The pandemic era phenomenon known as “The Great Resignation” has seen millions of employees voluntarily leaving their jobs. 48 million of them abandoned their jobs in 2021, according <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2022/article/expected-pandemic-driven-employment-changes.htm">to data from the Labor Bureau.</a>Millions are rethinking their careers, long-term goals, work environments, and how to achieve a healthier work/life balance. Organizations leveraging that opportunity will be better positioned to address employee satisfaction proactively and also adjust and respond to the constantly shifting marketplace. Otherwise, they’ll struggle to survive.

Everyone Is Resigning

When work shifted to remote settings for many employers in early 2020 due to the pandemic, companies assumed the situation would be temporary. However, as months stretched into years, much of the working population found that they enjoyed working remotely, at least part of the time.
68% of employees preferred working from home, with nearly half declaring they’d either quit or search for new jobs offering remote work if their employers ordered them to return to the office. Many employees expressed they’d take a pay cut or forfeit benefits in exchange for remote work options.

An Experiment That Awakened Millions

A study by the research firm Gartner found that a hybrid work model significantly boosted employee engagement and sense of inclusion.Remote work can also lead to a sense of isolation among certain employees. A Gensler Research Institute survey found respondents missed most about being in an office were meeting and socializing with colleagues. Further, 7 out of every 10 employees felt more isolated after switching to remote work.

Mixed Findings

<ul>
<li>Encouraging remote workers not to work from home exclusively. </li>
<li>Urging remote workers to unplug. </li>
<li>Establish a broad network—and don’t talk about just work. </li>
<li>Leverage the flexibility. Leaders can make certain that remote workers vary their daily downtime. </li>
<li>Remind remote workers they’re important team members. Solicit input and feedback from remote workers. Routinely ask them what they would do differently to strengthen the remote work experience.</li>
</ul>

What Companies Can Do

Employees value greater flexibility, and any sweeping form of transformation that fails to address this is missing an essential target. Leaders often fail to realize just how important genuine flexibility is—so much so that their views of it differ substantially from that of their workforce.The transformation which includes a significant digital role can narrow that chasm, and digitalization can help cement a commitment to flexibility—a cornerstone of employees’ view of an engaging and supportive place to work.

Flexibility Is Now a Worker Must-Have

Big changes across the work landscape should not come at the expense of team connection.


Stashed ideas

Why a flexible workplace shouldn’t mean we ignore individual employee experiences

It has become increasingly favorable thanks to several macro factors:<ul><li>The proliferation of vaccines has made the return to the office feel safer</li><li>Many workers want to get back to the office, and their companies are looking to fulfill hybrid work environments while still offering flexibility</li><li>Startups facing an uncertain funding environment — the new normal these days — favor short-term leases,</li></ul>

Coworking

<ul><li>A recent Pew Research study found that 59% of workers who can work remotely want to stay remote, meaning coworking spaces won’t be much of an attraction for them.</li><li>Coworking spaces are also at risk for security issues. In 2019, WeWork was found to have weak WiFi security, which exposed sensitive data on its network.</li><li>Even so, some analysts predict there will be ~42k coworking spaces globally in 2024, up 116% from 2020. If that’s the case, “WeCrashed” won’t be the end of WeWork’s story.</li></ul>

But coworking still has its challenges

A combination of macro factors have led to a resurgence in coworking.

Coworking is back

<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Anything that's vaguely popular online must be defined or decoded - and ultimately, reduced to a bundle of marketable vibes with a kitschy label.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Trend brain encourages us to simplify everything online into something either buyable, understandable, or moral (and therefore worthy of consumption).</li><li class="ql-align-justify">There is a devout certainty to the speed at which they're cycled through.</li></ul>

Our 'Trend' Brain

<ul><li>Modern consumers are bombarded with a stream of inconsequential trends to take note of - marketing vessels for products that fit into a paradigm devoid of meaning</li><li>Trends, or the illusion of a trend, benefit the fast-fashion companies and direct-to-consumer brands making products that aesthetically align with fleeting fancies</li><li>The effects of trend-induced brain rot have trickled into online discourse</li><li>Topics and figures deemed most important on the internet are based on where they fall along the spectrum of trendiness, depending on the scale of attention they command</li></ul>

Irrelevant and Inconsequential Trends

Recuperation: the process by which subcultural ideas and images become commodified and reincorporated into mainstream societyToday, recuperation is achieved through micro-aesthetics, memes, and online communities they stem fromUnlike the radical subcultures of yore, which had their own visual schema, language, and aesthetics, these digital scenes aren’t exactly subcultural.They often promote a sort of political weakening.

