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1、INDEPENDEN T P U B L I C AT I O N BYR AC O N T EU R.NE T#082508/09/2022FUTURE OF WORKDO WORKCATIONS WORSEN BURNOUT?04HOW TO MAINTAIN GOOD LABOUR RELATIONS06MANAGING A TRULY GLOBAL WORKFORCE12R A C O N T E U R.N E T030 0/0 0/2020INDEPENDEN T P U B L I C AT I O N BY#0 0 0 0R AC O N T EU R.NE Ts the Co
2、vid pandemic recedes and many aspects of life return to normal,the debate around hybrid working has picked up.Despite many companies offering a balance of at-home and office working,there are still some business leaders demanding a full-time return to pre-pandemic habits.Elon Musk is perhaps one of
3、the highest profile to wade into the debate,demanding in an email to all staff that Tesla workers return to the office full time or resign.Politicians have also suggested that civil servants should be back in the office,with Jacob Rees-Mogg tour-ing Whitehall buildings and pub-lishing a league table
4、 of government departments based on how many staff are present.Other organisations are still experimenting to find the right strategy for them.Lloyds Banking Groups Work:Lab lead Tom Kegode,who advises the company on the future of work,is not sur-prised that disagreements remain over hybrid-working
5、arrangements.Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Developments Festival of Work conference in June,he said:“This isnot an endstate.We havent real-ised the future of work now that were starting to work in hybrid ways;that will continue to evolve.Now its about how we bring peo-plealong
6、 onthat journey.”Currently,a three-day office week is the most popular with British workers,according to datafrom workspace provider IWG,with Tuesdays,Wednesdays and Thursdays accounting for the high-est office footfall.However,allowing the day of the week to determine hybrid-working policy is the w
7、rong approach for businesses to take,according to Kegode.“Think about the percent-age of time you spend with other people and colleagues,rather than days of the week,”he said.Gary Cookson,author of the book HR for Hybrid Working,agrees.He said:“One thing I would strongly advise against is to be led
8、by days of the week and creating some arbi-trary split between two days in the office and three at home.You need to think about the tasks,the team and the way that team needs to work.”While some firms have focused on worker preferences,Cookson sug-gests that finding the right working environment for
9、 the current task should be the priority.Although individuals will have their own pref-erences and circumstances,which can be taken into account,he believes it is about“the task and the need of the task as opposed to the need of the individual”.A common reason cited by busi-ness leaders for a return
10、 to the office is the need to rediscover some of the creativity and collaboration that came from spontaneous in-person conversations in the office.But Kegode believes that too many organisations are fixated on finding“the panacea of productivity and creativity that was the water cooler”.Coming into
11、the office doesnt lead to collaboration in and of itself,he pointed out.“Its actually about com-munity and connection.If we get those two things right,collabora-tion will be as a byproduct of that.”Cookson also believes that notionsof the spontaneous water-cooler moment are a myth.He added:“It was t
12、he organisations design that allowed that to happen and the structure that brought two or more people together,doing jobs at the same time in the same place.We need to consciously design for those types of things.”One way business telecoms pro-vider Onecom is trying to do this is by bringing a socia
13、l element back to the workplace.People and culture director Parysa Hosseini-Sech said the company is“creating opportuni-ties for people to meet up that are slightly more informal”.She added:“Its not always got to be about a specific meeting or task,but just creating opportunities forpeople to get to
14、gether.It comes back to keeping people engaged andbeing productive.”The company has faced challenges in adapting to its hybrid-work-ing arrangements.Hosseini-Sech admits there were issues with peo-ple not communicating when they were going to turn up to the office before a formal hybrid-working stra
15、tegy was in place.As a result,Onecom has spent a year developing its agile-working policy.Kegode has also been exploring how Lloyds Banking Group can cre-ate a“bridge”between the physical and digital workplace.One idea is establishing regional communities that allow people who live in a similar area
16、 to come together more informally,rather than bringing everyone into a central office.He said:“We need to keep the best bits of remote working and lose the poor behaviours.It will never work if we start putting old work practices back into place.”Three tips for developing a hybrid strategy that work
17、sFUTURE OF WORKMany businesses are splitting the working week into two days at home and three in the office,or similar.But the best hybrid strategy is to focus on the tasks that need doing,rather than arbitrary rules around where people workMaryLou CostaA business writer whohas featured in The Guard
18、ian,The Observer,The EveningStandard,Business Insider,Marketing Week andothers.Morag Cuddeford-JonesA business journalist with more than 20 years experience of delving into evolving topics and covering major commercial and transformation issues.Cath EverettAn experienced journalist of 30 years,speci
19、alising in workplace,people and leadership issues,including what itmeans to be anethicalbusiness.Chris Stokel-WalkerTechnology and culture journalist and author,with bylines in The New York Times,The Guardian and Wired.Sam ForsdickRaconteurs staff writer,with particular interest in technology and th
20、e future of work.He has previously written for I-CIO,NS Business,PressGazette and the New Statesman.Distributed inSam ForsdickContributorsAdomas Aleno via UnsplashAOFFICE ATTENDANCE ALWAYS LAGS BEHIND COMPANY POLICYEmployee office attendance days per week,compared with company policyH Y B R I D W O
21、R K/future-work-Advanced Workplace Associates,2022Days in office policyActual average days in officeNo policy0.9 days2 days1.15 days3 days2.1 days2 or 3 days1.6 daysraconteurraconteur.storiesAlthough this publication is funded through advertising and sponsorship,all editorial is without bias and spo
22、nsored features are clearly labelled.For an upcoming schedule,partnership inquiries or feedback,please call+44(0)20 3877 3800 or email Raconteur is a leading publisher of special-interest content and research.Its publications and articles cover a wide range of topics,including business,finance,susta
23、inability,healthcare,lifestyle and technology.Raconteur special reports are published exclusively in The Times and The Sunday Times as well as online at The information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources the Proprietors believe to be correct.However,no legal liability can b
24、e accepted for any errors.No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior consent of the Publisher.Raconteur Mediaraconteur-mediaDeputy editorFrancesca CassidyEditorSarah VizardSub-editorChristina RyderChief sub-editorNeil ColeCommercial content editorsLaura BithellBrittany GolobRepo
25、rts editorIan DeeringDeputy reports editorJames SuttonDesign/production assistant Louis NassDesignKellie JerrardHarry Lewis-IrlamColm McDermottSean Wyatt-LivesleyDesign directorTim WhitlockIllustrationCelina LuceySamuele MottaCampaign managerCaitlin McLaughlinHead of productionJustyna OConnellAssoci
26、ate commercial editorPhoebe BorwellR A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F W O R K0504Leading cities for workcationsBased on 10 factors,including internet speed,monthly price of a flat and hours of sunshine1.Bangkok,Thailand.2.New Delhi,India.3.Lisbon,Portugal.4.Barcelona,Spain.5.Buenos Aires,Argenti
27、na.6.Budapest,Hungary.7.Mumbai,India.8.Istanbul,Turkey.9.Bucharest,Romania.10.Phuket,Thailand.11.Chiang Mai,Thailand.12.Madrid,Spain.13.Jakarta,Indonesia.The work-from-anywhere perk is evolving apace.So-called workcations are set to become increasingly popular,but how can employers ensure that these
28、 alleviate,rather than fuel,burnout?Going the extra mile for work/leave balanceW O R KC AT I O N Scompanies,giving themselves more time to pursue their passions.If travel is one of these and you also have young children,how to care for them properly while youre working abroad adds to the list ofchal
29、lenges.Carvalho co-founded Boundless Life in September 2021 to address that very issue.His business offers accommodation,childcare/education and co-working spaces in countries such as Portugal,Greece and Italy.While Boundless Life does attract corporate nine-to-fivers,it has built a significant foll
30、owing among self-employed people and entrepre-neurs who share Allisons discom-fort about leaving their nascent businesses unattended.“Being with us helps them to feel theyre in the right place to achieve a better balance with their families,while giving them more creativity to direct towards their w
31、ork,”Carvalho says.“Thats why entrepreneurs are attracted to this lifestyle.”While Carvalho is comfortable with the fact that his own lifestyle regularly blurs work and leisure travel,Wickes,Danyi and Allison are all conscious that a workcation could do the opposite of its intended purpose and actua
32、lly increase the risk of burnout.Its therefore crucial to establish strict work/life boundaries while taking one,according to Rowena Hennigan,an Irish national who runs her training and coaching busi-ness,RoRemote,from Zaragoza in north-east Spain.“Exhibiting self-discipline in your work,downtime an
33、d wellbeing mat-ters even more in this context,”she stresses.“To avoid the fear of miss-ing out,you need to know when youre working and when youre actually experiencing the location youve travelled to.”Hennigan believes that unrealistic expectations and blurred bounda-ries will inevitably cause tens
34、ion,making the experience unbalanced and,ultimately,counterproductive.Being clear about when youre an employee and when youre a travel-ler,she recommends,is the key to getting the maximum mileage from a workcation.Ecosia is a Berlin-based green search engine that allows its employees to work from an
35、ywhere for up to six months each year,although it encourages people to avoid flying wherever possible.Meanwhile,Pleo,a Copenhagen-based fintech unicorn specialising in expenses management,lets its staff work from anywhere indefi-nitely.Its flexible benefits pro-gramme even enables employees to buy a
36、n extra 10 days of annual leave.Ecosias chief marketing officer is Hannah Wickes,an Australian whos planning to work in Scotland and Portugal for the next two months.She sees the allowance as a way of rewarding people who may have been barred by Covid travel restrictions from visiting relatives and
37、friends overseas for the best part of two years.“This approach means that employees often want to combine their annual leave with a workcation and make the most of their travel time,”she says.“Its not uncommon for team members to spend up to two months a year taking advantage of our flexible policy.
