Eat Sleep Work Repeat

Sign up for the Make Work Better newsletterEat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook.Ellen wrote about her learnings about being a managerDespite government threats of legal action Cambridgeshire council are continuing their evidence-led trial of the 4-day week. “Nine in ten councils are struggling with job recruitment and retention and a four-day working week could be the answer”Ellen mentions this article on Stylist about boundaries (registration required)Half of the employees of Grindr were fired after the firm issued a RTO order. This included 100% of the firm’s trans employees. As Matt points out in the show trans employees are subject to the legislative whims of different states in the US and understandably try to locate in safe places.We talk about the World Values Survey report "What the world thinks about work"People in the UK are least likely to say work is important in their life. It's still seems pretty high, 73% of the UK public say work is very or rather important in their life - but significantly lower than other countries. Other western nations such as Italy, Spain, Sweden, France and Norway all rank much higher than the UK on this measure, with more than nine in 10 saying work is important in their life.Headline warning: This is not a new development. the share of the British public who say work is important in their life has hardly changed in three decades But there are big generational differences in views on whether work should always come first. One of the most interesting charts has been millennial's views crashing: it went from a hustle culture high of 41% in 2009 to 14% in 2022. That is a huge shift in attitudeLibby Sander is an internationally renowned expert on work and the workplace, the MBA Director and Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Bond University. She is a leading thinker on understanding the future of work, and how we can reimagine it to live more meaningful and creative lives.Read Libby on RTO

I’m joined again by new cohosts Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook.Buy BelongingOwen Eastwood is the most in-demand team performance coach in the worldHe's earned that reputation by delivering break-through results with a diverse range of teams from Gareth Southgate’s England team and the England women’s team, to the senior leadership team of NATO. His former clients represent an elite range of teams who have gone on to achieve incredible victories. We wanted to understand how he did it.What does he say? What does he ask?Eastwood’s approach is consistent. By zooming out and pointing our fleeting contribution to legacy he urges teams to think about their ‘Us’ story. For me this suggests that what he’s actually doing is emphasising a powerful shared identity. In my mind I would see this as activating a visceral bond of community, he chooses to label it as ‘belonging’. That distinction ends up feeling semantic when presented with what his approach achieves.This week on the podcast I’m joined by new co-hosts Ellen Scott and Matthew Cook as we talk to Owen and debate purpose, identity and belonging.It’s a truly brilliant listen.Follow Owen on LinkedInJoe Lycett’s remarkable special - the last 20 minutes of this are astonishing viewingEllen on thinking about leaving work on time

A few months ago I put out a call asking for other voices to get involved in the podcast and I’m delighted today to add Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook to Eat Sleep Work Repeat.You may have read Ellen’s brilliant writing in The Stylist where she is the Deputy Digital Editor and previously in Metro. She writes and edits pieces on work, mental health, relationships, and more. Here’s her own Substack on work. She is also working on fiction and is represented by The Soho Agency.Matt/Matthew is the founder of theSHIFT, an award-winning learning consultancy that specialises in cultural change inside organisations. He’s basically a people enthusiast who has turned it into his job.I’ll be honest I love talking about work but I was worried that my own perspective might be a bit limiting. First and foremost I ended up as a boss and whether you intend it to or not that skews your perspective. Ellen and Matthew are here to help give a broader view. We loved recording the first episode and hopefully great things are to come.You’ll find more on work at the ESWR website and the Make Work Better newsletter.Today’s links:Ellen’s post about AIThe rise of Millennial MomagersMcKinsey claims to have cracked the formula for hybrid working‘Sorry but productivity is lower at home’ - the article and the discussion of it is covered hereHybrid workers are spending fully half of their work time in meetingsMaker vs Manager ScheduleThe benefit of ‘collective effervescence’ (there’s loads about this in Fortitude, p168)Erin Meyer on the cultural differences of giving feedback

Sorry for duplicate - the previous version had no intro!If you liked this I actually shared a lot of the data on the newsletter a couple of weeks ago - read that here.Today's episode is an in depth exploration of the latest Gallup Global Workplace Report, Anna Sawyer, a Principal at Gallup takes us through the findings - and the implications for all leaders.Get your hands on Gallup’s ‘State of the Global Workplace Report’Here’s Anna on LinkedInI loved the Gallup report on employee burnout (and I cited the results in the show)We talk a little about the Gallup Q12 criteria that help them form their results, people are asked:I know what is expected of me at work.I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.There is someone at work who encourages my development.At work, my opinions seem to count.The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.I have a best friend at work.In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.Friendship is ‘the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of having been granted the sight of the essence of another’ - David Whyte Read the meta-analysis (I *think* only 2020 is released at the moment)Findings: Median percent differences between top-quartile and bottom-quartile units were:• 10% in customer loyalty/engagement• 23% in profitability• 18% in productivity (sales)• 14% in productivity (production records and evaluations)• 18% in turnover for high-turnover organisations (those with more than 40% annualised turnover)• 43% in turnover for low-turnover organisations (those with 40% or lower annualised turnover)• 64% in safety incidents (accidents)• 81% in absenteeism• 28% in shrinkage (theft)• 58% in patient safety incidents (mortality and falls)• 41% in quality (defects)• 66% in wellbeing (net thriving employees)• 13% in organisational citizenship (participation)View the Science Behind the Questions

