February 3, 2021

COVID-19 is having an unequal impact on the mental health of workers

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 COVID-19 – has hit some groups harder than others. More →

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 simply an act of selfishness? For thousands of workers who’ve spent years of their lives commuting to offices that feel more like soul-less factories than inspiring and engaging workplaces, it’s no wonder that enforced work from home has proven popular. More →

January 25, 2021

The future of work is hybrid with a firm focus on employees

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Companies are searching for ways to reinvent the office and give employees reasons to return to their workplace and a new report by JLL says the focus must be on the workforce. The report, Reimagine: the new future of work to shape a better world predicts that the future of work will involve companies prioritising the health, wellness and mental well-being of employees. More →

January 22, 2021

Two in five Brits are at risk of cyber-attacks whilst working from home

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Technology

A new report by Fasthosts claims that cyber criminals have identified remote workers as easy targets with two in five employees having not received any caution regarding COVID-19 scams whilst working from home or had any video-call security training. More →

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 2021, over a year since we left them. Even when people are able to return to our old workplaces, just 12 percent of employees want to do so full-time, according to Future Forum. This leaves no doubt that, when we are finally able to leave the pandemic behind us, hybrid working (partially from home and partially in the office) will remain. More →

January 19, 2021

A workplace divided: Employees split over COVID-19 vaccine

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Wellbeing

Perceptyx, the employee survey and people analytics platform, has released new data focused on the role of the COVID vaccine in return to work scenarios. As the world nears 10 months of quarantine and other restrictions, organisations grapple with deciding if and when it will be safe for employees to return to the workplace. As vaccines are rolled out, organisations must tread a fine line with employees as there is a significant divide in perceptions around the vaccine. More →

January 14, 2021

Over two-thirds of British office workers currently suffer from imposter syndrome

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working culture

Asana, the work management platform, has launched a new research study, which highlights the increased levels of imposter syndrome, anxiety and burnout now being felt by British office workers. At a time when many workers are now facing the reality of a new national lockdown, over two-thirds (69 percent) claim they are currently suffering from imposter syndrome, and nearly half (45 percent) say this has increased while operating in a remote working environment. More →

January 12, 2021

Burnt out workers need to regain some balance

by Dan Zakai • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The pandemic and months of Zoom calls and remote work have begun to wear on us, so much so that in a recent survey from Blind – the anonymous workplace community app – 68 percent of respondents said that they are experiencing more feelings of being burnt out now, than they were before the pandemic began. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 29 percent of the respondents said their relationship with their direct boss was now worse than it had been before they began working remotely. And it’s not just top-down relationships at work that have deteriorated. More →

January 12, 2021

Workers feel overworked as a result of the pandemic

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Hardworking professionals are feeling the effects of longer working days and unpaid overtime, according to new research by law firm, Wright Hassall. The study claims that on average workers are performing nine or more hours of overtime in a given week, which totals more than one working day, compared to just three or more hours before the start of the pandemic. The research also claims that more than half (52 percent) are actually doing so without being paid for this. More →

January 7, 2021

You will hear a lot more about purpose, communication and rituals at work this year

by Imke Schuller • Comment, Working culture

Last year, many organisations were forced overnight to adjust to new ways of working. Digital transformation accelerated, and collaborative activities were recreated virtually. But while teams have adapted functionally to maintain productivity, organisational leaders need to pay special attention to the “intangible” cultural aspects and their overall purpose. More →

December 18, 2020

The shape of things to come for the world and the workplace

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

Originally published in March, right at the start of all this. Makes me wonder how far we’ve come in nine months. In Dorian Lynskey’s The Ministry of Truth, a “biography” of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the author describes how Orwell’s book was the end point of an obsession with utopian (and ultimately dystopian) fiction that characterised the first half of the Twentieth Century, and reflected the competing political, social and economic ideologies of the era. More →

December 18, 2020

Working from home stresses have had the greatest impact on women

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

A review of research in organisational and workplace psychology conducted by an international team of academics claims that working from home has been more disruptive for women than men. The review paper, entitled COVID-19 and the Workplace: Implications, Issues, and Insights for Future Research and Action and originally published in American Psychologist, features urgent insight from UCL School of Management Professor, Sunny Lee into the sex- and gender-related implications of changes in work practices that have taken place over the course of 2020. More →