September 8, 2023

The words we borrow from other languages to talk about work and wellbeing

We are prone to borrow nuanced words from other languages to express ideas that otherwise need some explaining in English. This includes the way we talk about work, and especially the way we talk about wellbeing and happiness. Perhaps most famously, there was a lot of talk about hygge a couple of years ago. A straight dictionary translation of hygge would be something like cosiness, but the word also embodies an emotion and an approach to life that embraces a certain degree of slowness and an enjoyment of the present moment. It’s no coincidence that it became modish in a distracted and hurried world. Although the concept is usually referred to as Danish, the word itself is shared with Norwegian, which also offers us the word koselig, which means cosiness but also hints at it being best enjoyed at a fireside. (more…)

September 7, 2023

How to rebuild social connection for high-performance hybrid work: a deep-dive for workplace innovators

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Events

Social connection is often cited as a justification for return-to-office mandates, many of which are not well received by employees. This suggests that merely spending time in the office isn’t enough to spark the connection that gets ideas flowing, ramps up performance and creates a cohesive culture. So, if physical presence alone isn’t enough to rebuild connection, what is? Workplace innovators exploring the issues around hybrid work now have the opportunity to dig deep and find out.

Tune into HubStar’s upcoming webinar on Thursday September 19th at 4 PM BST for an exploration of the approaches, strategies and tools necessary to rebuild social connection in complex hybrid workplaces.

Workplace innovators are facing the greatest opportunity of our generation to positively disrupt the way we work, but as Einstein said, we can’t solve problems with the same kind of thinking we used to create them.

So what kind of thinking is required to ignite the magic of meaningful connection at work? How do we stop hybrid work strategies from stalling? And, which tools and approaches can help us manage the complexity inherent in new ways of working?

In this 30 minute webinar, you’ll discover:

Key trends impacting people, hybrid workplaces and organisational performance in 2023 and beyond
A step-by-step framework for overcoming remote working inertia and rebuilding social connection in the office
Dynamic Workplace Management: a new framework for positive change across 3 dimensions: people, profit and planet

The webinar will include a live Q&A with the speaker, Jane Young and the VP Product at HubStar, Chris L’Hommedieu.

HubStar is a global company with operations in the US, UK, Europe and APAC. The company provides a next-generation dynamic workplace management platform to drive productivity, collaboration and workplace experience while reducing real estate costs. HubStar helps thousands of teams in over 60 countries create dynamic workplaces. For more information visit hubstar.com

September 5, 2023

Working from home won’t last forever… will it?

by Zain Ali • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

Have we all gone a little OTT on RTO? The so-called return to office and pushback on working from home seems to be the must-talk topic on workplace strategy right now; a heated debate ignited by Zoom’s recent call to reduce remote working days for its employees. Many have been surprised at how polarising this decision has become. Who would have thought that a global business asking employees to work from the office two days a week could cause such controversy? Even if that business does specialise in video calls for remote work? (more…)

September 5, 2023

From ego to eco – a universal approach to workplace transformation

by Eugenia Anastassiou • Comment, Environment, Everything Omni

You might quite rightly be thinking about the relevance of such a ‘hippy, dippy’ soundbite on the hard-hitting world of work and the workplace, especially in this climate of uncertainty with a myriad of challenges facing business, the workforce and commercial real estate globally. I first heard the phrase ‘going from ego to eco’ at a series of presentations cum incubator events EverythingOmni ran with participants of all ages/backgrounds/career levels representing 18 countries on the Uncertainty of Work.

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September 4, 2023

Scottish government to trial public sector four day week

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

The Scottish government is to trial a four day working week for many civil servants. The experiment is set to last for a year and a number of departments and public sector bodies have been invited to take part. After twelve months, if the trial proves successful, the four day week scheme could be extended to include a wider range of central government bodies, councils and quangos. (more…)

August 18, 2023

The challenge for office acoustics is to make people feel at home

by Freddie Steele • Comment, Workplace design

A number of apparent truisms about work and workplaces entered mainstream consciousness in the wake of the pandemic, and the shift to more flexible and hybrid working cultures. One of them is that people are better off carrying out focussed, quiet work at home, and creative and collaborative work in the office. And that this might suggest our approach to office acoustics would shift in particular ways. (more…)

August 11, 2023

Lack of employee engagement continues to dog organisations around the world

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

A declining share of employees said they were motivated to go above and beyond at work, or were inspired to do their best work, according to the latest employee engagement benchmark data from Qualtrics. The new proprietary data – aggregated from thousands of employee engagement surveys administered in 2022 – shows symptoms of burnout and a significant drop in confidence in leaders from 2020, when the pandemic ‘upended workplaces’ around the world. The report argues that employees are willing to tell their employers that they were struggling, and if something doesn’t change, they may look for a new job. Labour productivity also reflected this drop in motivation, the report claims. (more…)

August 10, 2023

Zoom opens new London ‘Engagement Hub’

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

Zoom has opened a new London ‘Engagement Hub’ which the firm claims will spearhead the shift from traditional office spaces to ‘experiential working hubs’. With the demand for hybrid working and remote capabilities giving rise to unconventional ways of operating, Zoom says it has designed its new office to support the changing nature of the employee experience, marking a new era of modern work. (more…)

August 7, 2023

Webinar: How to adapt to a new era of dynamic space management

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Facilities management

As organizations adopt hybrid work, reduce their real estate footprint and redesign floor plans, space planners are running into a slew of new challenges. Yesterday’s antiquated tools can’t handle these challenges, because they were built for the old, relatively static world of work. (more…)

July 31, 2023

Best practice for maintaining an agile workforce through upskilling

by Kirsty Greene • Company news, Workplace

Workforces need to evolve now more than ever. A report from the World Economic Forum claims that around a quarter of jobs will shift in the next five years. Its ‘Future of Jobs Report for 2023’ notes that though an estimated 69 million new jobs will be created, another 83 million will be eliminated. A few factors contributing to creating and eliminating jobs are macro trends—such as a rise in sustainability efforts among businesses, the localisation of supply chains, high inflation, and slower economic growth. (more…)

July 25, 2023

Putting a new approach to office design in the frame

by Kyrylo Komarov • Comment, Workplace design

It is now a truism to suggest that the traditional ways we think about office design need to be rethought in response to the new and emerging challenges businesses now face. Most people accept this but are still trying to work out the implications for the way we design and manage the physical workplace. The office needs to tell a new story. And one way to structure this narrative this is to borrow ideas from the movie screenwriting process. (more…)

July 21, 2023

Cost of living crisis incentivises people to work from home

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

A new report claims that rising numbers of the people in the UK are choosing to shop and work from home to make every penny count as the cost-of-living crisis continues. These insights mark the launch of the second Virgin Media O2 Business Movers Index – a quarterly barometer that combines anonymised and aggregated UK movement data from O2 Motion, with national polling findings to reveal key trends relating to the behaviour of 2,000 British businesses and 1,000 UK consumers. Together, the data paints a picture of movement patterns and the trends behind them. The second quarter of this year reveals a more cash-conscious image of Britain as more of the UK public change their behaviours to cope with a tough economic backdrop. (more…)