Working It (Financial Times)

The last two years have made us all experts in digital communications at work - or so we think. In fact, many of us are unwittingly upsetting colleagues, or even jinxing our own careers, by not practising good email etiquette and Zoom hygiene. 

In this episode Isabel talks to Erica Dhawan, who really is an expert on digital communication, about the common pitfalls and generational differences [be careful how you use those ‘thumbs up’  emojis, everyone]. We relive some of the best/worst digital fails of the pandemic, including the Netflix staff sacked for dissing colleagues on a public Slack channel and the infamous case of the Texas attorney stuck in the Zoom kitten filter. Erica shares some of the strangest things she has to do as a workplace communication consultant - including teaching Gen Z staff how to get over their fear of voicemail and landlines. 

Isabel and Erica discuss practical things we can do to improve the way we talk to colleagues online. Including a definitive ruling on the vexed subject of whether or not it is rude to put a period on the end of texts, emails and DMs…   

Want to read more? 

Pilita Clark on email etiquette  https://www.ft.com/content/3bb151b5-e785-4305-a1f0-6eb71a9dd327

Tim Harford on making email work for you  https://www.ft.com/content/e32ea720-be03-4264-95a2-21696e530e84

Erica Dhawan’s website  https://ericadhawan.com/

Erica’s advice in Harvard Business Review  https://hbr.org/2021/05/did-you-get-my-slack-email-text

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle in 2022? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe!

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.

Spreading your working hours over five, six or seven days is now an option for thousands of employees at Arup, a global design and engineering company, based in London. In this episode, Isabel talks to Diane Thornhill, Arup's director of people for UK, India, Middle East and Africa, about the company’s “Work Unbound” seven-day work week experiment in Australia and the UK. Diane talks about the importance of senior leaders ‘leaving loudly’ themselves. That means signalling publicly that it’s OK to step away from the desk and take flexible time off.

But how does a seven-day work week affect teams’ communication and collaboration? And do people really want to be able to work all the time? Isabel chats to the FT’s Emma Jacobs, who has written on Arup, about the perks and pitfalls of an always-on work week. Plus, the importance of transparency - in a flexible workplace, it’s vital to be open with our teams about where and when we are working. Is that always a good thing?

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: 

Emma’s article on Arup’s seven-day work week 

https://www.ft.com/content/1405cb93-6625-4834-ac07-09e4062e7aa7

Arup’s own website https://www.arup.com/news-and-events/arups-new-hybrid-work-model-allows-6000-uk-employees-to-choose-their-working-days

The FT’s Sarah O’ Connor on the mysterious decline of our leisure time 

https://www.ft.com/content/9df289b9-d425-49e6-899f-c963b458625f

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.

This week, we are stepping outside the 9 to 5. Side hustles, second jobs, crafting and more have boomed as millions of workers embraced working from home during the pandemic. Isabel talks to Tim Fung, co-founder of Airtasker, a platform for buying and selling services and skills, used by many as a way to earn extra cash. How does he cope with his own staff’s side hustles?

Taylor Nicole Rogers, the FT’s US labour and equality correspondent, explains that many people have two jobs because of shortfalls in pay. But during the pandemic many of us lost touch with our workplaces and focused on developing a sense of personal purpose and identity. Building an Etsy business or sock-selling empire is one expression of that - and having tasted freedom, it’s easier to walk away from a main job.

Isabel and Taylor come up with strategies for managers dealing with staff side hustles.    

Want to read more? 

Follow Taylor Nicole Rogers on FT.com for her reporting on employment trends https://www.ft.com/taylor-nicole-rogers

The banker turned bamboo socks seller  https://www.ft.com/content/5f0e6c76-7cda-4b62-bb2f-36fd4771efaa

Financial influencer Ken Okoroafor on how his side hustle TheHumblePenny.com became a big business https://www.ft.com/content/27eff0d1-e2d0-4e41-afaf-c2aadf437873

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle in 2022? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe!

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.

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.

It’s traditionally been mothers who have had to take time off work to look after children. But in the past two years, the pandemic has accelerated a huge shift towards many more fathers wanting to play an active role in family life. In this episode of Working It, we look at the fast-moving changes in workplace parental leave trends - and what that means for mothers, fathers - and the co-workers who pick up the slack.

Isabel talks to Matt Schneider, co-founder of the US-based City Dads Group, about why paternity leave matters - and the barriers that still stand in men’s way. Are we really still hard-wired to think about men as breadwinners and women as caregivers?

Then she discusses why paternity leave matters more than ever in the current hot labour market, with FT management editor and Working It regular Andrew Hill. If the older, male, leaders in organisations take a dim view of younger colleagues taking paternity leave, do they risk losing them to other companies with a more forward-thinking culture?

And we find out that equality for men in this area might just be the key to women’s advancement - and even help to close the gender pay gap.

Want to read more?

Join a City Dads Group in the US https://citydadsgroup.com/

The FT’s Emma Jacobs on family leave policies as the key to staff retention https://www.ft.com/content/b14b4e7a-e87d-4aee-a267-8100661e4b57

France doubles paternity leave https://www.ft.com/content/36efc7ea-9deb-489a-ac82-97138b7b34f5

McKinsey survey on paternity leave and why it matters https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/a-fresh-look-at-paternity-leave-why-the-benefits-extend-beyond-the-personal

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle in 2022? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe!

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.

In a tight global labour market, older women are having a moment. Employers are offering more leadership and promotion opportunities, as well as practical policies to help manage the hormonal upheavals that hit half the population in their forties and fifties. 

In this episode Isabel talks to Navene Alim and Landy Slattery from the UK’s Channel 4 television network, who pioneered the workplace menopause policy in the UK several years ago. They talk about how it has benefited everyone in their workplace - and the silence and misdiagnosis that until very recently often accompanied women’s symptoms of brain fog, sleeplessness and anxiety. 

Many big companies are putting together policies to support and promote older women - the fastest-growing segment of the workforce. But, as Isabel discusses with Working It regular and FT columnist Brooke Masters, there are downsides to being open about our health status. Sexism and ageism are still rife - might there be a cost to sharing too much? 

Want to read more? 

Channel 4’s pioneering menopause policy is free for other organisations to download and adapt  https://assets-corporate.channel4.com/_flysystem/s3/2020-10/Channel%204%20Menopause%20Policy%202020.pdf

An FT feature on the stigma around menopause fading in workplaces  https://www.ft.com/content/311504fa-04a2-11ea-a958-5e9b7282cbd1

Almost 1mn women have left the UK workforce because of menopause symptoms

https://www.hrreview.co.uk/hr-news/almost-a-million-women-have-left-the-workplace-due-to-menopausal-symptoms/135691

FT columnist Elizabeth Uviebinene on femtech investment  https://www.ft.com/content/5ed48a73-a75c-44d7-924d-b65eec28c64f

Companies supporting older women into leadership 

https://www.ft.com/content/162a607c-4072-4706-91fd-5a7fb252be91

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe!

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.

A new generation of young professionals are becoming online stars in their own right through their social media channels. But what happens when personal brands meet the old-fashioned big corporate workplace? In this week’s episode of Working It, Isabel talks to Eve Cornwell, an English ‘lawfluencer’ who has been online for the past five years, blogging about her journey to becoming a young lawyer - before reinventing herself in the tech sector. 

Eve believes that ‘lawfluencers’ like her, are helping to build a more diverse pipeline of applicants by making a career in the law seem accessible to all. She also posts videos about her personal life - and challenges. But the line between our personal and work selves can become ‘blurred’. And working alongside very successful young stars can be difficult for less famous colleagues.

Isabel discusses the fast-evolving dilemmas around influencers at work with FT graduate trainee Akila Quinio. She’s Gen Z - but doesn’t have a big social media presence. Are we all going to have to have personal brands in future?     

Want to read more? 

The ‘lawfluencers’ who blog about their lives at top law firms, by Akila Quinio https://www.ft.com/content/94f50e66-7c6b-48d3-a277-4d4fa7f00662

Eve Cornwell’s YouTube channel  https://www.youtube.com/c/EveCornwellChannel

Emma Jacobs on the employees who take to TikTok https://www.ft.com/content/c7f8fb0e-8f1a-4829-b818-cb9fe90352fa

FT editorial on the perils of using staff as influencers https://www.ft.com/content/2a72dc23-0926-4c84-b026-a139b0a56d7e

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe!

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.

Michele Romanow and Andrew D’Souza are the co-founders of Clearco, a $2bn lender to ecommerce start-ups - and they shared a romance before sharing assets. They’ve now split up as a couple, and in this episode, they go public with what happened - and why they think they still make a good team.

Then Isabel talks to FT colleague and Working It regular Emma Jacobs about the different ways organisations try to police office relationships, and why that is never going to succeed in stopping people from falling in love or having a messy break-up. 

Want to read more? 

Emma Jacobs on workplace handbooks - a new twist on the old rules of the office https://www.ft.com/content/b69d4fb7-9b6b-4507-bb0e-ac9a02de37ba

The rise of office romances - the stats https://www.shrm.org/about-shrm/press-room/press-releases/pages/new-shrm-survey-the-rise-of-workplace-romance.aspx

Successful co-founders who are couples https://sifted.eu/articles/married-cofounders/

ClearCo’s Michele Romanow and Andrew D’Souza https://clear.co/en-uk/about-us/

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe!

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.

This week we delve into perhaps the workplace's most divisive issue: should you bring your dog to the office? Isabel (a cat person) talks to Lindsay Bumps (dog person), from Ben & Jerry’s ‘K9 culture committee’. The ice-cream maker has had dogs in its offices since the 1970s, so it knows how to get the balance right for everyone: the animals, their owners and even the 10 to 20 per cent of the population who are allergic to dogs. What can Ben & Jerry's teach the managers who are just starting to allow pandemic pooches in the workplace?

Then, Isabel talks to Henry Mance, the FT’s chief feature writer and author of How to Love Animals: In a Human-Shaped World. Henry has written for the FT about the boom in office dogs — and he thinks there are many benefits to having pets in our workplaces. Can he win round Isabel and her fellow office-dog sceptics? 

Want to read more? 

Henry Mance on dogs in the office  https://www.ft.com/content/b25d8001-3ca5-4927-a990-7027acc6e4cc

We love animals — why do we treat them so badly? Henry Mance in the FT https://www.ft.com/content/fdc7ae21-bd59-4887-8417-7905d57b67ba

Some cute photos of Ben & Jerry’s K9-5ers  https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/our-k9-5ers

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — please listen, rate and subscribe!

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.

In the first of a two-part series on the end of work as we know it, Isabel talks to two of the FT’s experts on employment and work trends - Sarah O’Connor in London and Taylor Nicole Rogers in New York. As record numbers of people quit their jobs, refuse to return to offices, or simply put a brake on their time-sucking ‘greedy jobs’ like corporate law and investment banking, this post-pandemic moment marks a profound shift in our relationship with work. 

