Working It

Most people think of loyalty as a good thing, but in a professional context, being too devoted to an employer can have damaging consequences. Disengaged workers who don’t leave their jobs will hardly make the best ambassadors for a company; longstanding employees might run out of fresh ideas; and some research shows loyal employees are less likely to cover up wrongdoing at their firms. Isabel Berwick speaks to Jeremie Brecheisen, G...

Tens of thousands of workers have been made redundant already this year – but some are refusing to go quietly. Younger employees are posting videos of their layoffs (or of the moment they quit their jobs) on TikTok and Instagram, publicising an intimate moment that usually stays hidden. Why are they doing it? And how can managers protect themselves from the fallout of those videos? Isabel Berwick speaks to ‘Quit-Toker’ Gabby Iannie...

During the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of workers got used to working at home. Some moved hundreds of miles from the cities where their companies were based to live a cheaper and less stressful life. But now that in-office work is back, a rising number of people are looking to eat their cake and have it, too, combining good jobs in urban centres with a peaceful rural life. To make that work, they have to ‘supercommute’, travelling ...

US aircraft maker Boeing has faced major scrutiny over its safety standards in recent years, after accidents – some catastrophic – involving its jets. But even after fatal incidents, and the recent mid-flight blowout of a door panel on one of its planes, its employees are reluctant to speak out about safety issues, according to a report released in February by the Federal Aviation Administration. How can managers and leaders better...

The higher up you go in most careers, the more likely it is you’ll become a manager. But plenty of workers want to keep doing what they’re best at, and not get involved in the messy admin and politics of overseeing other people. Martin Wolf is a leading economics commentator at the FT. He hasn’t formally managed anyone in 35 years – and doesn't’ regret it. What can we learn from Martin’s success?

Producer Mischa Frankl-Duval speaks ...

The pandemic showed us we could all work in different places; can we all work at different times, too? That idea – known as ‘asynchronous’ work – has gained traction at a number of companies. Workers march to the beat of their own drum, and only occasionally speak to their scattered colleagues in real time. That gives them greater flexibility; but does it make collaboration harder? How can a manager get a handle on their team’s wor...

Most of us are hired because of our “hard” skills. But the more senior we get, the more important soft skills become; none more so than how we communicate with people. Isabel Berwick speaks to Charles Duhigg about how the world’s best communicators (or “super communicators”) listen, experiment and ask questions to get into sync with people. Later, Isabel speaks to Ruth Girardet, an executive coach and moderator at the Aspen Institu...

Crafting a CV (or résumé) can be extremely tedious; wading through CVs as a hiring manager can be just as boring. So why are they still the default method for filtering job candidates? Can we do better? And might alternative hiring methods help managers choose more suitable candidates – rather than ones who just look good on paper? Isabel Berwick speaks to Jess Woodward-Jones, co-founder of talent-tech company Vizzy, who explains w...

Office politics isn’t something we choose to do – it’s an inescapable part of working life. Our workplace rituals, friendships and the alliances we forge play a big part in how our careers pan out; so how can we make sure we’re doing them right? Can we ever get ahead without our colleagues hating us? And why does it matter if we’re late for meetings? Isabel Berwick is joined by John Curran, CEO and founder of organisational develop...

If you’ve ever helped a colleague out just so they’d like you, or overburdened yourself to make your boss’s life easier, you may think of yourself as a good team player. But you might actually be a people-pleaser. Host Isabel Berwick speaks to NYU psychology professor Tessa West, who explains why people-pleasing rarely works in the long term. Later, Isabel talks to Christine Braamskamp, London-based managing partner of law firm Jen...

Few things at work are more frustrating than tedious bureaucracy – and few things make employees happier than when their managers get rid of it. Isabel Berwick speaks to Huggy Rao, professor of organisational behaviour at Stanford, and co-author of 'The Friction Project,' to find out how managers can become 'shit-fixers’, clearing unnecessary obstacles from the path of their teams, while making sure they don’t go too fast for their...

Hybrid working is an entrenched part of most office workers’ lives – but at some companies, that could be changing. Major firms including Bank of America and UPS are taking tougher stances on working from home. Will workers drag their feet in returning to the office? And if so, how can companies convince them to come back? Kevin Ellis, the UK head of PwC, tells guest host Andrew Hill why he encourages younger workers to come to wor...

Dealing with the grief of a bereavement at work can be extremely difficult, both for the person suffering a loss, and for those around them. So how can you make life a little easier for grieving colleagues? How can you best support them while respecting their privacy? And how can you ensure bereavement-related absences don’t make life harder for other colleagues? Isabel Berwick speaks to Andy Langford, clinical director of bereavem...

Four years after the Covid-19 pandemic, remote work isn’t going away. But some managers are still unconvinced that workers actually do anything when they’re not in the office. Should those managers have a right to monitor their workers’ computers? And if workers are being snooped on, should they fight back? Isabel Berwick speaks to Liam Martin, co-founder of employee monitoring software company Time Doctor. She also speaks to Diana...

January is peak hiring season, as workers reconsider their jobs and managers look to bring in fresh talent. But before you advertise a job to the big, wide world, ask yourself: could somebody already on staff move into this role? In this episode, host Isabel Berwick speaks to global HR expert Josh Bersin, who explains why companies such as Microsoft and Unilever emphasise internal development, and the benefits it can bring for empl...

It's a new working year, and you've got lofty ideas about doing more of... everything! But how can you actually achieve more of the stuff that matters to you? Isabel speaks to Ali Abdaal, a former doctor and one of the world's most-followed productivity experts, to hear about the role joy can play in working better. Later, Marc Zao-Sanders discusses timeboxing – a pragmatic way to focus on important tasks.

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

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UK productivity growth driven by minority of high-...

2023 was the year companies started experimenting with generative AI; 2024 is the year it might start triggering real changes in the workplace. Between technological ructions, a US election and a seesaw shift in employee-employer power, next year will be another year of flux in workplaces across the world. Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, the FT’s US news editor, and Andrew Hill, its senior business writer, ...