April 21, 2023

Hybrid working is the new normal and is here to stay, report claimzzzz

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News

Mace has published a new report into workplace trends which claims that hybrid working with a collaborative central space is (brace yourselves) the new normal for a preferred post-pandemic working style. The Mace Operate Workplace Survey looked at the enduring role of a central office for businesses and considered what an office space needs to offer in an era of hybrid working. The majority of respondents (87 percent) said that interaction with people and workplace culture are the main benefits of going to the office with employees and employers seeing eye-to-eye on the need for collaboration for motivation, resilience and effective hybrid working. More →

April 20, 2023

More than half of UK workers find their office design uninspiring

by Freddie Steele • News, Workplace design

British workers are finding their offices and places of work to be severely lacking in inspiration and innovation, according to a new poll from office design and fit-out firm Claremont. The survey of more than 1,000 office workers across a range of sectors set out to identify the impact of an office on a workforce’s behaviour and how staff need to feel in order to be happy, healthy and productive. More →

April 19, 2023

Hybrid working can reduce carbon emissions massively, claims report

by Neil Franklin • Environment, Flexible working, News, Property

Hybrid working can facilitate major carbon savings and has the potential for significant impact on the climate crisis, according to a new study by IWG and Arup. The study measured the environmental impact of hybrid working on six cities across the US and UK with a deep dive on two major carbon contributors – London and LA. Others examined were New York City, Atlanta, Manchester and Glasgow. All six cities showed the potential for huge carbon savings through the widespread adoption of hybrid working, which has rapidly expanded amongst white collar workers, who are now using the available technology to work where is most convenient and they are most productive. More →

April 18, 2023

It’s best to get the unpleasant tasks done in one go, new research claims

by Jayne Smith • Business, News

Most jobs involve tasks we don’t like. But should we complete these unpleasant tasks in one fell swoop or split them up into bite-sized portions and spread them out over time? According to new research from Trinity Business School, WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management and the University of Wuppertal, it is actually a good idea to do the tasks you don’t like in one go. More →

April 18, 2023

Remote workers have a few favourite excuses for not doing any work

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News

A new poll claims that technical difficulties are among the most common excuses for not working by remote workers. Unexpected family events, sick family members, and other family emergencies come second with 18 percent. Other work obligations like attending a virtual meeting, or urgent tasks that require immediate attention are at the end of the list with 10 percent. More →

April 7, 2023

The need for reimagination in an age of uncertainty

by Eugenia Anastassiou • Comment, Everything Omni

Since we are now very much in the age of uncertainty being the new certainty, with all the old playbooks out the window and no cookie cutter approach in the ways we work, since one size doesn’t fit all – what the hell do we do? Curl up in a ball and die? Go into panic mode and go around shouting ‘We’re doomed! We’re doomed’ manically? Or just ostrich the problem and hope it all goes away or at least reverts back to how it was before? More →

April 5, 2023

Three quarters of people who left their pre-covid employer now want to go back

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

According to a new poll from recruiter Robert Walters, almost three quarters of professionals (71 percent) who left their pre-covid employer in search of better pay or working culture say that they are open to returning. Half of the 3,000 people surveyed say that the reasons as to why they left in the first place are no longer applicable. Nearly half (45 percent of workers) who had left their job after lockdown did so for better pay – with a further 35 percent leaving for a better workplace culture or more purpose/fulfilment in their role. More →

April 4, 2023

Flexible working is the new “work-life currency”, claims new report

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology

A new report, Future of Work Life, from Ericsson Consumer & IndustryLab explores the ways in which employees and employers navigate the current work environment and their views on the future of work shaped by the pandemic, digitalisation and the fluctuating labour market. Almost half (48 percent) of the employees in the study say that they enjoy increased flexibility at work. 52 percent consider flexible work hours or locations as key requirements, and 25 percent say that flexibility is the top priority if they would start to look for a new job. Doing work rather than going to work is seen as central in this new way of thinking about work life. More →

March 30, 2023

Every workplace innovation contains the seeds of its opposite

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

The announcement by Apple that it wanted its employees to work in an office for three days a week sparked the usual, tedious pile-on about how many days people should spend in a physical workplace each week. This included the columnist at Grazia who joins the tens of millions of people around the world who not only know where Apple is going wrong, but also how to run every other organisation in the world and what’s best for everybody who works for them. More →

March 29, 2023

People have to create great leadership in the face of unrealistic expectations

by Karen Meager • Business, Comment

While modern business leaders are still expected to provide strategic thinking, leadership and make business decisions, their effectiveness is no longer just about profits. These days leaders are also being held responsible for employees’ mental health and wellbeing, psychological safety, as well as diversity and inclusion. They are expected to be decisive yet flexible, empathetic yet analytical, and clear yet nuanced. It can be exhausting. More →

March 29, 2023

Work-related stress costing UK economy £28bn a year

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

New data and economic modelling from AXA UK and Centre for Business and Economic Research (Cebr) claims that people are struggling with burnout and work-related stress, with an estimated £28bn lost last year due to poor mental health at work. The majority of this cost is due to loss of working days because of stress, burnout and general poor mental health, with businesses losing 23.3m working days as a result of these issues. More →

March 24, 2023

Company culture is one of the hardest but most valuable things to get right after a merger

by Siobhan Byrnes • Business, Comment

Like never before, 2021 saw record-breaking levels of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity globally, a trend that continued into 2022 until a challenging macroeconomic landscape resulted in a sharp decline in activity. This was mainly because businesses waited to see what the coming months would bring. Whilst experts believe that M&A activity won’t return to levels seen in 2021, they do expect an increase as markets adapt, recover, and look for ways to increase profit. And that has major consequences for company culture, which is so important to get right in the mergers and acquisition process. More →