April 1, 2021
Finding a new sense of purpose in the way we all do business
It is now a truism that society expects more of business than merely maximising shareholder value. Milton Friedman’s conviction that unswerving commitment to this single goal would ensure that business and society would prosper has come to be seen as blinkered, unfit for the twenty-first century and enabling of corporate greed. Instead of shareholder value maximisation, an idea that The Economist called ‘the biggest idea in business’ in 2016, businesses are now encouraged to recognise their responsibilities to an array of ‘stakeholders’, from employees, suppliers and customers, to the planet itself and other communities (real or imagined). So, it has never been more important for businesses to do good, have a clear sense of purpose and be seen as doing so. (more…)
A new survey of many of the world’s leading real estate investors finds that 92 percent of respondents expect demand for healthy buildings to grow in the next three years. The report claims that this is a compelling signal of the direction the real estate sector is heading. This finding, among others, is captured in a report titled 
More than six in ten UK managers have experienced burnout at work because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a fifth considering quitting their job as a result, according to new research from 
Corporate wellbeing could add £61bn to the English economy by 2025 through added productivity, if UK companies can create new wellbeing strategies and improve underperforming ones, according to a new study by 
Design manufacturer 
A new BCO research paper, 
Until recently, the nature of business was widely predictable. Tried and tested operational methods enabled businesses to forward plan confidently based on what had worked before. Even before the cataclysmic events of the global pandemic, the workplace landscape was shifting dramatically, with innovation, disruption, workforce and consumer expectations evolving at a pace. As we enter 2021, every business will need to rapidly adapt and evolve to survive and workforce agility will be a critical factor for that survival. 
Originally published in December 2014. Homeworking seems to have become a bit of a hot topic this year, but one sentence published on the 
Despite the financial hardship wrought by COVID-19, half of employers (49 percent) don’t have a financial wellbeing policy. This is according to the latest 
April 7, 2021
The binary choices and multiple outcomes of flexible working
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working