Have we really left the 9-5 behind to renegotiate how we feel about work and our employers? Taylor talks about the stunning success of the Reddit antiwork forums, and other ways in which workers are reclaiming their time and identities, while Sarah points out that there really are millions of people who have left our workforces. This is a topic FT readers can’t get enough of - and Isabel will be chewing over some of their spiciest comments. 

Listen out for the next episode in the series focusing specifically on The Great Resignation

Want to read more? 

Taylor Nicole Rogers on the anti-work movement https://www.ft.com/content/1270ee18-3ee0-4939-98a8-c4f40940e644

Sarah O’Connor interviews economist Claudia Goldin about the ‘greedy jobs’ phenomenon https://www.ft.com/content/92be2a2d-aee3-48c5-922b-84eea37072f8

Pilita Clark talks to the man who coined the phrase ‘The Great Resignation’  https://www.ft.com/content/3e561d41-0267-4d40-9c30-01e62fa9c10f

Sarah O’Connor on quitting your job https://www.ft.com/content/ad9f2346-19ef-4695-b6c9-c0983176eb23

More background on China’s ‘lying flat’ movement  https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/the-lying-flat-movement-standing-in-the-way-of-chinas-innovation-drive/

FT subscriber? Sign up for the new weekly Working It newsletter. We’ll cover all things workplace and management - plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. One click sign up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. 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.

We’ve heard a lot about diversity and inclusion in workplaces, but one group is often left behind: people with disabilities, visible and invisible. Given that millions of people were allowed to work flexibly during the pandemic, how can we extend that mindset shift to make permanent improvements for staff with disabilities?

In this episode Isabel Berwick talks to campaigner Caroline Casey, founder of the Valuable 500, an alliance of 500 global chief executives who are committed to disability inclusion. Caroline points out that the silence at the top of companies sets the tone for everything that happens - since CEOs aren’t coming out as having lived experiences of disability, that allows inertia further down in their organisations. 

For an account of how it feels to be a neurodiverse employee, and the benefits that this difference brings to a team - Isabel talks to Naomi Rovnick, an FT markets reporter who was recently diagnosed with dyspraxia. 

Caroline and Naomi offer some practical next steps for managers and leaders in any organisation: it’s time to be open about disability. 

Want to read more? 

How employers ‘ghosted’ one young journalist with a declared disability by Isabelle Jani-Friend https://www.ft.com/content/e91c8785-8517-4f1a-b471-c80e80d6d8e2

The hidden workplace skills of those with dyspraxia by Sarah Laitner https://www.ft.com/content/b4255c98-ca7a-11e5-a8ef-ea66e967dd44

FT special report on modern workplaces and disability  https://www.ft.com/reports/modern-workplace-disability

Caroline Casey’s Valuable 500 survey on disability and inclusion reporting among FTSE 100 companies, run in partnership with British media group Tortoise  https://www.tortoisemedia.com/disability100-report/

FT subscriber? Sign up for the new weekly Working It newsletter. We’ll cover all things workplace and management - plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. One click sign up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. 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.

In the second of our ‘Most Read’ episodes on our changing relationship with work, we focus on The Great Resignation — one of the biggest workplace shifts of the pandemic. It’s a topic that deeply interests FT readers — and Isabel kicks off the episode by discussing readers’ thoughts with FT columnists and Working It regulars, Pilita Clark and Emma Jacobs. 

Together, they then talk through some of the latest thinking on what leads people to leave workplaces. Triggers include burnout (particularly among middle managers), wanting to maintain autonomy gained during the pandemic and better pay on offer elsewhere. Emma and Pilita talk about what employers and managers can do to retain staff,  including innovative ‘stay’ interviews to find out what motivates team members and what their ambitions are.  

Want to read more? 

Pilita Clark on the man who predicted The Great Resignation  https://www.ft.com/content/3e561d41-0267-4d40-9c30-01e62fa9c10f

Pilita Clark on ‘the grey resignation’ of older workers https://www.ft.com/content/f4b64153-b7da-46d6-b882-415907bb77f1

How to run ‘stay’ interviews by Emma Jacobs  https://www.ft.com/content/57556b65-f8c8-41f1-9f07-c6c470777229

Is this the end of work as we know it? Working It previous episodehttps://www.ft.com/content/0fc0cf76-d733-4f4c-85fd-51bdc023c63f

FT subscriber? Sign up for the new weekly Working It newsletter. We’ll cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. One click sign up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — please listen, rate and subscribe!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. 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 term ‘upskilling’ is suddenly everywhere. We might once have called it training and development, but the meaning is the same: organisations are spending vast sums to give their existing staff new tools to succeed at work - and, increasingly, to support their personal development. In this week’s episode, Isabel explores how training, or upskilling, has evolved as a way to retain staff in the post-pandemic workplace. She speaks to FT columnist and Working It regular Emma Jacobs about which aspects of upskilling are worth the time and investment, and also to Dan Bullock and Raul Sanchez, training and communications experts at New York University. Dan also works at the UN as a trainer, and both of them are convinced that teaching staff new language and communication skills is the key to a post-pandemic skills refocus - and better global understanding. Could upskilling staff actually help end the Great Resignation? 

Want to read more? 

What is needed to bridge the skills gap? Andrew Hill on the World Economic Forum’s research https://www.ft.com/content/c82a4096-f4fc-424e-bc74-6df52055640d

More investment in older workers will pay off - Camilla Cavendish on the short-sighted approach of employers who favour younger staff 

https://www.ft.com/content/1a72ed42-6d96-4ed5-9528-fb4810b0dbd6

Emma Jacobs on using ‘‘stay’ interviews as a way to find out the training staff want 

https://www.ft.com/content/57556b65-f8c8-41f1-9f07-c6c470777229

How the Japanese company Rakuten made English its global language 

https://www.ft.com/content/2fdd6626-ba3b-11e7-8c12-5661783e5589

Dan Bullock and Raul Sanchez’s work on training staff to communicate globally 

https://www.globallycommunicate.com/the-team

FT subscriber? Sign up for the new weekly Working It newsletter. We’ll cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. One-click sign up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — please listen, rate and subscribe!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. 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.

Most of us enjoyed a lot more time outside in nature during the pandemic so could bringing nature into the office help lure workers back to their desks? In this episode, Isabel Berwick, Working It host and the FT’s Work and Careers editor, talks to architect Rick Cook about his ‘biophilic’ buildings. Rick creates buildings that don’t just look good, but stimulate us to smell, feel and touch the world around us, bringing beehives, greenery and even praying mantis into employees’ lives. Isabel also speaks to the FT’s New York correspondent and Working It regular, Josh Chaffin, about the cutting edge of US office design. There are hospitality groups contracted to make offices look and feel like cool private members’ clubs as well as ice-cream carts and new quiet spaces for introverts. Will it tempt back employees reluctant to give up working from home? What can managers do to make their offices even a little bit more alluring and healthy? 

Want to read more? 

Josh Chaffin on Rick Cook’s ‘biophilic’ architecture 

https://www.ft.com/content/e032feee-6d3d-4773-b8b6-c0744bdadb49

How New York’s offices are getting a post pandemic shake up 

https://www.ft.com/content/0fc60c68-7e8f-492d-ae4c-f66272793212

Pilita Clark on why commuting to an office is still offputting 

https://www.ft.com/content/8d7e40da-0cf3-453e-9eb3-40036d4e2582

Hot desking in offices is coming back

https://www.ft.com/content/06f5e384-e278-4c30-8215-085512c6820d

How companies are luring staff back with restaurant-quality free food

https://www.ft.com/content/218e50fb-9bff-4589-bff2-7975ea354456

HBR on the power of getting away from your desk for a walk 

https://hbr.org/2021/02/dont-underestimate-the-power-of-a-walk

FT subscriber? Sign up for the new weekly Working It newsletter. We’ll cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. One-click sign up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — please listen, rate and subscribe!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. 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.

US business travel is back to about 50 per cent of its 2019 levels. But post-pandemic and amid the climate crisis, can we justify those quick jaunts to sit in airless conference rooms and sip bad cocktails with strangers?

In this episode, Isabel Berwick, Working It host and the FT’s Work and Careers editor, talks to Evan Konwiser, executive vice-president of product and strategy at American Express Global Business Travel. As an advocate for business travel, Evan  thinks the future is going to be about making meetings unusual or special. Meanwhile, FT columnist Pilita Clark questions whether we should really be encouraging our staff to get on planes given the climate crisis. Both Evan and Pilita look at near-future trends: the new practice of blending business travel with leisure time – or ‘bleisure’ as some call it – and why your employer may even be booking your vacation. 

Want to read more? 

Pilita Clark on the post-pandemic future of business travel 

https://www.ft.com/content/75d096e5-a429-496b-a62d-f8f6b9b2fb35

More on the Swedish ‘flygskam’ or flight shaming 

https://www.ft.com/content/5c635430-1dbc-11ea-97df-cc63de1d73f4

Emma Jacobs on the rise of ‘bleisure’ 

https://www.ft.com/content/8003a384-bc22-4ae9-b1c1-2c5452136cbe

EY sends new recruits on a trip to Disney

https://www.ft.com/content/da797e20-85fe-4beb-a054-c611aebfdfd9

American Express business travel report outlining its view that business travel will become the centre ‘of the new company culture’ 

https://explorer.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com/Why-Business-Travel-Is-the-Center-of-The-New-Company-Culture.html

Salesforce’s ‘trailblazer ranch’ for staff meetings in California 

https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/introducing-trailblazer-ranch/

FT subscriber? Sign up for the new weekly Working It newsletter. We’ll cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. One-click sign up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — please listen, rate and subscribe!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. 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.

This week on Working It, we’ve joined forces with Claer Barrett, host of Money Clinic. Back in November, Money Clinic aired one of its most popular episodes: “How to ask for a pay rise – and get one!” Working It host Isabel Berwick was an expert on that show, and she’s invited Claer to talk about salaries again – now with added urgency, because rising inflation is pushing up the cost of living. We hear again from Max, the Money Clinic listener who featured on the November episode. Max followed the expert advice he was given and asked for a pay rise, and he tells us what happened next. Plus, what can managers do to help their teams asking for higher pay, especially if there is no budget for it? This episode will help you gather the tools and tips you need – and also tell you what not to do.

Want more? 

Listen again to the advice from Claer, Isabel and Jonathan Black, the FT’s “Dear Jonathan” careers agony uncle, on the Money Clinic podcast from November 

https://www.ft.com/content/04b1176f-b6c8-4488-971b-9ded3358a324

Two FT features by a behavioural economist on how to craft a case for a pay rise and how to use storytelling to make your argument

https://www.ft.com/content/09ce507b-914a-4988-9a56-cf5181e1678d

https://www.ft.com/content/967db31f-f49b-4039-a295-23db588d2a1c

How to ask for a raise: HBR tips and video

https://hbr.org/2021/11/christine-vs-work-how-to-ask-for-a-raise

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. One-click sign up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — please listen, rate and subscribe!

