Search Results for: professionals

Nearly half of HR professionals don’t feel up-to-speed with new workplace legislation

Nearly half of HR professionals don’t feel up-to-speed with new workplace legislation 0

by • News, Workplace

homepage-insideNew research from identity data intelligence firm GBG claims there are a startling number of HR professionals (41 percent) who are struggling to keep up with new and changing workplace legislation. Recent changes to UK law, such as those made to the Right To Work in the Immigration Act and Modern Day Slavery Act are met with anxiety by 34 percent of respondents. Only 26 percent feel prepared and just 4 percent feel optimistic that the changes will be advantageous for their organisation. Despite half of HR professionals not feeling prepared to handle legislation changes, 62 percent believe it’s their primary responsibility. Almost one in five (18 percent) said it was their manager’s obligation and 9 percent believed the Board should be in charge of monitoring for change.

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Weird science; how workplace professionals are in danger of obsessing about data

Weird science; how workplace professionals are in danger of obsessing about data 0

by • Comment, Workplace, Workplace design

big-dataThere’s been a series of reports recently and a lot of PR to back them up, plus we’re headed at pace into the workplace event season. Pretty soon we will be neck deep in data. And misleading headlines. Some of it is good. Some of it is bad. We need to be wary of the data, the science behind some of it and the wild claims made as a result. There’s a great piece about how big data isn’t the answer to our problems in Wired. One argument it puts forward is this: “today’s data sets, though bigger than ever, still afford us an impoverished view of living things.” It feels like there is a poor view of the workplace right now. One problem here is the commercial imperative to get results. That means the PR teams pick over the bones of what might be quite thin research and then bold arguments are extrapolated. It means detailed insights are blurred by headline grabbing claims, or simply not there in the first place.

More often it means ‘research’ doesn’t generate anything new – which is not good for headlines. So, reports are dressed up as pseudo-science. This is not just an issue unique to UK the commercial property and workplace arena either. Only recently Dana Carney has challenged her joint research into the power of body language with co-author Amy Cuddy. Carney is arguing the results of research were false, plain wrong, based on bad science. This undermines valuable work being done by other groups in the market place – i.e. the great unwashed comprising directors of estates, HR professionals and facilities managers begin to tire of data and grow a little weary of the whole experience.

It’s confusing for the very people that need informing, educating and influencing so that they make intelligent decisions about their workplaces. For example, you cannot measure 28 factors relating to physical space and then argue that it allows clients to link workplace design to key business drivers such as employee engagement and organisational commitment. To make such a leap you need to focus very hard indeed on organisational culture and the behaviours of the people in that organisation.

Too often the key themes of culture and behaviours are not so much in the back seat, but left at the kerb side as the research vehicle heads off down the highway. Criticisms of open plan and the use of offices by those in a leadership position need to be placed in the context of that organisations whole way of being. It can work if allowances are made for culture and behaviours.

Allegedly, 89 percent of senior leaders have a private office. This is not open plan. True open plan, and where benefits of open plan are seen, is when everyone exists and works on a level playing field with numerous and varied alternate work areas being made available. Again, it’s not just about the spaces available. Some companies will introduce the variety and do nothing to change with behaviour to allow people to understand, embrace and feel able to use these new and different spaces. It’s the same way the presence of a DJ and dancefloor don’t mean that people will automatically dance – just think of the bad parties with no atmosphere and awkward people.

Workplace professionals have a duty to think this data through before making any claims, arguments or indeed, any recommendations. Too many decision makers in the C-suite are saying right now: “OK, based on this data I’ll put everyone in open plan, buy sit stand desks for all and provide people with some enclosed settings and we’re good to go,” and still find the business is no more engaged or innovative because it’s not based on how the company actually operates and does not factor in people, change or culture.

We all need to check this data thoroughly before making too many easy headline grabbing and PR driven conclusions. After all, it’s not always easy to know good from bad – just ask a doctor. Doctors may know the latest scientific research but they evaluate patients at a personal level before any application – and businesses need to do the same.  Likewise, an Oxbridge or Harvard professor like Amy Cuddy or Dana Carney should be generating good science, but that’s no excuse for not constantly challenging the research that comes through.

Don’t take these PR headlines about workplace for truth. Let’s be careful out there people.

