November 17, 2017
How to navigate beyond sustainability buzzwords
The communist party offices around the world
Hawking’s fear that AI may replace humans altogether
Tech giants are transforming Sydney’s business district
How AI will transform the employee experience
Promotion improves men’s job satisfaction but not women’s
Why we value physical objects over digital
November 14, 2017
New data published today shows that the over 50 age group experience an ‘unemployment trap’ – meaning they are more likely to be out of work than younger age groups, and once unemployed they struggle more than younger jobseekers to get back into employment. Currently almost a third of 50-64 year olds in the UK are not in work – some 3.3 million people. Within this, 29 percent are recorded as ‘economically inactive’ – not engaged in the labour market in any way – which is more than twice the rate of those aged 35-49 (13 percent). It is estimated that around one million of the over 50s who are out of work left employment involuntarily due to issues such as ill health, caring responsibilities or redundancy. Some 38 percent of unemployed over 50s have been out of work for over a year, compared to 19 percent of 18-24 year olds and the Centre for Ageing Better claims that employment support is failing this age group.
September 25, 2017
People who work in so-called coworking spaces claim they are more motivated and have more positive interactions with others, according to a new report. The report by Staples Solutions, called Collaboration Generation: The Rise of Millennials in the Workplace, details the trend in collaborative working, in addition to what attracts the millennial generation to business. Since 2010, co-working spaces worldwide have increased by 5,519 percent as the average office space per employee has decreased by 2.9 percent, the research reveals, with London seeing a reduction in traditional office space by 8.8 percent.
September 22, 2017
Efforts to fully realise people’s economic potential in countries at all stages of development are falling short due to ineffective deployment of skills throughout the workforce, development of skills appropriate for the future of work and adequate promotion of ongoing learning for those already in employment. These failures to translate investment in education during the formative years into opportunities for higher-quality work during the working lifetime contributes to income inequality by blocking the two pathways to social inclusion, education and work, according to the World Economic Forum’s Human Capital Report 2017. The report measures 130 countries against four key areas of human capital development; Capacity, largely determined by past investment in formal education; Deployment, the application and accumulation of skills through work; Development, the formal education of the next generation workforce and continued upskilling and reskilling of existing workers; and Know-how, the breadth and depth of specialised skills-use at work. Countries’ performance is also measured across five distinct age groups or generations: 0-14 years; 15-24 years; 25-54 years; 55-64 years; and 65 years and over.
September 11, 2017
Both men and women are increasingly staying at work beyond the state pension age, UK government figures show. Data published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reveals that the average retirement age for men has now risen to 65.1 and for women 63.6. Over a twenty year period, this marks an increase of around two years for men and nearly three years for women. In both cases the average retirement age is now higher than the state retirement age. Some 10 percent of over-65s are currently in employment, according to the DWP data. However, the data also suggests that men are still retiring at an earlier age than they were in the 1950s, which is the starting point for the study.
September 5, 2017
The World Economic Forum has published the third edition of what it claims is the world’s most geographically diverse survey of millennials, the Global Shapers Annual Survey 2017. Over 31,000 people aged between 18 and 35 responded to the survey, giving insights into their views on society, business, politics, the economy and technology as well as their workplace and career aspirations. The survey, which is available in 14 languages, surveyed young people from 186 countries and territories. According to the survey they are optimistic that technology will create more jobs than it destroys, although only a quarter would trust a robot to make decisions on their behalf.
August 23, 2017
A new study from the What Works Centre for Wellbeing, published in the Journal for Environmental and Public Health, claims that shared activities in workplaces can boost wellbeing and performance by improving their ‘social atmosphere’. The review of nearly 1,400 scientific papers and reports from across the globe led researchers from the Universities of East Anglia, Essex, Reading and Sheffield to conclude that team activities are effective at making us happier at work. All the successful examples they found shared common characteristics in that they involved everyone – including people who might be reluctant to interact in shared activities and involved more than a one-off activity and carried on over time. Examples ranged from as few as three one-hour workshops to a more extensive programme delivered over several years.
August 23, 2017
According to FlexJobs’ 6th annual survey of more than 5,000 respondents interested in flexible working, 66 percent of workers think they would be more productive telecommuting than working in a traditional office environment. Fewer interruptions from colleagues (76 percent), fewer distractions (76 percent), reduced stress from commuting (70 percent), and minimal office politics (69 percent) are the top reasons people prefer their home office. Only 7 percent of workers say they are most productive in the office during regular hours. The study claims that respondents think they would not only become more productive if allowed to work remotely, but also that they would be more loyal to their employers and would have stronger working relationships.
August 18, 2017
There continues to be a significant gap between the employment rate of disabled people and the rest of the population; according to the Office for National Statistics, just 49 percent of disabled people of working age are in employment. This is why getting genuine buy-in from the top is key to improving levels of disability disclosure and helping to facilitate requests for workplace adjustments. That was the conclusion of a recent round table hosted by the Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative (RIDI) which also found that while some HR and diversity specialists are sceptical about the level of support available from senior leadership teams, once the topic is brought to the attention of the board, the response is often overwhelmingly positive. Practical ways in which leaders can bolster disability initiatives shared at the event include; identifying disability champions within the business who can communicate their own stories, implementing unconscious bias training, instigating & reverse-mentoring initiatives where senior managers are partnered with disabled colleagues and leading by example by being open about their own disabilities.
August 4, 2017
Ever wondered why people change the way they speak in certain situations? The answers might be found in piece of research carried out by academics at the University of Stirling. It found that people tend to change the pitch of their voice depending on to whom they are talking and how dominant they feel in a particular context. The research, published in the journal PLOS ONE, put participants through a simulated job interview and discovered that individuals’ vocal characteristics are altered in response to people of different social status. Regardless of self-perceived social status, people tend to talk to those they consider high status individuals using a higher pitch.
July 26, 2017
More thoughtfully designed workplaces, centred around people’s needs, could improve performance and help tackle the UK’s productivity gap, according to a new report. Applying design thinking to boost workplace productivity by 5-8 per cent could contribute up to £20 billion to GDP. The potential gain in productivity, equivalent to twice the annual contribution to UK GDP made by the aerospace industry, is revealed in research conducted by researchers from Imperial College London in partnership with Atkins. Atkins commissioned the research to better understand and quantify the economic benefit from human centred design. The research claims to examine the ripple down effect on productivity brought about by an human centred focus on health and wellbeing. This in turn has a benefit for future business growth and can enhance the position of the national economy, according to the report. The research claims to support the importance of employees’ experience of the building in which they work and confirms that steps to create the right working environment can have a material impact on staff productivity and wellbeing.
July 31, 2017
It is time to take action to support older people’s health at work
by Patrick Thomson • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace
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