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

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

Big tech companies such as Meta, which owns Facebook, are throwing billions of dollars into developing their version of the metaverse – virtual spaces where we are all represented by 3D avatars or holographic versions of ourselves. It’s a vision that includes offices in the metaverse, and companies including consultancy Accenture are already using VR headsets and virtual worlds to onboard and train new staff. Working It host Isabel Berwick talks to Lynn Wu, a Wharton Business School professor and an expert on emerging technologies, and Dave Lee, the FT’s San Francisco-based tech correspondent, to find out more about the workplace metaverse. What kinds of ethical questions are raised when working in a world beyond national and corporate borders? What rights will employees have? 

Want more? 

What are our employment rights in the metaverse?

https://www.ft.com/content/9463ed05-c847-425d-9051-482bd3a1e4b1

What do tech companies hope will be the wider potential of the metaverse?

https://www.ft.com/content/c47eb9fe-2606-4b7c-8527-53d993e84039 

A look inside Accenture’s “virtual campus” called Nth Floor gives a good idea about how a workplace metaverse will function  

https://www.accenture.com/us-en/about/going-beyond-extended-reality

FT Alphaville takes a sideways glance at what the metaverse hype really means

https://www.ft.com/content/40f545c1-178e-43ef-8bac-6010c7781a77

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — please listen, rate and subscribe!

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Most of us cannot move for diversity, equity and inclusion strategies in our workplaces, but one thing is often missing: class. When you come from an economically disadvantaged background colleagues often can’t tell, yet the workplace can feel like a hostile environment. How can managers and companies help their colleagues and employees to thrive and advance, especially when many people may not want to be open about their backgrounds at work?

This episode of Working It starts with Sophie, a young entrant to the TV industry, a sector once rife with nepotism and unpaid internships. She got her break via Creative Access, a UK non-profit that supports young people into internships and jobs in the creative industries. Host Isabel Berwick also hears from Annette King, who started out as a "working-class girl from Swindon" and is now UK chief executive of advertising group Publicis. What does her experience tell us?

Finally, Isabel talks to Naomi Rovnick, FT markets reporter, about her route into journalism from a non-traditional background, why "masking" socio-economic background is so common as a way to fit in with what Naomi calls "skiing and wine" chat, and why collecting better data will help us break the class ceiling. 

Want more? 

Lex assesses class diversity among UK professions, including efforts by the BBC to change things

https://www.ft.com/content/8ceff340-f679-49e4-a781-d7a1e4357aea

The FT's Emma Jacobs explores efforts to boost class diversity in acting 

https://www.ft.com/content/bd4736aa-6d6d-11e8-852d-d8b934ff5ffa

FT columnist Simon Kuper on how Oxford university shaped the UK’s ruling elite 

https://www.ft.com/content/2fa1e436-a5c7-43b1-9e5a-b1e1b43b8c3a

Useful employer toolkit on socio-economic diversity and inclusion, from the UK Social Mobility Commission 

https://socialmobilityworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SMC-Employers-Toolkit_WEB_updated_July2021.pdf

Advisory firm KPMG is publishing socio-economic pay gap data for its staff, based on parental occupation 

https://home.kpmg/uk/en/home/media/press-releases/2021/09/kpmg-publishes-firmwide-socio-economic-background-pay-gaps.html

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — please listen, rate and subscribe!

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

This week, host Isabel Berwick is joined by Emma Jacobs, author of one of the Financial Times’s most read features on the workplace this year: “The end of sick days: has WFH made it harder to take time off?” Along with fellow Working It regular Brooke Masters, the FT’s US investment and industries editor, they discuss why we are taking fewer sick days than ever, with more of us choosing to work through sickness. Is it a practice managers should ever encourage? They also consider readers’ and listeners’ perspectives on sick leave – has WFH, and the prospect of missing a long commute, made us more likely to call in sick? And is the growing honesty in workplaces around mental health and wellbeing changing the way we think about our need to take time off work for rest and recovery? 

Want more? 

Emma Jacobs’ hit FT article on sick leave 

https://www.ft.com/content/bc9e39ce-8762-4e70-8aa2-2e33b23b80fe

Results of a big FT reader survey on attitudes to work and return to the office, including sick leave 

https://www.ft.com/content/b5b9af97-3193-4dd6-bcb8-894ba7846e0e

FT columnist Sarah O’Connor explores punitive sick leave rules https://www.ft.com/content/8a5bccb5-ba86-4a0c-9777-d1283945106d

US retailers under pressure to disclose sick leave policies

https://www.ft.com/content/b190494e-fa0c-4b52-9f18-cf838e15ab72

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Many of us got used to dressing in athleisure and comfort clothing while we were working from home during the pandemic, and it would seem we’re loath to shed that habit as we head back into the office. In this episode, host Isabel Berwick tries to disentangle the new workplace dress codes with the help of two experts: Adam Galinsky, a Columbia University business school professor, and Robert Armstrong, FT style columnist and author of the FT’s popular Unhedged newsletter. Galinsky has researched what sorts of clothes help us work – and feel – at our best, and the results may surprise you. Armstrong wants us to think differently about the idea of comfort, and wonders whether the tie is dead.

Want more? 

Robert Armstrong on the end of the tie 

https://www.ft.com/content/db8ac87f-0765-456b-994f-f66f8a140585

Why is Jeff Bezos such a terrible dresser?

https://www.ft.com/content/a6ce9a0b-d09a-4881-a712-4151465b3b78

Is the underwired bra over ? 

https://www.ft.com/content/2b0b614a-ef83-4991-aabf-1dee87cb1da7

Professor Adam Galinsky’s workwear research 

https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amd.2021.0081

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

We all have plenty of regrets in both our personal lives and at work, but is there a way to reframe our past to show us the path to a better future? Daniel Pink, bestselling author of The Power of Regret, thinks that there is and he talks to Andrew Hill, the FT’s senior business writer, about the ways in which we can think differently about our workplace regrets. Then Andrew and Working It host Isabel Berwick discuss the takeaways for managers. Turns out we can all encourage our teams to be a bit bolder and minimise their regrets. 

Want more? 

Andrew Hill interviews Daniel Pink about The Power of Regret 

https://www.ft.com/content/df661f84-9c77-4c01-b8fe-1b8508867313

Daniel Pink’s website 

https://www.danpink.com/

A good Harvard Business Review article on making peace with your regrets

https://hbr.org/2021/06/its-time-to-make-peace-with-your-regrets

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

If you often feel underqualified and full of self-doubt at work, you may be suffering from imposter syndrome. But as host Isabel Berwick finds out in this episode, in some cases that may actually improve your performance. Isabel speaks to Sian Beilock, president of Columbia University’s Barnard College, a cognitive scientist who studies how people perform under stress, and Viv Groskop, author, comedian and host of the podcast 'How to Own the Room'. Sian unpicks the psychological aspects of imposter syndrome while Viv gives us advice on how to manage it and even make it work in your favour.

Want more?

Sian Beilock on how to banish self-doubt at work 

https://www.ft.com/content/d154b5a0-287a-11e9-9222-7024d72222bc

… and on overcoming the ‘spotlight effect’ 

https://www.ft.com/content/5f5001aa-bde2-11e9-9381-78bab8a70848

Viv Groskop talks to the FT on how to overcome fear of public speaking

https://www.ft.com/content/ffb7b300-0441-11e9-99df-6183d3002ee1

Viv’s website https://vivgroskop.com/

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Is there something about hybrid work that inherently disadvantages women? According to Deloitte’s 2022 Women at Work survey, almost 60 per cent of women who work in hybrid environments say they have been excluded from important meetings and almost half say they do not have enough exposure to leaders, putting them at a disadvantage when it comes to career progression. Host Isabel Berwick is joined by the FT’s employment columnist Sarah O’Connor and US labour and equality correspondent Taylor Nicole Rogers to discuss what might be going wrong for women working in hybrid roles — and how it could be fixed.

FT subscriber? Check out the Working It newsletter: One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

Want more?

It’s time to admit that hybrid is not working

https://www.ft.com/content/d0df2f1b-2f83-4188-b236-83ca3f0313df

The UK ‘back to the office budget’ does not add up for women

https://www.ft.com/content/143c2613-3e3a-48bb-8e2c-c7d479860f0f

The ‘no’ club - Emma Jacobs on how to refuse non-promotable tasks

https://www.ft.com/content/03117e7a-3c85-4af4-8c31-f34428af32c4

Is the underwired bra over? 

https://www.ft.com/content/2b0b614a-ef83-4991-aabf-1dee87cb1da7

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Many of us see our work colleagues just as much, if not more, than friends and family – or at least, that was the case before March 2020 and the Covid lockdowns that followed. So how crucial are these workplace friendships in luring employees back to the office after several years of working from home? And is there an inevitable trade-off between climbing the corporate ladder and keeping up your workplace friendships? Host Isabel Berwick discusses these questions and more with Lynda Gratton, professor of Management Practice in Organisational Behaviour at the London Business School, and Sarah Gordon, chief executive of the Impact Investing institute in London and formerly business editor at the Financial Times, where she was one of Isabel’s good workplace friends! 

Want more?

What do friends bring to the workplace?

https://www.ft.com/content/f13bca30-45ea-11e2-b780-00144feabdc0

When your best workplace friend leaves:

https://www.ft.com/content/62b2db86-60e7-11e9-b285-3acd5d43599e

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Host Isabel Berwick is on a quest to find out whether she - a middle-aged journalist who can just about manage a 5 kilometre run - can improve her performance and productivity by thinking like a sports star, and asks whether there’s an element of machismo in drawing leadership lessons from the sports world. Isabel speaks to Jeremy Snape, a former England cricketer and founder of Sporting Edge, a consultancy that teaches leaders to get ahead using an athlete’s mindset. And she talks to her ex-boss, the FT’s former editor Lionel Barber, about how sports managers inspired his leadership.

Want more?

Simon Kuper on the meritocracy of elite football 

https://www.ft.com/content/4638ad2d-6609-4406-8fa3-f0c6055ef0ec

Why leading a business is not like leading a sports team 

https://www.ft.com/content/d08bca4c-1bbe-11e3-94a3-00144feab7de?shareType=nongift

When sports leadership teaching goes wrong https://www.ft.com/content/3b107a4a-40fa-11ea-bdb5-169ba7be433d

Lunch with the FT: Lionel Barber and Andrew Strauss

https://www.ft.com/content/9c8064e8-cfe0-11de-a36d-00144feabdc0

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

An epic post-pandemic workplace culture clash is hotting up this summer, pitting bosses who want everyone back in the office against workers who have embraced autonomy and flexibility. Even if leaders won’t say so publicly, many of them want to see workers at their desks. Host Isabel Berwick talks to organisational behaviour expert Professor Anita Woolley about the reasons why CEOs won’t let go of control - and why staff are always likely to resist their demands. 