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jess-brookJess Brook is Workplace Strategist at Hatch Analytics

Demand for professionals to fill London’s creative hub remains high

Demand for professionals to fill London’s creative hub remains high 0

by • Cities, News, Technology, Workplace

Commercial Property LondonAs we reported last week, the success of the tech and media sector in London is driving the Capital’s offices market. Now new research has shown that demand for professionals in London’s creative occupations remains high, with over a third of jobs in the sector found within the UK’s main creative hub. The latest Professional Recruitment Trends report from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) based on data provided by Burning Glass, claims that 33.5 percent of all creative occupation postings were found in Greater London. The South East ranks second with 16.1 percent of creative roles followed by the West Midlands in third with an 8.1 percent share of total job postings. The list of ‘in demand’ skills for creative roles is mostly dominated by coding and programming languages. However the report suggests that the skills in the highest demand, excluding those specific to IT based roles, are communication, creativity and writing.

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Unethical employment practices drive ‘Gen S’ professionals away

Unethical employment practices drive ‘Gen S’ professionals away 0

by • Environment, Facilities management, News, Workplace

resignation lettersOver half  of ‘Gen S’ workers would refuse to work for employers who have a record of using slave labour, generating high levels of pollution, employing unsafe working conditions, poor environmental performance, questionable investments and unethical practices. According to the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment’s (IEMA) annual Practitioner Survey these people see environmental roles as the career change of choice, with 42 percent of professionals who now work in these roles considering themselves “career changers”. Those entering the profession come from a variety of backgrounds including finance, operations, marketing and communications and R&D. Gen S workers are typically people in their mid-thirties, above average in their qualifications with 45 percent having a Master’s degree or doctorate, looking for more than just a career and earning money, but actively seeking a career which is primarily “ethical” in nature.

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Third of professionals worry about weight gain from home working

Third of professionals worry about weight gain from home working 0

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Weight-worriesRemote working is on the rise; 45 percent of UK workers are now based outside of their main office for more than half the week. But working from home could contribute to an expanding waistline, as a third (32 percent) of the UK’s business professionals admit that they fear getting fat due to the temptation to snack more when working from home compared to working in an office environment. The research by Regus canvassed the opinions of more than 4,000 business people across the UK. The findings suggest that the solitude associated with working at home, coupled with ready accessibility to fridge, cupboard and larder, leads to more munching during the 9-5. Said Richard Morris, UK CEO, Regus: “Working from home makes it easy to reach for a doughnut whilst still in your pyjamas. This look is not so popular in a workspace surrounded by professional peers.”

Government publishes competency framework for property professionals

by • Facilities management, News, Property, Public Sector

public sector property professionals The UK Government has published its new Property Profession Competency Framework which it describes as ‘an outline of the skills required to manage property assets at both operational and strategic level.’ The Government Property Profession (GPP) framework aims to provide a basis for improving the capability of civil servants working in property asset management roles. The GPP competencies complement the Civil Service competency framework and are defined as: professional and technical expertise; statutory, regulatory and professional requirements; interpretation and analysis of data; sustaining and developing the GPP. It is hoped that these competencies and levels will appear in job descriptions for property asset management roles and be used in appraisals for GPP members. Image: award winning Rochdale Borough Council HQ.

Furniture industry invited to explore how sustainability can drive commercial success

Furniture industry invited to explore how sustainability can drive commercial success

by • Environment, News, Workplace design

The Furniture Makers’ Company, the City of London livery company and charity for the furnishing industry, is inviting furniture and furnishings professionals to attend ‘Making Commercial Sense of Sustainability’, a one-day industry eventThe Furniture Makers’ Company, the City of London livery company and charity for the furnishing industry, is inviting furniture and furnishings professionals to attend ‘Making Commercial Sense of Sustainability’, a one-day industry event focused on turning environmental responsibility into commercial opportunity. Taking place on Thursday 19 March (11:00am – 4:00pm) at Furniture Makers’ Hall, London, the event will bring together business leaders, sustainability experts, manufacturers, designers and specifiers to examine how sustainability can be embedded into business strategy in a way that supports growth, resilience and long-term profitability. (more…)

Furniture Makers accepting nominations for 2026 Young Professional Industry Experience 

Furniture Makers accepting nominations for 2026 Young Professional Industry Experience 

by • Company news, Workplace design

The Furniture Makers’ Company, the City of London livery company and charity for the furnishing industry, is accepting nominations for its Young Professional Industry ExperienceThe Furniture Makers’ Company, the City of London livery company and charity for the furnishing industry, is accepting nominations for its Young Professional Industry Experience. The programme provides aspiring young people working in the industry a unique opportunity to visit sector leading companies and understand all areas of the wider trade, including materials, designing, manufacturing, pricing, marketing, sales and customer service. (more…)

