Good day to you! Another month has flown by and what with February being a reallshortmonthwithlotssmooshedin, I’m going to truncate this one a bit – mainly so it matches the timing of the month and having nothing to do with being heads down and bums up on some projects and that.
What I’ve been thinking this month
Well it’s been a humdinger but a couple of things have crossed my path that are making me think again about hybrid working and all that jazz. According to the Guardian It seems that people don’t want to go out so much anymore, and this article in the Atlantic agrees; there is a decline in us wanting to spend time together physically. Perhaps prompted by money worries, cost of living and pandemic norms, this may also go someway to explaining the greater reticence about the return to work disconnect and the difference of opinion between younger people and older people about returning.
What this highlights to me is a need for a greater understanding of the cultural norms that exist within groups now. And how that affects how people feel about the return to work. A need highlighted by a famous 2022 study showing a wide gap around perceptions of home and office working between managers and employees, with 87% of workers reporting they’re performing well at home and only 12% of employers say they have full confidence their team is being productive. And although there seems to be a bit more of a movement on both sides in terms of what is an acceptable number of days in the office (see the graph below), if this doesn’t come with an actual shift in understanding and empathy, it’s still going to end up in the same old boring “gen z think like this and why don’t they want to come in” conversation.
In short, I think we’re going to see a whole lot of other stats and stories doing the rounds about this in 2024. If you want to have all the stats to hand, then this is a really good synopsis of who said what and where – with an interesting callout that remote working levels are expected to remain at these levels for the foreseeable future. What is clear though is understanding the problem in terms of data and experience is really important. And Bruce Daisley’s download about 2024 working should probably be requisite reading for anyone looking at how they approach the hybrid question this year – as it not only provides data but a meaningful and considerate approach to the situation in general.
And now onto the links!
Employer branding stuff
1. The above also brought to mind another piece around workplace socialising and in particular, drinking culture in Asia. The way in which forms bonds (but also brings out some horrible toxic traits in men). The report makes no “all bad” or “all good” conclusions but does raise an interesting point about what that work socialisation used to give people and, with most preferring to eschew that and work from home, how that has benefitted some through not having to go through that ordeal, but also, perhaps had some trade offs in friendship, closeness and the ability to talk about work in a non-work space. One to ponder I think.
2. This is another important piece from Laetitia Vituad, someone I genuinely consider a thought leader. Everything she writes is so fresh and, writing as she does, in French and English, it seems to feel very “worldly” ie it’s never from one-world perspective. Highly recommended to follow. Her newsletter is ace.
3. The Hustle goes deep on the life of a professional bridesmaid. The intersection with the world of employer branding being when the lady in question tries to get other people to do the job when she can’t…how do you hire people to do what you do?
(As a sidenote I was intrigued around the idea of professional people in what are personal situations and in the back of my mind remembered something about ancient professional mourners. What surprised me is that this is still going.
4. And finally in this section (and I know it’s more about recruitment advertising) but when was the last time your job ad helped catch a criminal? Hmm? Hmmmm? BTW I am strongly lobbying for a new category of “Biggest benefit to society” to be included at the RADS.
Creative stuff
1. This blew my fragile mind. I love that this feels completely different to anything I’ve seen before. Bravo.
2. Who knew that stamps could be so damn lovely? (I mean apart from the people who avidly collect them of course). There is some truly beautiful artwork here from all over the world. How do they draw so small? HOW???
3. And Muzli has put a few of these end of term projects up from digital design students. This is a nice one about Peter Saville. Really nicely put together.
4. One last thought…This is an interesting article about AI generated album covers but gives a different way to think of AI generated content for employer brands. (For artist, read company…)
Until next time.
Love and biscuits
Will