Then the FT’s chief UK business correspondent, Dan Thomas, tells Isabel about the current state of office occupancy, and the secret frustrations of business leaders with staff who refuse to undertake (increasingly expensive) commutes. The pair discuss whether looming recessions and economic woes might give business leaders the upper hand. 

Want more?

Office returns stall as UK workers cling to flexible working - Dan Thomas and Ella Hollowood

https://www.ft.com/content/5ed49b8a-6c69-418c-9a26-7f43a99b1d1f

Why CEOs are so WTF about working from home - Gilliant Tett opinion column

https://www.ft.com/content/8a3f1fa7-8c0c-4068-b0d9-f12c84f0b8d6

Stanford professor Nick Bloom’s WFH Research - lots of useful data here

https://wfhresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/WFHResearch_updates_June2022.pdf

…and why asking for five days a week in the office means fewer workers comply

https://twitter.com/I_Am_NickBloom/status/1534535041702711296/photo/1

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Host Isabel Berwick talks to FT workplace experts Delphine Strauss, FT economics correspondent, and Emma Jacobs, FT features writer and Working It regular, about the cost of living crisis. Delphine explains why double-digit pay deals to match inflation are likely to be resisted by bosses - and how that is likely to lead to more industrial action in some sectors. The trio discuss the sorts of new support and perks that organisations are putting in place to help staff deal with rising costs, and question whether the great return to the office is going to be stalled by the high price of commuting. As winter approaches, many will face an unenviable trade off: freezing in our homes or paying large sums in rail fares or gas to travel to a warmer workplace.  

Want more?

Cost of living crisis: employers step in to help - Dephine and Emma’s long read

https://www.ft.com/content/e6bd22e1-088f-492d-802a-1a7aecdc7fe7

Have we had enough of the ‘nanny’ employer? 

https://www.ft.com/content/0506901f-d2a9-45bb-8a79-5ceb202e1675

Who really deserves a pay rise in the cost of living crisis? 

https://www.ft.com/content/38378af9-6f55-4bde-8c04-d13ee35cac07

‘I earn £10.71 an hour. Here’s what the cost of living crisis has been like’

https://www.ft.com/content/af633a2e-3e46-4eaa-9173-167b87dc8c3e

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

With the quit rate in the US higher than it was before the Covid 19 pandemic, host Isabel Berwick looks at the do’s and don’ts of leaving an employer. Listeners and FT readers share their experiences, and communications expert Erica Dhawan explains why a ‘good exit’ matters, as well as recalling that time when, as an employer herself, she got it wrong.

For more on the state of the US jobs market: https://www.ft.com/us-labour-market

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

In this repeat of one of Working It’s most popular episodes, host Isabel Berwick tries to work out why people are so secretive about their pay. She talks to Joel Gascoigne, chief executive of social media business Buffer, which publishes its employees’ salaries on its website, and she speaks to Brooke Masters, the FT’s chief business commentator and an expert on CEO pay. 

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. 

Want more?

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 to ask for one

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.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Host Isabel Berwick describes herself as an extrovert but she has introverts in her team. So what should she bear in mind to ensure they perform at their best? Isabel gets advice from self-described ambitious, anxious introvert Morra Aarons-Mele, who hosts The Anxious Achiever podcast and is the author of an eponymous upcoming book, and hears from colleague Kesewa Hennessy, the FT’s head of audience diversity, who describes herself as an introvert.

Want more?

How working from home plays to the strengths of introverts: https://www.ft.com/content/f8ceffe7-cc89-4d95-975e-6142924a33b8

Why it’s OK to be quiet at meetings: 

https://www.ft.com/content/6d5942a2-a13a-49ea-a833-a6d5ce780ae3

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Taylor Nicole Rogers, the FT’s US labour and equality correspondent, stands in for regular host Isabel Berwick in this episode to ask what the resurgence of trade union activity in both the US and UK is doing to the relationship between employer and employee. We hear from Mick Lynch, general secretary of the UK’s National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, and Taylor speaks to Dave Lee, the FT’s San Francisco correspondent, about attempts by US workers to form a union at Amazon and elsewhere, and the risks they face. 

Want more?

FT editorial on the resurgence of unionism:

https://www.ft.com/content/70df32e8-7eec-472c-b0da-6eee7659b5bb

And https://www.ft.com/content/29005123-c397-4464-9970-81a5460e007d

For latest FT reporting on trade unions:

https://www.ft.com/stream/61b3414d-9e45-4962-a2d1-134453f5af02

For more on unionisation attempts at Amazon:

https://www.ft.com/content/80f77552-5b73-4e08-bcdb-bc1ab60f6630

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter and follow Taylor Nicole Rogers @TaylorNRogers

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Taylor Nicole Rogers. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Given the climate crisis, can we still justify those quick jaunts to sit in airless conference rooms and sip bad cocktails with strangers? Isabel Berwick, Working It host and the FT’s Work and Careers editor, talks to Evan Konwiser, executive vice-president of product and strategy at American Express Global Business Travel. He paints a picture of how he sees business travel making a comeback, but FT columnist Pilita Clark wonders if companies have become used to doing without it during the pandemic.

Want to read more? 

Pilita Clark on the future of business travel: 

https://www.ft.com/content/75d096e5-a429-496b-a62d-f8f6b9b2fb35

More on the Swedish ‘flygskam’ or flight shaming:  

https://www.ft.com/content/5c635430-1dbc-11ea-97df-cc63de1d73f4

Emma Jacobs on the rise of ‘bleisure’:  

https://www.ft.com/content/8003a384-bc22-4ae9-b1c1-2c5452136cbe

EY sends new recruits on a trip to Disney: 

https://www.ft.com/content/da797e20-85fe-4beb-a054-c611aebfdfd9 

American Express business travel report outlining its view that business travel will become the centre ‘of the new company culture’:

https://explorer.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com/Why-Business-Travel-Is-the-Center-of-The-New-Company-Culture.html 

Salesforce’s ‘trailblazer ranch’ for staff meetings in California:

https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/introducing-trailblazer-ranch/

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter  

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — please listen, rate and subscribe! 

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

‘Quiet quitting’ is the summer’s hottest workplace trend. It’s spurred thousands of social media posts on TikTok and elsewhere. But what is it exactly? And what if your staff are doing it? FT features writer Emma Jacobs and columnist Pilita Clark join Working It host Isabel Berwick to discuss. Is ‘quiet quitting’ simply a triumph of alliteration over information or does it tell us something useful about workplace attitudes that have come out of the pandemic?

Want more?

Why 'quiet quitting' is nonsense:

https://www.ft.com/content/a09a2ade-4d14-47c2-9cca-599b3c25a33f

A tongue-in-cheek FT guide to ‘quiet quitting’:

https://www.ft.com/content/c5cddb3a-dcf8-4ef8-a1c2-ed866c214d2b

Has work become a four-letter word?

https://www.ft.com/content/93435e72-d05b-4061-b6ff-05b9cbd76f0a

Interviewing amid economic uncertainty:

https://www.ft.com/content/682b3062-8c78-4962-ac23-6fafe2af16f2

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Taylor Nicole Rogers. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Who wouldn’t want to have a regular paid day off to go surfing, take a long walk - or to care for family members? 

During the pandemic a growing number of companies have been experimenting with four-day weeks and in this episode Isabel talks to Andrew Barnes, founder of 4 Day Week Global, a non-profit organisation that helps companies switch to a more flexible working week. 

Andrew first brought in four-day working weeks at his own company in New Zealand, and found productivity and staff happiness rocketed. Isabel also talks to the FT’s Emma Jacobs, who has written about the benefits - and drawbacks–of four-day working. There are many reasons why corporate leaders don’t like the idea - not least because some of them confuse presenteeism with productivity. But are these objections valid? Or could a shortened working week on full pay even be a way for bosses to hold on to staff - and halt the Great Resignation?

Want to read more? 

Pilita Clark’s FT column ‘Get ready for the four-day working week’  https://www.ft.com/content/c5d83853-682e-4076-81c1-813b246309f8

Emma Jacobs’ feature on shorter working weeks during the pandemic https://www.ft.com/content/2973bdb4-aef7-4766-b4a5-3f83dd0d667f

Emma’s interview with Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, an expert on shorter working weeks https://www.ft.com/content/7bb06122-57d0-11ea-abe5-8e03987b7b20

Andrew Barnes’ organisation 4 Day Week Global has lots of resources  https://www.4dayweek.com/

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle in 2022? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe!

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.

Host Isabel Berwick investigates claims that microdosing improves performance at work. It’s well known that in Silicon Valley some executives have taken to ingesting very small amounts of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, in the belief that it increases concentration and productivity. But there are also soft-touch versions, known as nootropics or ‘smart drugs’, which include legal mushroom varieties and are said to have similar effects. Isabel and her team try them out at Shroom Town Cafe, a pop-up in central London, and she speaks to Jakobien van der Weijden, co-founder of the Microdosing Institute in the Netherlands. 

Want more?

How safe is your psychedelic trip? https://www.ft.com/content/c5cc0077-3966-4c65-9320-d0a0860740af

The secret to making your brain work better: https://www.ft.com/content/08078211-638b-4326-ac2e-92ae2cdf65c9

How Silicon Valley rediscovered LSD: https://www.ft.com/content/0a5a4404-7c8e-11e7-ab01-a13271d1ee9c

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. You can sign up for the newsletter with one click, here

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Regular listeners might be forgiven for thinking employees are mostly overwhelmed and overworked. But is the world actually full of people looking artfully busy? Employees who may be slipping under the radar in big organisations? Host Isabel Berwick speaks to David Bolchover, author of ‘The Living Dead: Switched Off, Zoned Out – The Shocking Truth About Office Life’, who spent several years employed at a large organisation doing nothing. And she hears from Leo Lewis, the FT’s Asia business editor based in Tokyo, about a backlash in Japan against the phenomenon of the hatarakanai ojisan, the old geezer (or, less commonly, his female equivalent) who manages to get away with doing no work. 



Want more?

The rise and rise of Japan’s unsackable slacker https://www.ft.com/content/4012c8f4-cb16-4bf5-ac25-a88c1aae8a51

The threat of boredom at work https://www.ft.com/content/bccf5464-0996-11e7-97d1-5e720a26771b

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

We’ve all come across them in the workplace: the tyrannical boss, the person who puts you down in order to build themselves up, the passive aggressive co-worker. Taylor Nicole Rogers, the FT’s US labour and equality correspondent, stands in for Working It host Isabel Berwick, to source tips on managing difficult colleagues. She hears from author and podcaster Amy Gallo, an expert in conflict, communication, and workplace dynamics, and speaks to the FT’s US investment reporter Madison Darbyshire.

Want more?

