Creepy micromanagement won’t drive productivity — try trusting staff instead January 8, 2020 Calling all employers: what was in your Christmas stocking? Did you find the latest gadget designed to enhance productivity? The innovative device, featured in the media during the festive season, is a toilet with a downward sloping seat. The company which makes it, StandardToilet, has conducted extensive tests. A slope of 13 degrees is exactly [...]
Millennials drive record Rolls-Royce sales as luxury car firm targets youth January 7, 2020 Rolls-Royce’s high-end, luxury cars may not immediately come to mind as the playthings of the younger generation. But thanks to a concerted push to appeal to younger buyers, the 111-year-old company has managed to bring the average age of its clientele down by 13 years over the last decade to just 43. Read more: Aston [...]
Want to improve the civil service? Get rid of poor performers and hire some fresh talent January 7, 2020 Dominic Cummings has, once again, taken aim at the establishment — this time the civil service. In an unorthodox job advert last week, he declared his intentions to hire “an unusual set of people” to revolutionise government. Predictably, retired grandees of the profession are up in arms. Whenever anyone calls for Whitehall reform — and [...]
Why meditation is the secret to being more productive in 2020 January 7, 2020 Everyone wants to be more productive. In fact, so eager have we become to get the most juice out of our work that we’ve spawned an entire productivity industry, filled by people promising to maximise our efficiency and get us more bang for our buck. But what we often find is that after only a [...]
DEBATE: Are calculations like ‘High Pay Day’ useful to the conversation around executive salaries? January 7, 2020 Are calculations like ‘High Pay Day’ useful to the conversation around executive salaries? Charles Cotton, senior pay and reward adviser for the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, says YES. Most people expect Britain’s top executives to be on higher salaries than the rest of society. However, “High Pay Day” shines a [...]
US firm Wiley buys London-based tech education company Mthree for £98m January 6, 2020 London-based tech education firm Mthree has been bought by US multinational John Wiley and Sons, in a deal worth $129m (£98m). Mthree trains up students and professionals looking to go into technology careers, and boasts a revenue of more than $50m. Read more: The top tech predictions for 2020 The company was sold by private [...]
Will the office become redundant in the 2020s? January 6, 2020 According to a survey by the Trade Union Congress, the number of people who regularly work from home in the UK has increased by 27 per cent over the past 10 years. As more and more companies acknowledge the benefits of flexible working, the technology enabling it continues to advance, offering remote workers improved connectivity. [...]
We can make this the decade of purpose-driven capitalism January 6, 2020 As we enter the 2020s, capitalism is suffering a crisis of confidence. Populists around the world are putting a simple spin on globalisation as against the interests of ordinary people. By contrasting the growth in developed economies with a simultaneous squeeze on living standards, they argue that the link has been severed between a profitable [...]
Beware the annual workplace Christmas click-off December 20, 2019 The closer we get to the holidays each year, the more festive — and less productive — we feel at work. It’s a feeling that gets to even the most dedicated of employees. With tinsel adorning hallways and mince pies appearing on every desk, excitement begins to bubble and motivation begins to wane. Staff leave [...]
How the Tories pulled off the best campaign of a generation December 19, 2019 One week on, post-election commentary continues to be dominated by analysis of Labour’s woes. In plummeting to its worst defeat since the Second World War, the party now faces an identity crisis, and the fear is that things can only get worse. This focus on Labour’s existential spiral, however, ignores one side of how the [...]