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Financial Times

Whether you’re the boss, the deputy or on your way up, we’re shaking up the way the world works. This is the podcast about doing work differently. Join host Isabel Berwick every Wednesday for expert analysis and watercooler chat about ahead-of-the-curve workplace trends, the big ideas shaping work today - and the old habits we need to leave behind. Brought to you by the Financial Times.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


Working It

It's the work Christmas party season: you're out of the office, and the alcohol is flowing. How can you make sure you don't embarrass yourself (or derail your career)? And how can you bounce back if you do go wrong? Isabel Berwick speaks to FT columnist and veteran party-goer Stephen Bush, author and comedian Viv Groskop and party-shy FT columnist Emma Jacobs to find out. Warning: contains drunken secret Santas, dancefloor embarrassment and toe-curling apologies.

Got a Christmas party nightmare you’d like Isabel and Jonathan to help you with? Submit it here: https://telbee.io/channel/ygf7_gly04xgtckcb0g56a/ or to isabel.berwick@ft.com

Want more? Free links:

Workers and bosses opt for Christmas payments over parties

The office grinch may have a point — it’s not fun if it’s forced

Credits:

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Simon Panayi. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Best of: How to survive the office Christmas party

You thought you were getting that big promotion – but you missed out. What are your next steps? Isabel Berwick speaks to Sarah Ellis (co-founder of careers consultancy Amazing If) and FT Management Editor Anjli Raval to find out. They discuss how to keep your emotions in check after suffering professional rejection, who you should turn to for advice, and why ‘squiggly’ careers are more popular than ever.

Want more? Free links:

What can I do if I hit a career plateau?

‘The flattening’: tech sector calls time on middle managers

A big internal move

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Simon Panayi. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to get ahead (without getting promoted)

When you’re a leader, colleagues look for hidden meanings in everything you do. That can make gentle suggestions sound infuriating – and amplify the effect of even off-hand compliments. So how can a leader make sure their words and actions are understood as intended? To find out, Isabel Berwick speaks to Adam Galinsky, a professor at Columbia Business School, and author of the forthcoming book ‘Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others.’ Adam has asked tens of thousands of people about what makes a leader inspiring or infuriating. In this episode, he explains the perils of the ‘leadership amplification effect,’, how to praise colleagues judiciously, and why you should never tell someone to ‘drop by your office’.

Want more? Free links:

A Musk or a Ma: which type of manager are you?

How common are bad bosses?

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Simon Panayi. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why are some bosses infuriating (and others inspiring)?

Welcome to Working It, the new show from the Financial Times. Every Wednesday, from October 27, join host Isabel Berwick for expert analysis and watercooler chat about ahead-of-the-curve workplace trends, the big ideas shaping work today - and the old habits we need to leave behind.

Whether you’re the boss, the deputy or on your way up, we’re shaking up the way the world works. This is the podcast about doing work differently.

We hope you’ll enjoy it and we’d really like to make it as interesting and useful to you as possible, so please do let us know what you think or like or don’t. Email us at workingit@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter and Instagram or reach out via email: isabel.berwick@ft.com

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan. Assistant producer is Persis Love. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. 

Produced by Novel.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trailer: Introducing Working It from the Financial Times

The wellness industry is a trillion-dollar business, and the pandemic has turbo-charged it. One of the biggest trends has been the rise in employers buying their staff access to meditation and fitness apps. But does this ‘quick fix’ approach work? And are there better ways to boost wellbeing?

Isabel talks to Lorna Borenstein, chief executive of Grokker, a corporate wellness app about the reasons why she set up the platform and how clients and her own staff use it. It’s all part of a culture of taking care of employees — a topic Lorna has explored more deeply in her book It’s Personal, offering advice to other managers on how to help staff feel better [tl;dr: talk less, listen more]. We also speak to FT colleague Emma Jacobs, about the corporate care culture. She is a little more sceptical.

We would love to hear from you - email us at workingit@ft.com. You can also follow @isabelberwick on Twitter and Instagram or reach out via email: isabel.berwick@ft.com. Thanks.