Embedding AI into daily tasks can heighten stress and confuse people about their role

Embedding AI into daily tasks can heighten stress and confuse people about their role

by • AI, News

While AI is taking on work across the economy, it may also create new demands on the human workforce that employers must stay ahead of and respond to.While artificial intelligence is taking on work across the economy, it may also create new demands on the human workforce that employers must stay ahead of and respond to. Researchers from Microsoft and Imperial College London highlight in the Society of Occupational Medicine’s (SOM) journal Occupational Medicine  that AI tools will bring a multitude of benefits to the workplace. The technology is likely to make accessing workplace health support much easier for employees and managers, for example by automating and simplifying booking processes and appointments. (more…)

How business leaders can support disabled people in the workplace

How business leaders can support disabled people in the workplace

by • Company news

For differently abled people to perform optimally, business leaders must actively help them feel comfortable in the workplace. This requires an extensive support system.Disabilities are more common than we may realize, affecting the everyday lives of real people in heartbreaking ways. The CDC observes that over 28 percent of people in the US suffer from one or more physical disabilities. These could be related to cognition or mobility, vision, or hearing. Sometimes, a tragic accident may leave you in this condition. Or a genetic disorder, such as Tay-Sachs disease or cystic fibrosis, may flare up.  Whatever the cause, the result is generally the same. Prolonged physical and mental stress that complicates your personal and professional life in the workplace. (more…)

Addressing the problem of burnout in high stress industries 

Addressing the problem of burnout in high stress industries 

by • Company news, Wellbeing

This article will explore the root cause of burnout, which often goes unnoticed and unaddressed. You will gain insights into what the early signs look like and how a sustainable workplace design can help reduce unnecessary strain on employees.What would happen if a bridge constantly supports a stream of traffic over time? No matter how robust or well-built it is, there will come a time when the materials begin to strain, revealing cracks and deeper structural issues.  Now, high stress industries tend to operate in a similar manner. Employees, acting as the bridge, may crumble under the continual weight of increasing workloads. Inevitably, burnout awaits at the end of the rope, something which serves as a warning of an overextended system.

This article will explore the root cause of burnout, which often goes unnoticed and unaddressed. You will gain insights into what the early signs look like and how a sustainable workplace design can help reduce unnecessary strain on employees.

 

 

Burnout As a Signal of Systemic Imbalance 

For the longest time, burnout has been viewed as an individual failure to cope. However, the fact that this condition is so persistent across industrial sectors reveals something far more structural.

Personal resilience, or lack thereof, becomes secondary when exhaustion and disengagement are reported across roles and sectors. By this stage, burnout has turned into a system-level signal that organizational demands have drifted out of alignment with human capacity.

A 2025 report showed that 72 percent of employees reported moderate to high levels of work-related stress. This marked the highest figure recorded in the past six years. Another independent research conducted the same year discovered that 66 percent of employees were experiencing some form of burnout.

The truth is that certain industries are known to be high-stress, including education, healthcare, emergency services, finance, and technology. When burnout is reported across these, it’s a sure sign that the operating models are relying on endurance rather than sustainability.

Since time pressure and emotional labor are treated as inherent to such sectors and the roles therein, burnout goes largely unaddressed. Common indicators of systemic imbalance include:

  • Workloads remain high despite changing demand cycles.
  • Recovery time is treated as optional.
  • Professionals are given high responsibilities with limited control or discretion.
  • Crisis conditions become normalized, masking long-term risk.
  • Moral and emotional strain occur, especially where workers cannot meet professional standards consistently.

Interestingly, burnout first appears among the most capable employees, those most invested in the outcomes. This should ring alarm bells, but sadly, many continue to see it as an individual issue. It’s time to understand that burnout is an early warning that the system itself is operating beyond sustainable limits.

 

How Workforce Shortages Intensify Burnout Cycles 

It’s important to note that high-stress industries also suffer from workforce shortages alongside burnout. This means the two are not separate challenges. When staffing levels are inadequate, the result is sustained pressure on remaining employees, no matter the market demand.

Staffing gaps go beyond redistributing work. They reshape job conditions in such a way that burnout only gets worse. The scale of this problem is most evident in the healthcare sector. As per a 2025 report, 72 percent of hiring professionals reported ongoing staffing shortages in their facilities.