38、”Pleos“people person”,Jessie Danyi,is“living and working around the world,one continent at a time”.Having spent April to July this year in Morocco,the South African is currently visiting rela-tives in Hungary.Next,she plans to return to Africa to spend six weekson the coast of Kenya.hotos of laptops
39、 perched on beaches and mountain-sides are popping up all over peoples LinkedIn feeds,illus-trating how working from anywhere(WFA)is fast becoming a signature benefit of the new world of work.The number of adverts for jobs offering remote work on LinkedIn and Indeed in the UK increased by 329%betwee
40、n January 2020 and March 2022,while the number of related searches leapt by 790%over the same period.In the first quarter of 2022,remote tax consultancy The Work From Anywhere Team published a survey of firms employing more than 2.7million people around the world.It found that 54%of respondents allo
41、wed WFA and a similar percent-age believed that this would become a core employee benefit in their industries within a decade.Half of those operating such a policy allowed staff to work from anywhere for more than 60 days a year.Thomas Barwick via GettyPMaryLou CostaAlthough the carefully curated Li
42、nkedIn posts glamorise the digi-tal-nomad lifestyle,anyone seeking a workcation will need to consider the more mundane realities of WFA.For instance,employees at Ecosia must first run their travel plans past their colleagues,particularly if theyre planning to be in a different time zone.Numerous pra
43、ctical challenges might deter would-be travellers.Danyi acknowledges that it can takea lot of effort to sort out visas,travel arrangements and suitably equipped accommodation.Finding a decent Wi-Fi connection takes pri-ority over admiring the scenery,for instance.Whats more,you are actu-ally working
44、 meaning that youre unlikely to get as much time to explore as you might have hoped.Not having a base or a local friend-ship network can also be exhaust-ing,she admits.“Travelling with work brings trade-offs on how adventurous you can be,”Danyi says.“If youre work-ing full time,that leaves mornings,
45、evenings and weekends,of course.Sometimes,if youve had a busy week,you just want to watch Netflix and catch up on your sleep.But maybe you need to drive to the near-est city to buy an ethernet cable because your Zoom calls are lag-ging,so you end up using your week-end for admin.”While she was in Mo
46、rocco,Danyi was able to gain a deeper apprecia-tion of the countrys culture,while also finding enough time for some surfing.Overall,she believes that the rewards of her experience there outweighed any downsides.Workcations might also be the only method by which self-em-ployed people,especially entre
47、pre-neurs starting a new business,can get away.Rachel Allison,who founded communications agency Axe&Saw in London in March 2021,recently spent a fortnight working from an Airbnb in Porto,where she enjoyed the local cuisine and also went surfing.Allison admits that it was tricky to get the balance ri
48、ght initially.But,once she managed to“nail it”,she reaped the benefits.“In the first week,I was putting in my normal hours on Zoom calls all morning,during lunchtime and even at 5pm.That left me feeling frustrated and frazzled,”Allison admits.“But I was keen to make things work.I became aware that u
49、sually theres not so much going on from Monday to Wednesday,so those were the times to get my head down.Once Id cracked that,my productivity rocketed.”Is a workcation an adequate replacement for annual leave?Not for Allison,who says that her time in Portugal“allowed me a rest during an extremely bus
50、y period for my business,which is still new.But a proper holiday would undoubtedly still be the best way to recharge.”Danyi believes that firms embrac-ing WFA will see more of their employees adopting a partial digi-tal-nomad lifestyle that follows theseasons.Brazilian entrepreneur Marcos Carvalho a
51、grees,predicting that more people will become auton-omous workers in decentralised To avoid the fear of missing out,you need to know when youre working and when youre actually experiencing the location youve travelled toCommercial featureusinesses are feeling the pressure to transform their ways of
52、working in an increas-ingly complex world.The pandemic accelerated the shift towards digital and automated tech-nology,and provided employees with more flexibility and freedom when it comes to how and where they work.The intensifying climate crisis has sharpened minds around how to oper-ate business
53、es more sustainably,and supply chain disruptions have raised the prospects of a shift away from glo-balised trade.Fundamental transformation“Every enterprise is going through a major transformation,and the skills their workforces are going to need in the next five to 10 years are funda-mentally diff
54、erent to the ones they have today,”says Ben Slater,senior vice-president of marketing at talent lifecycle management platform Beamery.“They may not know what those future job titles will sound or look like,but they do know the skills they will need.As such,the process around recruitment,talent devel
55、op-ment and talent planning for all firms must be centred around present and future skills rather than the specific job titles of the past.”Those skills range from digital pro-gramming and sustainability and envi-ronmental management,to emotional intelligence and written and verbal communications,to
56、 name just a few.Given increased competition and the emergence of skills gaps from basic digital knowledge to mechanical engi-neering and truck driving the chase for that much-needed future talent is heating up.Organisations therefore need to understand how they should obtain these precious skills d
57、o they hire new people,or develop their own employees?The answer is,of course,a bit of both.Identify and hire for potentialSlater says the first step businesses need to take is to identify what specific skills their business may need to compete in the future,and whether they already lie within their
58、 current workforce.To aid them,employers must replace out-of-date processes around talent identification.“The way people make decisions around talent and employ-ees is largely based on a set of heuris-tics tied to where someone was born,where they were educated,and their experience,”explains Slater.
