November 17, 2022

The workplace circus continues to entertain, but back in the real world…

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing

The Great Workplace Circus headlines its 322nd show of the year with everybody’s favourite distraction, Elon Musk, being driven into the ring by his own shoddily built clown car, declaring he needs everybody at Twitter to be ‘extremely hardcore’ before sacking a few people from his space programme, then setting fire to the tent himself. The swarm of stories spawned by this extraordinary behaviour include this tired and predictable rant in the Telegraph about ‘lazy Brits’. Ironically, there’s nothing lazier than a columnist on this rag with some space to fill. (more…)

November 15, 2022

The four day week and a case of less is more

by Sara Bean • Features, Flexible working, Premium Content

When a pilot programme for a four day week was announced in the UK early in the New Year, #4dayweek trended for days on twitter, with jokey comments on how employees taking part in the trial should do everything not to ‘f*** it up for the rest of us.’ But behind the humour there’s a real issue with productivity in the UK. Recent Office for National Statistics reveals that while productivity grew across all G7 countries during the pandemic, the UK experienced the largest falls in GDP growth and an increase in the number of hours worked. (more…)

November 15, 2022

Hybrid working is now an essential part of many job offers

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace

A new US study conducted by IWG claims that employers view the hybrid working model as an essential part of their toolbox when it comes to recruitment, hiring and retention, with nearly 95 percent of HR leaders saying it is an effective recruitment tool. Released today, the ‘HR Leaders & Hybrid Working Report’ examines findings from a poll of more than 1,000 HR professionals at managerial and board level. (more…)

November 11, 2022

Problems at Twitter, grease proof chairs, and the trouble with AI

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

The level of layoffs at several Big Tech firms has been the main source of news and comment over the past week or two. Around 11,000 people at Facebook and another 7,500 at Twitter are to be made redundant. Elon Musk then ensured the conversation moved on by forbidding remote work completely. (more…)

November 10, 2022

Summing up where the office now stands in the scheme of things

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working

The argument about what it takes to encourage people to come into the office more often seems to have boiled down to an equation. It’s now common to hear somebody argue that the office has to be worth the commute it takes to get to it. So, if you want people to spend more time in the building, you need to do the maths. O must be greater than or equal to C (more…)

November 9, 2022

Disability pay gap rises despite greater awareness and efforts of campaigners

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Non-disabled employees now earn around 17.2 percent more on average than disabled workers in 2022, an increase from the 16.5 percent disability pay gap last year, according to analysis published by the Trades Union Congress (TUC). The research suggests that the disability pay gap for 2022 was £2.05 an hour, or £3,731 per year for those working a 35-hour week. The pay gap starts at age 20 at 65 pence an hour and increases to a peak of £3.55 an hour, or £6,461 a year, for disabled workers aged 40 to 44. (more…)

November 9, 2022

Workplace wellbeing remains a neglected issue for many firms

by Freddie Steele • News, Wellbeing

Two in five businesses have either cut or maintained workplace wellbeing budgets despite growing pressures on their staff, according to a new report. Faced with stressors such as the cost-of-living crisis, political uncertainty, and the ‘return to work’ post-Covid, just 16 percent of directors and risk practitioners said their wellbeing budgets had seen a significant increase. Around 40 percent of businesses had increased their budgets slightly to tackle issues such as mental, physical, financial health, organisational vision, values, culture and working standards, according to the poll by Deloitte, the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM) and the Institute of Directors (IoD). (more…)

November 1, 2022

Quiet quitting is not a thing, but employers do need to offer more fulfilling work

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

A new survey from Ricoh Europe claims that the majority of workers seek more stimulation and creativity in their job, suggesting that employers need to do more to provide fulfilling work. The research, conducted by Opinium for Ricoh Europe, polled 6,000 workers and 1,500 decision makers across the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. It claims to contradict the idea of quiet quitting with 82 percent of workers describing themselves as ‘engaged’ at work, while 65 percent say they are enthusiastic about what they do. Yet while workers feel content to a degree, there remain frictions and roadblocks to them becoming more productive and creative. (more…)

October 25, 2022

The underlying problems with the way we think about work

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

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 a 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…)

October 24, 2022

BCO recommends more space per person for the new era of flexible working

by Neil Franklin • News, Property, Workplace design

A report by the British Council for Offices (BCO) recommends a new method for calculating the amount of space needed per person in the post-pandemic world of flexible working. The research claims to identify a ‘sweet spot’ of 10-12 sq. m. per person. This will account for the rise in people working from home and hot-desking when in the office, while simultaneously ensuring the workspace meets modern employers’ requirements to promote productivity and wellbeing, as well as targets to minimise carbon emissions. (more…)

October 24, 2022

Offices remain largely unchanged in wake of pandemic

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

Most businesses are failing to invest in collaborative offices that could encourage people to spend more time in them and take advantage of new work cultures, a report claims. More than four in five UK workers (83 percent) surveyed by YouGov on behalf of Microsoft Surface find themselves still in the same office environment as before the pandemic. The majority of those surveyed believe that office work is better suited to both socialising with colleagues (57 percent) and strengthening relationships with colleagues (65 percent) compared to remote work. (more…)

October 20, 2022

Winter is coming: don’t be in the dark about blackouts

by Jo Sutherland • Environment, Features, Wellbeing

The National Grid has warned that the UK could face blackouts this winter. The worst-case scenario is that homes and businesses could lose power for pre-defined periods of up to three hours if gas power plants are not able to keep running due to the energy crisis that keeps on giving – or rather, taking. While the British government has dropped its energy rationing campaign, which once formed a crucial part of its plan to prepare for potential energy shortages and blackouts, countries across Europe are drawing up winter contingency plans, as are forward-thinking businesses. (more…)