If you liked this I actually shared a lot of the data on the newsletter a couple of weeks ago - read that here.Today's episode is an in depth exploration of the latest Gallup Global Workplace Report, Anna Sawyer, a Principal at Gallup takes us through the findings - and the implications for all leaders.Get your hands on Gallup’s ‘State of the Global Workplace Report’Here’s Anna on LinkedInI loved the Gallup report on employee burnout (and I cited the results in the show)We talk a little about the Gallup Q12 criteria that help them form their results, people are asked:I know what is expected of me at work.I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.There is someone at work who encourages my development.At work, my opinions seem to count.The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.I have a best friend at work.In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.Friendship is ‘the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of having been granted the sight of the essence of another’ - David Whyte Read the meta-analysis (I *think* only 2020 is released at the moment)Findings: Median percent differences between top-quartile and bottom-quartile units were:• 10% in customer loyalty/engagement• 23% in profitability• 18% in productivity (sales)• 14% in productivity (production records and evaluations)• 18% in turnover for high-turnover organisations (those with more than 40% annualised turnover)• 43% in turnover for low-turnover organisations (those with 40% or lower annualised turnover)• 64% in safety incidents (accidents)• 81% in absenteeism• 28% in shrinkage (theft)• 58% in patient safety incidents (mortality and falls)• 41% in quality (defects)• 66% in wellbeing (net thriving employees)• 13% in organisational citizenship (participation)View the Science Behind the Questions

Alex's book: Work less, do moreMake Work Better newsletter covered the 4 day week trials For today’s episode I went to meet Alex Soujung Kim Pang. Alex has written a lot about our relationship with work, first in his book Rest and now in his book WORK LESS, DO MORE which is a refreshed version of Shorter.When we first spoke the evidence for shorter working was a series of quirky stories of pioneering firms, frequently led by maverick bosses. In the last three years the landscape for shorter working (encompassing all manner of adaptations like four day weeks, compressed hours, 9 day fortnights and more) has transformed. Alex himself has played a role for 4 Day Week Global helping to design the mechanics of programs for test firms.

Sign up for the newsletterWe’re in a stage place with AI right now where for most of us it’s still a parlour trick. Something that we’ve seen create images of the Pope in bling or summon up meal planners that we’ll never use. But we’ve not really seen how it will impact our jobs.Along the way there have been some huge claims:An MIT study said that knowledge work could become 37% faster and more effective simply by using Chat GPTA study by Github found that software developers were 55% faster using Github CopilotAnecdotally I have heard the same from software developers.And in aggregate there’s certainly a chance that we’re not thinking of the implications of these things. The economist Paul Krugman this week said that if AI is able to deliver an additional 1.5% of growth per year to the economy then we should stop worrying about national debt and a percentage of GDP. Of course, he would say that his own extrapolations on these things are just an attempt to float ideas.That’s why today’s podcast was so important for me to feature. I got the chance to chat to Alexia Cambon, Senior Director of Modern Work Research at Microsoft and Nick Hedderman, Senior Director of Modern Work, Microsoft. The discussion has implications for all of us, and how quickly we set about changing the way we work

Zeynep Ton is the author of the Good Jobs Strategy - which holds the honour of being the book I refer to the most when it comes to talking about work. In that book she set about making the case for firms to create good jobs for their employees, not just for the moral reason but because it was a route to faster growth. Now she returns with a new book, The Case for Good Jobs, which not only explains the reasoning for creating better working conditions for workers, but also how any firm can set about doing it. At the heart of the discussion is a recognition that workers want to do a good job - and often find obstacles in their way.MIT Sloan Review: When Doing Less Adds Up to MoreThe Obstacles to Creating Good Jobs

Are you touch starved? Do you feel a touch hunger in your life?Michael Banissy is a psychologist whose work focusses on the importance of physical connection between people, he styles himself as part of a group of ‘scientists who stroke’. Touch has become sigmatised by the actions of those who have misused it, to the extent that many of us have become fearful of touching the arm or shoulder of others.Michael Banissy gives a compelling case for appropriate touch, and asks us to rethink the role it plays in our lives.His book Why We Touch is out now. (It’s called Touch Matters in the US). Read more: How touch changes our decision making