Search Results for: consequences

Hybrid working? Let’s put on a show

Hybrid working? Let’s put on a show

hybrid working performanceI’m currently rereading Art Kleiner’s masterful book The Age of Heretics which describes the history of ground-breaking thought in management in the 20th Century and the lessons we forget. It remains a relevant book for the new era of ‘hybrid working’ because the book draws a distinction between two fundamental schools of thought in management theory. One of these sees management as a numbers game in which people are inherently problematic and so must be directed what to do based on data and routines of desirable activity and behaviour. And the other sees people as well meaning, capable and adaptable with managers there to facilitate and channel their abilities and help them develop. More →

How to provide a great place to work for remote workers

How to provide a great place to work for remote workers

A great place to work for remote workersRemote working swiftly evolved from a stopgap lockdown solution into a globally successful workstyle – and it’s set to stay. According to research quoted by CityAM, “84 per cent of UK businesses plan on having a hybrid, flexible or remote workforce following the pandemic”. Some companies, like Deloitte, have placed all bets on remote in closing their offices and basing employees from home, enjoying a vast reduction in operational costs. This flexibility has offered immediate benefits for remote workers, ranging from lifestyle and financial to positive influences on wellbeing. Workers in particular social groups have experienced life-changing situations, securing work in previously inaccessible geographic locations. More →

Working from home can increase work-family conflict for women in traditional gender roles

Working from home can increase work-family conflict for women in traditional gender roles

conflictNew research by the University of Kent claims that working from home can increase feelings that family responsibilities hinder work responsibilities, but only for women in traditional gender roles. Despite its advantages, such as less commuting and more flexibility, the study published in the journal Community, Work and Family discovered that working from home can increase rather than decrease feelings that work and family demands conflict with one another. More →

There are thirty-eight ways to win an argument, but this ain’t one

There are thirty-eight ways to win an argument, but this ain’t one

A painting of Socrates to depict the ways we have discussions about the workplace There are 38 ways to win an argument. That is according to the 19th Century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer who laid them out in an essay called The Art of Being Right. We’ve probably added a few more since it was published in 1896, but whatever we’ve come up with since probably works on the same basis. Despite the essay’s title, the stratagems are not actually about being right at all, but about winning an argument. More →

The great office door handle problem

The great office door handle problem

office door handleArchitects and designers have always a had a thing for door handles. It’s the kind of detail they like and one of the most genuinely tactile features of a building. Architects from Frank Gehry to Zaha Hadid have worked on the designs of door handles for manufacturers. It was the Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa who described the door handle as ‘the handshake of the building’ in his architectural theory book?The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses in 2005. This was cute before last March but now looks slightly menacing.   More →

More than half of employers feel they don’t know their employees

More than half of employers feel they don’t know their employees

employersMore than half of the nation’s employers (53 percent) feel that they don’t know their employees even slightly well on a personal level, claims a new office worker survey. More →

Staff wellbeing programmes help social relationships and reduce bullying

Staff wellbeing programmes help social relationships and reduce bullying

wellbeingProgrammes aimed at supporting employees’ health and wellbeing can also benefit their social relationships and reduce bullying, according to a new study by researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA), working in collaboration with Vitality. More →

Only half of employers are confident they’ll treat employees evenly and fairly

Only half of employers are confident they’ll treat employees evenly and fairly

employersNew research has highlighted concerns over the treatment of staff in the world of hybrid work. The Mind the Gap report from WorkNest, which is based on a survey of over 490 employers and 1,000 employees, claims that only around half (52 percent) of employers are confident that office-based and home-based employees will be treated evenly and fairly in the next 12 months. More →

Institute Of Neurodiversity ION launches simultaneously in UK, Europe and Australia

Institute Of Neurodiversity ION launches simultaneously in UK, Europe and Australia

The Institute Of Neurodiversity ION has announced the public launch of their UK chapter, a single organisation giving a voice in the world to all neurodiverse groups. ION’s purpose is to influence for an equal, inclusive world in which neurodivergent individuals are well understood, represented, and valued equally to all other people. More →

Three quarters of UK businesses think that remote workers pose a greater threat than office workers

Three quarters of UK businesses think that remote workers pose a greater threat than office workers

workersIn a survey of UK cyber security, IT and business professionals commissioned by WatchGuard Technologies, 75 percent of respondents believe that remote workers pose a greater IT security risk to their business than office workers.

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Majority of younger workers fear loneliness from long-term home working

Majority of younger workers fear loneliness from long-term home working

homeNew research from Kadence claims that since working from home, Gen Z and Millenials feel disproportionately isolated, and say it is negatively impacting their ability to build and develop relationships at work – and potentially harming their career progress. More →

I’m a Luddite. You should be one too

I’m a Luddite. You should be one too

The leader of the Luddite movementI’m a Luddite. This is not a hesitant confession, but a proud proclamation. I’m also a social scientist who studies how new technologies affect politics, economics and society. For me, Luddism is not a naïve feeling, but a considered position. And once you know what Luddism actually stands for, I’m willing to bet you will be one too — or at least much more sympathetic to the Luddite cause than you think. More →