Physical and mental stress are all too common as more people seem to find the pressures of completing expected work tasks and expected in-office time too much to bear. As firms shed labour to cut costs, the problems become worse. Work-life balance is not merely about cutting working hours or simply dividing hours between WORK and HOME life'
Many employees, when asked in job satisfaction surveys, express the view that they are constantly tired and often under stress. Even in organisations with standard work hours, employees are increasingly expected to be available during evenings, weekends, and vacations. Now a degree of stress can be helpful in motivating and focusing employees but too much
In this world where many workers are still workings from home - or hybrid working - some managers find it hard to assess the performance of their staff. There has been a sharp increase in the use of employee monitoring software - often seen as intrusive and unfair by the employees themselves. Yet we know that
Many employees claim they spend too much time coordinating their activity with others instead of driving forward their primary activities. Working from home has made this worse. Employees are forever on Zoom or Teams calls, talking about that they have done or what they are scheduled to do.. This means they are not carrying out their primary
What separates the very best musicians from the also-rans is the long-term commitment to the goal, and to the practice required to achieve it. Hours, days, weeks and years of relentless practice drive up performance, improvs timing and rhythm and change the person from someone who plays an instrument into a musician. They become flexible, resilient, agile
We know Christmas day was yesterday, and we know some readers do not celebrate Christmas ... but we send greetings anyway. We also remind you that 'festivities' are valuable in the workplace - to celebrate, and cement, success. So, take what chances you can to combine seasonal cheer with rewards for effort and success.
It is amazing how a problem, and especially a disaster, can focus the mind ... focus efforts of individuals and teams ... focus organisations - and even focus nations. The current pandemic has been very much ‘pan’ - crossing countries and continents. It has seen remarkable global cooperation and collaboration in the search for an
I've been to several countries in the last few months. All of them need higher productivity BUT ... 1. each of them has to define just what higher productivity means in their particular context 2. each of them has to prioritise where they most need higher productivity 3. each of them has to decide how
Italy's productivity is on the decline. This is bad news for Italy and for the EU (and especially the Eurozone countries). Italy seems to have a whole bureaucracy of regulation that keeps Italian companies small ..... making it difficult to secure economies of scale ... and stops them doing lots of things that would improve