59、Instead,he argues,hiring should be much more personalised,focus-ing on the skills every individual has today,and the potential they have to be something different tomorrow.This allows companies to deploy people more effectively across key projects,and understand where the need to invest in the upski
60、lling or reskilling of workers.AI-powered analyticsBeamery which works with a whos who of Fortune 500 companies is tackling this shortfall by utilising AI technology.Its talent lifecycle management plat-form helps its customers discover more about the skills of their existing employees as well as po
61、tential exter-nal candidates,and even alumni who have left the business.Beamery calls it“hiring for potential”.Using AI to enrich data and enhance the analytics,it helps organisations identify and engage internal and external candidates with the right skills and potential to become high performers i
62、n the future,and stay with the business for the long term.“Our AI-powered technology gives organisations a clear understand-ing of what someones skills are today.Moreover,based on those talents and their experiences such as the indus-tries they have spent time in and previ-ous companies they have wo
63、rked for it uncovers the skills they are likely to be able to learn,”explains Slater.“It allows organisations to see the pockets of skills they have and make decisions around the learning and development oppor-tunities they can offer to help upskill their existing talent.It also allows them to make
64、decisions around where they need to recruit externally if there are still gaps in their future skill needs.”The platform can also help organ-isations identify the skills in their current group of high achievers,and match those skills with candidates on the database.Engage and retain talent with pers
65、onalised career mappingBeamery also produces an AI-powered career map for candidates,showing them exactly what the organisation can offer them as they seek to build up their skills base.“It is like a Google Map for their career at the organisation.It allows businesses to offer a very person-alised e
66、xperience to people visiting their career websites,at recruitment events,career fairs and those already in their organisation,”Slater says.“The map can give candidates and man-agers a clearer understanding of the types of jobs they are capable of doing and can apply for,as well as learning and devel
67、opment opportunities.”Organisations today also need to be considering their alumni network and look for intelligent ways to re-en-gage and recruit top talent.“We can help businesses retain relationships with past employees.They can keep track of the new skills and knowledge that alumni have gained e
68、lsewhere,and recommend roles back at the old firm which might be a good fit,”Slater states.In doing so,organisations have unlocked another pool of top candi-dates for future roles in order to meet business demands.Netflix career experience Slater believes that the Beamery approach is beneficial for
69、post-pan-demic workers seeking a more con-sumer-style personalisation around their career and skill base;a kind of Netflix for your neurons.“Weve moved on from this linear concept of a job for life.Rather than a career ladder,people are seeking a career jungle gym,exploring new skills and trying dif
70、ferent types of roles.They also want their different styles to be acknowledged:there are those who enjoy collaborative working and those who seek deep thinking time.By using a more personalised approach,you can develop a very holistic picture of who someone is and how they might be suc-cessful in yo
71、ur company.”In short,the great resignation phe-nomenon figures from the most recent Beamery Talent Index,a quar-terly pulse survey of the talent market,suggests 53%are looking to move jobs in the next 12 months can be met head on by HR managers.“By focusing on skills and devel-opment,organisations c
72、an increase tenure,engagement and productivity,”Slater says.“You can get the best out of your employees and build your work-force of the future.”For more information please The skills revolution:shaping the future of workSkills have become the new currency for organisations that want to remain compe
73、titive in a rapidly changing world and build a productive,future-fit workforceB Weve moved on from this linear concept of a job for life.Rather than a career ladder,people are seeking a career jungle gym 25%75%79%of businesses are focused on investing extensively in talent across the lifecycle as th
74、eir key approach in the next 12-18 monthsthink talent decisions are better made based on data rather than instinctsay AI has the potential to transform how they approach talent in a really exciting wayTalent Trap,Beamery,2022CHARACTERISTICS OF A TALENT-FIRST ORGANISATIONTOP FIVE WAYS BUSINESS LEADER
75、S SAY HR COULD DO MORE TO SUPPORT THE BUSINESS STRATEGICALLYidentified this as the ability to identify and manage changing skills demandssaid this was the ability to upskill and reskill the workforcesaid access to high quality and timely talent data53%53%48%43%36%Increased focus on building a future
76、-fit workforceMore effective ways of identifying and filling skills gapsDigital transformation building organisations capacity for sustainable changeAddress talent data issues/use talent data more effectively to predict future Strategic partnering with leadership team51%48%44%Talent Trap,Beamery 202
77、2R A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F W O R K0706Commercial featurelimate change is no longer the elephant in the room yet while the goals are clear,there remains uncertainty about the best route to tackle it.In April,the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated it is“now or never”to limit
78、 global warming to 1.5C.In the interim,global governments and businesses of all sizes,and in all sectors,are evaluating whether they have the resources or talent to make their own net-zero ambitions a reality.But to turn net-zero aspiration into action,businesses require net-zero skills.This means b
79、ringing individuals together that possess the right com-bination of sustainability expertise,project management capabilities and business acumen.Defining net-zero skillsSo,what do I mean by net-zero skills?Naturally,a degree of sustainability lit-eracy is essential.This can be as basic as understand
80、ing the impact of recycling,or more advanced in the form of carbon accountancy one of the most desired skills on the job market today.Businesses need their people to understand how their own day-to-day actions impact the bigger picture and help or hinder progress towards climate goals.This is the mo
81、st critical global pro-ject for a generation and the road to net zero will be most smoothly Powerful relationships.Deploying soft skills or power skills as we label them to build and main-tain stakeholder relationships and ensure green projects continue to make headway throughout turbu-lent periods.
82、Navigating new ways of working.Ensuring net-zero progress is not hindered by external challenges or volatility such as the switch to working from home.Progress can be made in any environment.Businesses can benefit from imple-menting lifelong learning practices;for example,consistently upskilling or
83、reskilling employees of any seniority.This refreshes knowledge and adapts them to the latest challenges.But this can no longer fall into the one for next year category.At PMI,our PMP Certifications can form the first step in optimising an employees project skills.These foundations are ever more impo
84、rtant,especially as our Talent Gap report indicates employers will need to fill nearly 2.3 million new project-ori-ented roles each year until 2030.Engage young people nowWhile this process is applicable to every level of seniority,it is next-gen-eration talent those just starting their careers who
85、will be responsible for leading businesses through critical points of the net-zero journey over the coming decades.With green values now being pro-moted from primary school age upwards,young people are developing a sustainability-first mindset that will help them tackle climate challenges throughout
86、 their careers.This passion must also be layered with the right skills.By applying the Talent Triangle to junior career development,leaders can build changemakers those with the skills to turn ideas into reality throughout their businesses.When this process aligns with a communicative culture to enc
87、ourage employees of all levels to share their ideas,younger workers can make active contributions to the wider cli-mate goals of the business.Additionally,with sustainability talent at a premium on the job market,a new approach to skills acquisition is required.A LinkedIn global report published in
88、February predicted the desire to hire in green jobs will out-strip supply over the next five years.Businesses can get ahead by pivoting to create talent internally.Learn from past challengesA key practice we encourage at PMI is to learn lessons from past projects whether successful or not and use th
89、em to improve processes.While net zero is a unique challenge,we can certainly learn from how busi-nesses tackled digital transformation projects during the pandemic and urgently elevated the digital literacy of their employees.Overnight,the global workforce was able to transition to remote working a
