November 15, 2021

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

Two 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…)

November 3, 2021

Business leaders wary that greater workplace flexibility could encourage ‘proximity bias’

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives

With the vast majority (86 percent) of UK businesses planning to offer employees greater flexibility around where they work, leaders are focused on ensuring employees feel included regardless of their location, according to new research from LinkedIn. This comes as LinkedIn has seen a 97 percent increase in remote jobs being advertised on the platform in the UK from September 2020 to September 2021. (more…)

November 1, 2021

The modern workplace is defined as much by digital space as the physical office

by Wilco Wijnbergen • Comment, Property, Technology

There are no prizes to be won for saying that the modern workplace is already markedly different from those we have known in recent decades. As remote and flexible working practices have become more common, the role of the office has already begun to evolve – the pace of change has been greatly accelerated by the pandemic, which has resulted in a rethink among many organisations about their real estate needs. (more…)

October 29, 2021

Workplace balance of power shifts in favour of employees

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace design

The workplace power dynamic has shifted in favour of employees, according to a new study released from BCW in partnership with Workplace from Facebook (now Meta of course). The inaugural International Workforce Insights Study (registration) reveals that more than half of all employees say they feel more empowered to influence change in their workplace compared to a year ago, including with their employer’s business strategy (54 percent), company culture (55 percent) and their work experience (59 percent). This feeling of empowerment is most pronounced among Generation Z and Millennials. (more…)

October 27, 2021

Hybrid working: too few companies are making the workplace changes they need

by Tony Antoniou • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

At a recent Women in Office Design event on the subject of hybrid working and workplace change, the founder of WOD Harsha Kotak posed a question which I thought was extremely important but often goes unasked. “Whilst I have a great understanding of how the workplace landscape will change”, she said, “are companies making these changes?” This is a brilliantly relevant question because in my opinion based on my research and experience of the past year and a half, not enough companies are. (more…)

October 20, 2021

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

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working culture

October 18, 2021

A safe and secure workplace as we emerge from the pandemic? Here’s how

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Promotion

As rush hour traffic returns to pre-pandemic levels and bosses call time on working from home, Stockport-based and photo ID card specialists Digital ID share a handful of expert tips to help formulate your plan, ease re-entry anxiety and safely manage employees and visitors on their return to a safe and secure workplace. (more…)

October 15, 2021

Millions of women lacking menopause support in the workplace

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

According to new research from Benenden Health, only a fifth of employees (19 percent) are aware of any kind of awareness or available support at work for when they suffer ill health as a result of the menopause. (more…)

October 1, 2021

Almost half of UK employees say workplace has negatively impacted wellbeing during pandemic

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

New research by Edays, who surveyed employees across the UK to determine the impact of the workplace on employee wellbeing, and changes to employee perceptions over the past two years, claim that 41 percent of the workforce feel that their workplace has negatively impacted on their wellbeing during the pandemic. (more…)

September 30, 2021

The truth about the workplace comes out of the well

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Property, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The debate about the workplace and the future of work gets more interesting by the week. In the last few days alone, I’ve listened in on three great speakers talking about the opportunities, challenges, nuances and complexities of it all in a way that has been all but impossible in the past 18 months. In addition, Nigel Oseland has published his new book on people-centred work. Jo Owen’s new book on hybrid working is similarly a breath of fresh air on that particular subject. (more…)

September 20, 2021

The four day week won’t necessarily help us cope with workplace stress

by Abigail Marks • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Scotland is to become the latest nation to trial a four-day working week, after the SNP government announced it was setting up a £10 million fund to enable some office businesses to cut workers’ hours without reducing their pay. Similar trials are underway in Ireland and Spain, following on from trials in Iceland several years ago. Some firms have also been experimenting with a four day week, while other nations such as Japan are encouraging their employers to think about it too. (more…)