Mentioned in the podcast and other interesting reading:

-Emma Jacobs’ prophetic pre-pandemic guide to workplace wellness by app: https://www.ft.com/content/d1d58aae-437c-11ea-abea-0c7a29cd66fe 

-FT series, Burnout: https://www.ft.com/burnout

- Deloitte report [2020] on employee mental health showing £5 benefit for every £1 spent https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/consulting/articles/mental-health-and-employers-refreshing-the-case-for-investment.html

-Video: Emma Jacobs on how to detox from your smartphone: https://www-ft-com.newman.richmond.edu/video/b4115321-b915-3a42-9814-ad0be4c0e7f5?playlist-name=section-0b83bc44-4a55-4958-882e-73ba6b2b0aa6&playlist-offset=206

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan. Assistant producer is Persis Love. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can wellness apps fix us and beat staff burnout?

Puppy party anyone? That’s what one employer is offering its staff to lure them back into work. Perks have always been a part of employment packages but, during the pandemic, employers have become a lot more imaginative in a bid to keep their people engaged remotely - and then get them back in the office. What is the point of these perks, do they work - and what do managers need to know to offer staff what they really want?

Isabel talks to Alicia Ries, director of communications for Emea at Steelcase, a US-based furniture company that brought in a welcome programme including barbecues and its own bagpipe band when its employees returned to work. Alicia discusses what really motivates staff and how employers can help them thrive. We also speak to FT management editor Andrew Hill about the weirdest workplace incentives and what the research says will really keep us engaged at work.

We would love to hear from you - email us at workingit@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter or email her direct at isabel.berwick@ft.com

Mentioned in the podcast and further reading:

Andrew Hill’s article on back to work perks, including Steelcase 

What are the most in demand new perks? Charlotte Middlehurst’s FT article: https://www.ft.com/content/6f34b761-aa03-42e7-b5f2-0b128102e33b

Frederick Herzberg’s research into what really motivates employees [tl;dr - make the job more interesting] from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2003/01/one-more-time-how-do-you-motivate-employees

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan. Assistant producer is Persis Love. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Staff perks - the good, the bad and the out there

Trusting your staff to take as much time off as they need to rest and avoid burnout sounds like the ultimate post-pandemic workplace reset, but what would it be like in reality?In this episode, Isabel talks to Amy Cowpe of Charlie HR, a human resources software company based in the UK, about its radical unlimited vacation experiment. What happens when you give people the freedom to make their own choices? The experiment (spoiler alert) didn’t work - but not for the reasons you might expect. Even so, some big-name companies, including Netflix, have long had a ‘no vacation’ policy. How do they make it work? Isabel also talks about the history of paid holidays - her own grandmother had just one day off a month as a live-in maid for a rich English family in the 1930s (yes, it was a bit like Downton Abbey). 

We would love to hear from you: email us at workingit@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter or email her direct at isabel.berwick@ft.com

Mentioned in the podcast:

Charlie HR’s blog about its unlimited vacation experiment: https://www.charliehr.com/blog/we-tried-unlimited-holiday-heres-everything-that-went-wrong/

Pilita Clark in the FT on why unlimited time off means more time at work: https://www.ft.com/content/ca935b70-bf14-11e7-9836-b25f8adaa111

Psychoanalyst Josh Cohen’s long read in FT Magazine on how to avoid burnout (feat. Herbert Freudenberger’s work that coined the term ‘burnout’ in 1974): https://www.ft.com/content/ea0ea4cc-0320-11e9-9d01-cd4d49afbbe3 

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan. Assistant producer is Persis Love. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The radical unlimited vacation experiment

Almost two years into the pandemic, we’ve become used to hybrid working but it’s often hit and miss in terms of how well it works. In this episode, Isabel talks to Sacha Labourey, co-founder and chief strategy officer of all-remote tech company CloudBees, about what keeps his staff engaged and happy. One tip for managers is that overcommunicating with your team is the key to making things better when you are often - or always - apart. Isabel also speaks to the FT’s New York correspondent Joshua Chaffin about the return to the office in NYC. The insider view? Turns out it is lonely at the top for CEOs holed up in their corner offices while the employees stay at home. 

We would love to hear from you: email us at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter or Instagram.