90、nd deploy the necessary technology to maintain productivity.This is the kind of urgency net zero demands.Cross-industry collabora-tion was an invaluable tool in address-ing digital challenges and we wit-nessed large organisations working with SMEs to develop and rollout solu-tions to benefit all.Whe
91、n coordinating sustainability projects,managers should consider thinking laterally and opening their doors to industry peers in pursuit of a collective goal.Net zero is a global issue it cannot be tackled by organ-isations working in silos.Green skills and project skills are no longer separate for b
92、usinesses looking to progress towards climate goals.At PMI,we believe the below set of values are the next steps towards embedding sustainable practices into your business:Climate skills at the core.Integrating green skills into talent acquisition and internal upskilling programmes will ensure organ
93、isations develop sustainability knowledge thats embedded at all levels,avoiding silos and building a green-first culture.Climate in the culture.An organi-sations overall health depends on the health of the environmental and social system in which it operates.All employees,at all levels,should be enc
94、ouraged to suggest climate change initiatives.Climate in collaboration.Learn from different industries through collabo-ration.This also includes working with competitors for legitimate net-zero progress,pooling resources,capacity and skills.Read more about PMI,and how we can support you in deploying
95、 project management principles to address your business challenges,at pmi.orgtravelled by those with strong project management capabilities.Project management is at the core of net-zero skills.From stakeholder engagement and risk management to budgeting and success measurement,project managers have
96、the fundamen-tals required to integrate sustainability into the organisational fabric.Equally,those managing projects in other business areas such as IT must also consider from day one the environmental impact of their pro-cesses and deliverables.To make tan-gible progress towards climate goals,the
97、whole workforce must pull in the same direction.Refreshing employee trainingA business-wide focus on sustainability can only be achieved effectively with a skills refresh.Net zero is a modern challenge and brings new demands for skills that may not have been consid-ered even 10 years ago.At PMI,we e
98、ncourage partners to follow our Talent Triangle when evalu-ating the skills of their employees.As you can see below,this is also appli-cable to developing qualities that can enable progress towards net zero:Business acumen.A suitable under-standing of an organisations sustain-ability goals to recogn
99、ise how their day-to-day role can impact real-world climate challenges.Invest in net-zero skills to meet net-zero ambitionsEmployees must embed net-zero thinking into all projects,argues Keren Deront,European business lead at Project Management InstituteA business-wide focus on sustainability can on
100、ly be achieved effectively with a skills refreshCherever you look in the UK these days,it seems that theres a group of workers who are either on strike or threatening to take some form of industrial action.Travel disruption has been wide-spread as the country experiences its most significant rail st
101、rikes for a generation.Meanwhile,public sec-tor workers are becoming increas-ingly restless as the cost-of-living crisis worsens and their pay offers fail to match inflation.Such is the scale of discontent that its even leading to talk of a general strike.To exacerbate matters,the Bank of Englands w
102、arnings of a long and deep recession starting from Q4 2022 suggest that the situation is unlikely to improve for at least the next year.Kevin Rowan is head of organis-ing,services and learning at the Trades Union Congress.While he believes that headlines referring to There has been more industrial s
103、trife in the UK over the past year than weve seen in a generation.Whats the best way to prevent a breakdown in employment relations?Give peace a chancea summer of discontent have been“hyperbolic”,he does cite anecdotal evidence from both the unions and the governments Advisory,Conciliation and Arbit
104、ration Service(Acas)indicating that the number of active disputes,mainly concerning pay,is on the rise.“Without question,there has beenmore industrial action in the past 12 months than weve seen in a generation,”Rowan says.This upsurge in militancy has come as no surprise to David Liddle,founder and
105、 CEO of conflict-resolu-tion consultancy The TCM Group.In his view,the economic fallout from the Brexit vote and then the Covid crisis had been causing a“slow build-up of tension”in the years leading to Q4 2022.“The cost-of-living crisis and theinflationary pressure on wages have simply brought thes
106、e structural challenges into sharp relief,”he says.Liddle also believes that many employers had been taking good industrial relations for granted for instance,by neglecting to renew long-standing partnership agree-ments which has compounded the problem.Some companies have no such deals in place to u
107、pdate.These agreements are important because they set the ground rules for how business leaders and employee representatives,including unions,interact in both good times and bad.They will typically cover matters such as how often the parties should meet and how disagreements between them should be a
108、ddressed.As Mark Grimley,group director of people and corporate services at the government of Jersey,puts it:“If you havent set the foundations and the day-to-day things arent working,how are you going to deal with the trickier stuff?”Equally important in stopping dis-content from turning into a dis
109、pute is ensuring that effective communi-cation channels exist between front-line staff and senior executives.These channels enable information to be shared openly,which in turn fosters mutual understanding,trust and respect.“If the unions are coming to you with an issue and its the first youve heard
110、 of it,you have a problem,as it shows that youre not in touch with your front line,”Grimley warns.“In effect,youve outsourced your engagement with staff to the unions.They can play a very positive role.But,if youve abdicated responsibil-ity to them,theyll have that man-date without reservation.”Any
111、failure to build constructive relationships with either employees or their representatives is unlikely to engender trust in the leadership team,he adds.“If youre having to come out of your gilded cage for the first time to face workers in a dispute,no one will listen to you,”Grimley says.Trust also
112、forms the bedrock of effective talks.As Liddle notes:“If youre negotiating during a dis-pute and the parties are suspicious of each others motivations,theyll feel as if their backs are against thewall.Then positions will tend to get entrenched.”The best approach to a negotia-tion,therefore,is to be
113、accessible,open and honest.Keep the dialogue constructive and professional,rather than pointing the finger of blame and making things personal.Another secret to mastering the art of negotiation is to treat the process as if it were a high-level chess match,which means ensuring that yourplayers(autho
114、rised senior decision-makers)are well prepared.“Chess masters will plan carefully,be clear about the positions they want to take and study their oppo-nents so that nothing they do is likely to surprise them.But dont think that you have to win,”Grimley says.“Effective negotiation is about finding the
115、 positives in the situation for everyone.”For example,after listening care-fully to the other sides position and understanding what is of most and least value to employees,it may be possible to take a more creative approach than simply offering a per-centage pay increase.You could offer extra annual
116、 leave in return for certain productivity improvements,for instance.But executives must also be pre-pared to walk away from the negoti-ating table without issuing ultima-tums,which never work rather than do a deal at any cost,according to Grimley.And thats even in cases where industrial action is li
117、kely.“This doesnt signify failure.What youre saying by doing that is:Ive reached my limit and cant con-tinue,”he says.“There shouldnt be a blame game.Its simply about going away and allowing everyone to rethink their approach.”One way to avoid any potential deadlock is to hold informal discus-sions
118、with someone influential from the other side.Another is to involve a senior executive who has been held in reserve but who could bring new momentum to proceedings.A third option is to bring in an experienced third party,such as Acas,to mediate and get people back to the table.Ultimately,Rowan says,t
119、he only real way to end any dispute is to“talk to each other and keep com-municating”.This is ideally done out of the public eye,as“Ive never seen any conflict resolved through the media”.Once a resolution has been reached,though,its important for everyone involved to learn from the experience and t
120、ry to repair any damage to the relationship.“Most people,whether theyre employees or employers,want good relations,so its important to explore what went wrong and consider how to prevent a recurrence,”Rowan stresses.“But having a regular dia-logue and tuning into each others situations will also go
121、a long way towards solving any problems.”If the unions are coming to you with an issue and its the first youve heard of it,you have a problem,as it shows that youre not in touch with your front lineCath EverettWI N D U S T R I A L R E L AT I O N SThe UK has been hit by the biggest wave of industrial
