January 15, 2019
Overstretched UK employees are disengaged and unproductive at work
New research has found that over 2 million UK workers think about quitting their job every day and this figure was significantly higher amongst younger workers, aged 18-24, with 12 percent of those surveyed stating they think about this daily. The research by CABA, a charity supporting the wellbeing of chartered accountants and their families, also highlighted that 38 percent of employees regularly encountered stressful situations at work. Women were most likely to feel this way, with 41 percent revealing they deal with stressful circumstances at least once a week. Comparatively, only 34 percent of male employees admitted to encountering such situations on at least a weekly basis. Many factors were cited as contributing to employees feeling stressed, including unrealistic expectations and unmanageable workloads. Regardless of how it manifests itself within the working environment it can have a negative impact on employee wellbeing, with over 1 in 10 (12 percent) missing at least 52 family events or personal commitments each year.
A new survey into happiness at work suggests it is viewed differently according to age. Baby boomers: aspire to have job security and think careers are defined by employers. Gen X: aspire to have a work-life balance and although are loyal to a profession will not necessarily stick with the same employer. Millennials or Gen Y aspire to have freedom and flexibility and are digital entrepreneurs while Gen Z aspire to have security and stability. The report by Instant Offices’ considered what is important to each age group, and how employers approach the age gap. It found that eight in 10 millennials look for a manager to act as a mentor or coach; Baby boomers want a boss to be ethical, fair and consistent, while 61 percent of Generation X, and 55 percent of millennials, think team consensus is important. 
Employee motivation levels appear to be the decline, with 29 percent of employees surveyed saying they were not motivated at work in 2017 compared to just 18 percent who said the same in 2016 the research report, “Living to Work” has claimed. Motivates Inc. has commissioned its employee motivation research for the past three years, surveying over 2,000 UK employees in full-time employment. The full data shows like-for-like how employees are feeling in the workplace and what hygiene factors have affected behaviours year-on-year. According to the latest data 71 percent of UK employees were motivated in 2017, which on its own shows a positive result, yet when you look at the motivational statistics from 2016 the data actually shows the percentage of motivated employees has dropped by 11 percent in just one year. That’s 220 more employees in an organisation of 2,000 who are not feeling good about their job.
National Work Life Week (1st – 5th October 2018) starts today with the aim of encouraging companies to think about their employees’ wellbeing and happiness. To mark the week new research asked British workers about the things they most want from their work. The YouGov survey of 2,000 adults, commissioned by the Oxford Open Learning Trust, found that while money is predictably the biggest motivator behind career choice (64 percent), over half of the respondents cited working hours and flexible working as an important factor (55 percent). 
December 4, 2018
I’m a designer and I job share with an AI
by Ceilidh Higgins • Comment, Technology, Workplace design
Thomas Edison is credited with the phrase “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration” and I believe there is no field where this applies more than architecture and design. So often people assume that interior design is such a fun, creative job – that it’s all about drawing, colours and furniture, something like being paid to colour in and shop – when today being a designer is just as much about people management, psychology, project management, documentation, checking codes and standards and managing contracts. It’s also often about a culture that expects long hours and being always available to the job. “It’s not work when you are passionate about it?” is common. But what if instead we could all work less hours and job share with our computers?
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