Recuperation

<ul><li>Even a whimsical aesthetic can become a commodified status signal - a way to demonstrate that you're a distinct individual who is in the know.</li><li>With the mass decentralization of culture, even while platforms are becoming increasingly centralized, there's no way for a sane person to keep up, but still we are expected to.</li><li>We're told we must evolve or our digital personas will wither into irrelevance as our style grows stale.</li></ul>

Keeping Up With Trends One After The Other

Coastal grandmother, night luxe, that girl. Anything can be a trend on the internet. Why are we so determined to name them?

Trends are dead

Micro-credentials are also known as digital badges collected through apps, websites or data systems. They demonstrate learning in work or community settings rather than inside an academic institution. For example, collecting badges for volunteering in a food bank, completing an online course or taking a workshop on coding.

Micro-credentials

A digital credential carries information about a learning achievement someone has earned. The credential includes the training provider, a description of the learning, when the credential was issued and who received it. These badges can be shared through social media, an e-portfolio or a CV. The benefit of micro-credentials is their potential reach to individuals of all ages, education levels, socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups, and industry backgrounds.

How micro-credentials work

Pros<ul><li>Learners can use micro-credentials to “stack” new modules and skills on top of previous education and training.</li><li>They are more affordable and flexible than traditional higher education courses.</li></ul> Cons<ul><li>A potential obstacle is ensuring governments recognize these digital badges as steps on a learning path that might lead to the equivalent of a degree. </li></ul>

The pros and cons of micro-credentials

The pandemic has accelerated the arrival of the future of work, especially automation and the adoption of new technologies.
Four in 10 workers will need reskilling of six months or less, and over 90% of companies expect employees to pick up new skills on the job.

Future world of work

Micro-credentials – or digital badges – help you boost your skills in less time than a traditional degree. Here’s what you need to know.



Micro-credentials – what they are and how they can help you

Routines are healthy, predictable, and comfortable. Yet, many businesses have found themselves in uncomfortable positions over the past two years. The restaurant industry had to rapidly shift to online ordering and curbside pickup. Airlines and cruise lines had to rethink the entire traveller experience. It resulted in industries forging new paths and making groundbreaking discoveries. Innovation happened.

Adaptability ensure future success

Behaviour patterns have changed and companies must respond in turn. Two-thirds of organizations surveyed in 2021 said their strategy would change significantly in the next three years as they adjust to the pandemic. However, many companies don't believe they are agile enough to support the evolving business needs. Organizations that take an adaptable, flexible approach are far ahead of those who want to do business as usual while the world has moved on.

Keep moving

A business comfortable in its routine is often change-averse. This fear of failure is preventing innovation and one that organizations must overcome to avoid the risk of falling behind. Leaders promoting innovation are taking the bold step to shake up the status quo. But, to earn buy-in and support, they should find a common, relatable ground.

Identify bold leaders to earn buy-in

Continuing to do the same things in the face of change eventually results in irrelevance. Responding to emerging market conditions can position organisations to be more resilient when the trend eventually leads the rest of the market to follow.

The early bird catches the worm

Change is constant, evolution is continuous, and companies need to be adaptable to ensure future success, this Capgemini exec says.


Yes, innovation is supposed to be uncomfortable

The traditional layout of meeting rooms is undergoing a radical rethink as companies grapple with ways to create optimal collaboration spaces for<a href="https://qz.com/guide/hybrid-workplace/"> hybrid teams</a>.Instead of giant conference tables, many offices are redesigning the same space into small-sized theatres with large screens.

Changes In Office Design

The upheavals caused by the pandemic present a rare blank slate for architects and companies. The crisis in office space compels organizations to think more broadly and boldly.
Movable partitions, like the “<a href="https://qz.com/essentials/1964996/open-plan-offices/">dancing wall</a>” produced by the Swiss furniture company Vitra, are also proving useful. <a href="https://www.vitra.com/en-us/product/dancing-wall">This mobile fixture</a> that transforms into a bookshelf, coat rack, rolling coffee station, or plant stand allows companies to experiment with new space configurations as employees trickle back to the office.

The End of Cookie-Cutter Offices

Architects are rethinking the standard template for conference rooms. For GSK's new office, the Philadelphia-based firm FCA reconfigured a boardroom to look more like a movie theater.

Has remote work made conference tables obsolete?

In a post-pandemic landscape, the corporate world has begun to evolve significantly. With 66% of 22-56-year-olds now working at home at least once a week, digitalization has taken center stage within the business world as technology continues to transform the WFH potential.In fact, 38% of WFH-based companies are planning to implement at least one new form of smart technology into their workplace in 2022 alone, as a remote future becomes a certain reality.

