August 7, 2020

A dog`s life in the future of work

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working

Once upon a time. Not so long ago. We used to get ideas for stories on lots of different topics. These included those I often dismissed at the time as quaint, such as somebody’s thoughts on why you should bring your dog to work. Now I often hanker for such whimsy, faced with day 127 of an inbox stuffed with nothing much more than ‘how to return to the office after lockdown’. (more…)

August 3, 2020

Isaac Asimov’s remarkable 1964 predictions about life and work in the 21st Century

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

Making predictions about the future can leave people hostages to fortune. Just ask the Decca record executive Dick Rowe who in 1962 rejected a contract with The Beatles confidently asserting that “guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein” or even multi-billionaire Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer who declared in 2007 that “there’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share.” Some people buck the trend however. (more…)

July 31, 2020

Return to work offers us a unique opportunity to change everything

by Simone Fenton-Jarvis • Comment, Facilities management

The way we worked before covid was fundamentally broken; our wellbeing, our climate and our business efficiency. The genie is out of the bottle; going back just simply isn’t an option. When considering the return to work, there are organisations making knee-jerk decisions trying to avoid a complex minefield of potential missteps which could impact the safety of their employees and health of their business. Simply creating a ‘covid secure’ workplace right now would be a great opportunity lost in cementing real change and transformation into the world of work; for our wellbeing and our planet. (more…)

July 30, 2020

The golden age of procrastination and the tyranny of time keeping ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Features, Wellbeing, Workplace

Many of us start each day with a long to-do list, a new set of goals and a commitment not to repeat the same mistakes we have in the past. It’s likely that we will have promised ourselves to stop putting things off. On our hit list of the foibles we most want to dispose of, procrastination will be somewhere near the top. The problem is that because procrastination is linked to psychological factors such as an innate preference to do something we deem pleasurable to something we don’t, modern life encourages us to do it. (more…)

July 28, 2020

Containing office costs in the post-lockdown era

by Guy Brett • Comment, Property

As companies transition back to the office and set out on the road to economic recovery, business leaders are focussed on developing resilient and sustainable strategies. Faced with a new business environment, companies are looking for opportunities to contain office costs, both in the short-term and in the future. Some who have been immune from cost pressures in the past are looking to contain if not reduce costs for the first time. And, after a forced trial of remote working, many are viewing their property portfolio in a new light and questioning whether they are paying for more space than they need. (more…)

July 24, 2020

IRYS pod provides ultimate reassurance and comfort for your workforce

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Furniture

The IRYS pod, a unique modular concept, remains at the forefront of innovation and design since its launch in 2016. As we face new challenges in the workplace, IRYS has been reconfigured to incorporate the latest generation of UV-C lighting to ensure the space is rigorously sanitised between meetings to maintain the highest levels of hygiene, crucially preventing the spread of viruses. (more…)

July 23, 2020

Firms whose leaders aim to serve, enjoy higher profits and employee morale

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Managers who put themselves at the service of their teams, rather than the other way around, actually have a positive impact on profit, according to new research led by academics at emlyon business school. This claims to be the first research paper to find that, not only does servant leadership improve employee morale, but it also increases company profit too. The paper, published in the Journal of Business Ethics complements what was previously the general consensus on servant leadership; it’s good for people management and employee morale, but did not positively impact on company performance or profits. (more…)

July 23, 2020

Balancing the rights and responsibilities of employee wellbeing

by Nathan Berkley • Comment, Wellbeing

Health and wellbeing has been at the top of the agenda for HR departments for a long, long time, but there’s nothing like a global health emergency to catalyse a fundamental rethink of how you approach your responsibilities as an employer. Corporate healthcare has moved from the remedial approach to curing existing ills, to the preventive approach that encourages employees to take care of themselves through services such as gym membership. (more…)

July 22, 2020

Older people are happiest at work

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

The latest edition of the annual Age Research by Engaging Works claims that the happiest people in the workplace are those beyond middle age. By comparison, young employees don’t feel rewarded or recognised and feel that their views are not heard at work. They are also more likely to suffer anxiety in the workplace. However, it’s middle aged employees who are struggling the most at work, admitting that they feel the least developed. They also feel that they have a poor feeling of wellbeing at work and that they don’t have enough information to do their job. (more…)

July 21, 2020

Workplace design in a new age of reason

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

The enduring but changing struggle to improve the working conditions and performance of people through workplace design and management has more than a whiff of the Enlightenment of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries about it. The Enlightenment marked a new era in which the old superstitions and dogmas were to be overthrown by pure reason.

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July 17, 2020

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

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

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…)

July 17, 2020

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

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Stigma 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…)