December 8, 2022

People in the West continue to express ambivalence about the metaverse

A new poll from law firm Gowling WLG claims to reveal a stark difference in attitudes in Western and Eastern nations when it comes to the metaverse. It claims that the technology is set to change how we work and socialise forever, and that early adopters like China and the United Arab Emirates are already reaping the economic benefits. The firm’s Immaterial World report compared attitudes towards the metaverse in six international markets. The research found that four-in-five (83 percent) Chinese consumers would consider taking part in virtual experiences, more than twice as many as in the UK (37 percent). More →

December 7, 2022

Over half of offices not set up to optimise creativity and productivity

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace design

A study from Unispace claims that the majority of workplaces are not set up to enable staff to work to their best ability. The results of the poll of 3,000 office workers and 2,750 employers across Europe, found that despite 78 percent of businesses stating that their office has been set up to enable staff to be creative and productive, over half (52 percent) of employers noted that creativity and innovation among their employees increased while work from home guidance was in place. Full findings can be found in Promoting workplace creativity and productivity [registration]. More →

December 6, 2022

Flexible working should be the norm for as many people as possibe

by Heejung Chung • Comment, Flexible working

The UK government has announced that all workers will now gain the right to request flexible working as a day one right – as to after 6 months of employment in the previous legislation. This move is a very welcome one, yet not enough to make flexible working a norm for all workers. To ensure that workers are truly able to access flexible working arrangements, we need to tackle the flexibility stigma still rampant in the UK. More →

December 5, 2022

Millions now able to request flexible working on day one of employment

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Millions of employees will be able to request flexible working from day one of their employment, under new government plans to make flexible working the default. Flexible working doesn’t just mean a combination of working from home and in the office – it can mean employees making use of job-sharing, flexitime, and working compressed, annualised, or staggered hours. The raft of new measures will give employees greater access to flexibility over where, when, and how they work, leading to happier, more productive staff. Flexible working has been found to help employees balance their work and home life, especially supporting those who have commitments or responsibilities such as caring for children or vulnerable people. More →

December 5, 2022

The failures of work give us hope for the future

by Adam Kingl • Flexible working, News

Workplace engagement is approaching an all-time low, and typical employer reaction has been characteristically resigned. Actually, that last statement was inaccurately soft. Let me rephrase: most employees either don’t care about or actually hate their jobs, and employers couldn’t care less. More →

December 5, 2022

Women far more likely to have disadvantageous flexible working arrangements

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Women are much more likely than men to be in flexible working arrangements that mean they lose hours, and therefore pay, according to new TUC analysis of official statistics. The findings have been published, a year after the government closed its consultation on flexible work, and ahead of the next committee stage of Yasmin Qureshi MP’s private members bill on flexible work. More →

December 2, 2022

Poor indoor air quality is a threat to health, say people coming into the office

by Neil Franklin • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

A new poll claims that ‘hybrid employees’ in the UK are worried about how healthy their work environments are as we approach the winter season, with 53 percent saying they’re concerned poor air quality and ventilation will impact their general health, rising to 70 percent amongst London-based hybrid workers. The survey of 2,000 UK people by OnePoll, on behalf of Infogrid, claims that hybrid workers are facing a Catch-22 moment as we enter the colder months; balancing worries over the cost of working from home with concerns about their own wellbeing in the office as a result of poor indoor air quality. More →

November 30, 2022

Let battle commence. Here’s Works magazine issue 3

by Mick Jordan • News, Premium Content, Works Magazine

Without wishing to sound overly dramatic, welcome to the greatest workplace battle of the decade. (And one we’ll continue to cover on Insight, IN Magazine and Works, issue three of which you can find here – and very nice it is too.) When Elon Musk recently called on all Twitter employees to ready themselves for ‘long hours at high intensity’ or to leave, he basically – in his own inimitable style – dispensed with the niceties but said what some others really would like to say to their own people. More →

November 30, 2022

Cost of living will become biggest challenge for HR over the next year

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

A new poll from employment law and HR consultancy firm, WorkNest, claims that 70 percent of HR professionals believe that the cost of living will be their most significant challenge for 2023. This was closely followed by retention (69 percent) and recruitment (55 percent). A third of those questioned also see skills shortages (34 percent) as a significant HR challenge next year, and employee engagement (24 percent). More →

November 28, 2022

Borderless working will erode company culture, bosses fear

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

A poll from Perkbox claims that almost half of businesses moving towards more borderless working (47 percent) are concerned how the shift will impact their company culture. These concerns stem from perceptions around managing a globally distributed workforce and the challenges this can bring. For example, a third of business leaders (33 percent) say different time zones make collaboration less effective. Meanwhile ,31 percent state inconsistency in different employee expectations around benefits or working styles causes friction between borderless managers and their teams. More →

November 28, 2022

Some work distractions can actually reduce stress levels

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Positive interventions that distract us from difficult tasks actually help to reduce our stress levels, according to new research published in the Journal Work & Stress. The study, conducted by an international team of researchers at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management and Trinity Business School suggests that short positive work distractions can help people to overcome daily demands like dealing with annoying emails or the tasks they dread. In turn, this allows them to be more engaged, creative, and helpful toward their coworkers. More →

November 25, 2022

Business owners lose sleep over impact of mental health on their business, but don’t act

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

A new poll claims that the majority of business leaders say that mental health support isn’t available for their employees or isn’t utilised enough, despite acknowledging how poor mental health impacts business performance. The survey was conducted by GoProposal and is based on 750 small business owners in the UK. It claims that over half of businesses (55 percent) either have no mental health support in place for their employees or have support processes that aren’t used enough. More →