A Remote Future

Augmented reality, otherwise known as AR is a form of immersive technology that is able to enhance your reality. Unlike virtual reality which is able to create a new 3D dimension with the help of VR hardware, AR simply adds digital layers onto what you already see.Using a series of digital layers, AR and VR users are able to enhance their remote working experience. From attending virtual meetings from the comfort of your couch to displaying large amounts of data in front of your eyes, experts suggest that immersive tools could be the key to company success in the digital age.

Augmented Reality

How can immersive technology boost success? The key here is business efficiency. Not only can AR/VR-based tools speed up onboarding and training processes for newcomers, but they also reduce the workload for the other staff members who would struggle to train new employees in a remote setting.Immersive aids do exactly what they say on the tin. They immerse you within your work. Seeing data in real-time and embracing training sessions in a completely virtual immersive setting enables employees to connect to what they are doing and is proved to increase task focus.

The Future of Virtual Onboarding 

One of the main areas of the corporate sector that is set for reform is staff training. As remote onboarding becomes a challenge of the past, immersive training tools are aiding business leaders to onboard staff with minimal effort and maximum success.Utilizing the immersive benefits of AR and VR-based technology, new employees will experience a realistic training practice, where they will be able to interact with mock virtual activities and gain a hands-on onboarding session, accelerating their learning process.

Benefits of Immersive Training Tools

Immersive aids can also significantly <a href="https://theappsolutions.com/blog/development/ar-benefits-for-business/?ref=hackernoon.com">reduce company costs</a> and provide a hefty ROI. From reducing staff assistance to automating a large portion of the company workload, the business’ production value can still remain high, while staff costs remain low, a perfect story for digital success.

Reducing Costs

The evolution of immersive aids, powered by augmented and virtual reality are set to revolutionize the future of WFH.

Virtual Onboarding: Will Immersive AR/VR Tools Replace In-person Training?

We’ve long known that diet plays a key role in our overall health. And in recent years the connection between the microbiome — the microorganisms that reside in our gut, the makeup of which is partially dependent on what we eat — and our brain function is becoming increasingly clear.So this all begs the question: Was Einstein’s genius, as some have claimed, aided by his diet? Let’s find out.

The Question About Einstein's Diet

Scientists have long understood that the human body, including the brain, needs food to function optimally. It appears Einstein understood the importance of getting some brain fuel before starting the day.Einstein’s breakfast was actually pretty nutritionally dense. Eggs are high in protein and minerals like iron, selenium, and phosphorus; mushrooms, a favourite of the physicist, are high in B vitamins and antioxidants. It’s unlikely these foods were the source of Einstein’s genius, but a diet high in proteins, vitamins, and minerals may have helped Einstein’s brain function optimally.

What Einstein Had For Breakfast

Being a terrible cook and eating things out of cans is the mark of genius.Compared to breakfast, lunch was much less of a regular occurrence in Einstein’s daily life. In 1915, he wrote a letter to his second son, Hans Albert Einstein, in which he says, “I am often so engrossed in my work that I forget to eat lunch.”

What Einstein Had For Lunch

Some of Einstein’s scientist friends would regularly get together to discuss physics and other academic pursuits. These dinners were frugal repasts of sausage, Gruyère cheese, fruit, and tea.Indeed, even when the food was much fancier, Einstein was more prone to getting wrapped up in conversation paying little attention to what he was eating. His friends, mathematicians Maurice Solovine and Conrad Habicht, brought him caviar for his birthday.

What Einstein Had For Dinner

When Einstein was 38-years-old, one of his friends became so concerned about the scientist’s digestive problems that he sent him to a doctor. The physician diagnosed him with a “chronic stomach malady” and mandated a four-week special bland diet.Despite the tasteless diet, his stomach problems persisted into his later life and seemed to become more serious with time. Doctors told him first to eat a balanced diet of meat and simple carbohydrates. Then, about a year before he died, a doctor suggested he cut meat, fat, and alcohol out of entirely. His vegetarianism lasted only one year.

The Health Of Einstein

In April of 1955, Einstein died from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Although his diet likely isn’t to blame, his lifestyle habits may have been. According to the Mayo Clinic, tobacco use is the biggest risk factor for developing an abdominal aortic aneurysm.So is a diet of beans, eggs, and mushrooms the secret to cracking science’s toughest questions? Of course not. But eating those kinds of nutrient-dense foods may give you the energy to try.

The Death Of Einstein

From mushrooms to canned beans, Einstein had quite the interesting diet. It remains unclear what, if any, influence his diet had on his ability to understand the deepest levels of physics.