122、 action in decadesGuy Smallman viaGetty ImagesUNION COVERAGE IN THE UKShare of UK employees whose pay and conditions were agreed between an employer and trade unionGOV.UK,202220000202021Public sectorPrivate sector16.1%16.6%15.4%16.1%15%15.3%14.7%15.1%13.7%13.7%67.8%6
123、3.7%63.7%60.7%60.7%59%57.6%58.9%60.1%57.1%58.2%17%R A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F W O R K0908 Diversity is a cornerstone of progress in the workplace,and there are various business cases to be made in support of getting under-represented groups into the workforce.But most importantly,when lef
124、t unaddressed,workplace diversity gaps perpetuate acycle of inequality.That makes addressing diversity animperative for forward-thinking firmsIN THE WORKPLACEDIVERSITYGlassdoor,20212in3job candidates seek companies that have a diverse workforceMeasure Protocol,202161.8%of UK employees believe workpl
125、ace diversity has improvedDIVERSITY,EQUITY AND INCLUSION(DEI)PROGRAMMES WORLDWIDEShare of employees with access to a DEI programme at work by select countryFIVE AREAS OF EQUALITY IN THE UKUK53%USUK employee satisfaction with employers policy in different areas of diversity (scale 0 to 5)DEI PROGRAMM
126、E GOALSMost important elements of a DEI programme for employees worldwideDEI PROGRAMME OUTCOMESMost important outcomes of a DEI programme for employees worldwideUKIrelandNetherlandsSpainSwitzerlandItalyDenmarkSwedenBelgiumGermanyNorwayFinlandAustriaFrancePolandEmployers diversity policyGender equali
127、tyAge equalityDisability equalityLGBTQ+equalityEthnic equality44%54%Spain35%France32%Netherlands36%Italy36%Japan20%China20%Australia44%CanadaGermany33%0Statista,2022Statista,2022Dynata,2022Dynata,2022Regular structured reporting to internal or external committees/agenciesProgrammes to hel
128、p workers identify unconscious bias and/or learn about systematic barriers to equalityRecruiting new talent from a wide variety of sources to ensure more diverse candidate poolsFostering inclusion and a sense of belongingFair compensationUsing input from diverse workers to create better strategies37
129、%34%34%66%65%60%DIVERSITY AMONG THE LEADERSHIP HAS BEEN STAGNANTShare of representation in leadership teams in the US and UKBoardExecutive teamWomen24%14%14%12%15%16%14%Ethnic minorities24%McKinsey,202020172019DIVERSITY PROGRAMMES ACROSS EUROPEMean satisfaction with employers diversity policy by sel
130、ect country (scale 0 to 5)R A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F W O R K1110A GROWING INTEREST IN APPRENTICESHIPSNumber of people participating in apprenticeships in England(thousands)Commercial featurets no secret that champi-oning women in the work-place brings tangible busi-ness benefits.But,as o
131、rganisations make the shift towards hybrid work-ing models,womens needs may be underestimated.Despite a proven ability to deliver professionally within male-dominated sectors,many female employees still struggle,particularly in leadership roles.The ability to be heard,influ-ence change,and advocate
132、for their well-being continues to be a significant stumbling block.“Increasing levels of burnout and a lack of tailored support when it comes to womens progression is leading to decreasing job satisfaction.This is all amplified by a disrupted work-life bal-ance and a lack of internal network,as our
133、ways of working have become increasingly hybridised”warns Ella Vize,head of academy and learning programmes at AllBright.Vize describes a Venn diagram that converges on what many female employees view as a problem for which resignation is the only clear solution.If left unchecked,businesses risk sto
134、king the flames of the Great Resignation,or the quiet quitting phenomenon.“On the flip side,were seeing busi-nesses who invest in womens upskill-ing and community-building,and who understand the unique challenges women can face really turn things around.Organisations have to wake up to it and commit
135、 to change,or theyre going to lose a huge portion of their workforce”Vize continues.Deloittes WomenWork 2022:A Global Outlook report found wide-spread burnout among female staff post-pandemic.A need to seek out flexible working patterns has meant leaving otherwise established roles,with 40%of women
136、actively looking for a new role due to burnout.As of 2022,only 10%plan to stay with their current employer for more than five years.Remote working has meant that many women have lost vital sup-port networks.There is a demand for The tipping point for women at workA new landscape of hybrid work means
137、 businesses must address a need for community and networking to close the gender gap or risk losing their most valuable resourcebusinesses to help women connect,upskill and thrive,in person and online.“The ability to get together and share ideas and advice,to know that there are groups of people you
138、 can reach out to,is a very powerful tool in help-ing women rise to the top,”says Vize.“In 2022,the hybrid working model has a great many benefits but one of the drawbacks has been a difficulty in re-establishing those networks.”A significant cohort of women between the ages of 45 and 55 are increas
139、ingly vocal about the lack of support from their employers.Making up the largest workforce demographic,these women are likely to be highly experienced,occupying vital senior leadership roles.The threat is clear,a great resignation here could prove dis-astrous for business stability.Many companies ar
140、e starting to take an active role in supporting this key group,looking to suppliers such as AllBright to deliver formalised training and community resources to support their female workforce in every area of the business.The newly launched AllBright Alliance is a global coalition that brings these b
141、usinesses together.Members receive access to exclusive research,insights and events as well as workshops,membership packages and communi-ty-building opportunities,tailored to championing women in the workplace.“AllBright is all about driving change through upskilling,networks and com-munity,and AllB
142、right Alliance brings those things together for our partner organisations.Employers who join will be part of a powerful community its an opportunity to foster real,lasting change”,Vize concludes.This investment allows businesses to meet their goals for success and equity whilst providing stability f
143、or women and the organisations they work for.Members will also be entitled to the BrightMark certification,signifying their commitment to current and pro-spective employees.A badge of honour in the ongoing war for talent.To find out more about certification,training,and membership opportunities,visi
144、t have to commit to change or theyre going to lose a huge portion of their workforceIBUSINESSES STRUGGLE TO RETAIN FEMALE EMPLOYEES UNDER HYBRID WORKING MODELSof women are more stressed than they were a year agoreport feeling burned out53%46%10%1in10of women are planning to stay at their current bus
145、iness for more than 5 yearswomen are actively looking for a new role42%worry that their career progression will be affected if they are not constantly available45%of women in hybrid roles feel that they do not have enough exposure to leadersDeloitte,2022ens of thousands of A-level students missed ou
146、t on their first-choice university courses this year.Competition for places in the clearing system was tougher than it has been in living memory,while even high achievers had their dreams of studying medi-cine and dentistry crushed.Only 16%of applications for these popu-lar courses were accepted.Eve
147、n though employers view some degrees as being of limited value in the workplace,the burden of under-graduate debt keeps growing.The government has estimated that uni-versity students in last years intake will each borrow about 45,800 onaverage before they graduate.So its hardly surprising that the r
148、eceived wisdom in the UK that university is the natural progression for most able students is now being challenged.Rising to fill the gap are appren-ticeships.Once dismissed by stu-dents,parents and employers as inferior to degrees,work-based vocational programmes that culmi-nate in a degree-level q
149、ualification are becoming more popular.Could the UK finally be losing some of itsacademic snobbery?with“business-critical skills”in a tight labour market.“Our programmes are key to bring-ing in diverse talent.They result in apprentices who are fully fledged members of their teams and have real respo
150、nsibility,”Jagatia says.The idea that apprenticeships pro-duce employees who tend to have a little more initiative than the aver-age graduate recruit,who will have spent years steeped in academia,is widely accepted among employers that take on apprentices.“The great benefit of apprenticeships is tha
151、t participants dont justlearn techni-cal skills.They build professional skills and work-readiness at the same time,creating well-rounded talent,”OHara-Hatchley says.Sara Gomez,chief people officer at Lloyds of London,agrees.“Most of our apprentices are from Gen Z.Theyre often more interested in,and
152、informed about,sociopolitical,technological and environmen-tal issues than previous generations were at their age,and they want to make a tangi-ble impact as soon as possible.”Enabling apprentices to sample academia(many schemes require them to attend college or university one or two days a week)whi
