August 10, 2021

The reason we can’t stomach so many opinions on the future of work

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design

There’s a scene in the 1986 horror movie The Fly in which Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) persuades the reporter Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) to try two steaks, one of which Brundle has just sent between two teleportation pods in an effort to work out why they can’t process organic matter, including the organic matter belonging to a very unfortunate baboon. (more…)

August 6, 2021

Managers and workers have different perception of the future ‘employee experience’

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology, Working culture

A gap is emerging between executive and employee perceptions on the future of the ’employee experience’, according to a report from Gartner. The 2021 Gartner Hybrid Work Employee Survey of 4,000 employees in January 2021 claims that there are six perception gaps that employers must resolve. The Gartner survey claims that 75 percent of executive leaders believe they are already offering a flexible employee experience, yet only 57 percent of employees indicate that their organisational culture embraces flexible working. Further, nearly three-quarters of executives believe the business understands how flexible work patterns support employees, but only half of employees share this view. (more…)

August 4, 2021

No rush to get back to the office despite easing of restrictions

by Alexandra Anders • Comment, Flexible working, Working culture

Restrictions may have been lifted but there is no major rush for everyone to head back to the office. Many firms are being cautious about bringing employees back and the official government guidance is for employers to plan a gradual, safe return to places of work. Official guidelines aside, this doesn’t even start to factor in employees’ own attitudes to being back in the office. Certainly, there are plenty of people itching to be in and amongst the buzz of an office, popping out somewhere different each day for lunch and having that commute to distance work and home life. (more…)

July 28, 2021

Firms continue to underestimate employee turnover threat, study claims

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A new study from communications agency Zeno Group claims that businesses continue to underestimate the chances of an increase in employee turnover as a result of changing attitudes towards work. According to the survey, while companies often focus on addressing their disengaged or disgruntled groups, the study finds that 58 percent of satisfied employees in the UK now report being open to new opportunities, with many actively searching. In addition, those surveyed report their employers do not recognize this reality, with just 20 percent of respondents saying their employers think many workers are looking for new roles elsewhere. (more…)

July 23, 2021

The unshocking truth about work and workplaces

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design

I recently read an interesting little book called Office by Sheila Liming. It’s a small book, easy to read in a sitting and linked to a series of essays in The Atlantic. The author is a Professor of English so it’s no surprise to find that it’s beautifully written and draws on a range of sources to illustrate its points. It’s pretty sound on its own terms but also illustrates perfectly what is wrong with so many current narratives about work. The writing may not be clichéd but the thinking often is. (more…)

July 23, 2021

HRIS software sets out on a people-centric future

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Technology, Workplace

In the past, Human Resources Information System (HRIS) software was largely created with the needs of HR professionals and system administrators in mind. The future of HRIS however, is an employee-centric system which has been come to be known as an Employee Experience Platform (EXP). PeopleSpheres is an EXP that centralizes all HR functions within a single portal. With this tool, employees and HR teams alike can seamlessly navigate between the different HR applications within their organisation while being confident that they have the best tools on the market to manage each part of the employee life cycle. (more…)

June 30, 2021

Employees consider leaving jobs if health and sustainability expectations go unmet

by Jayne Smith • Environment, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Returning to the office is causing a growing rift between workers and managers according to a new report from NEXT Energy Technologies, Inc. The report claims most employees (74 percent) are willing to leave their jobs if existential issues like health and sustainability are not adequately addressed in the workplace. (more…)

June 30, 2021

The rise of the loveable leader: pandemic inspires new generation of compassionate leadership

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Heralding the age of a more compassionate type of leader, almost eight in ten (76 percent) UK business leaders consider their employees to be friends, not just colleagues, with three quarters (74 percent) admitting they want their employees to like them, claims new research from Michael Page. (more…)

June 29, 2021

Information findability problems impact companies’ bottom line

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Working culture

Over the past year, organisations experienced an increase in problems related to finding information, resulting in greater reliance on knowledge and information management tools than in previous years, according to a new survey by Sinequa and APQC. (more…)

June 25, 2021

Gen Z reject ‘right to work from home’ proposal

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working culture

Amid news that the UK government is mulling plans to grant Brits the right to work from home permanently, a new Clockwise survey claims that a majority of Gen Z workers would in fact prefer to work from an office. (more…)

June 22, 2021

Winning the war for talent in the post-pandemic world

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives

The Future Forum, a consortium launched by Slack Technologies, Inc., has released a new study that unpacks how 15 months of pandemic work has shifted employee expectations. (more…)

May 27, 2021

Workers report worse mental health following pandemic

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

St John Ambulance is to launch a new workplace mental health qualification as eight out of 10 (81 percent) workers say their mental health is worse or more variable as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. (more…)