Search Results for: workplace

Your working day is never finished, merely abandoned

Your working day is never finished, merely abandoned

It’s been talked about for a number of years now but we can expect to be hearing a lot more about the four day week or six hour day soon. The modern conversation has its roots partly in a Swedish experiment designed to limit the hours people work in an attempt to improve their work-life balance and possibly even increase their productivity. Now a growing number of firms are looking to introduce a nominal four day working week or restrict the use of technology – meaning email – outside of certain hours. More →

Self-employment is great for wellbeing, not so great for the bank balance

Self-employment is great for wellbeing, not so great for the bank balance

In the week the ONS announced that the number of self-employed people in the UK had dropped by 178,000 over the last quarter, a new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Institute for Fiscal Study suggests that the growing number of people who turn to self-employment do so despite a drop in their incomes. On average, they earn nearly £500 (30 percent) less a month than they did before falling out of traditional employment. More →

HR is often the last resort for people with mental health issues

HR is often the last resort for people with mental health issues

mental healthStigma around mental health in the workplace persists in many organisations, amid signs that stress is putting significant pressure on workers across a range of industries, claims new research from the ADP Research Institute (registration). Only one in seven (14 percent) of respondents polled in ADP’s study say they would feel comfortable telling HR about a mental health problem or concern. One in four (25 percent) would not feel comfortable telling anyone at work. More →

We need to include disabled people in our conversations about diversity

We need to include disabled people in our conversations about diversity

two people talking to illustrate the growing number of disabled people in self-employmentThis sounds really obvious but when organisations talk about diversity and inclusion they often forget to include disability. They talk about the importance of women in leadership and the gender pay gap, the need to include people from an ethnic minority background especially following the Black Lives Matter movement. And June just gone was dedicated to LGBT+ Pride month. More →

Flexible working set to double once pandemic crisis is over

Flexible working set to double once pandemic crisis is over

New research from the CIPD claims that employers now expect the proportion of people working from home on a regular basis will increase to 37 percent compared to 18 percent before the pandemic. Employers also expect the proportion of staff who work from home all the time to rise to 22 percent post pandemic compared to 9 percent before lockdown measures started to be imposed. More →

People do more work at home but increasingly worried about cost

People do more work at home but increasingly worried about cost

A new survey from Lenovo claims that nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of people feel they are more productive working from home than when they were in the office and half (48 percent) believe they will continue to work from home more than they did. However, the report also suggests that two thirds of UK employees said they had to purchase new technology themselves to work effectively, spending an average of £271 to upgrade or improve technology while working at home. More →

Prioritising nature in development could create 395 million new jobs by 2030

Prioritising nature in development could create 395 million new jobs by 2030

Mental healthThe global COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented job losses and economic uncertainty. As governments and businesses look to stimulate growth, a new study from the World Economic Forum claims that ‘nature-positive’ solutions can create 395 million jobs by 2030. The Future of Nature and Business Report says this is a $10.1 trillion business opportunity. More →

Some brutal realities about the future of work

Some brutal realities about the future of work

The future of workNo author uses the built environment like J G Ballard. In his 1975 novel High-Rise, the eponymous structure is both a way of isolating the group of people who live and compete inside it and a metaphor for their personal isolation and inner struggles. Over the course of three months, the building’s services begin to fail. The 2,000 people within, detached from external realities in the 40-storey building, confronted with their true selves and those of their neighbours, descend into selfishness and – ultimately – savagery. More →

Business leaders remain confident about post lockdown growth

Business leaders remain confident about post lockdown growth

CEOs and the self-employed are cautiously optimistic about post-lockdown growth, claims a new report. As the country begins to emerge from lockdown, new research from The Institute of Leadership & Management ‘Life after lockdown: future of work’, explores the predicted changes to the workplace following the Covid-19 pandemic. More →

Commercial property market shows signs of life

Commercial property market shows signs of life

UK commercial investment activity rose 42 percent in June compared to May, up from £755m to £1.3bn, taking total volumes for H1 2020 to £15.6bn, according to the latest market update from Savills. With the all-sector prime commercial property yield remaining stable at 5.21 percent in June, Savills says that together this may signal some stability is now returning to the UK investment market. More →

SMEs say that lockdown has made them braver about the environment

SMEs say that lockdown has made them braver about the environment

Two thirds of Britain’s SME business leaders say they are now more environmentally conscious in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey, jointly commissioned by Opus Energy and Haven Power. The report claims that small and medium business bosses are having to make bolder decisions as they prepare for a brave new business world. 66 percent say that their own leadership requires a greater degree of bravery in decision making since the pandemic.  More →

Green Building Council group to develop guidance on renewable energy

Green Building Council group to develop guidance on renewable energy

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has announced a new task group which it says will develop guidance on the procurement of renewable energy and carbon offsets for the built environment sector. This work will build on UKGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework, which was developed to ‘build industry consensus on the definition of a net zero carbon building for both construction and operation’. More →