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Travel & lunch is now discretionary spend
Things are starting to get back to normal, but the office is still feeling just a bit empty. Last week I was asked by two business leaders: “Where are the missing 20%?”
Many are just not engaging with the incoming messages telling them their teams are hoping, wanting, needing to see them…
7 travel tips I learnt the hard way
Rocking five stages in five cities over the last week has brought back memories…like those of former colleagues who’d happily abandon someone at the airport if they were too slow to get through passport control (😬 shit, now I wonder—was it me that did this?)
What if a 20% pay-cut for all-remote is a very smart strategy?
🤯 This week, British law firm Stephenson Harwood announced a 20% pay-cut for those who wanted to work all-remote. The backlash was palpable.
But is it really just a cost-cutting instrument which devalues home-based working?
Are we…out of touch?
Stand up—don’t worry, you can do it mentally if you’re on the train. Now, sit down if you’ve not heard of:
Chunkz, The Sidemen, Nella Rose, KSI, Niko Omilana, Filly.
This is how Milimo Banji (known as Mils), CEO of TapIn, rather brilliantly shamed a whole lot of us (predominantly white) HR people at a recent Economist conference.
Rees-Mogg and lies leaders tell themselves
The British government minister responsible for efficiency, is busy bullying civil servants back into offices—with his snotty memos and barrage of data-less articles about ‘slackers’ working from home, he’s as convincing as ever…
Stop. Using. These. Two. Words.
Flexibility and Balance? Give me a break
🥱 Blah blah ‘flexible’ work, work/life ‘balance’, blah blah blah.
These two words have become utterly overused and totally meaningless. I’m just so over them.
Time to get tough with your board!
❌ 74% of managers says they don’t have the influence or resources to make change for employees (Microsoft Work Trend Index)
😒 54% of managers believe that leadership is out of touch with employees.
Stop using Gen Z as an excuse!
The latest Microsoft Work Trend Index (31,000 people in 31 markets) has landed, and shows that 51% of organisations plan to return to full-time office hours by the end of the year. At the same time, a majority of employees say they prefer to mix work between the office and home. Perhaps this fundamental disagreement is why 41% of employees say they are considering leaving their jobs…
But does that include young people?
The power of work you love
Global researcher Marcus Buckingham has a new book called Love + Work (out 5 April, 2022). In it he rages against our education systems for standardising and testing our children, without digging deeply into their uniqueness and the things that they really love.
Hybrid hot buttons
Some of us are embracing hybrid—and each other—as we return to offices more regularly and at scale.
But the skirmishes have started. 🤺
The worst of the worst
This week has been it.
Ukraine has broken our hearts—while inspiring us with the kind of bravery and leadership that makes us weep.
Bosses: Gods, Monsters, and Mortals
One of the best compliments I was ever given was from someone who thought I was a pain in the arse.
He was the FD at a big agency who said to my then-boss, ‘You can say what you like about Christine Armstrong’—clearly he did—‘but you can’t deny that people really like working for her.’
Never be boring!
60 seconds of tips to light up your audience when you present research, data, thought leadership, or slides.
Featuring a badger coat.
Three day weekends & spiritualism anyone?
One of the benefits of working for myself is that I can design working days that ensure I Get Shit Done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Which, for me, means working short but intense days with deep thinking tasks early in the morning. I share this as I reflect on author Emma Gannon’s recent tweet…
“Women have won the pandemic”
Saturday at 3pm was when my world turned dark. Child two was sent home from a party vomiting. By 4pm, the youngest was at it. By 6pm it was me and then our oldest was sent home from her sleepover. It was REVOLTING.
Toxic leaders, Amazon rumours & my mistakes
Ten years ago I resigned from a workplace that made me anxious and miserable.
From the first Monday morning meeting on my first day, I knew it wasn’t for me. The most senior person in the room belittled a dynamo of a woman I’d already clocked was a radiator of great energy and insight.
Great hybrid meetings? Think ‘MORE’
If you’d asked Kirsty Lewis (Founder of the School of Facilitation) a year ago if hybrid workshops could be productive, she’d have told you not to bother. Do them online or offline—not both.
Death of hybrid: greatly exaggerated?
Before Christmas I spoke at a finance event, and in the front row was a Charles Dance lookalike who seemed quite cross. And the more I spoke, the crosser he became.
2022. Buckle up with a fighter pilot.
Happy New Year!!
We all need a boost this week to I went to visit Mandy Hickson, former RAF fighter pilot turned motivational speaker, to get her advice on how to soar into 2022. She was full of laughter, despite being unable to book into her regular spinning classes, due to all the New Years Resolutioners turning up to hyperventilate (aka me).
Finding JOY in a Slush Puppie
Last week I said I’d share our research into ways of making hybrid work within organisations, but with the week we’ve had—Omicrom tidal waves, WFH guidance, canned Christmas parties, and Mr Big and his Peloton—let’s save the worky stuff to January and focus on JOY.