Search Results for: sexual

Digital communication tools are a constant source of workplace strife

Digital communication tools are a constant source of workplace strife

A new poll of 4,000 knowledge workers in the UK, US, Germany and Australia suggests that digital communication tools are a constant source of strife in the workplaceA new poll of 4,000 knowledge workers in the UK, US, Germany and Australia suggests that digital communication tools are a constant source of strife in the workplace, especially between different generations of people. The poll from the Adapatavist Group, Mind the generational gap, was co-authored by Dr. Eliza Filby, a Historian of Generational Evolution. With half of companies now employing three or more generations, the report claims to reveal a pressing need for clear digital communication guidelines to support effective collaboration and workplace efficiency among diverse age groups. While highlighting areas of intergenerational friction, it also revealed large areas of mutual understanding and cooperation. More →

UNESCO study reveals evidence of regressive stereotypes in LLMs

UNESCO study reveals evidence of regressive stereotypes in LLMs

To coincide with International Women’s Day, a UNESCO study revealed worrying tendencies in Large Language models (LLM) to produce gender bias, as well as homophobia and racial stereotyping.  Women were described as working in domestic roles far more often than men – four times as often by one model – and were frequently associated with words like “home”, “family” and “children”, while male names were linked to “business”, “executive”, “salary”, and “career”. More →

How employers should navigate the ICO’s guidance on monitoring workers

How employers should navigate the ICO’s guidance on monitoring workers

As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, so does the prevalence of firms monitoring workers and the sophistication of the tools available to employers to monitor their staff's activitiesAs technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, so does the prevalence of firms monitoring workers and the sophistication of the tools available to employers to monitor their staff’s activities. Hand in hand with the increasing prevalence of workplace monitoring tools are concerns that their excessive use may infringe workers’ data protection and privacy rights. Employers must take heed of recent ICO guidance to ensure they do not fall foul of the law in pursuit of the hoped for benefits of workplace monitoring, such as boosting productivity and profit. More →

There is always time and place for a primal scream

There is always time and place for a primal scream

How many times have you felt – frustration, anger, irritation, smugness, pure happiness – and kept it to yourself? How many times have you felt – sadness, disappointment, jealously – and pretended you we’re fine? And how many times have you said out loud, or thought “I could scream”. Screaming to release emotion has its place in pop culture for a reason. It is one of the most relevant, intense and universal, communication signals for survival in humans, and since the 1960’s, Arthur Janov, a psychologist has been advocating the power of the ‘primal scream’ – a healthy way to let off steam. More →

Smart technology needs to start with people if it wants to get smarter

Smart technology needs to start with people if it wants to get smarter

A wood carving of a blank, slumped person sitting at a desk with a laptop to depict the dehumanization potential of smart technology“My engineering students had come to class with technology on their minds.” So says artist and design researcher Sara Hendren, author of What a Body Can Do: How we Meet the Built World. It’s a fascinating book in which she consciously pushes back against the prevailing narrative that so-called smart technology has a fix for every problem. As a professor teaching design for disability at Olin College of Engineering, Massachusetts, Hendren draws attention to the assumptions that drive normative behaviours to define what is a ‘problem’ in the first place. More →

‘People insight deficit’ puts firms’ reputations at risk

‘People insight deficit’ puts firms’ reputations at risk

New research from the CIPD exploring the quality of UK working lives suggests there has been a negative shift in how people think about and value their work. People insightThe CIPD is urging business leaders to have board-level HR representation or input to ensure there is the necessary expertise and ‘people insight’ to develop positive corporate cultures and manage workforce risks such as sexual harassment. This is the unsurprising message in a new report from the CIPD ‘The value of people expertise on corporate boards’. It claims just a quarter (25 percent) of FTSE 350 firms have a board member (both executive and non-executive) with an HR background, while only 2 percent have an HR director as an executive board member. More →

The ethics of AI, liveable cities, unf*cking work and how the office needs to be more like your home…

The ethics of AI, liveable cities, unf*cking work and how the office needs to be more like your home…

The cover of IN Magazine 12 featuring a woman working in a private booth in an officeIN13 is in production but you can see the digital edition of issue 12 of IN Magazine here. It continues to explore the most up to date topics for workplace managers and executives. Including: a look at the reality of liveable cities; why offices now need to offer people more privacy, peace and quiet; how firms need to address the challenges of the circular economy; a case study from the dynamic city of Ljubljana; David Sharp on the ethics of AI; Chelsea Perino on hybrid working; a critical review of Neil Usher’s new book; Marie Puybaraud of JLL in conversation; and much more. All back issues of IN can be found here. And why not check out Works Magazine and Work&Place Journal too. More →

People become chameleons to fit in with strong workplace culture

People become chameleons to fit in with strong workplace culture

People struggle to express themselves authentically at work because they feel a need to conform to the tenets of the workplace culture, Dame Inga Beale, the former and first female CEO of Lloyd’s of London, told ESCP Business School. Speaking on the school’s ‘We All Make Mistakes’ podcast to the host and Professor of Entrepreneurship Ben Voyer, Dame Beale said that companies with a strong traditional culture can be resistant to modernisation as new employees are either absorbed into the current culture, or decide to leave. More →

Toxic workplace culture impacting the mental health of almost half of workforce

Toxic workplace culture impacting the mental health of almost half of workforce

toxic workplaceTwo in five employees across the UK have experienced problematic behaviour, such as bullying, harassment or discrimination at work; with 42 percent confirming toxic workplace culture has impacted their mental health, according to research from Culture Shift. The study (registration) also claims over one third have felt silenced on issues that matter to them in the workplace, while 29 percent have taken time off due to an incident that happened at work, such as bullying, harassment, discrimination or sexual misconduct. A further 41 percent confirmed bad workplace culture has impacted their productivity and 42 percent have previously left a job due to negative workplace culture. More →

Toxic workplace culture impacting the mental health of almost half of UK’s workforce

Toxic workplace culture impacting the mental health of almost half of UK’s workforce

cultureTwo in five employees across the UK have experienced problematic behaviour, such as bullying, harassment or discrimination at work; with 42 percent confirming toxic workplace culture has impacted their mental health, according to recent research from Culture Shift. More →

Over a third of UK adults have suffered discrimination at work

Over a third of UK adults have suffered discrimination at work

discriminationNew research into workplace discrimination, commissioned by CIPHR, claims just how widespread employment bias is in the UK. On average, one in six people (16 percent) report having suffered ageism, one in ten (10 percent) say they have been the subject of gender-based discrimination (12 percent of women and 7 percent of men), and around one in twelve feel that they have been on the receiving end of prejudicial treatment because of a disability, their race or sexual orientation (9 percent, 9 percent and 8 percent respectively), at some point in their careers. More →

Majority of UK workers don’t want to go back to the office until everyone is vaccinated

Majority of UK workers don’t want to go back to the office until everyone is vaccinated

vaccinatedAs lockdown starts to lift, more people are having to think about going back to work as normal. That means commutes, offices, cafeterias, and face to face meetings. CPD Online College, surveyed over 1,000 UK employees to find out how they feel about returning to the office prior to everyone being vaccinated. More →