repeats itself, but that’s not really true. It doesn’t repeat. It rhymes. And nowhere is this more true than when it comes to office design. It’s worth bearing this in mind when we consider the effects of the events of 2020. Not only the pandemic and lockdown, but also […]
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 […]