What’s more is that such conditions are expected to continue in the near future. When more than two-thirds of managers cannot find enough qualified applicants to fill their vacancies, we can understand that the problem is real.

Under such circumstances, burnout tends to intensify through the following mechanisms:

  • Workloads don’t get reduced, just redistributed. The remaining staff have to work harder to complete the additional tasks generated due to high demand.
  • The work environment continues to stay fast-paced and high-stakes.
  • Experienced staff members spend more time covering direct services and less on mentoring or decompression.
  • Since shortages persist, the workforce doesn’t get replenished properly.
  • As the existing employees strain under pressure, that in itself fuels burnout and attrition rates.

 

Rethinking Talent Pipelines in High-Stress Sectors 

If organizations operating across high-stress industries are somehow able to replenish and sustain their workforce, that should provide some relief from burnout. The problem is that traditional talent pipelines, particularly in sectors like healthcare, emergency services, and education, were built for linear careers and predictable demand.

Under prolonged pressure, these models struggle to respond quickly enough. As a result, existing staff members are left to absorb the ongoing gaps. Many organizations are now reconsidering how people enter demanding professions in the first place.

In other words, many have decided not to rely solely on early-career entrants. Mid-career transitions and return-to-practice routes are also becoming a part of broader workforce strategies. For instance, in healthcare, career changers with a university degree in other disciplines can also pick up nursing training.

Within this context, online second-degree accelerated BSN programs have emerged as one example of how talent pipelines are being restructured. These programs lead to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, the standard qualification for registered nurses.

As Elmhurst University shares, students with a prior Bachelor’s in any other discipline will earn their basic nursing degree within 16 months. The online structure addresses burnout in ways that traditional programs may not, as follows:

  • Trainees can stay partially employed while they complete their coursework.
  • The workforce across crucial, high-stress sectors can be replenished faster.
  • Candidates across different regions and demographics can have access to learning.
  • Organizations are able to avoid cyclic depletion caused by pulling staff out for upskilling or retraining.

Such adaptations can reduce the duration and intensity of understaffing across high-stress sectors. However, pipeline flexibility alone cannot resolve burnout. Parallel improvements in workload design and staffing support are also needed. Otherwise, the system already operating beyond sustainable limits will keep feeding itself.

 

Moving From Wellbeing Rhetoric to Sustainable Work Design 

Addressing burnout through well-being initiatives has become commonplace across high-stress industries. The world is all too familiar with wellness apps and stress management workshops. These interventions do provide short-term relief for individuals. However, they do little to tackle the root of the problem: systemic drivers such as chronic understaffing and excessive workloads.

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025 report, only 33 percent of employees worldwide said they were thriving. 58 percent were struggling to cope, and 40 percent even experienced significant stress “a lot of the previous day.” Such trends cut across sectors, showcasing that burnout and disengagement are not merely isolated personal challenges.

The need of the hour is sustainable work design that addresses how work is structured and paced. Key elements of this include the following:

  • Realistic workload distribution to ensure tasks are aligned with staffing levels and capacity
  • Predictable scheduling that reduces last-minute changes, which could erode recovery time
  • Built-in recovery periods to protect rest as a structural requirement
  • Clarity of roles to prevent overload that results from blurred responsibilities
  • Feedback loops that adjust workflows before the strain escalates

This type of design views burnout as a signal of system failure, rather than an individual employee’s weakness. High-stress industries cannot afford to consider this design as an optional enhancement.

The same is critical to stabilizing teams and protecting workforce capacity so as to mitigate long-term burnout. This is especially important as recent research has emphasized that organizations need to adapt workforce structure and skills to evolving demands.

With that being said, organizations also need to factor in anticipated future pressures, not just current workforce strain. This means the next frontier lies in intelligent workforce design. It would include predictive workload modeling and cross-training of teams for flexibility.

As digital tools and remote learning expand access, changes in workplace policy and culture can help prioritize sustainable work practices. This is crucial because the future of high-stress industries depends on proactive, structural solutions if burnout is to become a thing of the past.

How healthcare leaders can enhance their business acumen

How healthcare leaders can enhance their business acumen

by • Company news

Healthcare leaders need to enhance their business acumen if they want to run successful practices without losing sight of the people they’re called to care for.No one enters into healthcare looking forward to dealing with budgets, profit margins, or return on investment. They do it because they want to make a difference. Still, the reality is hard to ignore. Great care depends on great decisions. And many of those decisions require more than just clinical expertise. They require business acumen. This means a balanced mix of financial savvy, strategic thinking, and real-world insight.

