Search Results for: working lives

October 3, 2023

Beady-eyed employee monitoring is also subject to data protection law

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is calling on organisations to consider both their legal obligations and their workers’ rights before they implement any employee monitoring in the workplace. With the rise of remote working and developments in the technology available, many employers are looking to carry out checks on workers. The ICO has today published guidance to help employers fully comply with data protection law if they wish to monitor their workers. (more…)

September 18, 2023

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

by David Sharp • Features, Technology, Wellbeing

“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…)

September 11, 2023

Is the workplace experience shaped more by maintenance or by design?

by Andrew Brown • Facilities management, Features, Workplace design

What has resilience got to do with the workplace experience? It is a word that has been used a lot recently as the great British public has demonstrated massive amounts of resilience in coping with Covid-19, fuel shortages, worries about food availability and a massive shift in how we work. So what is it? The dictionary gives two meanings: firstly the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, i.e. toughness. And then secondly, the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity – like nylon for example. (more…)

September 8, 2023

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

by Mark Eltringham • News, 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 5, 2023

Breaking eggs and a two thousand year quest to make the most of each day

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

The fracturing of time and place underlies every one of the great workplace issues of our time. Everything that springs from this – the where, when, how, what and why of work – is defined by the shattering of any fixed idea we may once have had of a time and a place to work. Because the challenge to these traditional ideas is now so inextricably linked in our minds with new technology, we might often forget that people have been asking questions about how we can get the most out of each day for thousands of years. Tempus fugit after all, and as a consequence we’ve always known that how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. (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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July 24, 2023

Should work help to define your identity? Perhaps, but first consider this…

by Dr Tracy Brower • Comment, Wellbeing

The last few years have put work at the forefront of our consideration as individuals and our discussions as a society. Globally, people are thinking consciously about their work, its meaning and its place in their lives. This focus will surely create the conditions for a great reinvention —a reset of how we work as well as where, when and for whom. Identity is an important part of the dialogue: Should work be central to someone’s identity? Is it healthy for work to occupy our focus? And how much is too much? (more…)

July 21, 2023

It is possible to balance the positives and negatives of stress at work

by Lisa Gunn • Comment, Wellbeing

Stress is an inevitable part of everyday life, and our bodies are hard-wired to respond to it. However, it’s clear stress takes a regular, negative toll on organisations across the country. Last year, 17 million days were lost due to stress, depression or anxiety, which accounted for 51 percent of all work-related ill health cases and 55 percent of all working days lost due to ill health. Poor mental health costs employers between £1,205 and £1,560 per employee, per year. Some of the main causes of stress in the workplace include mounting workload pressures, increased responsibilities, and a perceived lack of support from senior management. (more…)

July 7, 2023

Most people now at risk of poor mental health as a result of social exclusion

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

More than half of people in the UK have experienced social exclusion in the past year, leading to poor mental health and wellbeing, according to a new report from BUPA in partnership with ParalympicsGB. The poll suggests that 58 per cent of British people have felt excluded at some point in the past year – leading them to feel shut out when going about their daily life (28 percent), at work (27 percent) or within society (24 percent). Bupa’s survey also claims that 30 per cent of people have felt a negative impact on their general mental health due to their experience of social exclusion, with many left feeling isolated (41 percent), sad (41 percent) and anxious (33 percent). (more…)

June 28, 2023

Works roundtable explores the changing face of wellbeing and how to deliver it

by Mick Jordan • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design, Works Magazine

The first day of Clerkenwell Design Week also marked the first birthday of Works, and we celebrated with a number of industry friends at the Goswell Road showroom of Andreu World. Before we could enjoy a birthday drink, however, we had to earn it, and did so by hosting a panel discussion on the subject of Designing Wellbeing at Work. Together with our elite panel of industry greats – comprising Alice Aldous – Associate at Squire and Partners, Beatriz Gonzalez – Director at Scott Brownrigg, Chris Crawford – Studio Director and Senior Associate at Gensler and Alejandro Pardo – North Europe Area Manager for our generous hosts, Andreu World – we looked to lift the lid on the strategies used to foster wellbeing, productivity, and employee satisfaction in the workplace. (more…)

June 27, 2023

Understanding the power of mindset and what it can do for you

by Lisa Collinson • Business, Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace

An individual’s mindset influences everything that they do. Built around a set of established values, beliefs, and attitudes, your mindset frames your outlook and guides your behaviour, demarking your perceived limitations. It’s something that influences every area of our lives, from the relationships we form to the way we approach challenges and change. When you’re working with people, implementing policies, and trying to get the best from your available talent, it’s vital that you understand what motivates your team members – and what’s holding them back. Understanding mindset, its power, and how to change it, can be transformative on both an individual and team level. (more…)

June 27, 2023

Early detection of COVID-19 in the workplace

by Susanne Deissenberger and Alex Sauer • Company news

Most workplaces have returned to full operational capacity following the COVID-19 pandemic, with the majority of restrictions being lifted, much to the delight of staff. Unfortunately, the initial relief of newfound freedom has been short lived, as the relaxation of rules continues to result in surges of COVID-19 cases, forcing some production facilities to close down due to high levels of employee sickness. A Thermo Fisher Scientific manufacturing site in Erlangen, Germany, has managed to avoid this situation, thanks largely to the installation of air sampling equipment that flags any positive cases in its vicinity. This article describes how this early warning system allows individuals to test and self-isolate if necessary, and discusses how this has improved employee peace of mind and ultimately contributed to limiting the spread of the disease within the facility. (more…)