Search Results for: pandemic

Indoor air quality needs to be talked about far more than it is

Indoor air quality needs to be talked about far more than it is

An open window indoor air qualityOne of the unintended consequences of the pandemic has been to focus attention on the issue of indoor air quality. But as Sarah Zhang points out in a recent piece in The Atlantic, this is an issue that we have long understood, and not just as a way to reduce the risks of infection. It is essential for our wellbeing. More →

Not waving, but drowning: why we need to take languishing more seriously

Not waving, but drowning: why we need to take languishing more seriously

A becalmed boat faces a storm to describe the problem of languishingThe word ‘languishing’ is being bandied around in the media as the world tries to recover from the pandemic and is experiencing many struggles resuming a semblance of ‘normal life’. Recent articles in The New York Times and The Guardian have detailed languishing as an inability to focus, being off peak performance, feeling joyless and aimless and having a sense of stagnation and emptiness. More →

How your boss could be spying on you with monitoring software

How your boss could be spying on you with monitoring software

A recent study by StandOut CV claims that one in five companies are actively using (or intend to use) employee monitoring software, with the figure expected to grow as more firms look to offer or make remote working a standard offering. More →

Setting out the known unknowns about work

Setting out the known unknowns about work

With the majority of COVID-19 restrictions in England due to be lifted later this month, it is understandable that many are limbering up, ready for some grand ‘return to the office’.  Yet, unlike the pubs, hairdressers, and gyms we are not going back to what we left. This was an inevitability. The workplace was, and remains, an ever evolving and multifarious beast.    More →

Resilience is a key determinant of employee performance, claims report

Resilience is a key determinant of employee performance, claims report

employeeA new report from MHR International claims differences in employee performance within UK and Ireland organisations are often based on their level of workforce resilience. Gaps in performance in competitiveness, productivity and other important capabilities exist between organisations with highest and lowest levels of resilience. Despite almost all HR professionals surveyed (93 percent) agreeing that workforce resilience is a priority. More →

The new issue of IN is now available to read online

The new issue of IN is now available to read online

The new issue of IN Magazine is now available to read online. The print edition will be sent out next week. In this issue, amongst other things: Joanna Knight in conversation with Georgia Elliott-Smith on the harsh realities of workplace sustainability; Chris Kane and Eugenia Anastassiou on cutting through the workplace chatter; commentary from Guenaelle Watson, Will Easton and José Alberto Rodriguez Ruiz; Rob Harris on the new age of networks; the history and future of biophilic design; a look at the new workplace utopias; Louis Wustemann on the need to focus on people, not places; Sara Bean on the experiential workplace; Helen Parton visits the new office of Paymentsense; and much more. More →

If you’re certain about the changing world of work, you’re certainly wrong

If you’re certain about the changing world of work, you’re certainly wrong

world of workIf you click on the first link in any article on Wikipedia and keep repeating the process, eventually you will land on the Philosophy page. Or you will 97 percent of the time, according to Wikipedia itself. There’s a dry explanation for this involving the site’s classification system, as explained by the mathematician Hannah Fry here. But there’s a more poetic explanation that I prefer. That every subject leads back to a consideration of ourselves, our lives and our place in the world. Anthropocentric maybe, but then again, the proper study of mankind is man. More →

Half a million employees could be made to return to the office before they’re ready

Half a million employees could be made to return to the office before they’re ready

returnMore than a half a million UK employees could be made to return to their normal workplaces before they are comfortable doing so, according to new research from Benenden Health. More →

Employees consider leaving jobs if health and sustainability expectations go unmet

Employees consider leaving jobs if health and sustainability expectations go unmet

healthReturning to the office is causing a growing rift between workers and managers according to a new report from NEXT Energy Technologies, Inc. The report claims most employees (74 percent) are willing to leave their jobs if existential issues like health and sustainability are not adequately addressed in the workplace. More →

The new era of flexible working and knowing when to lie flat

The new era of flexible working and knowing when to lie flat

flexible working and knowing when to lie flatWhen people first started working from home in large numbers for the first time in the Spring of 2020, one of the most talked about issues was how the productivity of most stayed the same or improved. This shouldn’t have been that surprising given all that we have learned about remote and flexible working over the years, but it certainly drove the debate for a while. More →

Insecure income, boredom and physical health impacted employee wellbeing most in lockdown

Insecure income, boredom and physical health impacted employee wellbeing most in lockdown

physical healthHaving an insecure financial situation, being bored in both work and free time, and worsening physical health were the biggest factors affecting employee’s wellbeing, during the first covid-19 lockdown, according to new research from emlyon business school. More →

Information findability problems impact companies’ bottom line

Information findability problems impact companies’ bottom line

informationOver the past year, organisations experienced an increase in problems related to finding information, resulting in greater reliance on knowledge and information management tools than in previous years, according to a new survey by Sinequa and APQC. More →