153、le also earning a salary is a key benefit of such programmes.Employers report that participants view estab-lishing some financial security rather than running up debt on a full-time degree course as a big plus.But the ability to establish their own employee brand early on is another major attraction
154、 to apprentices.Ian Levers,technical excellence portfolio manager at engineering consultancy Mott MacDonald,describes how one of his apprentic-es has grasped the opportunity.“Apprenticeships really are what you make of them,”he says.“Our apprentice has done exactly this,taking on new challenges,appr
155、enticeship standard,will build true home-grown talent.”Many companies offer apprentice-ship schemes running from level 3,which is equivalent to two A-level passes,through to level 7,which is considered comparable to a masters degree in disciplines such as accounting.They also support a learning path
156、 that leads to the many accreditations required by certain sectors.Taking insurance as an example,Lloyds of London offers a level 4 professional apprenticeship,which is an important step towards the Chartered Insurance Institutes diploma qualification.It also offers a level 6 digital and technology
157、solu-tions professional standard,which incorporates a BSc honours degree.Meanwhile,Vodafone offers quali-fications at levels 3,4 and 6 in fields such as software engineering,data analytics and network engineering.Leading Vodafone UKs apprentice-ship schemes is its talent and capa-bility manager,Asha
158、 Jagatia.These schemes are“fundamental”,she says,given that the company often finds it difficult to recruit people Apprenticeships have long been seenas poor substitutes for university courses,but that attitude is changing.Work-based programmes leading to degree-level qualifications could be the key
159、 tosolving the UKs skills crisisVocation,vocation,vocationMorag Cuddeford-JonesEmployers are certainly coming to view apprenticeships as an effective way to meet the evolving skills needs of their fast-changing work-places,especially if they can get involved in designing such schemes.They include Fo
160、rmula One team McLaren Racing.“Apprenticeships are now being developed by industry to ensure that they are relevant to todays technology and practices,and to align them with future skills require-ments,”says McLarens head of diversity,early careers anddevelop-ment,Kate OHara-Hatchley.“Companies can
161、therefore create uniqueapprenticeship programmes that,incombination with the The great benefit of apprenticeships is thatparticipants dont just learn technical skills.They build professional skills and work-readiness at the same timedeveloping herself and raising her profile on LinkedIn to grow her
162、internal and external networks.She was named Apprentice of the Year 2021 by the Royal Institution ofChartered Surveyors clear evi-dence of whats achievable with agrowth and learning mindset.”Levers adds that apprentices are also important in bringing new per-spectives to the business,which can learn
163、 from them too.“They add significant benefits to their teams through fresh,innovative ideas that may challenge industry norms.”While there has been a significant increase in the number of students exploring this route instead of university,it is widely agreed that apprenticeships are proving particu
164、-larly useful in both attracting people who have traditionally been exclud-ed from higher education and diver-sifying the talent pool generally.“Given that university isnt an option for everyone owing to the cost,apprenticeships are an inclu-sive route,”OHara-Hatchley says.Her company runs a diversi
165、ty,equity and inclusion programme called McLaren Racing Engage.This is an alliance with the Womens Engineering Society,EqualEngi-neers,Creative Access and The Smallpeice Trust to attract people from under-represented groups into the motorsport industry through long-term investments in grass-roots in
166、itiatives and schemes such as mentoring programmes.Gomez reveals that 30%of Lloyds intake this September will be people from ethnic minorities(“above the market average”),while 27%will be applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds.This is not pure altru-ism,she stresses,adding:“We need curious minds
167、from diverse back-grounds,so were looking for people with fresh perspectives and the confidence to share them.”A range of government support packages are on offer for employers seeking to provide apprenticeships.Chief among these is the apprentice-ship levy,which is funded by a 0.5%tax on the wage b
168、ills of companies with annual payrolls above 3m.The levy has changed how HR teams“deploy their talent strate-gies”,according to Gomez.“It can be used to attract and retain talent,providing a breadth of opportuni-ties across a range of fields.It can be used to help entry-level talent devel-op both so
169、ft and technical skills,while also increasing the func-tion-specific expertise and future management skills of existing staff.”But,as with many government schemes,the system does not yet work as smoothly as it should.Crit-ics complain that its complexity is deterring employers from partici-pating.Mo
170、re than 3.3bn in levy funding has been returned unused to the Treasury since 2019.And what of all the disappointed would-be students of medicine and dentistry?Surely apprentice-ship schemes cant compete with university courses there?Not so.InJuly,Health Education England announced a new medical degr
171、ee apprenticeship offering the same standard of education as that pro-vided by a university course.Welcoming the development,Jen-nifer Coupland,CEO of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education,neatly sums up the rise of apprenticeships in recent years.“For many,seeing that an appren-
172、tice can become a doctor will be a big surprise,but employers are driv-ing a change in the way we think about skills in this country,”she said.“Not everyones journey to career success has to be the same.”A P P R E N T I C E S H I P STApprentices add significant benefits to their teams through fresh,
173、innovative ideas that may challenge industry norms800600400200House of Commons,20222002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21Hinterhaus Productions via GettyR A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E
174、 O F W O R K1312Some of the advertisers in this report will generate over 200 leads thanks to Raconteurs integrated print and digital campaigns.Email to plan your campaign now.Print media cant generate leads.WWr ro on ng g.DIGITAL NOMADSLeading factors in choosing a working location worldwideHow to
175、manage a globally distributed workforceW O R K F R O M A N Y W H E R Ehe world of employment has rarely seen such tumult in such a short period.The pandemic has upended the job market and forced employers to adopt practices that many would have dismissed out of hand before 2020 particularly remote w
176、orking.For some,that has meant adopting a hybrid approach,allowing employ-ees to work a day or two at home each week.For others,it has required a far more profound shift.Companies that have embraced a fully remote model have expanded the pool of talent available to them,competing for candidates who
177、may not be based in the same country as their employer,let alone within a commutable radius of head office.Indeed,the emergence of the work-from-anywhere policy has attracted great interest among white-collar workers who were freed from their daily commutes during the Covid lockdowns.The number of s
178、o-called digital nomads people working remotely while travelling rose from 7.3 million in the US before the Covid crisis to 15.5 million in 2021,according to research by HR software specialist MBO Partners.If your organisation has decided that building a distributed work-force that spans several tim
179、e zones is worthwhile,its clearly not just a case of ensuring that everyone has a stable internet connection.There are several hurdles to overcome to assemble a global dream team and run it smoothly,although these are far from insurmountable.“British enterprises that employ people who are living and
180、 working overseas must consider a raft of potential non-UK obligations,”says Lee McIntyre-Hamilton,tax partner at Keystone Law.He calls this“an employer compli-ance minefield”,largely because theres no one-size-fits-all solution.Regulations applying to pay,bene-fits and taxation will differ from cou
181、ntry to country.The more dis-tributed your team is,the more com-plex the situation is likely to be.McIntyre-Hamilton points to India and Canada,where foreign firms must register with the tax authorities and operate a payroll in those countries.“This applies irrespective of whether the UK employer ha
182、s a corporate presence there,”he says.You might think that regulatory compliance should be less of a chal-lenge if your workers are living in the EU.Not so,he says.British employers hiring residents of any EU member state must register to contradictory to,those they would have in the UK.For Jessica
183、Nordlander,formerly aGoogle employee and now serving as the COO of Canadian tech firm ThoughtExchange,the prime con-sideration for business leaders should be how to establish an effec-tive digital working environment.“The reason why so many compa-nies are struggling with this is that the people resp
