November 3, 2021

Business leaders wary that greater workplace flexibility could encourage ‘proximity bias’

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives

With the vast majority (86 percent) of UK businesses planning to offer employees greater flexibility around where they work, leaders are focused on ensuring employees feel included regardless of their location, according to new research from LinkedIn. This comes as LinkedIn has seen a 97 percent increase in remote jobs being advertised on the platform in the UK from September 2020 to September 2021. (more…)

November 3, 2021

Lives at risk due to lack of first aiders in the office, warns St John Ambulance

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working culture

The health charity claims that, in the last fortnight, less than half (49 percent) of the 2,000 UK workers surveyed believed there was a designated first aider in their workplace. (more…)

November 2, 2021

Increased workload does not dampen many people’s preference for remote work

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

According to a Kaspersky survey of 4,303 IT workers, 56 percent of employees have reported an increased workload since switching to remote working, with 19 percent describing the increase as significant. 40 percent did not notice a change in volume, and only 9 percent noted a decrease in the scope of work due to new working conditions. (more…)

November 1, 2021

The modern workplace is defined as much by digital space as the physical office

by Wilco Wijnbergen • Comment, Property, Technology

There are no prizes to be won for saying that the modern workplace is already markedly different from those we have known in recent decades. As remote and flexible working practices have become more common, the role of the office has already begun to evolve – the pace of change has been greatly accelerated by the pandemic, which has resulted in a rethink among many organisations about their real estate needs. (more…)

November 1, 2021

Office still valued by UK employees, providing space for productivity and collaboration

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working culture

New research from Nespresso Professional claims that the office space is still highly valued by employees, with office workers naming seeing their colleagues (39 percent) as the thing they like most about being in the office. While a proper desk setup (31 percent) comes in second, office camaraderie (30 percent) took the third spot, showing the importance of the office environment for team building and relationships. (more…)

October 29, 2021

Workplace balance of power shifts in favour of employees

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace design

The workplace power dynamic has shifted in favour of employees, according to a new study released from BCW in partnership with Workplace from Facebook (now Meta of course). The inaugural International Workforce Insights Study (registration) reveals that more than half of all employees say they feel more empowered to influence change in their workplace compared to a year ago, including with their employer’s business strategy (54 percent), company culture (55 percent) and their work experience (59 percent). This feeling of empowerment is most pronounced among Generation Z and Millennials. (more…)

October 28, 2021

High hopes Gen Z will close the digital skills gap – but young people are in a confidence crisis

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology

Three-quarters of tech leaders think Gen Z will solve the digital skills shortage (72 percent), with an even higher number (77 percent) believing these ‘digital-natives’ have the best ability of any generation. However, while half of Gen Z have a career in tech or firm plans to pursue one in the next five years (46 percent), they have low confidence in their digital abilities. (more…)

October 27, 2021

Hybrid working: too few companies are making the workplace changes they need

by Tony Antoniou • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

At a recent Women in Office Design event on the subject of hybrid working and workplace change, the founder of WOD Harsha Kotak posed a question which I thought was extremely important but often goes unasked. “Whilst I have a great understanding of how the workplace landscape will change”, she said, “are companies making these changes?” This is a brilliantly relevant question because in my opinion based on my research and experience of the past year and a half, not enough companies are. (more…)

October 26, 2021

People professionals boosted their skills in response to pandemic challenges

by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives, Workplace

Nearly two thirds (61 percent) of HR and people professionals strengthened their skills – through either upskilling or reskilling – as a result of their organisation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest People Profession survey report from the CIPD and Workday claims. (more…)

October 25, 2021

The power of science can help companies create better menopause policies

by Gosia Bowling • Comment, Wellbeing

According to research, nearly 8 out of 10 menopausal women are in work, at a time when many are likely to move into top leadership positions. Despite the challenges and difficulties faced by those experiencing menopause in the workplace, it remains largely invisible, undiscussed, and unsupported. That’s why it’s important for businesses create menopause-friendly workplaces using the principles of behavioural science and health psychology. (more…)

October 22, 2021

Employee experience is more important than ever

by Lizzie Rolley • Comment, Wellbeing, Working culture, Workplace

Employee experience has never been so high on the corporate agenda; with recent figures finding that over 69 percent of businesses are currently concerned about talent shortages and difficulty hiring. With this in mind, organisations that want to grow must provide a market leading experience in order to remain competitive and attract and retain new talent. Companies that invest in their unique employee experience make four times more profit than those who don’t. (more…)

October 18, 2021

Managers can be blind to some of the stresses of home workers

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Managers in the increasingly digital, knowledge-fuelled and hybrid working environment may not be able to see the “invisible” strains on workers juggling home life and their workloads, a report by Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA) claims. The challenge of managing mental workload is rapidly becoming critical and employers need to be more aware of factors that could impact the effect on home workers and do more to understand and mitigate the factors, AWA says in the report (registration). (more…)