November 24, 2020

Legal and mental health concerns mount as businesses brace for redundancies

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Despite the last-minute extension of the furlough scheme, new research conducted among UK business leaders claims that great concern remains around making redundancies and in particular the legal risk. The survey of over 440 UK business leaders, conducted by employment law and HR support firm Ellis Whittam, also claims two-thirds (66 percent) believe the prospect of making redundancies has negatively impacted their mental wellbeing. (more…)

November 17, 2020

Unused office space could cost London businesses almost £13 billion

by Jayne Smith • Business, Facilities management, News, Property

Unused office space after coronavirus could cost London-based businesses almost £13 billion according to a new report by Space Three Two, a new office timeshare marketplace born out of lockdown. According to a survey of London office workers, employees want to spend an average of 2.7 days back in the office once all Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted. 1 in 10 workers said didn’t want to go back to the office at all. (more…)

November 11, 2020

Businesses prioritise environmental impact in post-COVID-19 strategies

by Jayne Smith • Business, Environment, News

Three-quarters (75 percent) of business decision makers say their organisation’s environmental and social impact has become more important due to COVID-19, according to new research from Epson. The research claims that business decision makers are taking action too, with more than half (55 percent) confirming they are now paying more attention to these targets compared to six months ago. (more…)

October 28, 2020

It`s not just businesses that need to wake up to changes in the way we work. Governments do too

by Jeremy Stein • Comment, Workplace design

We have come a long way since the government began encouraging home working in March, ahead of the national lockdown. It seems wildly naïve now to assume that we would all be back in the office two or three weeks later as if nothing had ever happened. After many months of mixed messages regarding ‘stay at home’ versus ‘go back to work’, many business owners and employees quite rightly feel that the whole process seems like one step forward, two steps back. And yet, one thing that has become clear for all office-based businesses is that working life has changed forever. (more…)

October 28, 2020

Businesses feel more vulnerable to cyber-attack due to the increase in remote working

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Technology

Research conducted by NFU Mutual, a commercial insurer, claims that 47 percent of businesses feel more vulnerable to cyber-attack since the increase of remote working. Despite increased concerns, 45 percent of businesses have not taken any action to protect themselves from cyber-crime. Of those who have not taken action, 79 percent think that because their business is small, the threat of cyber-attack is low. The remaining 21 percent were not aware of, or did not understand, the protection measures available to them. (more…)

October 19, 2020

Ten pandemic related responses with highest business impact

by Jayne Smith • Business, News

The Josh Bersin Academy, a development academy for HR professionals, has announced the release of its newest research-based report, Business Resilience: The Global COVID-19 Pandemic Response Study. The 38-page complimentary report is based on a survey conducted in August 2020 of 1,349 HR leaders and professionals across the globe and all industry segments. (more…)

October 7, 2020

An unexpected partnership: How tech and business leaders can learn from each other

by Alexia Pedersen • Comment, Technology

One of the biggest issues across technology industries over the last few years has been the failure of business teams, who design and manage processes, to partner effectively with their tech teams to deliver and understand the technology needed to support the business’ vision. (more…)

October 2, 2020

Time for businesses to establish more meaningful wellbeing initiatives

by Jolawn Victor • Comment, Wellbeing

Over the years, mental health has become a prominent feature of wellbeing initiatives in many businesses, but especially in the wake of the pandemic. However, our research has found that more than half of the UK workforce (54 percent) do not feel that mental health benefits are a priority in their organisation. This is despite half of workers believing that mental health benefits are essential post-COVID-19. (more…)

October 1, 2020

Global businesses commit to disability inclusion

by Jayne Smith • News, Working culture

The Valuable 500 – the global movement which is working to get 500 of the world’s largest businesses to commit to placing disability inclusion on their business leadership agendas – announces 326 global businesses have committed to putting disability inclusion on their board agenda. (more…)

October 1, 2020

Businesses favour the commercial brain over the creative one, study claims

by Jayne Smith • Business, News

Businesses in the UK are disproportionately made up of logical and rational thinkers, over intuitive and expressive ones, claims a new study. The study from Genius You, involved more than 2000 individuals across 10 different sectors and highlights a trend that could be impacting creativity and innovation in the UK. (more…)

September 28, 2020

One way businesses can help employees get back to the office

by Freddie Steele • Company news

One of the many unprecedented things about 2020 is the way that the global COVID-19 pandemic has led to millions of workers around the world staying away from their office or workplace. Either through furlough schemes or temporary ‘working from home’ measures, many people across the job spectrum have had to adapt to a new way of doing things. (more…)

September 18, 2020

Is there a confidence gap between businesses and their people?

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Cornerstone OnDemand have published a new workforce trends report from the Cornerstone People Research Lab (CPRL) titled A License to Skill: Embracing the Reskilling Revolution. The research report claims that while organisational leaders and employees have rallied around the importance of skills, there remains a confidence gap in the efficacy of skills-based learning programmes that advance careers and innovation in the business. (more…)