Search Results for: leadership

British workers don’t want people to think of them as ambitious

British workers don’t want people to think of them as ambitious

Ambition is a word now out of favour in the British workplace, according to Randstad’s latest global Workmonitor survey [registration] with workers in the UK less willing to describe themselves as ambitious than workers in other countries. The research, which surveyed 27,000 workers in 34 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas, shows that while more than half (56 percent) of workers globally consider themselves to be ambitious, only 42 percent of workers in the UK do. Workers in other countries — including China (80 percent), Malaysia (73 percent), and India (90 percent) — are more likely to describe themselves as “having career ambition”. More →

People have some very interesting views about their own productivity, and that of everybody else

People have some very interesting views about their own productivity, and that of everybody else

Just as everybody thinks they are a better than average driver or more intelligent than average, a new survey from HR and payroll software provider Ciphr suggests that employees self-rate their own productivity far higher than they rate other people’s productivity levels.Just as everybody thinks they are a better than average driver or more intelligent than average, a new survey from HR and payroll software provider Ciphr suggests that employees self-rate their own productivity far higher than they rate other people’s productivity levels. They also think that people working in HR, marketing, and senior management roles are the least productive. According to the poll, UK employees perceive HR teams as being particularly unproductive, compared to other colleagues and departments in their organisations. More →

Over one quarter of employees do not trust their CEO to be honest and transparent

Over one quarter of employees do not trust their CEO to be honest and transparent

A new poll claims that over one quarter (26 percent) of employees in the UK do not trust their CEO to be open and honest, while 24 percent do not trust their senior leadership to do the same. According to the survey of 2,000 employees in the UK from Personio, transparency and employer-employee communication are pivotal to a positive employee experience and trust in the workplace. The research suggests that feeling unheard by leadership could be fuelling employees’ distrust. Over a quarter (28 percent) of employees surveyed say that they are not given a chance to share feedback to leadership on their experiences. Meanwhile, less than half (46 percent) of employees feel that leadership in their organisation actually listens and acts on any feedback when given from staff. More →

Gossiping at work really is bad for your career

Gossiping at work really is bad for your career

Gossiping at work can have serious negative impacts on your career, according to new research by Durham University Business School and NEOMA Business School. Not only are gossipers frowned upon by other work colleagues, they also become socially excluded in the company, and can experience negative career-related impacts as a consequence of their storytelling. More →

Amazon employee claims he was told you’ve still got a job, but not a role

Amazon employee claims he was told you’ve still got a job, but not a role

An employee claims he has been told he no longer has a role with Amazon Web Services, but that he will still be paid while he makes the finding of a new job his number one priority.Last year Amazon made headlines for making 27,000 people redundant as part of a long-term cost-cutting exercise. One of the consequences was a fall in the firm’s share price. Now an employee has claimed in a blog post that the firm is handling its downsizing in more creative ways. Justin Garrison claims in the post that has been told he no longer has a role with Amazon Web Services, but that he will still be paid while he makes the finding of a new job his number one priority. More →

We are not blank slates and we don’t adapt to change in predictable ways

We are not blank slates and we don’t adapt to change in predictable ways

An idea that has never really gone away, but which seems to be enjoying a new lease of life is the tabula rasa. The conception of people as a blank slate is something that has crept back into mainstream political and social thought for a variety of reasons. Arguably, it is also behind many of the most misleading notions about work and workplace design, perhaps most importantly that a change to some single element or characteristic of a working environment will lead to a specific outcome in the behaviour of people. More →

Workplace innovation is boosted when managers have high social status

Workplace innovation is boosted when managers have high social status

Social status of top management in a company is positively associated with workplace innovation due to greater access to resources for research and developmentSocial status of top management in a company is positively associated with innovation, including workplace innovation, due to greater access to resources for research and development (R&D), finds new research from UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business (UCD Quinn School). The findings were first published in the journal R&D Management. More →

Has digital transformation led to an upsurge in workplace disinformation?

Has digital transformation led to an upsurge in workplace disinformation?

You don’t have to look far to find misinformation. Just a few weeks ago, amid the aftermath of the coup in Niger, online platforms were being inundated with false information, intensifying tensions surrounding the nation’s future. This included erroneous videos on TikTok and Twitter suggesting the presence of Wagner Group (Russian state-funded) fighters, false claims about Algeria’s military involvement, and inaccurate assertions about banning uranium export to France. More →

Women value work-life balance more than men – unless they are a manager

Women value work-life balance more than men – unless they are a manager

Women value their work-life balance much more than men do when at a junior-level on average, but not at the managerial-level, according to new researchWomen value their work-life balance much more than men do when at a junior-level on average, but not at the managerial-level, according to new research by Durham University Business School. The researchers also found that women on the whole were much less satisfied within their job roles than male colleagues who held the same positions. More →

Half of deskless workers suspect they are invisible and expendable

Half of deskless workers suspect they are invisible and expendable

Over half of UK based ‘deskless’ workers (51 per cent) say they’re viewed as expendable by their employer. Plus, almost a third (32 per cent), feel that their corporate, desk-based colleagues regard them as inferior.  These are the findings from O.C. Tanner’s 2024 Global Culture Report which gathered data and insights from more than 42,000 employees, leaders, HR practitioners, and executives from 27 countries worldwide including 4,818 from the U.K (of which 1,734 are deskless). More →

If you want people to feel fulfilled at work, you’d better cough up

If you want people to feel fulfilled at work, you’d better cough up

According to a new poll from United Culture, salary is what makes most people feel fulfilled at workAccording to a new poll from United Culture, salary is what makes most people feel fulfilled at work. More than half of employees (55 percent) ranked it as their key consideration, ahead of ‘softer’ factors such as doing something worthwhile (41 percent), or working with people they like (39 percent). It also ranks significantly higher than opportunities that will play out over the longer term, such as having a clear sense of career progression (37 percent). More →

From the archive: The role of workplace design in employee engagement

From the archive: The role of workplace design in employee engagement 0

A new report certainly raises the question of what more can be done, including in terms of workplace design, to boost engagement levels amongst these employees

Originally published six years ago, this feature is currently the most read story ever on the website with around 50,000 readers. A global study by my own firm Steelcase has found that one-third of workers across 17 of the world’s most important economies are actually disengaged. The findings make worrying reading for employers around the world, as engagement is so demonstrably linked to business critical outcomes such as employee retention, productivity and even profits. It certainly raises the question of what more can be done, including in terms of workplace design, to boost engagement levels amongst these employees. More →