But can healthcare leaders do without this skill? Probably not. According to the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), problems with finances ranked second in the list of concerns for hospital CEOs in 2023.

The message couldn’t be clearer. Healthcare leaders need to enhance their business acumen if they want to run successful practices without losing sight of the people they’re called to care for.

 

 

Is Business Acumen Essential for Healthcare?

Short answer? Yes. But let’s look at why.

When we talk about business acumen, we’re really talking about the ability to make smart decisions that keep the door open.

For healthcare leaders, this goes way beyond spreadsheets. It’s about seeing the whole picture: patient needs, team dynamics, financial sustainability, and the entire ecosystem of your healthcare organization.

And yes, this matters. A lot. In fact, the World Economic Forum clearly ranks business acumen as the No.1 skill every people leader needs, with almost 90% of chief people officers saying it is their top priority in the coming months and years.

While this data applies across industries, it’s no less relevant in healthcare. In other words, knowing how the business side works is no longer optional. It’s expected.

To put things in their proper perspective, without business acumen, you might provide great care, but would you be around to provide it next year or the year after?

 

How to Enhance Business Acumen as a Healthcare Leader

So, how can you enhance your business acumen as a healthcare leader? And no, you don’t need a four-year MBA. Here are practical tips that can work in your healthcare system.

Listen to Your Patients

Your patients aren’t just the people you provide with healthcare services; they’re also your customers. And you know the good thing about customers, feedback from them is gold for business development. So, listen to them.

Paying close attention to what your customers are saying helps you spot gaps in your services. Do they complain about access to telehealth? Perhaps some mention how hard it was to get a follow-up appointment. Insights like these help you fix processes, reduce complaints, and improve outcomes.

We saw a good example of this in 2024, when employers reported growing interest in expensive obesity medications, including GLP-1s. Tuning into patients’ conversations will tell you whether to expand your services in this area or not. It’s like using patient engagement to drive business strategy.

 

Take Specialized Courses

While listening to patients will give you insights into the direction your practice can take, alone, it’s not enough. You can take things a step further by considering a structured environment where you can learn the skills to do the business of healthcare better.

The good news? You don’t have to do another four-year course for this. There are accelerated online programs for working healthcare professionals that you can do to enhance your business acumen.

Take MSN-MBA dual degree online programs, for example. These programs teach you how to both oversee clinical operations and establish policies and processes for better patient care results.

What’s more? According to Spring Arbor University Online, programs like these give you two Master’s Degrees in just two years and five months. And you don’t have to quit your job, too.

You can also consider short courses or weekend workshops on healthcare finance for non-financial managers. In this case, the goal is not to become an expert but to ‘speak the language’ so that you know what to look out for when running a healthcare practice.

 

Find Mentors

Finding a mentor is a secret advantage that not many people use. These are people who’ve been where you are now and are where you want to be in the future. Of course, they’ve likely experienced some of the challenges you’re currently facing and are in the best position to tell you what to do.

Experiencing high turnover rates in your clinic? A mentor can tell you how to make them stay.

According to a 2024 study published in the Journal of Healthcare Leadership, healthcare professionals who participate in mentorship programs report increased leadership awareness, better coping with stress, and improved confidence as leaders. The benefits are self-explanatory.

 

Follow Industry News

One final way to stay on top of your business acumen skills is to keep abreast of industry news. Why? Because the world of medicine moves fast.

Take 2025, for example. Probably one of the biggest healthcare industry trends was artificial intelligence (AI). PWC even predicted that it will power the future of medicine, with 77% of healthcare executives making it a top priority investment for the near future.

Now imagine you’re not paying attention to industry news and don’t have this information. You’ll be left behind while others leverage AI tools to make data-backed decisions.

 

Bottom line? Stay on top of things. Even if it’s one solid newsletter, subscribe to it.

 

Building Your Business Acumen in Healthcare

Managing a healthcare facility is tough work. You’ve got to make sure that the numbers add up while at the same time, ensuring that patients get the best possible care. Enhancing your business acumen is one of the most effective ways to make this work. Hopefully, the points discussed in this article have shown you how to do just that.

It’s important to point out that this doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a slow and thoughtful process, but one that pays off at the end. The best way to go about it is to pick one strategy and work on it. Once you start seeing results, you move on to the next.

Your patients, your team, and your healthcare operations will thank you for it.

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