184、onsible for designing our digital workplaces arent the same people who designed our phys-ical workplaces,”she argues.ThoughtExchange is a fully remote organisation and has worked hard to create a digital workplace where all employees can thrive.For instance,the company decided to limit the number of
185、 software packages it uses to avoid tech fatigue among staff.“The reality is that the working world is becoming increasingly remote and hybrid.More and more organisations are going to look like this.”Thats the view of Brian Kropp,chief of HR research at Gartner.He believes that companies should plan
186、 to have between 20%and 25%of employees fully remote,between 55%and 60%working on a hybrid basis and the remaining 15%to 25%purely office-based.operate a payroll in that country,including paying the relevant social security contributions.“This can come as a shock to UK firms that expect to pay Natio
187、nal Insurance but then find that theyre required to make substantially higher social security contributions in countries such as France,”McIn-tyre-Hamilton says.And its not just the taxman you need to appease in each jurisdiction.“There are also immigration consid-erations.For instance,does your emp
188、loyee have the right to live and work in the country in question?”He adds that its possible for work-ers to inherit employment rights in their country of residence that could be different from,or even Such a mix creates more for HR teams to do in addressing these employees varying requirements,notes
189、 Kropp.“HR executives will have to address the question:How do I make this workforce work?”Being more proactive in every ele-ment of HR management is vital,he stresses.Positive interventions might range from checking in regu-larly with remote workers to stimu-lating the conversations that people eng
190、age in outside the confines of their work.For that reason,Kropp suggests allocating some of the money saved on office space to funding occasion-al face-to-face meetings at HQ,including the cost of flying employ-ees in from abroad.“One or two days every six months is more than enough in-person intera
191、ction to build those connections,”he says.Many people believe that a global-ly distributed workforce,contacta-ble only through digital means,cannot possibly form a cohesive organisational culture.That simply isnt true,according to Nordlander.“It frustrates me when I hear the argument that its imposs
192、ible to col-laborate and build a culture in digi-tal environments,”she says.“If you were to ask any gamer,Im pretty sure theyd say that its possible to work really well with people across the world whom youve never met.”Nordlander adds that sceptics have taken her to task at conferences where she ha
193、s extolled the virtues ofa globally distributed workforce.They ask how her approach to work-ing can help graduates fresh out of university to develop the interper-sonal skills that will be crucial in their careers.Her response?That this can be achieved through a men-toring scheme in which each new r
194、ecruit is paired with a compatible experienced employee whom they will meet regularly online.“The employer must take a much bigger responsibility for facilitating those social interactions,compared with what happens in a physical environment,”Nordlander explains.Dan Hughes is director of interna-tio
195、nal research and development at Talogy,a provider of HR services.He stresses the need to find“a variety of ways to transmit your culture and values to all employees,regardless of their working arrangement”.“When thinking about your cul-ture,consider how to implement this across all settings and incl
196、ude every employee,”he says.“For example,if youre trying to develop a more innovative culture,dont simply create a brainstorming room in the office and then call it a day.Find a solution that will engage distributed workers as well.”That approach needs to be led from the top,Hughes says.“Many leader
197、s need to adapt to having a more distributed workforce,adjust-ing their leadership style and ways of communicating accordingly.”Finally,he adds that managers must beware of the risks of proximi-ty bias,whereby they favour employ-ees who are physically close to them over those working remotely.Work-f
198、rom-anywhere policies have enabled firms to recruit the most talented people,no matter where in the world theyre based.But getting the best from these remote workers is a different challengeTChris Stokel-WalkerIf you were to ask any gamer,Im pretty sure theyd say that its possible to work really wel
199、l with people across the world whom youve never metHR executives will have to address the question:How do I make this workforce work?WHERE IN THE WORLD TO WORK?Most desired relocation areas to work remotely full time,worldwide28.7%8.2%1.5%23.2%18.2%5.7%0.3%14.2%56%15%11%9%3%EuropeSouth AmericaAfrica
200、AsiaNorth AmericaAustraliaAntarcticaSame continent you currently live onCost of living and fast,accessible internetSafety(crime,environmental safety)Access to outdoors and natureDigital nomad-friendly visa situationCafe/coworking cultureCapRelo,2021A Brother Abroad,2022NASA via UnsplashR A C O N T E
201、 U R.N E TF U T U R E O F W O R K1514Should employers show wage restraint to help stem inflation?peaking on Good Morning Britain in June,deputy prime minister Dominic Raab warned that wage restraint would be necessary to avoid“a vicious cycle of inflation going upand staying higher for longer”.Simil
202、arly,Andrew Bailey,the gov-ernor of the Bank of England who is himself on a 575,000-a-year sal-ary has repeatedly asked workers to“think and reflect”before asking for pay increases.It all stems from a concern that additional salary costs would be passed on to consumers,which would push inflation eve
203、n higher.But with the consumer price index reaching 40-year highs,this will be a bitter pill to swallow for many UK workers.When adjusted for inflation,real wages fell by 3.4%in April compared with the previous year.This represents the biggest drop in earnings in real terms since more heavily on the
204、 minds of many workers than the opinions of politi-cians and technocrats.”He admits that“most contracts of employment reserve a wide discre-tion to award whatever pay rise an employer thinks is fit or no pay rise at all”.There remains the risk,how-ever,that employees who do not feel properly compens
205、ated will seek employment elsewhere.Adding to this challenge is the wider labour market which,due to a combination of record high vacancy rates and low levels of unemploy-ment,is extremely tight right now.Steve Tonks,senior vice-president for EMEA at employee management platform WorkForce Software,r
206、ec-ognises that employers face a diffi-cult choice.“They either increase employee wages when many busi-nesses themselves are only just beginning to recover from pandem-ic-induced losses or they risk los-ing staff to higher-paying employ-ers,”he says.Some companies have sought alternatives that recog
207、nise the chal-lenge many people face now,while also being conscious of the ongo-ing business costs.For example,following action from Unite,Lloyds Banking Group has offered 95%of itsstaff a one-off payment of 1,000 to help them handle the rising costs of living.Similarly,publisher Bloomsbury will rew
208、ard staff with a 6%bonus,following record annual sales.In these instances,the advantage of offering a one-off bonus means that employers are not locked into pay-ing higher wages the following year,should inflation or their profits come down again.Tonks suggests that earned wage access a payroll sche
209、me that allows employees to access their pay as soon as theyve worked the hours could be another way to alleviate pay pressures.He adds:“Although increasingly important in todays climate,pay is not theonly consideration for many employees.Considering the overall employee experience is a way to retai
210、n staff when pressure on wages is high.”So,while some employers might be conscious of adding to the cur-rent inflationary pressures,many economists believe that wage restraint is not the right course of action currently.Equally,unless some form of support is offered to employees,the consequences of
211、losing staff to higher-paying com-petitors may end up being a bigger(and just as costly)challenge.saying that suppressing wages is“the exact opposite of what is needed in response to this current wave of inflation”.Instead,they suggest the government should“use all the tools at its disposal to hold
212、down energy costs,clamp down on excess profits,and unblock global supply chains”.But not all businesses are seeing record profits now.Most of those profits(90%)were concentrated in 25 companies,many of which are in the gas or commodities markets.“For companies that are seeing increased profits,the a
213、nswer is clear:they should be passing those benefits to their employees and bringing their prices down,”Dibb says.“For companies that arent,I understand theyre in a very diffi-cult situation and there are no easy answers.I think the question then becomes a political one:how to get out of this inflat
214、ionary period with-out seeing the economy tick over into a recession and seeing these businesses collapse.”Calls for wage restraint from the likes of the prime minister and the governor of the Bank of England may provide some form of justifica-tion for employers seeking to limit pay rises.But James
