February 11, 2021

Flexibility and reskilling top priorities for UK employers in 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic is driving a fundamental shift in the way companies operate, accelerating the need for an adaptable and agile workforce to drive business success. According to Mercer’s 2021 Global Talent Trends study, the financial impact and work-life disruption caused by the pandemic is causing UK employers to focus on redefining flexibility and skills development to ensure their business and employees become more resilient and agile in the face of disruption.

February 5, 2021

Workplace things we have missed, and those we hope to regain

by Emma Morley • Comment, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Let’s be honest, work life pre 2020 had its flaws, whilst the longing for variety of scenery, change of pace and even a train journey (somewhere…ANYWHERE) would be welcomed by many of us right now, many of us had become a bit ‘hamster wheel’ in our approach. Commuting was stressful, expensive and time hungry; our natural and individual rhythms squeezed into a set 9-5 schedule and workplace design had become a bit ‘quantity over quality’ – desks have been reducing in size year upon year in order that capacity could be increased. We had reached a point at which everything was ripe for change but there was largely a resistance to both flexible working requests and embracing much of the technological advancements that were already at our fingertips. More →

February 5, 2021

Line managers are the unsung heroes of white-collar work

by Jayne Smith • Business, News

How good your line manager is makes the difference between an employee coping or struggling in lockdown. But too often line managers’ heroic efforts are not noticed by their employers, claims new report, titled Working under Covid-19 Lockdown: Transitions and Tensions. More →

February 4, 2021

When business leaders open up about mental health, we all benefit

by Richard Goold • Comment, Wellbeing

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on the way in which we work and has brought in to focus the challenges around mental health and wellbeing. The recognition that we are in the midst of the biggest mental health crisis since the Second World War brings the challenge in to stark focus. Time to Talk Day (today) aims to get the nation talking more openly about mental health, and there could not be a better time for it. Research from Wondrous published this week found that one in six people (17 percent) who have switched to remote working during the pandemic have seen their mental health suffer, rising to 20 percent among women and younger workers. I suspect that the inherent stigma that still surrounds mental health is masking the true percentage of people being affected. 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 →

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 →

December 4, 2020

The lost art of office furniture peacocking and the growing mental health crisis at work

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

When Donald Trump was pictured recently sitting uncomfortably at a table that looked like it had been retrieved from a skip, it provoked the sort of sneering commentary about furniture choices last seen when Dominic Cummings popped in to the Downing Street garden to deliver some self-serving blather from behind a rickety trestle table. More →

November 12, 2020

Stepping back into the workplace arena

by Rachel Houghton • Comment

Dr Brené Brown is one of those individuals whom I find myself channelling, particularly during challenging times. Her views on the power of vulnerability and her call to be brave and ‘step into the arena’ have shaped my career. In a crisis, we need to be courageous and ready for the fight. It’s not just about rolling with the punches. It’s about knowing that it’s ok to get knocked down, because there will be someone to help you get back up. More →

October 20, 2020

Radical reskilling needed to ensure future of economy

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Research carried out by the CBI prior to the pandemic suggests there is an urgent need for the UK to embark on a radical programme of reskilling that goes further and faster than current plans. According to the CBI, the UK faces a stark choice: invest more in lifetime learning and upskilling of millions of employees, or stick to business as usual, and risk sustained higher rates of unemployment and skills shortages. More →

October 14, 2020

Uncompetitive companies pose threat to future prosperity

by Jayne Smith • Business, News

A new model of competitiveness devised by academics at Goldsmiths, University of London in partnership with Microsoft scores almost half (46 percent) of UK firms in the lowest quadrant, posing a threat to Britain’s prosperity as organisations rally from the impact of COVID-19, and prepare for Brexit as UK-EU negotiations reach their conclusion that such uncompetitive companies pose a serious threat to the country’s future prosperity . More →

October 2, 2020

Time for businesses to establish more meaningful wellbeing initiatives

by Jolawn Victor • Comment, Wellbeing

Over the years, mental health has become a prominent feature of wellbeing initiatives in many businesses, but especially in the wake of the pandemic. However, our research has found that more than half of the UK workforce (54 percent) do not feel that mental health benefits are a priority in their organisation. This is despite half of workers believing that mental health benefits are essential post-COVID-19. More →

September 24, 2020

Under-35s face a confidence crisis at work

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Under-35s are in the midst of a professional confidence crisis, with work seen as a place where they feel isolated and afraid to speak out, claims research carried out by culture change business Utopia. The study which interviewed over 2,000 respondents across the UK, claims that workers under the age of 35 feel immense pressure to hold a standard of professionalism that shuns emotion and favours traditionally masculine behaviour, all the while juggling responsibilities at home. More →