What did Einstein eat? Inside the diet of the famed physicist 

Eating is an essential part of human life and it turns out that not only what we eat but when we eat can impact our brains. Irregular eating times have been shown to contribute to poor mental health, including depression and anxiety, as well as to cardio-metabolic diseases and weight gain.The circadian clock system is responsible for aligning our internal processes at optimal times of the day based on cues from the environment such as light or food. Fortunately, it is possible to leverage our eating rhythms to limit negative moods and increase mental health.

When you eat matters

The circadian clock system is responsible for aligning our internal processes at optimal times of the day based on cues from the environment such as light or food. <ul><li>Although the main clock manages metabolic function over the day-night cycle, our eating rhythms also impact the main clock. </li><li>When the main circadian clock in the brain is out of sync with eating rhythms, it impacts the brain’s ability to function fully. Even though the brain is only 2% of our total body mass, it consumes up to 25% of our energy.  So abnormal meal times are bound to have negative health outcomes.</li></ul>

How eating rhythms impact the brain

<ul><li>There is an overlap between neural circuits governing eating and mood. Also, digestive hormones exert effects on dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a large role in mood, energy, and pleasure. </li><li>Individuals with depression and bipolar disorder have abnormal dopamine levels. Altered eating rhythms are thought to contribute to the poor maintenance of mood.</li><li>Irregular eating may even play a role in the complex underlying causes of mood disorders. Despite this evidence, assessing eating rhythms is not currently part of standard clinical care in most psychiatric settings.</li></ul>

Food and mood

This is also known as intermittent fasting.<ul><li>TRE involves restricting the eating window to a certain amount of time during the day, typically four to 12 hours. For example, choosing to eat all meals and snacks in a 10-hour window from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. reflects an overnight fasting period. </li><li>Evidence suggests that this method optimizes brain function, energy metabolism, and the healthy signaling of metabolic hormones.</li><li>TRE has already been shown to prevent depressive and anxiety symptoms in animal studies designed to model shift work. </li></ul>

Optimizing eating rhythms: time-restricted eating (TRE)

We live in a 24-hour world filled with artificial light and round-the-clock access to food. That makes the effects of disturbed eating rhythms on mental health an important topic for modern life. For the general population, it is important to increase public knowledge on accessible and affordable ways to maintain healthy eating. This includes paying attention not only to the content of meals but also to eating rhythms.

Circadian rhythms in a 24-hour world

Healthy eating is not just what you eat, but when you eat. Eating rhythms that are in sync with the circadian clock can benefit general well-being and may have a protective effect against mental illness.

How your eating rhythms impact your mental health

<ul><li>The end of passwords. New forms of more secure authentication will replace passwords, such as a link sent via email, push notification, or a biometric scan.</li><li>Proof of stake. It offers a way to verify cryptocurrency transactions and cut energy use by 99.05%.</li><li>Synthetic data for AI. Training AI requires a massive amount of data that is messy or reflects biases. Companies are creating and selling synthetic data to train AI.</li><li>Covid variant tracking. Better surveillance allows scientists to track the spread of the virus.</li></ul>

Breakthrough computer technologies

<ul><li>AI for protein folding. The body uses proteins for nearly everything, The way protein folds determine its activity, yet it can take months to figure out its structure. An AI called AlphaFold2 has figured out how to quickly design drugs for various diseases.</li><li>Malaria vaccine. The new malaria vaccine is the world’s first vaccine for parasitic infection and is approved by the World Health Organisation.</li><li>A pill for covid. Pfizer developed a new drug to provide broad protection against Covid-19 when combined with vaccines.</li></ul>

Breakthrough biological technologies

<ul><li>Long-lasting grid battery. New iron-based batteries are made using cheaper and more abundant material that is more practical for grid storage.</li><li>Practical fusion reactors. A startup plans to deliver limitless, carbon-free electricity to the grid by the early 2030s, using a powerful new magnet to build smaller, less expensive reactors.</li><li>Carbon removal factory. The world’s largest carbon removal factory recently opened in Iceland to mitigate climate change.</li></ul>

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Brian
@bri_

Why a flexible workplace shouldn’t mean we ignore individual employee experiences

Coworking is back

Trends are dead

Micro-credentials – what they are and how they can help you

Yes, innovation is supposed to be uncomfortable

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

Brian @bri_

Why a flexible workplace shouldn’t mean we ignore individual employee experiences

Coworking is back

Trends are dead

Micro-credentials – what they are and how they can help you

Yes, innovation is supposed to be uncomfortable

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Brian
@bri_