You can’t hide from the jerks at work: https://www.ft.com/content/dd9d39f8-2861-4c99-809e-6a198dd7c4ee

How to deal with an abusive work situation: https://www.ft.com/content/5b5d3ff9-9a11-4f9c-a440-d41cc90ad452

How do I navigate a toxic office environment? https://www.ft.com/content/e7309f02-c595-11e9-ae6e-a26d1d0455f4

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Fans of business and work podcasts won’t need any introduction to Steven Bartlett (Diary of a CEO), Bruce Daisley (Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat), Jenna Kutcher (The Goal Digger Podcast) and Emma Gannon (Ctrl Alt Delete). All of them host successful podcasts about our working lives. Working It host Isabel Berwick hears about what they see as the big workplace issues for the next year, touching on everything from hybrid work and hyperconnectivity to the metaverse.

Want more?

For articles about the future of work, check out the following feed: https://www.ft.com/future-of-work

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

The Harvard Business Review once published a damning report about middle managers, saying that the very title “evokes mediocrity”. Was that fair? And what does it take to be a good middle manager? Host Isabel Berwick, the FT’s work and careers editor, discusses with Andrew Hill, the FT’s senior business writer and former management editor. 

Want more?

Andrew Hill on why being a manager matters more than ever https://www.ft.com/content/dd340c7b-48e3-459c-84af-bfb704d37665

How demands on team leaders are intensifying https://www.ft.com/content/a1740fb3-bd69-4c8d-a322-8b59332de568

Forget the ‘toxic boss’ - meet the toxic underlings https://www.ft.com/content/a9c0c114-fb8a-4829-bfc0-2f52a2bbef9f

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

We’ve probably all had one: a boss whose traits include a grandiose sense of self-importance, a need for excessive admiration, a lack of empathy and a sense of entitlement. They’re all traits of a narcissist. Psychologist Dr Ramani Durvasula, an expert in the subject, tells host Isabel Berwick, the FT’s work and careers editor, why so many narcissists end up in positions of leadership, and how to handle them. Plus, psychotherapist Naomi Shragai, author of 'The Man Who Mistook His Job For His Life', explains why some narcissistic traits are essential to getting ahead at work.

Want more?

CEO narcissism https://www.ft.com/content/1cebaf40-7362-487c-bd33-d52e2265a5a8

How to handle a narcissist in the workplace https://www.ft.com/content/eab55621-5a6e-4176-bcb9-c451417db328

Lustful leaders: the good, the bad, and the narcissistic https://www.ft.com/content/387bdfbe-b5a2-46e6-8a63-f3a41c2e7f68

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

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’. 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.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Tens of millions of people worldwide are believed to be suffering from long Covid, experiencing symptoms lasting for more than four weeks after they had Covid-19. Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Jana Javornik, associate professor of employment relations at the University of Leeds, about how she’s juggling her workload with long Covid symptoms, and Sarah Neville, the FT’s global health editor, explains why workplaces have been reluctant to address the issue.

Want more?

The growing evidence that Covid-19 is leaving people sicker https://www.ft.com/content/26e0731f-15c4-4f5a-b2dc-fd8591a02aec

Number of Britons with long Covid reaches new high https://www.ft.com/content/e62008ff-bebf-4f9f-bc3a-9bb54991fc30

Long Covid defies understanding as sufferers despair https://www.ft.com/content/ff63cd68-7281-4340-b1b6-5db3d891eaff

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

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.

Businesses are competing to attract the people they consider the most skilled workers, but if hiring challenges can be described as a war, then the past two years have been one long battle. Host Isabel Berwick hears from Tyler Cowen, an economist and co-author of a new book called ‘Talent’, about how to spot and retain the skilled recruits, and from FT management editor, Anjli Raval, about how skills shortages are affecting recruitment practices.

Want more?

Talent wars: why businesses have to battle to hire the best https://www.ft.com/content/e79e1497-1eb3-4ca1-bd1f-b12679e24576

The global war for talent https://www.ft.com/content/61cc947c-c44c-4340-897a-8bd947227c05

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

HR has an image problem. For some managers, the phrase “human resources” has become synonymous with the idea of needless corporate policies that get in the way of growth. From the employee's perspective, there is often doubt on whether HR is there to protect them - or the company. Host Isabel Berwick speaks with Jamie Fiore Higgins, an author and executive coach who spent 18 years at Goldman Sachs, about her experience of HR at the investment bank. Isabel also speaks to Georgina Shaw, a people partner at Lush, a company without a conventional HR department, and discusses HR’s role in the corporate structure with Andrew Hill, the FT’s senior business writer.

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

A recent survey in the US found that four in 10 employees had left a job because they felt their values were stigmatised, but how does that sit with a growing number of companies and chief executives making public commitments to diversity and inclusion? Host Isabel Berwick hears from Octavius Black, CEO and co-founder of Mind Gym, which uses behavioural science techniques to improve culture and performance for companies and their staff. And she asks Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, FT's US business editor, whether workplaces are really becoming more divided and polarised.

Want more?

Politics in the workplace: how should we deal with opposing views?: https://www.ft.com/content/0864d0cb-bab0-4571-9e25-9b6f0ca041ef

When should business take a stand? https://www.ft.com/content/5ceffa36-899a-4457-919f-b70902162f64

Why Silicon Valley is split on keeping social activism out of the workplace: https://www.ft.com/content/ba0ac9a7-e33e-4e77-a583-3c900e698ab0

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? Which topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

A host of UK companies have been taking part in a 6-month trial aimed at overhauling the traditional five-day working week. They’ve structured their businesses to work on a four day week instead, with no loss in pay for employees. The trail is being coordinated by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with the UK think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign and researchers at Cambridge University, Boston College and Oxford University. In this first episode of a four-part series about the trial, host Isabel Berwick speaks to the FT’s Emma Jacobs about the four businesses - Yo Telecoms, Stellar Asset Management, fish and chip shop Platten's and games developer Hutch - who signed up to take part. Why did they sign up, how are they adapting their work flow and what are their aims and concerns as they kick off their experiment?

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

It’s billed as the biggest overhaul of the working week since the carmaker Henry Ford introduced the five-day week in his factories, almost a century ago. A number of UK companies have signed up to trial a four-day week, with no loss in pay for employees. In the second episode of this four-part series about the trial, host Isabel Berwick hears from the FT’s Emma Jacobs who’s been speaking to employees involved, reporting on their concerns about maintaining productivity and time management.

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

A host of UK companies have been taking part in a six-month trial aimed at overhauling the traditional five-day working week. They’ve structured their businesses to work on a four-day week instead, with no loss in pay for employees. In the third episode of this four-part series about the trial, host Isabel Berwick hears from the FT’s Emma Jacobs who has been speaking to consultants and academics advising the companies involved, as well as the people behind the global four-day week campaign. What’s required to make it work?

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

It has been billed as the biggest overhaul of the working week since the carmaker Henry Ford introduced the five day week in his factories almost a century ago. A number of UK companies have signed up to trial a four-day week, with no loss in pay for employees. In the last of this four-part series about the trial, host Isabel Berwick speaks to the FT’s Emma Jacobs who tracked four companies taking part. Will they stick to the new shorter working hours or go back to a five-day week?

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

The Financial Times Business Book of the Year prize was set up in 2005 with the simple mission of finding and rewarding each year’s most “compelling and enjoyable” read. Earlier this month, the £30,000 award went to Chris Miller’s Chip Wars, a book that reads like a thriller about the battle for dominance in the semiconductor industry. Host Isabel Berwick is joined by Andrew Hill, the FT’s senior business writer, and Frederick Studemann, the FT’s literary editor, to talk about how entries are judged and why business books continue to top bestseller lists.

Want more?

For background, longlists and shortlists of the award, see: https://www.ft.com/bookaward

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Why do so many workplaces spend so much money to put on a Christmas party? And how do you face your colleagues if you think you may have embarrassed yourself at one? Host Isabel Berwick sources advice from Jo Hemmings, a behavioural psychologist, while Jo Ellison, editor of the FT’s luxury lifestyle magazine HTSI, argues the case for making the most of the office Christmas party. Plus, Timothy Dowling, a screenwriter on the Hollywood film 'Office Christmas Party', tells Isabel why the subject is ripe for comedy. 

Want more?

The office grinch may have a point - it’s not fun if it’s forced: https://www.ft.com/content/59de98b0-17ae-44ec-b91c-4ffdf8761214

The work Christmas party is dead. Hooray! https://www.ft.com/content/468d0e2b-0607-4703-8f55-2d09d59fb578

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

2022 was the year of hybrid and flexible working, side hustles and talent wars, but will any of these trends stick in 2023? Host Isabel Berwick looks at what’s in store for the workplace in the year ahead with FT colleagues Taylor Nicole Rogers, the US labour and employment correspondent, and Sophia Smith, Working It newsletter editor.

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

How do you move on from professional failure, from missing out on the job you coveted or messing up in your role? Host Isabel Berwick hears from Farrah Storr, head of writer partnerships for Substack UK and previously the editor of the UK edition of Elle, Cosmopolitan and Women's Health, about what went on behind the scenes in her very successful career, while Brooke Masters, the FT's US financial editor and associate editor, argues that blaming your boss is not the answer.

Want more?

What the ‘CV of failures’ really reveals about career setbacks: https://www.ft.com/content/86ea48da-1dc5-11e6-b286-cddde55ca122

Farrah’s Substack post about her professional failures: https://bit.ly/3W3dc7c

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Research shows more than half of women in the UK are thinking of leaving their job, or have left their job, because of a lack of workplace flexibility. Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Janine Chamberlin, UK country manager at the social platform LinkedIn, and to Sarah O’Connor, the FT’s employment columnist, about the enduring workplace stigma around pregnancy and return from maternity leave and asks if anything has changed given more people are working remotely amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Want more?

Family-friendly leave policies are key to staff retention: https://www.ft.com/content/b14b4e7a-e87d-4aee-a267-8100661e4b57

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

There are a lot of stereotypes about millennials - meaning anyone born between 1981 and 1996 - but perhaps the biggest one is that they have an overwhelming sense of entitlement. Host Isabel Berwick unpicks some of the tropes with Emily Bowen and Shelley Johnson, workplace experts and hosts of the popular Australian podcast My Millennial Career, while the FT’s US labour and equality correspondent, Taylor Nicole Rogers, explains what distinguishes millennials from younger generations starting out on their careers.

Want more?

Millennials are shattering the oldest rule in politics https://www.ft.com/content/c361e372-769e-45cd-a063-f5c0a7767cf4

What Musk misses about how this generation works https://www.ft.com/content/2ecc2819-d54c-4539-9c9d-e849cfe618ba

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Please help us by filling in our listener survey at www.ft.com/workingitsurvey It will take you around 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds! Your personal information will be processed in accordance with the FT's privacy policy. If you have any queries about the survey please let us know at customer.research@ft.com.

You can also email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Host Isabel Berwick describes herself as an extrovert but she has introverts in her team. So what should she bear in mind to ensure they perform at their best? Isabel gets advice from self-described ambitious, anxious introvert Morra Aarons-Mele, who hosts The Anxious Achiever podcast and is the author of an eponymous upcoming book, and hears from colleague Kesewa Hennessy, the FT’s head of audience diversity, who describes herself as an introvert. 

