September 30, 2021

‘Great Resignation’ means companies must adapt to needs of workers

Workers are leaving jobs like never before, and it’s causing a shortage of talent that has companies around the globe reeling, according to a survey conducted by Citrix Systems. Based on a poll of 1,000 US based knowledge workers, 40 percent have left at least one job in the past year or are considering doing so. The report from the firm sets out the factors behind the so-called Great Resignation and what firms may have to do in response. More →

September 23, 2022

The Great Workplace Debate continues to improve (mostly)

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The great bandwagon of bullshit that is the home v office debate looks set to trundle into a third year. What is increasingly obvious is that it is the mainstream media that is holding the reins and refusing to release them. Here’s a BBC story from this week that doesn’t exactly mischaracterise the Microsoft report on which it is based, but does place the emphasis where it doesn’t need to be. The binary headline doesn’t help, of course, except to launder the idea and drive a needless wave of social media chatter. More →

May 31, 2022

A great employee experience depends on great technology

by Chris Brett • Company news

So often, organizations that excel on delivering value for customers, fall short when it comes to delivering the same for their employees. In fact, we can often be guilty of failing to value our employees’ time full stop. Given that we’re living through what’s been dubbed ‘the Great Resignation,’ that’s a major gamble. Companies need to take a step back and understand exactly why employee experience (EX) should be a priority. Plus, how technology can be a key enabler in doing so. More →

March 16, 2022

Working from home may help recruitment, but doesn’t stem resignations

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Organisations looking to stem the tide of the so-called Great Resignation shouldn’t rely on working from home alone to retain their top talent, according to new research, which reveals that working from home (WFH), flexible working hours and even four-day work weeks, won’t necessarily be enough to keep employees onboard. HR software provider CIPHR conducted a survey of over 330 British employers last month to discover how the increasingly competitive talent market has affected their staff retention and recruitment drives over the past twelve months. Based on the results, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of employers have experienced an increase in employees voluntarily resigning and 71 percent have found it more challenging to recruit new employees. More →

September 23, 2021

UK employers more worried about motivation than resignation

by Jayne Smith • News, Working culture, Working lives

Research from Omnipresent, in partnership with Remote Social, claims that four in 10 employers (40 percent) feel that COVID-19 has positively or extremely positively impacted employee retention. In contrast, less than a quarter (24 percent) feel that it has negatively or extremely negatively impacted this area. The survey considered the views of 250 HR managers and C-Suite professionals across the UK. More →

May 28, 2024

‘The Big Stay’ – it’s time to invest in employees, not to cut costs

by Roger Philby • Comment, Workplace

The Great Resignation is over. That’s according to the latest Labour Market Outlook report from the CIPD, as reported by Workplace Insight. But we could have told you this was simply a post-Covid correction in any case. Data from the report shows 55 percent of employers are looking to maintain their current headcount, while analysis of turnover from the ONS Labour Force Survey points to lower staff attrition in 2024. Declining staff turnover is being dubbed The Big Stay. More →

May 22, 2024

Some questions about AI, a world drowning in content and the human centipede of creativity

by Mark Eltringham • AI, Comment, Technology

One unintended but welcome result of the new fixation with AI is that many of the people who became experts on the workplace in 2020 are now experts on AI. You’ll find them on social media and they’ll have written a book about it by May to sit on the shelf alongside the one about hybrid working and The Great Resignation. So, if you want some certainty about where generative AI taking us, go talk to one of them because people who know about the subject seem to have little or no idea or raise even more questions. More →

January 16, 2024

Employers must act to offer more choices to people

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Henley Business School’s World of Work Institute has published a new report on what it calls The Omniployment Era The report claims to identify which what a post-Covid, post-Great Resignation workforce looks like. The study identifies six distinct worker ‘segments’* in the UK workforce and quantifies what attracts and retains them in jobs, and provides advice to businesses on how to build a strong workforce. More →

January 11, 2024

(As always) two-fifths of people say they are planning to change jobs this year

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Nobody seems to be calling it The Great Resignation any more, but two-fifths (40 percent) of the UK workforce are planning to move jobs in 2024, with one in six already beginning their search as staff look to boost their pay packet, according to the latest Candidate Sentiment Survey statistics produced by recruitment firm Robert Half. The survey’s authors claim these statistics demonstrate the resilience of the labour market as more candidates look to capitalise on skills shortages to boost earnings. Those aged 18-34 are more likely to move roles than any other age group (56 percent). More →

January 5, 2024

Get Workplace Insight weekly and free magazines straight to your inbox

by Neil Franklin • News

Get the best of the previous week’s news, features and commentary from Workplace Insight direct to your inbox by subscribing at the link below. In this week’s newsletter: news on the growth in the flexible working market, the impact of AI on middle class jobs, and how the final stage of your career might be one of disillusionment. There’s commentary on the most popular workplace stories from the past year and how tech is stealing your time. And we ask what ever happened to the Great Resignation. Plus links to the new issue of IN Magazine and the latest episodes of the Workplace Geeks and Workplace Cocktail Hour podcasts. More →

December 8, 2023

Ten years of Insight and a few things I think I know (one of our most read pieces this year)

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

This website started in late 2012 as a way for me to explore both a new media format and a new way of thinking about work and workplaces. I’d already been active in various roles in the workplace, design and facilities sector for twenty odd years, but needed a new challenge. And this was it. I was going for a ride with an idea to see where it went. More →

November 20, 2023

Oscillate wildly between the death of the office and the death of hybrid working

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working

It’s March 2020, very early days of lockdowns and the first catastrophising headlines appear. Is this the death of the office? Is this the death of handshakes? Is this the death of the open plan? I dismissed them at the time in this piece from March the 19th, citing Betteridge’s Law which states: “any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with the word no”. More →