The 2022 British Social Attitudes report reveals that the cost-of-living crisis emerges as the most immediate challenge in the UK, threatening a severe drop in living standards. Yet, at the same time, the NHS is still recovering from the pandemic, there remains deep political division over Brexit which seems to be part of a wider ‘culture war’, while a summer of unprecedented heat has been a sharp reminder that climate change potentially poses an existential threat to the whole world. The report explores evidence on where the public stand on these various challenges faced by the new government.
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Sustainability
This global survey of 900 business leaders and 1,800 knowledge workers explores how organisations taking steps to enable flexible hybrid work are performing against four key pillars that make hybrid working successful: tech empowerment, connection and collaboration, flexibility and fluidity, and trust and empathy. The report concludes that businesses find it most difficult to meet employee expectations in relation to work culture and attitude.
This special report looks at the issue of trust in the workplace and finds that employers have emerged as an anchor of trust and stability. 78% of employees see their workplace as a safe space for debate and turn to it as a primary source of community, before their neighbours and religious organisations. Edelman argues that this gives rise to a new employer mandate – to leverage the powerful force of employees to restore societal trust from the inside out.
Jabra’s report finds that belonging, motivation, productivity, trust, work-life balance, and mental well-being are all positively impacted by increasing employees’ ability to control where and when they work. The report indicates that leaders must find ways to maximise employee autonomy while addressing the social, health and technological barriers associated with hybrid working.
Slack’s new snapshot suggests that today’s workplace is centred around flexibility and that, without it, there is a high risk of employee attrition. It reports that fully in-office workers report lower employee experience scores compared to hybrid and full-time remote workers and that employees with rigid work schedules are three times more likely to look for a new job in the next year.
The CIPD’s annual benchmark of job quality offering insights to improve working lives. This year’s report examines the impact of COVID-19 on job quality and reveals work-life balance, health and well-being, job security and the rising cost of living are key issues for workers.
The world of work is changing, adjusting to the lasting effects of the pandemic alongside longer-term, large scale drivers of change. One of the most pressing challenges for global employers is how to attract, retain and develop their people, with labour shortages now posing a big problem for businesses around the world.
This report from Edelman reveals that at time when the world has been challenged by geopolitical conflict, economic uncertainty, climate threats and social inequalities, the stakes for business failing to take a stand and engage on societal and geopolitical issues has never been higher. The research shows that on average, 77% believe improving societal issues is a primary business function and 59% say that addressing geopolitics is a top priority for business. Moreover, employees say that if they believe their employer is doing well in its response to the Ukraine invasion, they will be more loyal (79%) and will recommend that employer to others (80%). The report underscores the importance for CEOs to lead from the front and communicate company policies and actions on geopolitics.
IBM’s 2022 Global AI Adoption Index sheds new light on the deployment of AI across 7,502 business around the world, revealing that AI is helping companies address labour and skills shortages by augmenting repetitive tasks - 30% of global IT professionals say employees at their organisation are already saving time with new AI and automation software tools. Moreover, two-thirds (66%) of companies are either currently executing or planning to apply AI to address their sustainability goals. The report examines some of the barriers and challenges that are hindering AI from reaching its potential, and the use cases, industries and countries where AI is most likely to thrive.
This conversation in collaboration with The Collective by Lewis Silkin (TCLS) and the Future of Work Hub explored what the opportunities and pitfalls of purpose at work are. We discussed the current evolving employment relationship and the extent to which employees now expect their employer to take action and run a responsible business.