Want more? 

How working from home plays to the strengths of introverts: https://www.ft.com/content/f8ceffe7-cc89-4d95-975e-6142924a33b8

Why it’s OK to be quiet at meetings: https://www.ft.com/content/6d5942a2-a13a-49ea-a833-a6d5ce780ae3

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Please help us by filling in our listener survey at www.ft.com/workingitsurvey It will take you around 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds! Your personal information will be processed in accordance with the FT's privacy policy. If you have any queries about the survey please let us know at customer.research@ft.com.

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Many of us see our work colleagues just as much, if not more, than friends and family – or at least, that was the case before March 2020 and the Covid lockdowns that followed. So how crucial are these workplace friendships in luring employees back to the office after several years of working from home? And is there an inevitable trade-off between climbing the corporate ladder and keeping up your workplace friendships? Host Isabel Berwick discusses these questions and more with Lynda Gratton, professor of Management Practice in Organisational Behaviour at the London Business School, and Sarah Gordon, chief executive of the Impact Investing institute in London and formerly business editor at the Financial Times, where she was one of Isabel’s good workplace friends! 

We'd love to hear from you. Please help us by filling in our listener survey at ft.com/workingitsurvey It will take you around 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds.

Want more?

What do friends bring to the workplace? https://www.ft.com/content/f13bca30-45ea-11e2-b780-00144feabdc0

When your best workplace friend leaves:

https://www.ft.com/content/62b2db86-60e7-11e9-b285-3acd5d43599e

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and 

what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Experts say more and more countries are inching towards greater pay transparency as a tool to address unfairness and inequity, such as the gender pay gap. Host Isabel Berwick hears from the FT’s Nordic correspondent Richard Milne about Norway’s experience of radical pay transparency and discusses the pros and cons of ending salary secrecy with the FT’s US labour and equality correspondent, Taylor Nicole Rogers, and Professor Tomasz Obloj from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

We'd love to hear from you. Please help us by filling in our listener survey at ft.com/workingitsurvey. It takes around 10 minutes to complete and you’ll be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds.

Want more?

How salary secrecy is being challenged https://www.ft.com/content/907e041b-975b-4c74-b734-2373d36e09bd

Get ready for salaries to become more public https://www.ft.com/content/009c6492-796f-4bf5-971b-de49bc662f23

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. One-click sign-up at www.ft.com/newsletters

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Persis Love. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

There's shareholder pressure not to allow directors to take on too many board seats at once, something that’s been called ‘overboarding’. Non-executive directors can now find themselves voted off a board by investors if they believe a director is spreading themselves too thinly to do a good job. So how many board positions is too many? Host Isabel Berwick hears from the FT’s management editor Anjli Raval and corporate governance expert Patricia Lenkov in the US, while the FT’s careers expert Jonathan Black has advice on what’s required to be a good board member. 

Want more?

‘Overboarding’: why it has become a hot issue for companies

https://www.ft.com/content/c1aeaa21-1361-492d-a63d-d14d7c1a481d

How do I become a non-executive director?

https://www.ft.com/content/642cc2e5-c04c-4075-9978-03eb6eb44fca

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Manuela Saragosa and Audrey Tinline. The sound engineer is Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Lay-offs in some sectors of the US economy have reached levels not seen since the height of the pandemic. Tech and banking sectors have been hit hard and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is bringing more uncertainty. But if headcount has to be cut, how should managers decide who to lay off ? Host Isabel Berwick hears from the FT’s US Financial Editor Brooke Masters on how companies are managing job cuts, and from Andy Milton, founder of the London Tech Network, who tells her about the effect of widespread lay-offs on tech workers in London. 

Want more?

Who to fire: how the biggest companies plan mass lay-offs

https://www.ft.com/content/cb8b5a61-e0fc-4254-9e77-e80e14296718

How not to fire people

https://www.ft.com/content/a19b4a08-3fcb-480f-aaa0-1f2ab607447e

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Manuela Saragosa and Audrey Tinline. The sound engineer is Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

When companies lay off thousands of workers at a time, how much do they think about those left behind? Sudden job cuts can sever the bond of trust between employers and their remaining workers. Host Isabel Berwick asks Sandra Sucher from Harvard Business School whether that trust can be repaired, and the FT’s management editor Anjli Raval talks about research into the effects of mass lay-offs. Plus, careers expert Jonathan Black gives tips on how to make sure you are ready to face the job market. 

Want more?

The shock of mass lay-offs is only the beginning for companies

Tech workforces: how low can they go?

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Manuela Saragosa and Audrey Tinline. The sound engineer is Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Rising numbers of adults are choosing to reveal a diagnosis of neurodiversity at work and companies have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for them. But what’s the best way to do that? Isabel Berwick hears from Dan Harris, the founder of Neurodiversity in Business, Nancy Doyle from Genius Within, Janice Rae, who runs TechTalent Academy, and the FT’s Emma Jacobs, who’s been hearing from business leaders diagnosed as neurodivergent. 

Want more?

The benefits of revealing neurodiversity in the workplace

How to design an office for every type of brain

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Manuela Saragosa and Audrey Tinline. Mix by Jake Fielding. The sound engineer is Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

We’re living in a time of multiple crises — from bank collapses to business failures. So what are the best practices when it comes to anticipating the worst-case scenario and dealing with risk? Isabel Berwick discusses the ways flawed judgement and tribalism get in the way of risk assessment, as well as how to plan ahead with Michael Skapinker, author and FT contributing editor, and John Mullins, an entrepreneur and a professor of management practice at the London Business School.

Want more?

From SVB to the BBC: why did nobody see the crisis coming?

https://www.ft.com/content/4d589d5c-f2cb-4568-93dd-acda6fab931f

FT Business Books

https://www.ft.com/content/b47c143f-0aeb-4c82-8c18-ad86d13ee0b3

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Manuela Saragosa and Audrey Tinline. The sound engineer is Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

In the UK, more women are being appointed to boards, but not so often to other leadership roles in large companies. Meanwhile, wage growth for women in the US appears to have stalled and progress on closing the gender pay gap has seen little change over the past 20 years. Latest data also show that about 80 per cent of UK employers pay men more than women on average in their organisation. Host Isabel Berwick combs through the latest data and asks what needs to change, with the FT’s labour and equality correspondent Taylor Nicole Rogers and columnist Pilita Clark.

Want more?

Women struggle to close America’s gender pay gap

Nearly 80% of UK employers pay men more than women

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Audrey Tinline and Lulu Smyth. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. The sound engineer is Jake Fielding.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

How difficult is it to fix a workplace that’s gone wrong? It’s a question being asked in the UK following allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment at the country’s leading business lobby organisation, the CBI. Host Isabel Berwick hears from Frances Frei, the Harvard Business School professor who helped change the internal culture at Uber in 2017 after allegations of sexual harassment and sexism there. And Ann Francke, chief executive at the UK’s Chartered Management Institute, tells Isabel that leaders who preach inclusivity must do more to make sure they practise it, too.

Want more?

Rebuild the CBI, do not bury it

CBI President apologises for scandal and pledges to reboot

Can Frances Frei fix Uber?

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Audrey Tinline. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Mix by Jake Fielding. The sound engineer is Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

There’s been a lot of big finance and economics news in 2023. Whether it's stories about rising interest rates, tech industry layoffs or bank runs, it can almost feel like you need an MBA just to make sense of it all. That’s why the Financial Times is launching a bonus series called Behind the Money: Night School. 

Over the next five weeks, this show will help you understand the concepts behind the biggest economic stories of this year. U.S. managing editor Peter Spiegel chats with FT journalists as they unpack the basics around things like energy markets, inflation and the rise of artificial intelligence. This series is supported by Blinkist. If you want to find out more about conversations like this, check out the Blinkist app.

Behind the Money: Night School is out now. Find it by subscribing to the Behind the Money podcast wherever you listen.

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

We’ve probably all had one: a boss whose traits include a grandiose sense of self-importance, a need for excessive admiration, a lack of empathy and a sense of entitlement. They’re all traits of a narcissist. Psychologist Ramani Durvasula, an expert on the subject, tells host Isabel Berwick why so many narcissists end up in positions of leadership, and how to handle them. Plus, psychotherapist Naomi Shragai, author of 'The Man Who Mistook His Job For His Life', explains why some narcissistic traits are essential to getting ahead at work. This is a repeat of an episode first published on October 25 2022.

Want more? 

CEO Narcissism

How to handle a narcissist in the workplace 

Lustful leaders: the good, the bad, and the narcissistic 

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Does sorting out your personal finances fill you with anxiety and trepidation? What can you learn from your money mistakes? Money Clinic host Claer Barrett, and Isabel Berwick, host of the FT’s work and careers podcast, Working It, answer listeners’ questions in this special episode, taken from a webinar made in conjunction with the FT’s financial literacy charity, FLIC.

Want more?

The first lesson for female financial education? Money is power

How to ask for a pay rise - and when to give one

Isa season this year is a stampede

Find out more about FLIC here 

You can follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb

Follow Isabel Berwick on LinkedIn

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com

If you’d like to talk to Claer about a future episode, please email the Money Clinic team at money@ft.com with a short description of your problem, and how you would like us to help 

Presented by Claer Barrett. Produced by Persis Love and Audrey Tinline. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Jake Fielding and Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

 The way employers recruit staff is changing. There’s a shift towards selecting people for their key skills, rather than solely on their educational qualifications or job titles. Isabel Berwick hears from Josh Graff at LinkedIn and from the FT’s Andrew Hill about what employers - and workers - are seeking in today’s job market. 

Want more?

Six insights into how business can bridge the skills gap

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Audrey Tinline. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. The sound engineer is Jake Fielding.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Do you ever feel invisible at work? Making sure your successes are recognised is more important than ever now that hybrid working is the norm in so many jobs. Host Isabel Berwick hears from two experts on building your profile at work: author and consultant Aliza Licht talks about growing your ‘personal brand’ while FT contributor Viv Groskop explains why that’s different from your professional reputation and why you shouldn’t get the two confused.

Want more?

Personal branding: we may cringe, but it works

Only connect: hybrid work fuels demand for female networks

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email Isabel at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Audrey Tinline. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Mix by Jake Fielding. The sound engineer is Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Finance firms like BlackRock, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are trying hard to get their staff to show up more often in the office. But occupancy rates seem to be stuck at permanently lower levels than pre-pandemic. Isabel Berwick hears from Professor Scott Galloway at NYU, on why he thinks more office time would be good for us all. And the FT’s Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson has been listening to chief executives voicing their concerns about an epidemic of loneliness. 

Want more?

