June 14, 2019

Top ten cities in UK for economic growth led by Edinburgh

According to the 2019 Vitality Index by Lambert Smith Hampton, Edinburgh is the city with the best prospects for UK economic growth, with Cambridge and Manchester coming in second and third place, despite the UK’s uncertain economic and political environment. Compiled every year, The Vitality Index claims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the health of UK towns and cities, considering education, entrepreneurialism, affluence, productivity, growth and environmental factors.

June 13, 2019

People are too quick to click on emails

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

Modern working culture makes it impossible for employees to always make the right decision about what to do with emails, claims a new report from cybersecurity company Tessian and the University of Central Lancashire. The report Why Do People Make Mistakes? presents findings from a new survey of 1,000 UK employees, who were asked about their working environment and practices. Additionally, the report includes insights from cyber-psychologists Dr Helen Jones, University of Central Lancashire and Professor John Towse, Lancaster University, which further explains how certain factors in the workplace can cause people to make poor decisions. More →

June 13, 2019

Digital transformation plans ignoring role of HR

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

HR must enhance its reputation amongst senior management teams and business leaders if it is to take a leading role in driving the success of digital transformation projects, claims a new report from MHR. The poll of 250 business leaders at organisations with more than 1000 employees claims that just 5 percent of respondents felt the HR department should be the people to lead or manage a digital transformation project. The full results of the survey are explored in MHR’s report ‘Businesses are not ready to transform (but they don’t know that)… which was launched at the Festival of Work in London this week. More →

June 12, 2019

Working lives dominated by stress and overwork

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Over-work, stress and poor work-life balance are undermining attempts to improve the quality of working lives in the UK, new research from the CIPD claims. Over 5,000 people were surveyed for the UK Working Lives Survey, an annual assessment of job quality across seven different categories including pay and benefits, contracts and employment terms, and voice and representation. More →

June 12, 2019

Lack of flexible working risks talent exodus

by George Eltringham • Flexible working, News

New results from Wildgoose’s Flexible Working survey suggests that a significant number of UK employees are seeking out flexible working to better juggle life both in and out of work, without compromising productivity. The latest findings follow on from the organisation’s other successful insights surveys exploring diversity & inclusion and mental health in the workplace. More →

June 12, 2019

People can hit career dead end in their fifties

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

With a rising retirement age and the prediction that by 2020, a third of UK workers will be aged 50 or over, new research from job board Totaljobs and recruitment firm Robert Walters found that many workers in their 50s find their career options and development opportunities are extremely limited.

June 11, 2019

Moving the wellbeing debate beyond a fixation on stress

by Matt Weston • Comment, Wellbeing

The world of work is evolving. Geopolitical change, digitalisation of the workplace and increased regulation are just some of the changes that businesses and their employees have to navigate. This disruption can feed into employee stress levels, impacting their happiness at work. Maintaining good mental health in the workplace is vital for employee wellbeing – it’s a key factor in employee retention and in turn, business success. However, it has been reported that between 2017 and 2018, 15.4 million working days were lost to work-related stress.

June 11, 2019

Over half of US workers offered flexible Fridays

by Marie Hillen • Flexible working, News, Workplace

This summer, over half (55 percent) of US employers will offer employees the option to leave work early on Fridays or take the entire day off. The new survey by Gartner claims that so-called flexible Fridays are an example of the sort of perks organisations are offering to gain competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top talent in a labour market which features record low unemployment levels.

June 10, 2019

Coworking disrupts office design ⁰

by Paul Goodchild • Comment, Coworking, Facilities management, Flexible working, Workplace design

In his book How Buildings Learn, the author Stewart Brand outlines the process whereby buildings evolve over time to meet the changing needs of their occupants. He describes each building as consisting of six layers, each of which functions on a different timescale. These range from the site itself which has a life cycle measured in centuries, through to the building (decades), interior fit out (years), technology (months), to stuff (days). The effectiveness of a design will depend on how well it resolves the tensions that exist between these layers of the building, and this is one of the benefits of coworking that isn’t discussed enough.

June 10, 2019

More disabled people opt for self-employment

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

More disabled people than ever before are choosing self-employment, but are being let down by poor support from government, according to new research from IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) and the Community trade union. The study, Making self-employment work for disabled people, claims that 611,000 UK disabled people now work for themselves in their main job. The report also found that although they overwhelmingly see self-employment as a positive way of working, they do not get the support they need from government. More →

June 7, 2019

On target for a toxic workplace culture

by Nick Pye • Comment, Workplace

Setting clear and bold targets has become part of leadership 101. We take it for granted that the first action for anyone taking over the helm of a business or team is to state or re-state targets. The rise of “management by objectives” in the 1970s drove the initial focus on target-setting and, in line with shoulder pads and lapel width, the 1990s saw a shift in management culture to ‘bigger is always better’. In 1994 Jim Collins and Jerry Porras wrote their highly influential best seller Built to Last. In it, they memorably wrote of the power of BHAGs – big, hairy, audacious goals. Targets were no longer for hitting but represented something bigger, a longer-term vision of the future.

June 7, 2019

London workers more attracted to job than socialising

by Marie Hillen • Cities, Flexible working, News, Workplace

Socialising and drinking opportunities are some of the least enjoyable things about working in London, as loving their job and a chance to grow personally is more of an incentive for those who work in the Capital, a new report suggests. The survey of 1,000 London workers by Flexioffices, claims that 75 percent of employees in the city enjoy going to work for the personal development opportunities, training and the job itself. Flexible hours are becoming an increasingly enticing aspect of a job, with 21 percent of London workers liking their workplace because of the flexible hours available.