215、Willis,head of employment law at Stevensdrake Solicitors,warns:“Legitimate con-cerns about the looming cost-of-living crisis are likely to weigh much could push prices higher if they dont exercise wage restraint,Dibb believes two factors show that this is not yet a risk.First,when measured against i
216、nflation,wages are at a low ebb and falling at their fastest rate in more than 20 years,and IPPRs research reveals that the profits of the largest non-financial companies were up 34%at the end of 2021 com-pared with pre-pandemic levels.“When prices are going up,profits are going up and wages are goi
217、ng down,that translates to a transfer of wealth away from working people and towards shareholders,and we dont think thats fair,”Dibb adds.“Wage restraint may be a concern in the future but not at the moment.The most pressing thing that we need to worry about right now is profit restraints.”Many lead
218、ing economists agree.In June,65 academics wrote a letter to prime minister Boris Johnson,As inflation continues to climb,Bank of England officials andgovernment ministers agree that employers and their staffneed to show restraint to avoid a wage-price spiral2001,according to the Office for National
219、Statistics.Many employers will find them-selves caught in the middle:should they heed the warnings of ministers about the risks of spiralling inflation or provide staff with the pay rises needed to help them to keep up with the rising cost of living?George Dibb,head of the Centre for Economic Justic
220、e at think tank IPPR,believes that looking at inflation purely in terms of wage restraint is an oversimplification.He explains that although inflation is a measure of the price increases,many different components contribute to it,from energy prices to businesses profits.“I dont think anyone is serve
221、d well by a debate where we pretend its just one factor influencing inflation,”he says.“Talking about wages alone doesnt help the discussion.”While the Bank of England has expressed concern that companies SSam ForsdickR E M U N E R AT I O NFor companies that are seeing increased profits,the answer i
222、s clear.They should be passing those benefits to their employees and bringing their prices down10.1%In July,the consumer price index hit double figures for the first time since 1982Source:Office for National StatisticsCommercial featureybrid working has become the norm thanks to the pan-demic.That d
223、oesnt mean the office is dead,though.With the cost-of-living crisis prompting people to reconsider working from home,the workplace is set for a renais-sance.Dan Drogman,chief executive of smart building operating platform Smart Spaces used by the likes of 22 Bishopsgate,Three Mobile,GPE,JLL,Norton R
224、ose Fulbright,Workspace and Brookfield explains how smart tech can improve building efficiency and help attract people back to the workplace.How has the pandemic changed the way employees use the office?People want and need to feel in control.They want to be well-informed and clear about their bound
225、aries.On our app,Sunday evening activity clearly shows us the level of staff engagement with the workplace.Everyone can now plan their entire week on a single plat-form.Companies that have already moved to hybrid working are asking colleagues to book desks and rooms in advance.This enables effective
226、 planning of team meetings,socialis-ing and catering requirements,while minimising unnecessary journeys and food waste.Smart Spaces allows companies a level of transparency that was sorely missed during the working from home spell.This has greatly benefited individuals,too.They now feel empowered to
227、 not just negotiate but sometimes demand a level of self-determination in their working week,proving they can work from anywhere in lots of situations.Why should businesses consider using smart tech?I think the key reasons that a business would deploy a plat-form like Smart Spaces is the desire to d
228、rive sustainability and productiv-ity,while balancing wellbeing to both attract and retain the best talent and meet their ESG agenda.Despite the rise of new working models such as hybrid,for many employees,break-ing free of the old mindset is still dif-ficult.Companies need to give them multiple rea
229、sons to engage with col-leagues in person,at the office,and thats where smart tech really helps.You can now understand where people are going to be and ensure the resources you are providing,such as office space,rooms,facilities and so on,are being maximised,or decide whether you need a rethink.Why
230、now?Its about ESG and making the most of the real estate they invested in.Its expensive to move and everyone wants to get it right.Selecting space thats fit for purpose is a top concern right now,especially with rising energy costs and Grade A offices commanding ever greater premiums.The right smart
231、 platform will shine a spotlight on your assets and enable you to optimise all the resources you have and ensure your teams are working as productively and efficiently as pos-sible.Optimise the physical space and your colleagues will use it more effectively.One client had a huge office,but downsized
232、 it to a much smaller,more high-end space.They used the booking productivity tools and occu-pancy analytics to use that space as efficiently as possible.They actually worked out that not only did they find it easier to attract more talent to the business but that the business is operating more effic
233、iently.They can grow into their space even more by looking at the sensor data in the app and determine that they wont need to buy any more office space for another two years.How can companies use smart tech to engage with hybrid workers?Smart Spaces enables them to maximise their investment in the s
234、pace.An app is a direct chan-nel to the user,in their pocket and ready to use.And because our app is the access pass for the building,the whole company is exposed to the Smart Platform.We see smart tech adoption being driven by the mag-netising effect of showcasing and promoting space-as-a-service t
235、o colleagues so they can make the most of their time at the office.This means companies can showcase content surrounding the office,send notifi-cations and promote events to col-leagues as they arrive or when select-ing resource booking tools ahead of coming to the office.What impact will the rise i
236、n energy costs have on the use of office space?Another aspect of smart tech is its ability to drive significant efficiency with building management costs.What really resonates at this time is the cost savings because we How to make your workplace more efficient and productiveQ&AAs people return to w
237、ork after the holidays,employers need to make their workplaces as attractive,efficient and productive as possible to encourage people back explains Dan Drogman,chief executive of Smart SpacesThe right smart platform will shine a spotlight on your assets and enable you to optimise all the resources y
238、ou have have never seen energy costs like this.If you use our platform to make the workplace ultra-efficient,you could easily save up to 30%of the energy costs straightaway.And,if you can showcase that to colleagues,then they will make better choices about their energy consumption.We think that this
239、 winter,youre going to see more people come into the office if they can save on their home energy bills.Thats better,because its more efficient to heat one space than hun-dreds,even thousands of homes.We can benchmark that on live dash-boards as more people use office space rather than WFH.What is t
240、he future of workplace tech?I think the future is artificial intelligence,but dont worry,not Hollywood AI.It has already helped us identify when there have been a lot of last-minute changes to a meeting where attendees decide to attend virtually,yet the meeting room never gets resized.Thanks to our
241、cut-ting-edge AI,we can automatically reallocate that room.It will cancel that booking,create a new booking for the appropriate size and then send out the new invite,fully auto-mated.Our product can make deci-sions on your behalf and optimise the workspace for you,without you having to think about i
242、t.What impact does smart tech have on staff recruitment and retention?I think it shows that the employer is a tech-forward company.People want to work in a smart office.Everyone is becoming more conscious of the impact theyre having on the planet.And if you can truly understand what that impact is a
243、nd youre working for a company thats actively addressing that,its fantastic.You can literally see how many kilos of carbon youre consum-ing and what the financial cost of that is.As a business on the journey to net zero,you really need to know exactly how much youre consuming.And then once you under
244、stand how much you consume,you can reduce it and optimise it.Smart Spaces will allow you to do that across your real estate.How can Smart Spaces help businesses create a more productive and efficient workplace?The key questions are:How do I reduce my carbon footprint?How do I make sure my staff are
245、using the office as effectively as they can?How can I attract my staff to the office?Smart Spaces accesses the physical environment,allows people to book desk space,meeting rooms,car parking and wellness spaces.It can really maximise the value in a companys real estate to ensure that it is as efficient as possible and make sure its employees are as productive as possible.It gives employees access to those resources in an easy-to-use,simple platform.For more,please visit smartspaces.appHF U T U R E O F W O R K16