BlackRock calls employees back to the office four days a week

Lonely bosses seek opportunity in a crisis of disconnection

You can’t pin workforce problems all on GenZ

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Audrey Tinline. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Mix by Jake Fielding. The sound engineer is Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

The formal workwear of pre-pandemic office life doesn’t feel quite right any more. But what should we put on in its place? Isabel Berwick hears from two of the FT’s best writers on fashion about what to wear for our hybrid working lives. Jo Ellison, editor of the FT’s HTSI magazine, gives her tips for updating your look, and the FT’s Robert Armstrong sings the praises of the navy blue suit. 

Want more?

Will we ever say goodbye to gorpcore?

Work and weekend wardrobes - do we need boundaries?

What’s so great about the wardrobe of ‘Succession’?

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email Isabel at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Audrey Tinline. Executive editor is Manuela Saragosa. Mix by Jake Fielding. The sound engineer is Breen Turner. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s global head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Will generative AI and ChatGPT in the workplace make some jobs redundant or will they simply change the way we work, ridding us of some of the more mundane, boring parts of our job? Isabel Berwick hears from Jeff Wong, head of the innovation team at professional services firm EY, who believes this new technology will free employees to become more productive. Plus, Madhumita Murgia, the FT’s artificial intelligence editor, gives a round-up of sectors that could see profound changes, while Mary Towers, a policy expert on employment rights at the UK’s Trades Union Congress, an umbrella body for unionised labour, says employees should be given more control over how generative AI is introduced in the workplace.

Want more?

We are all secretaries now

WPP teams up with Nvidia to use generative AI in advertising

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Audrey Tinline. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and the sound engineer is Jake Fielding.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

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?

Want more?

Will ChatGPT be Homer Simpson’s Salvation?

How Cal Newport rewrote the productivity gospel

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Audrey Tinline. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Mix by Jake Fielding. The sound engineer is Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

In a repeat of a popular Working It episode, Isabel Berwick asks if HR has an image problem. For some managers, the phrase “human resources” has become synonymous with the idea of needless corporate policies that get in the way of growth. From the employee's perspective, there is often doubt on whether HR is there to protect them - or the company. Host Isabel Berwick speaks with Jamie Fiore Higgins, an author and executive coach who spent 18 years at Goldman Sachs, about her experience of HR at the investment bank. Isabel also speaks to Georgina Shaw, a people partner at Lush, a company without a conventional HR department, and discusses HR’s role in the corporate structure with Andrew Hill, the FT’s senior business writer.

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

When the British broadcaster Davina McCall woke up one morning in her forties dripping with sweat, she didn’t know what was happening to her. She’d never heard the word perimenopause. But as she did her research, she became in her words an “accidental activist”, determined to raise awareness and help menopausal women, especially in the workplace. In a recording taken from the recent FT Live Women in Business summit, Working It host Isabel Berwick talks to Davina about her campaign and how she’s managed her career through menopausal symptoms. 

Want more?

Employers should do more to keep menopausal women in the workplace

How buying my first bespoke suit helped me through a life crisis

Useful links:

https://www.menopausecafe.net/

https://www.thephoenixgroup.com/views-insights/menopause-and-employment-how-enable-fulfilling-working-lives

https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/menopause-and-workplace

https://thisisdavina.com/

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Audrey Tinline and Philippa Goodrich. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and the sound engineer was Simon Panayi.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Empathy has been one of the buzzwords of the pandemic, with managers under pressure to listen to employees’ woes and understand what they are going through. But what do we mean by empathy at work, and how much is too much when it comes to caring?

Isabel talks to Belinda Parmar, founder of consultancy The Empathy Business, about small changes that can make a workplace more empathetic, and why that’s often a good thing. She finds that more empathy leads to higher productivity and engagement. 

The downside to empathy is that it’s easy for senior staff to burn out when they give too much of themselves to others. Isabel and Brooke Masters, the FT’s chief business commentator, find some possible solutions [like listening to - but not crying with - your staff]. 

Finally, Belinda gives tips on how to support team members and colleagues, and the power of having a best friend at work. Isabel and Brooke talk about their experiences of friendship at work - it might even stop you burning out. 

Want to read more? 

Brooke Masters on the long hours culture and burnout in Wall Street

https://www.ft.com/content/19a14cad-b5fc-4fc3-aa5a-ca306af5b831

Isabel’s column on the importance of friendship at work https://www.ft.com/content/62b2db86-60e7-11e9-b285-3acd5d43599e

McKinsey’s in-depth report on burnout in the pandemic - tl;dr? It’s still under-reported and burnt out people are … less likely to respond to surveys about burnout.

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/coronavirus-leading-through-the-crisis/charting-the-path-to-the-next-normal/employee-burnout-is-ubiquitous-alarming-and-still-underreported

Belinda Parmar’s consultancy The Empathy Business, including the Empathy Index she mentions in the podcast [published in 2016 in the Harvard Business Review] 

https://theempathybusiness.com/

https://hbr.org/2016/12/the-most-and-least-empathetic-companies-2016

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle in 2022? Email us at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter or Instagram.

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe !

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 US surgeon-general Vivek Murthy recently issued a report calling attention to an epidemic of loneliness and isolation; he warned that people’s lack of social connection was “as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day”. Worst affected are men: in 2021, a study by the Survey Center on American Life said the percentage of men without any close friends had jumped from 3 per cent to 15 per cent since 1990. Can the workplace help alleviate the problem? Host Isabel Berwick talks to Jonathan Black, FT columnist and director of the University of Oxford’s careers service, FT reporter and Unhedged host Ethan Wu, and Max Dickins, author of the memoir Billy No-Mates: How I Realised Men Have a Friendship Problem. 

Want more?

The loneliness epidemic threatens our health as well as our happiness

Lonely bosses seek opportunity in a crisis of disconnection

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Audrey Tinline and Laurence Knight. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and the sound engineer is Simon Panayi

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com.

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

Do you ever find yourself lost for words? Or maybe you have too much to say? This week’s episode features a masterclass in chit-chat from Matt Abrahams, a lecturer in communications at Stanford University, podcast host, and author of the forthcoming book 'Think Faster, Talk Smarter'. Good conversation is an essential tool of self-promotion in the office. So what do we make of Matt’s advice here at the FT office? Host Isabel Berwick gets the views of award-winning FT columnist Pilita Clark and Stephen Bush, who writes the FT’s daily Inside Politics newsletter.

Want more?

Top ways to be a super schmoozer

Big Tech is doing small talk no favours

Work etiquette: How to make small talk at a diplomatic function

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

On Twitter, you can follow Isabel at @IsabelBerwick, as well as Pilita Clark at @pilitaclark and Stephen Bush at @stephenkb

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Laurence Knight and Audrey Tinline. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and the sound engineer is Simon Panayi.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

It can be dispiriting that six years after the #MeToo movement went viral, alleged office sexual predators continue to be unmasked by the media – including the recent FT exposés of hedge fund manager Crispin Odey, and of star architect David Adjaye, both of whom dispute the allegations against them. In this episode, host Isabel Berwick speaks to her colleague Madison Marriage, who led the Odey investigation, about how hard it can be to get victims to come forward. Meanwhile FT business columnist Helen Thomas explains why she thinks these high profile cases are causing a sea change in corporate culture. Plus, Isabel speaks to Tessa West, professor of psychology at New York University and author of Jerks at Work – Toxic Co-workers and What to Do About Them, about how to fend off unwanted advances.

Want more?

Latest on the FT’s investigations into Crispin Odey and David Adjaye

You can watch our video documentary Crispin Odey: the fall of a hedge fund maverick from this Thursday, July 20.

The UK parliament’s Treasury Select Committee is inviting people to submit evidence by September 1 towards its investigation into sexism and misogyny in the financial services industry.

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow Isabel on LinkedIn

On Twitter, you can follow Isabel at @IsabelBerwick, as well as Madison Marriage at @miss_marriage and Helen Thomas at @helentbiz

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Laurence Knight. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and the sound engineer is Simon Panayi.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

If you often feel underqualified and full of self-doubt at work, you may be suffering from imposter syndrome. But as host Isabel Berwick finds out in this episode, in some cases that may actually improve your performance. Isabel speaks to Sian Beilock, president of Columbia University’s Barnard College, a cognitive scientist who studies how people perform under stress, and Viv Groskop, author, comedian and host of the podcast 'How to Own the Room'. Sian unpicks the psychological aspects of imposter syndrome while Viv gives us advice on how to manage it and even make it work in your favour. This is a repeat of an episode published on June 28, 2022.

Want more?

Sian Beilock on how to banish self-doubt at work 

… and on overcoming the ‘spotlight effect’ 

How to get over your fear and learn to speak up

Viv’s website https://vivgroskop.com/

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter. Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review! Produced by Novel.

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

The Harvard Business Review once published a damning report about middle managers, saying that the very title “evokes mediocrity”. Was that fair? And what does it take to be a good middle manager? Host Isabel Berwick, the FT’s work and careers editor, discusses with Andrew Hill, the FT’s senior business writer and former management editor. This is a repeat of an episode published on October 18, 2022.

Want more?

Andrew Hill on why being a manager matters more than ever 

How demands on team leaders are intensifying 

Forget the toxic boss - meet the toxic underlings

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click, here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Work has changed immeasurably since the pandemic – and office design has adapted too. Laura Beales, co-founder and chief operating officer of Tally Workspace, tells host Isabel Berwick why beer taps are out and phone booths are in, while Ebbie Wisecarver, head of Global Design and Development at WeWork, discusses how the company’s approach to design has matured since Covid-19. Finally, FT columnist Simon Kuper discusses how he made his perfect office: a beautifully appointed, 19th-century flat in Paris.

Want more? For a limited time this summer, we're making related articles FREE to read for all Working It listeners. See:

How I made my perfect office

After 25 years working alone, I tried WeWork

Hybrid working enters a third dimension

Privacy at work and the rise of the ‘quiet space’

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. 

Follow Isabel on LinkedIn 

On Twitter, you can follow Isabel at @IsabelBerwick

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and the sound engineer is Simon Panayi.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes are commonplace, and with good reason. They can help with staff satisfaction, retention and improve business outcomes. But all too often they are implemented in incoherent ways. Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Lily Zheng, a DEI strategist and consultant, about how companies can develop initiatives that make a lasting difference.

Want more? For a limited time this summer, we're making related articles FREE to read for all Working It listeners. See:

Corporate diversity in the crosshairs after US Supreme Court ruling 

Exits of diversity executives shake faith in US companies’ commitments

Recession is no excuse for going backwards on diversity 

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. 

Follow Isabel on LinkedIn 

On Twitter, you can follow Isabel at @IsabelBerwick

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and the sound engineers are Simon Panayi and Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

New data from Gallup shows that almost one in five Brits say they feel angry at work – a sharp jump from last year and comfortably higher than our European counterparts. So how can we stop getting wound up in the office – and how should we deal with colleagues who fly into a rage? Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Mike Fisher, founder and director of the British Association of Anger Management, about how workplace fury works. Isabel also hears from Liz Fosslien, the bestselling co-author and illustrator of two books about how to embrace emotions at work: No Hard Feelings and Big Feelings.

