In this column, we provoke fresh thinking and round up some of the weird, wonderful, quirky, surprising – and shocking – stories out there
Big bog brother
In times where many fear ever-increasing levels of surveillance, it’s emerged that IKEA took security and employee surveillance to a whole new level.
After an employee spotted a hidden security camera in a company toilet, the retailer admitted that it had indeed installed a number of cameras. Other cameras were found in similar spots in other toilets in the warehouse in Peterborough. IKEA has since removed them.
IKEA said it had installed the cameras in 2015 to detect alleged activity that could have resulted in serious injury to co-workers, and to maintain a high level of safety on-site. Its Peterborough distribution centre is a large warehouse facility where forklift trucks and HGVs are in regular operation. In support of its health and safety policy, IKEA has a drugs testing policy in place.
Meanwhile, labour shortages have prompted some employers to scrap drug testing for employees. A survey released in September by staffing firm, ManpowerGroup, found that 9% of more than 45,00 firms in 43 countries were willing to ignore recreational drug use if it meant filling vacant positions.
The survey comes after Amazon announced in June that it would no longer test its applicants for marijuana.
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Let the train release the strain
Hopping on to the train to get to and from work could boost physical and mental wellbeing, suggests research.
Research conducted as part of the UK rail industry’s Get Back on Track campaign found that many expect improved mental health (48%), work-life balance (46%), productivity (46%), motivation (47%) and fitness (51%) as droves of workers return to their workplace.
At the start of the pandemic, those who began working from home said they ate more snacks (50%), worked with the television on (33%) or spent more time on social media (26%), according to the study. Nearly half of these workers now find such things a hindrance to productivity – 43% of hybrid workers admit to facing more distractions when working from home compared to just 29% in the workplace.
Household admin (35%), cooking meals and taking food breaks (30%) and home deliveries (29%), represented the biggest distractions.
The research, conducted by Opinium in September, surveyed 3,001 UK adults in work and was demographically representative of the working population.
Almost half (46%) of those polled, agreed that the office environment puts them in better mindset for work, rising to 55% of 18 to 34-year-olds. Respondents felt they are likely to be more productive when in the workplace as they can ask colleagues in person rather than scheduling a call (45%), and are able to bounce ideas off colleagues more easily (40%).
Nearly a quarter of hybrid workers cited “me time” (23%) as one of the biggest benefits of their commute. More than half (55%) felt that the biggest benefit of travelling by train is the scenery out of the window, and a further quarter (24%) say the movement of the train brings a sense of calm.
Short week, more work
Tech startup, Bolt, is trialling a four-day week as part of what it calls its “conscious” business culture.
CEO Ryan Breslow, said, “It’s all about keeping standards of execution high, while still putting the team’s health and well-being first.”
The three-month pilot will see employees get every Friday off, apart from those in customer-facing teams, who will still get a four-day schedule.
The 300-strong company has a suggested this out-of-office message: “I’m out of the office today because we’re working consciously here at Bolt and are currently experimenting with a four-day workweek. I’ll be back in touch with you on [Monday].”
It’s expected that some employees may still work on Fridays, but this might mean they then don’t work at the weekend, for example. The policy is also flexible, so if a team needs to meet a large deadline, its members may opt to work on a particular Friday to meet it.
According to an article published on fastcompany.com, other companies that have experimented with four-day workweeks have found that shorter weeks increase productivity, job satisfaction tends to increase and stress levels decline.
It reports that in Japan, where Microsoft piloted a four-day week temporarily in 2019 and saw productivity increase by 40%, the government is now starting to push companies to adopt the policy. Scotland also plans to test a four-day week.
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- Contributions to this slot are welcome.
Email: liz@coaching-at-work.com