September 2, 2020

Remote work and the coming race to the bottom

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Wellbeing, Working lives

One of the most significant consequences of the 2008 economic crash was a remarkable shift in the nature of employment. The recession led to a surge in the number of people categorised as self-employed. The numbers have been increasing ever since, albeit at a more stable rate. By the end of 2019, the number of self-employed people in the UK exceeded five million people for the first time. That’s fifteen percent of the workforce. More →

August 28, 2020

A new social contract can improve the everyday experience of work

by Mark Spratt • Comment, Workplace

It’s not happening quickly enough for some and too slowly for others, but most companies are in the midst of managing a return to work and grappling with a very different post COVID-19 world and what it means for employees. HR professionals are paying close attention to how well employees are faring and are looking to build new forms of employee care into company cultures and values. But maybe there is something more they can do to foster employee trust and safety? More →

August 28, 2020

German trial of universal basic income set to begin

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

A new trial of universal basic income and its effects on people’s wellbeing, work and wealth is set to start next year in Germany. The study will see 120 people receive €1,200 each month for three years, and researchers will compare their experiences with another group of 1,380 people who will not receive the payments. More →

August 28, 2020

Using nature based solutions in buildings will help address climate change

by Neil Franklin • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News

The IGNITION project from the UK Green Building Council has published its first report for businesses, titled ‘Nature-based solutions to the climate emergency: The benefits to business and society’ The report claims to provide organisations with the data they need to make informed decisions about the types of urban nature-based solutions (NBS) available to them and how these can help meet sustainability objectives to benefit business, society and the environment. It sets out to highlight the benefits of using NBS across the built environment and aims to inspire confidence in business leaders and investors to increase the use of NBS. More →

August 26, 2020

Office furniture giant Steelcase achieves carbon neutral status

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Environment

US based office furniture giant Steelcase has announced it has achieved carbon neutrality for its own operations. The company also announced new 2030 goals that have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. Building upon this momentum, the firm has established a goal to become carbon negative by 2030. More →

August 25, 2020

Fifth of firms don’t offer support to employees with drug and alcohol issues

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Around one in five (21 percent) employers are failing to offer proactive support to workers to help prevent and provide support on issues of drugs and alcohol misuse, according to newly published research from the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development. More →

August 20, 2020

Commuting, not Covid, main reason employees are avoiding offices

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Employees worried about returning to the office post-lockdown are most concerned about work-life balance and the daily commute, rather than their health, according to research from absence intelligence company e-days. Whereas only a quarter of employees are most worried about potential health implications, results of a snapshot poll of 100 workers show that 7 out of 10 of us are more concerned with impact to work-life balance (37 percent) or the office commute (34 percent). The research follows the change in government advice on 1 August 2020 meaning employers can make their own decisions about staff returning safely to work. More →

August 20, 2020

Half of British workers associate new tech with business growth

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

British workers are much more positive about the impact of new technologies on job creation and business growth compared to employees based in Belgium, Germany, France or the Netherlands. This is according to a large-scale survey conducted by payroll and HR services provider SD Worx in collaboration with the Antwerp Management School. 44.7 percent of Brits have seen the number of jobs rise thanks to tech innovation, compared to 44.4 percent of the French, 38.4 percent of the Dutch, 35.6 percent of the Belgian and 25.7 percent of the German workers. The data looks at organisations in the past three years. More →

August 18, 2020

The challenge for the office is to stay relevant

by Ben Capper • Comment, Workplace design

The world is going through some painful changes at breakneck speed. As a result, the word unprecedented has reached number one spot on our ‘words to avoid’ list. What’s the big deal with unprecedented anyway? Our obsession with all things unprecedented taps into our fear of the unknown. But life itself is an unknown: Life is beta. Nothing is permanent. Every single day things happen that are unprecedented. Damn, said it again. More →

August 17, 2020

Is it time to get rid of all workplace policies and procedures?

by Freddie Steele • Comment, Workplace

After twenty-five years of telling employers that their first response to any workplace problem should be ‘draw up a policy’, it pains me to even suggest this; but what if we abolished all workplace policies and procedures? Yes, you heard me correctly – no policies for discipline and grievances, for handling sickness absence, menopause, mental health, flexible working, redundancies, emails, dress codes, discrimination etcetera. More →

August 14, 2020

Survival, inquiry, sophistication – picking the right workplace battles

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design

We know, and have for a long time, that the workplace is in a state of near constant flux. The meteor strike of lockdown is an accelerant, not a deviation. It has also laid bare -yet again – the faulty assumption that there is some sort of general evolution towards an idealised version of the office. That is why we see so many people routinely willing to suspend their critical facilities to make extravagant and even absurd predictions about the office of the future or even the death of the office. More →

August 13, 2020

People plan to retain sustainable new habits after lockdown

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

Britons are keen to continue with low-carbon lifestyle choices adopted during lockdown, according to research by Cardiff University and The University of Manchester. Two wide-ranging surveys conducted by the UK Centre for Climate and Social Transformation (CAST), which is coordinated by Cardiff University, suggested lockdown had upended people’s habits, from buying and travelling less, to reduced energy use and cutting down on food waste. More →