March 19, 2021
Search Results for: mental health
March 18, 2021
Toxic workplace culture costing UK economy £20.2 billion per year
by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working culture
The cost of poor company culture is a staggering £20.2 billion per year, according to research from HR software provider Breathe. The report ‘The Culture Economy 2021’, claims that almost a third (27 percent) of SME employees quit their job due to poor workplace culture, an increase of 6 percent from last year (21 percent). (more…)
March 15, 2021
Serfs up for the self-employed and gig economy workers (and the middle class)
by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Working culture
One of the most significant consequences of the 2008 economic crash was a remarkable shift in the nature of employment. The recession led to a surge in the number of people categorised as self-employed. The numbers have been increasing ever since, albeit at a lower rate. By the end of 2019, the number of self-employed people in the UK exceeded five million people for the first time. Fifteen percent of the workforce. (more…)
February 26, 2021
The link between wellbeing and green design is driving material innovation
by Craig Stuart • Comment, Environment, Wellbeing, Workplace design
One of the most interesting developments in the way we talk about the design of buildings in recent years is how the issue of wellbeing has found an overlap with environmental concerns. We know instinctively that these are natural partners. What is good for the environment almost always has a direct beneficial effect on people’s physical and mental health, as well as their productivity. (more…)
February 25, 2021
False positives and the dangers of unrealistic positivity at work
by Jeff Miller • Comment, Wellbeing, Working culture
The vaccine rollout is well on its way, the Government has set out its road map for easing lockdown and it seems there is light at the end of the tunnel. Organisations can hopefully now start to shift mindsets away from the negativity of the past months and create a positive outlook for the future. So, should leaders and managers now be pasting on the smiles, dishing out the motivational pep talks and inspirational emails? Should they aim to create a sense of positivity at work. No, most definitely not. (more…)
February 24, 2021
Isolation of employees is IT teams’ greatest home-working concern
by Jayne Smith • News, Technology
The feelings of isolation being experienced by employees is the biggest concern IT and cybersecurity teams have around home working, say almost one third (31 percent) of respondents to the latest Twitter poll run by Infosecurity Europe. The objective was to investigate views on the current threat landscape, as remote working remains the norm and ‘lockdown fatigue’ sets in. (more…)
February 24, 2021
Workplace digital divide is forcing employers to rethink the way they communicate
by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Wellbeing
In March 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic forced countless employers around the globe to send their non-essential employees home. Few organisations had a contingency plan for such a scenario, meaning the overwhelming majority of employers had to rethink their operations and communication functions on the fly. (more…)
February 19, 2021
Employees are bearing up, but nerves are frayed
by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing
According to new data from Glint, despite the odds, employees were happier at work at the end of 2020 than they were at the end of 2019, but feelings of burnout remain worryingly high. Looking at aggregated data from 9 million employee-engagement survey responses from companies around the world, Glint’s latest analysis claims that employee happiness at work rose 5.4 percent in December 2020, compared to December 2019. (more…)
February 17, 2021
Hybrid working is the new expectation of pressured employees
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working culture
The past twelve months have proved to be a watershed year fo
r workplace digital transformation and the urgent shift to remote working has seen the world experience two years of digital transformation in two months. New research from Microsoft Surface claims to examine the impact of this transformation on the UK workforce, suggesting that employees are happier, but under more pressure working from home – despite almost 9 out of 10 (87 percent) of employees reporting their businesses have adapted to ‘hybrid working’. (more…)
February 17, 2021
New social enterprise aims to bring work back to unemployed people with disabilities
by Freddie Steele • Company news
Two and a half million Brits are expected to be unemployed this year after the fall out of the pandemic. A concern for many has been how disabled people will fare with the aftermath. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is more than twice those who are able bodied. (more…)
February 15, 2021
The best places to live for work-life balance
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Working lives
As Brits continue to spend an extensive amount of time at home, the importance of maintaining a good work-life balance has never been so vital. For their 2021 Work-Life Balance Index, money.co.uk have delved through ONS data to uncover where in Britain is best situated for its residents to achieve a good work-life balance. (more…)



















March 9, 2021
The office will bounce back, but not as we remember it
by Luke Munro • Comment, Property, Workplace design