April 21, 2021
Search Results for: skills
April 15, 2021
Finance directors set out plans for truly remote workforces
by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace
A new global survey by CFO Research and Globalization Partners, claims that 81 percent of the CFOs who responded say their company’s long-term growth strategy includes international expansion, either currently ongoing or in their future plans. The survey also uncovered changing perceptions about hiring and remote work because of their pandemic experiences, with 85 percent of respondents indicating the ability to tap into a more cost-effective, global talent pool that is equipped with the appropriate skills would be desirable. (more…)
April 9, 2021
Lockdown mental fatigue is rapidly reversed by social contact, study claims
by Dr Christopher Hand, Greg Maciejewski and Joanne Ingram • Features, Flexible working, Wellbeing
Many of us are looking forward to a summer of relative freedom, with road-mapped milestones that will grant us more opportunities to see our friends and family. But we’ll be carrying the effects of months of isolation into those meetings, including a sense that our social skills will need dusting off, and our wits will need sharpening. The mental effects of lockdown have been profound. Social isolation has been shown to cause people’s mental health to deteriorate even if they have no history of previous psychological problems. Alongside this drop in mood, loneliness has been linked with a host of cognitive problems, including fatigue, stress and problems with concentration. (more…)
April 1, 2021
Employers report increased productivity benefits from homeworking
by Jayne Smith • Business, Flexible working, News
The productivity benefits of homeworking appear to have increased during the pandemic, with employers now more likely to say that the shift to homeworking has boosted productivity (33 percent) than they were in June 2020 (28 percent). This is according to new research by the CIPD, based on a survey of 2,000 employers and in-depth interviews with seven organisations in different sectors. (more…)
March 26, 2021
Business won’t be what we are used to, claims Microsoft trends report
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working culture
Microsoft. has announced its first-annual Work Trend Index. Titled “The Next Great Disruption Is Hybrid Work — Are We Ready?” the report claims to set out seven hybrid work trends every business leader must know as we enter a new era of remote work. The report suggests that business leaders should resist the urge to see hybrid work as business as usual. It will require the rethinking of long-held assumptions. (more…)
March 26, 2021
How On Earth launches The Human Organisation report, reshaping our thinking of the workplace
by Freddie Steele • Company news
As lockdown restrictions are eased and employees head back to the office a new report is calling for businesses to reinvent the world of work. The Human Organisation report highlights how the current workplace model is based on bureaucracy and hierarchy, which stifles employee empowerment and creativity. (more…)
March 19, 2021
We can design kindness into working life just as easily as unkindness
by Joanna Suvarna • Comment, Wellbeing, Working culture
If I were to suggest that organisations were designing their processes, policies and relationships with unkindness at the core, you would probably reject it as an illogical proposition, it just doesn’t make business sense. It goes against the grain and against the values that are plastered on the walls of so many organisations. But as counterintuitive as it may seem, in my opinion, many organisations have done just that, designed unkindness into the things they do, albeit inadvertently. But if they can do that, they can also design kindness in too. (more…)
March 19, 2021
Graduates concerned about the pandemic’s negative career impact
by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working culture
March 16, 2021
HR technology that doesn’t help employees may just disappear
by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Workplace
Human resources research and advisory firm Josh Bersin Research, claims that the biggest change in the HR technology market is the spread of HR applications into areas beyond payroll and employee administration to support a broad set of work activities. Other evolutions in the HR tech market include rising corporate determination to improve overall employee experience (EX) and the growth of HR tools designed for employees, not managers. (more…)
March 15, 2021
Serfs up for the self-employed and gig economy workers (and the middle class)
by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Working culture
One of the most significant consequences of the 2008 economic crash was a remarkable shift in the nature of employment. The recession led to a surge in the number of people categorised as self-employed. The numbers have been increasing ever since, albeit at a lower rate. By the end of 2019, the number of self-employed people in the UK exceeded five million people for the first time. Fifteen percent of the workforce. (more…)
March 11, 2021
Body language still matters when you are working online
by Agata Nowakowska • Comment, Working culture
Whether we’re always aware of it or not, body language plays a vital role in face-to-face discourse. In fact, over half of our effective communication comes via body language; that range of non-verbal cues that covers everything from facial expressions and gestures to posture and tone of voice. Meeting in person constantly draws on these signals, and we interpret them by instinct and via conscious analysis to guide the way we interact, frequently to help steer communication towards our goals. But nearly a year of lockdowns, remote working and general separation has challenged these norms, with video-based communication acting as a widespread, imperfect substitute. (more…)





















March 29, 2021
Mental health transparency at the top is the key to workplace wellbeing
by Elaine Carnegie • Comment, Wellbeing