Flexible working time, once a perk for successful professionals, has gone mainstream. From June 30, the right to request flexible working will be extended to all workers in the UK. In a time where most…
Work is important, but so is fun.
Andrew Matthews/PA
In a world of iPhones and drones, people are right to wonder why they are still working so hard. The past century saw huge technological advances and yet there hasn’t been a corresponding increase in leisure…
How happy are you in your job? Very happy or very unhappy? New data suggests that the happiest workers in the UK occupy jobs in the clergy. The next happiest workers are CEOs, and “managers and proprietors…
Comedian Bill Bailey inspires people to work harder.
PA
Economists at the University of Warwick have found happiness increases productivity by around 12%. Andrew Oswald, Eugenio Proto and Daniel Sgroi carried out a number of experiments to test the idea that…
Can anger in the workplace be beneficial?
Image sourced from www.shutterstock.com
Anger has traditionally been considered an emotion to be avoided at work as it is often linked to a lack of personal control. Anger at work is often seen as unprofessional; an uncontrolled response linked…
A morning staff meeting gets underway in 2034.
Grathio
Mark Skilton, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
If Google chairman Eric Schmidt is to be believed, the automation of jobs will be the “defining” problem of the next two to three decades. At a debate at Davos 2014, he warned that the constant development…
There’s more to life than the hard slog.
kooklanekookla
The focus of conventional employment policy is on creating “more work”. People without work and in receipt of benefits are viewed as a drain on the state and in need of assistance or direct coercion to…
Psychological detachment can help you recover from work related stress.
Flickr/Stuart Pilbrow
Research has shown that the benefits of a holiday tend to last only two to four weeks. After that, you’re left just as burned out as you were before your holiday.
At this time of year it is difficult to ignore the image of Santa Claus or, as we still often call him in the UK, Father Christmas. His face is on billboards, magazine covers and TV adverts, looking to…
Body language can affect workplace morale.
massdistraction
A council in Western Australia recently prohibited negative body language such as shrugging, eye-rolling and sighing in the workplace, but a blanket ban on certain gestures is destined to fail. Body language…
Take your pick. Social scientists have got skills galore.
Erich Kesse
A report by the Campaign for Social Science is challenging some tired stereotypes about social scientists. As The i reported, social science graduates are defying the “layabout myth”. The report “What…
Those leaves won’t carry themselves.
Alejandro Soffia Vega
This year’s Conservative Party conference has reminded us incessantly that George Osborne and his fellow ministers are “for hardworking people”. This same slogan has also become popular among Labour politicians…
“Oh hi, Mike from accounts. I believe we have a 10.30 strategy briefing?”.
Honda News
Computers have been an important part of many industries for decades already and have replaced humans in many jobs. But a new wave of technological development means that even positions that we once saw…
Cancer is now the leading cause of death and disability in Australia. One in two males and one in three females living to the age of 85 in Australia receives a cancer diagnosis at some stage in his or…
The changing nature of the workforce means parental leave is increasingly important.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
Small businesses that invest in paid parental leave and other work-life balance programs are more likely to retain quality employees, a survey has found. Charles Sturt University’s Stacey Jenkins looked…
This is Canberera calling: Prime Minister Julia Gillard emphasises the importance of teleworking via videolink to a conference in Melbourne.
AAP
At yesterday’s Telework Conference at Melbourne Unversity, Prime Minister Julia Gillard — who delivered a speech via videolink — committed to a target of 12% of Commonwealth public servants working from…
It’s time to look closer at the value behind the work ethic.
Julian Smith / AAP
Accepting the Democratic nomination earlier this month, President Barack Obama said he was inspired by the spirit of “the auto worker who won the lottery after his plant almost closed, but kept coming…
Without volunteers, the Olympics would be a disaster. But will the “Games Makers” - the army of 70,000 Olympic and Paralympic volunteers - stimulate a spirit of volunteerism in and beyond London? Volunteering…