Mentioned in the podcast: 

Find out more about CloudBees and its ‘distributed work’ https://www.cloudbees.com/careers

Joshua’s story on lonely CEOs in New York https://www.ft.com/content/4743268e-e903-4822-acba-c22495367bbf

Joshua’s article on why commuters won’t be lured back to offices https://www.ft.com/content/d17d6e2b-c29b-4505-81f4-b3a416f55ca2

And… What went wrong at all-remote company Basecamp https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/05/banning-political-discussions-at-work-isnt-that-simple-experts-say.html

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan. Assistant producer is Persis Love. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What working from home companies can teach the rest of us

Chances are, not even your best friend knows how much you earn at work. In this episode, Isabel tries to work out what we are worried about - surely salary secrecy only helps our bosses? She talks to Joel Gascoigne, chief executive of social media business Buffer, which publishes its employees’ salaries on its website - including that of Joel himself [$290k]. He thinks radical transparency helps with all sorts of potentially difficult issues at work. Isabel also talks to Brooke Masters, the FT’s chief business commentator and an expert on CEO pay. Brooke thinks there are often good reasons for secrecy: when companies are forced to be open about top leaders’ pay, CEOs can compare themselves to people leading other organisations and demand even higher salaries. 

Isabel and Brooke also talk about how the rest of us can negotiate a pay rise. To do that, it may help to know what your colleagues are paid ...

We love to hear from you: email us at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter or Instagram.

Mentioned in the podcast: 

See how much everyone is paid at Buffer https://buffer.com/salaries

Brooke Masters’ column on CEO pay in the pandemic https://www.ft.com/content/0676c6f6-1ad2-490d-b8cf-d3bccdb76182

Want to get a pay rise? Here’s how https://www.ft.com/content/967db31f-f49b-4039-a295-23db588d2a1c

Listen to Claer Barrett’s #MoneyClinic podcast on getting a pay rise https://link.chtbl.com/K3vLw7lV

National Bureau of Economic Research - the wider effects of pay transparency https://www.nber.org/papers/w28903

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan. Assistant producer is Persis Love. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it time to be open about pay?

A workplace without bosses sounds... idyllic. In this episode, Isabel explores the topic of flat hierarchies with Alexis Gonzales-Black, an expert in organisational design. A few years ago, Alexis helped Zappos, the Amazon-owned online shoe business, to bring in ‘Holacracy’ - a way of sidelining bosses and shifting decision-making down to individual teams so they have autonomy. The experiment wasn’t a total success, as we hear, but Alexis talks about how leaders can step back and make the most of employees’ skills and expertise. 

But what about other ways that companies knock down workplace hierarchies? Isabel chats to Andrew Hill, the FT’s management editor, about a consultancy that abolished job titles (cue: confusion all round) and US company WL Gore (makers of Gore-Tex), where leaders are appointed through acquiring skills and followers - not just because someone higher up gives them a job. 

Plus, the dark side of boss-less workplaces. Do they give toxic colleagues a free pass to behave even more badly? 

We love to hear from you: email us at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter or Instagram.

Mentioned in the podcast: 

Alexis Gonzales-Black on Zappos’ experiment with Holacracy: 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/insights-holacracy-interview-alexis-gonzales-black-usha-gubbala/

More on what happened to Tony Hsieh, Zappos’ late CEO

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-death-of-zappos-tony-hsieh-a-spiral-of-alcohol-drugs-and-extreme-behavior-11607264719

FT article by Alicia Clegg -’ Boss-less business is No Workers’ Paradise’

https://www.ft.com/content/34a86220-d639-11e9-8d46-8def889b4137

Andrew Hill on innovative management ideas 

https://www.ft.com/content/f14b3205-f140-4e74-8743-04b881b63134

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan. Assistant producer is Persis Love. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can you run a company without managers?

We all want to achieve more – and produce better work – without spending more time at our desk. Isabel Berwick asks senior FT columnist Tim Harford how best to tackle the problem of productivity. Tim shares some of his top tips for avoiding distraction and creating a state of “flow” at work. Plus, could AI come to the rescue? Originally broadcast June 2023.

Want more? Free links:

UK productivity growth driven by minority of high-performing companies

Britain needs a way out of economic stagnation

Why productivity is so weak at UK companies

Credits:

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Best of: How to be more productive at work

Best of: How to be more productive at work

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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