June 22, 2022

People try to claim shared desks by leaving personal stuff on them

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace design

Workers place personal items such as photographs on their desks in order to resist a change to a shared workstations or hot desking, according to new research from emlyon business school. The research found that employees believed is the most effective approach to show their dissatisfaction and halt the change to a new way of working involving shared desks is by passively utilising their personal items to claim space. These are the findings of research by David Courpasson, Professor of Sociology at emlyon business school, alongside colleagues from Universite Catholique de Louvain and published in Human Relations Journal. More →

June 20, 2022

People are searching for better work, not just more pay

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

New research from the CIPD claims that more than 6.5 million people in the UK expect to quit their job in the next 12 months, with those reporting the poorest job quality the most likely to have itchy feet. Better pay and benefits are the main motivator to leave, but people are also looking for increased job satisfaction and better work life balance. In response, the CIPD is calling for employers to not treat pay increases as a ‘silver bullet’ for attracting and retaining staff, but instead look at overall job quality by being more creative with job design and people management practices. More →

June 10, 2022

Young people should optimise the time they spend in the office

by Gemma Dale • Features, Flexible working

During the pandemic, around 100 million people in Europe switched to working from home – nearly half of them for the first time. This shift was rapid, with employees quickly noticing the benefits of remote work. These can include freedom from commuting, more time for personal wellbeing and increased productivity. As we move on from pandemic restrictions, we’ve seen a strong, global demand for more flexible forms of working, particularly to retain an element of remote work. While some employees want to work from home permanently, most want what’s coming to be regarded as the best of both worlds: hybrid working. Only a minority of workers now want to return to the office full time. More →

June 9, 2022

Work-life balance more important than pay for two thirds of people

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Rising inflation and the UK’s cost-of-living crisis have put a lot of pressure on employers to increase wages and starting salaries this year, but a new survey suggests that there’s something that employees value more than pay – work-life balance. HR and payroll software provider CIPHR polled over 1,000 UK workers to find out which job aspects matter most to them. Based on the results, over two-thirds (70 percent of women and 65 percent of men) see work-life balance – albeit a term that can mean different things to different people – as being more important than their pay and employee benefits combined (selected by 60 percent of women and 57 percent of men). More →

March 3, 2022

The nature of work has changed permanently for many people, new report claims

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

The pandemic has changed the nature of work, which offers opportunities for organisations to adopt more considerate and efficient work practices as offices reopen. The latest study to come to this conclusion has been published by the University of Southampton and funded by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC). The research considered the longer-term implications of working from home and which new working practices should remain and be encouraged. Its findings offer lessons from lockdown that will guide organisations as they seek to make hybrid working a success. More →

February 18, 2022

Hybrid working now just a fact of life for those people able to work flexibly

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Hybrid working has become commonplace for those employees able to work from home, a survey of firms has suggested. More than 80 percent of people said their employers had adopted hybrid working, most of them since the pandemic, according to the survey for the Chartered Institute of Management (CMI). However a majority of business are also actively encouraging employees to return to the office as part of their new working culture. More →

February 15, 2022

Despite the talk of the Great Resignation, most people actually enjoy their jobs

by Neil Franklin • Jobs, News, Workplace

While many people may be busy considering their career options as part of the ‘Great Resignation’, a new poll claims that the majority of Brits actually enjoy their jobs. According to data from HR software provider CIPHR around two-thirds (65 percent) of the 1,031 employees polled said they either love or like their current jobs (19 percent and 46 percent respectively). CIPHR took the findings of how people feel about their jobs and grouped people with related job titles together (using the Office for National Statistics’ standard occupational classifications) to compile a list of the UK’s best-loved – and also least-liked – occupations: www.ciphr.com/uks-favourite-jobs. More →

February 4, 2022

Want people to return to the office? Then create the best office in the world

by Mike Hills • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

More obituaries have been written for the office in the past two years than at any time in history. It has often seemed like even the best office in the world couldn’t preserve the idea of the office. And it’s not like the obituaries were all that rare even before the pandemic forced us to reappraise our relationship with work and the times and places we do it. While all these death notices were being served, one particularly well-informed organisation was making some more interesting observations about it all. In particular, it constantly raised the most fundamental question of all. More →

January 31, 2022

From the archive: How organic design can reflect the way people move around a building

by Paul Goodchild • Comment, Workplace design

The story goes that, after Rem Koolhaas had been appointed to design the McCormick Tribune Campus Center at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2003, the legendary architect noticed how students had created their own pathways between the buildings on the site. The site of the new building included a field on which their footprints had worn down the grass to such an extent that distinct grooves had been carved out that reflected their movements, prompting him to consider the effect of desire lines on organic design.

January 20, 2022

Lack of ‘face time’ leaving people feeling disengaged

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Around two thirds of professionals say they are ‘highly likely’ to leave their job this year due to a lack of face time with leaders within their organisation. Following the announcement yesterday from Government that working-from-home restrictions will be dropped, an annual employee survey from recruiter Robert Walters claims to reveal the potential damage of upholding remote leadership in 2022. Results from survey suggest a correlation between a decrease in output and morale for professionals who claim they see their manager (face-to-face) less than once a week. More →

January 13, 2022

Stress of pandemic has brought people closer, claims Microsoft

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology, Wellbeing

Microsoft’s new Work Trend Index Special Report, entitled “Technology Can Help Unlock a New Future for Frontline Workers”, suggests that 78 percent of frontline workers in the UK claim to feel “very bonded” to co-workers because of shared stress brought on by the pandemic and the shift to new ways of working. More →

November 10, 2021

Majority of people are overwhelmed by data at work

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

People in the UK feel overwhelmed by the amount of data available to them when making critical decisions at work, according to a new study by Oracle NetSuite. The study, which includes insights from 2,000 people across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Benelux, Nordics and the Middle East, claims that while people believe they have the data to be successful, they are overwhelmed by data quantity and plan to turn to a robot or machine to assist in the decision-making process during the next 12 months. More →