Want more? For a limited time this summer, we're making related articles FREE to read for all Working It listeners. See:

Why we are all so angry at work

The hell of other people in the office

Should you cry at work? And other personal questions

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. 

Follow Isabel on LinkedIn 

On X, formerly Twitter, you can follow Isabel at @IsabelBerwick

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and the sound engineer is Simon Panayi.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

It’s Friday afternoon in the city. You’re surrounded by office blocks, there’s a restaurant or bar on every corner… so where is everyone? If occupancy and travel data are anything to go by, they’re probably at home. Isabel Berwick speaks to Stanford economics professor Nick Bloom and FT columnist Pilita Clark to find out whether cities will be ghost towns on Fridays for the foreseeable future. She also asks: if people aren’t at the office on Friday, what are they getting up to? Finally, Chris Silcock, the managing director for the UK and Ireland at Kellogg’s tells Isabel why the company lets workers knock off early on Fridays.

Want more? For a limited time this summer, we're making related articles FREE to read for all Working It listeners. See:

Thursdays really are the new Fridays

Get ready for the four-day working week

Big US city downtowns ‘stuck’ behind smaller rivals in pandemic recovery

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. 

Follow Isabel on LinkedIn 

On X, formerly Twitter, you can follow Isabel at @IsabelBerwick

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, with production assistance from Lucy Snell. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and the sound engineer is Simon Panayi.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Brits love to moan about their managers – but maybe they have a point. The vast majority of bosses in the UK get no formal training on how to lead, and most MPs don’t think improving the quality of management should be a priority, according to polling and data from the Chartered Management Institute. Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Ann Francke, head of the CMI, to find out where British managers go wrong – and what better leadership could do for the British economy. Later, she speaks to the FT’s US financial editor, Brooke Masters, and Lucy Fisher, the FT’s Whitehall editor and host of the Political Fix podcast. They discuss what UK leaders could learn from their US counterparts, and why bad British leadership starts from the top.

Leadership skills neglected for too long, warns UK management body

CBI to recruit new president as part of governance overhaul

What Lucy Letby tells us about the NHS culture of secrecy and denial

Workplace flattery gets you everywhere

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Not all that long ago, you might have done the same job – or kind of job – for your entire career, but as life expectancy increases and social mores change, a growing number of people are pivoting to new jobs in middle age. In this episode, recorded at the FT Weekend Festival at London’s Kenwood House, Isabel Berwick speaks to three experts to find out why changing careers can have surprising benefits – and how to do it best. Isabel is joined by Jan Hall, founding partner of leadership consultancy No 4 and co-author of a book exploring career change for senior leaders; Ana Baillie, a former financial and professional services lawyer now studying to be a midwife; and FT contributing editor and columnist Camilla Cavendish, author of ‘Extra Time: 10 Lessons for an Ageing World.’

Want more? For a limited time this summer, we're making related articles FREE to read for all Working It listeners:

The City workers who swapped the office for the great outdoors 

New job, new you? Well, maybe . . .

Would it be unwise to leave my well-paid job to pursue a career in film? 

I have done the same job for years — how do I now move my career on?

FT subscriber? Sign up for the weekly Working It newsletter with one click here. We cover all things workplace and management — plus exclusive reporting on trends, tips and what’s coming next. 

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? Which topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. 

Follow Isabel on LinkedIn 

On X, formerly Twitter, you can follow Isabel at @IsabelBerwick

Subscribe to Working It wherever you get your podcasts — and do leave us a review!

Presented by Isabel Berwick. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and the sound engineer is Simon Panayi.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Clear communication can be the difference between getting what you want at work, and missing out. But some of us are better at it than others. Host Isabel Berwick speaks to BBC News analysis editor Ros Atkins, best known for his viral explainer videos, about how we can learn to get to the point. Atkins has made his career conveying information effectively. His recent book, ‘The Art of Explanation,’ distils lessons from more than 20 years at the BBC.

Some work jargon is a lot worse than others

Workplace buzzwords to take seriously — and those to ignore

If you thought business jargon was bad...

Communication is a ‘leaky process’

What Beyoncé and J-Lo’s Grammy speeches teach communicators

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.

Since the start of the pandemic, tens of thousands of people in the UK have retrained as psychotherapists or counsellors. What is it about the field that has attracted so many, and what does this phenomenon tell us about work? Host Isabel Berwick speaks to the FT’s Bethan Staton, who wrote a brilliant piece on this topic, to find out more. Later, she speaks to Michael Skapinker, who worked as an FT reporter, senior editor and award-winning columnist before training as a counsellor. Michael tells us what his new line of work has taught him and why he wishes he’d thought about it sooner.

Got a workplace dilemma you’d like Isabel and Jonathan to help you with? Submit it here: https://telbee.io/channel/ygf7_gly04xgtckcb0g56a/

Free links:

‘Profession of the century’: why so many people are retraining as therapists

Letter: Therapy is no cure for a society in crisis External Link

Therapy at work: banks and law firms among those offering counselling as staff perk

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.

We’re getting better at talking about the roles that gender and race play in career progression. What’s less spoken about is class or social mobility. In this episode, host Isabel Berwick talks to John Friedman, professor and chair of economics at Brown University, who studies the impact of childhood inequality, and hears from Sophie Pender, a London-based corporate lawyer and founder of the 93% Club, a UK network that connects and empowers people who went to state school, about how class discrimination continues to affect people at work and what to do about it.

Do you have a workplace dilemma? Isabel and Jonathan Black, director of the careers service at Oxford university, are on hand to help you out. Submit it using this link.

Want more? Free links here:

Harvard faces federal probe over legacy admissions

University is more than just a springboard to a job

UK youth face being worse off than parents, says social mobility chief

KPMG survey on social class and career progression here

The 93% Club here

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

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Amy Edmondson is a professor of leadership and management at Harvard Business School and one of the world’s most influential management thinkers. She talks to host Isabel Berwick about her new book, Right Kind of Wrong, in which she argues that companies can only hope to succeed when they make it ‘psychologically safe’ for their teams to fail. Plus, Brooke Masters, the FT’s US financial editor, tells Isabel about the time, early on in her career, when she made a mistake. What did she learn from the experience and how does Amy’s thesis play out across the US corporate world?

Do you have a workplace dilemma you’d like Isabel and Jonathan Black, director of the careers service at Oxford university, to help you with? Submit it using this link.

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The art of making good mistakes

FT 2023 business book of the year shortlist

Why bosses must take time to learn from failure

Psychological failure: the art of encouraging teams to be open

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

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Meetings are an inevitable part of office life – but how many of them are actually useful? Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Kaz Nejatian, chief operating officer of ecommerce group Shopify, to find out why the company slashed staff meetings and what the effects of that policy – dubbed “Chaos Monkey” – have been. Isabel also speaks to Dr Joe Allen, director of the Center for Meeting Effectiveness at the University of Utah, to find out how managers can make meetings less painful.

Got a workplace dilemma you’d like Isabel and Jonathan to help you with? Submit it here: https://telbee.io/channel/ygf7_gly04xgtckcb0g56a/

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If you invite someone to a meeting, there has to be a purpose

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

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Tattoos used to be frowned upon in corporate settings. But as more of us get inked, is that attitude starting to, well, fade? Employers have been easing restrictions on tattoos – but if responses to a recent FT column are any guide, plenty of people still can’t bear them. Isabel speaks to the author of that column, Pilita Clark, about what tattoos can mean for your career. Isabel speaks to tattoo enthusiasts Isabelle Campbell (an FT VP working on product and technology) and Lucy Snell, a recent FT Group intern.

Got a workplace dilemma you’d like Isabel and Jonathan to help you with? Submit it here: https://telbee.io/channel/ygf7_gly04xgtckcb0g56a/

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Tattoos have reached a turning point at work

Why millennials are uncovering tattoos at work

Tattoos bring a new form of body language to the office 

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

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The UK has a well-reported productivity problem, with mediocre managers, poor communication and chronic underinvestment all hampering growth. What can Britain glean from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, all of which have more productive economies? And what lessons can be learned from Japan, the only major, developed economy that is less productive than the UK? Host Isabel Berwick speaks to FT senior business writer Andrew Hill to find out what ails Britain. Later, she chats to Leo Lewis (the FT’s Asia business editor) and Richard Milne (Nordic and Baltic bureau chief) to learn how the UK could perform better (or worse…)

Why productivity is so weak at UK companies 

Sweden is navigating an international identity crisis

Lessons from Japan: High-income countries have common problems

The UK is doing a shoddy job of keeping up with the neighbours

Got a workplace dilemma you’d like Isabel and Jonathan to help you with? Submit it here: https://telbee.io/channel/ygf7_gly04xgtckcb0g56a/

Want to get in touch? Write to Isabel at isabel.berwick@ft.com

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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

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Millions of working adults struggle with ADHD worldwide. The condition often affects people’s ability to focus and complete tasks, making professional life difficult. Shortages of ADHD medicines have compounded the problem, with some patients forced to go without, or ration, their medication. How can managers better understand employees who are struggling with ADHD? What adjustments can they make to improve working conditions? And what can workers themselves do to cope? Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Dr Uthish Sreedaran, clinical director for psychiatry at Psychiatry-UK, and Leanne Maskell, founder and director of ADHD Works, which provides ADHD training and coaching.

Got a workplace dilemma you’d like Isabel and Jonathan to help you with? Submit it here: https://telbee.io/channel/ygf7_gly04xgtckcb0g56a/

Want to get in touch? Write to Isabel at isabel.berwick@ft.com

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The benefits of revealing neurodiversity in the workplace

Employers see the positive side of ADHD and autism

We’ve all got ADHD symptoms. Right?

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Introducing Life and Art, from FT Weekend. It's a new twice-weekly culture podcast from the Financial Times. On Monday, we talk about life, and how to live a good one, in a one-on-one conversation that explores everything from food and travel to philosophy and creativity. On Friday, we talk about “art” – in a chat show! Three FT journalists come together to discuss a new cultural release across film, TV, music and books. Hosted by Lilah Raptopoulos, together with the FT’s award-winning writers and editors, and special guests.

Click here to follow Life and Art, from FT Weekend.

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LinkedIn started life as a simple jobs site. Now, it’s something far more complex, with influencers vying for attention, and tech bros spinning improbable yarns about how hard they work. How can ordinary people get better at using the site without becoming bores? How much is it acceptable to share about yourself on LinkedIn? And what can we learn from the site’s power users? Isabel Berwick speaks to Meagan Loyst – a LinkedIn “Top Voice” – to find out. Later, Isabel speaks to Hannah Murphy, an FT reporter who covers social media, to learn more about the way LinkedIn has changed – and what might happen next.

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Influencers and CEOs take their brands to LinkedIn

What is Ryan Reynolds doing on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn’s Ryan Roslansky: ‘You can only learn how to be a CEO by being a CEO’

Why Linda Yaccarino took on the wildest job in Silicon Valley

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.