Workplace Geeks

Chris and Ian are joined by postdoc researcher Jana Retkowski and associate professor Ella Hafermalz, both from the KIN Center for Digital Innovation at VU Amsterdam, to discuss ‘Managing a ChatGPT-empowered workforce: Understanding its affordances and side effects’, co-written with professor Marleen Huysman.

Hot off the press this autumn as part of a FREE special edition of Business Horizons, ‘Written by ChatCPT’, the paper captures the zeitgiest when ChatGPT exploded late 2022, and explores the outcomes as early adopters moved from ludic tinkering to early workplace adoption. Spoiler alert - the genie's out of the bottle, and leaders need to consider the intended and unintended consequences of generative AI in the workplace.

With thanks to WORKTECH Events for making the introductions for this episode. And to top if off, we’re joined by Kasia Maynard, Head of Research and Editorial at WORKTECH Academy on reflection section duties.

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Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️
Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback.

Supported by 2468 Group ☕️

🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

In this episode Chris and Ian are back with the second second instalment from The Watercooler Event at London ExCeL. Described as 'the leading workplace culture and employee wellbeing show in Europe', the show blends the people angle of workplace (The Watercooler) with the workspace design and management side (The Office) - and this second episode focuses on the former!

Like our previous event specials, this episode features a sequence of mini-interviews, mainly with Ian, and then Chris joining the dots inbetween. So first, we hear from ex-Premier League footballer and mental health ambassador Clarke Carlisle with his wife Carrie Carlisle (author of Shut Up Alcohol), about their very own lived experience of family, neurodiversity and mental health. Next, Ian speaks to business psychologist and male allyship specialist (LinkedIn) Lee Chambers about the intersection between disabiltiy, wellbeing and inclusive workplace design.

So how does this translate directly into workplace delivery? Well, let's take three angles. From a legal and compliance perspective, we can learn from psychologist, and HSE expert Peter Kelly, who was there as the very notion of workplace wellbeing emerged from HSE, risk and stress considerations to become a growing wellbeing movement. Spoiler alert - there's still a tension between the organisational and the individual which needs careful attention. On that note,  leadership is crucial, so Ian talks to Nia Thomas (author of The Self-Awareness Superhighway) about her passion, self-aware leadership. Finally, Chris talks to editor of the Journal of Biophilic Design, the lovely Vanessa Champion, about how the design of the workplace - and biophilic design more generally - can influence wellbeing. As Vanessa puts it, "for planet and people, simple really."

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Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️
Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback.

Supported by 2468 Group ☕️

🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

Well well... the opportunity of a four-day working week for everyone. Bet that got your attention. It certainly piqued the Workplace Geeks', so on this episode Chris and Ian are joined by Joe Ryle, director of the UK’s 4 Day Week Campaign, (alongside his role as Media and Comms Lead for future of work think tank Autonomy) to explore the pilot evaluation paper from early 2023 called 'The results are in: The UK's four-day week pilot'.

Rather than being peer-reviewed for academic publication like much of the work on the show, this one is available directly from Autonomy. That said, the evaluation work was undertaken independently by a team of academic researchers mainly from Boston College, who handled the quantitative data, and the University of Cambridge, who handed the qualitative side of things.

And if that wasn't enough, the legendary Perry Timms, Chief Energy Officer and founder of PTHR, joins the Geeks for the reflection section both to offer insights from PTHR's own perspective - they were an early UK adopter - and also to reflect on the sort of senior leader perspectives he experiences about the movement.

Learn more 🌱🧠

• UK four-day week pilot review paper
• Joe Ryle
• 4 Day Week Campaign (UK)
• 4 Day Week Campaign (global)
• Autonomy
• Perry Timms
• PTHR

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Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️
Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback.

Supported by 2468 Group ☕️

🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

Workplace topics are often fascinating, complex and deeply relevant to millions of people. In all three of these respects, this episode feels really important. Chris and Ian are joined by two past guests to explore long COVID, first academically, and then personally.

For the first part, Dr Jo Yarker, Professor of Organisational Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London, and Director of Affinity Health at Work, shares key findings from a recent paper called “It’s a rollercoaster”: the recovery and return to work experiences of workers with long COVID. The paper was published in Work & Stress in 2023, and was co-written with longtime collaborator Dr Karina Nielson, Professor of Work Psychology at The University of Sheffield. 

Then for the following reflection section, Dr Kerstin Sailer, Professor in the Sociology of Architecture at University College London (and black belt third dan space syntax ninja of the highest order) joins Ian while Chris was elsewhere, to talk very openly and honestly about how living and working with long COVID has affected her for the past three years.

Huge thanks to Jo and Kerstin for helping put this one together - we hope you think the Workplace Geeks have done this incredibly important topic justice. If you think other people would benefit from the insights, please spread the word.

Learn more 🌱🧠

• "It's a rollercoaster" access to the full paper
• SOM Long COVID infographic
• SOM Long COVID mythbuster
• Affinity explainer about IGLOo model
• Jo on LinkedIn
• Jo at Birkbeck, University of London
• Affinity Health at Work
• Affinity Health resource library
• Kerstin on LinkedIn
• Kerstin on Mastodon (her preference to Twitter)
• Kerstin at The Bartlett School, UCL
• NHS England information about long COVID

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📩 Subscribe for new episodes, events and workplace insight from the Geeks community.

⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us.

💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore?

Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn
Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks
Or email us at [email protected]

Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️
Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback.

Supported by 2468 Group ☕️

🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

🏅The Workplace Event's Workplace Leaders Top 50 awards are in their second year, and the Geeks were honoured to be invited to speak to the winners. Each of these special episodes will feature small but perfectly formed chats with three winners 🤩

In this second episode we're in conversation with EDI standard-bearer Lucy Golding, the self-proclaimed fabulous CPO Alishya Artwell, and ex-dancer-cum-workplace change consultant Jennifer Bryan. 

We asked each winner the same questions to learn about their career, how they got into the workpace sector, how it's changed, what it could do better, and what advice they have for folks coming in. These are human stories, personal anecdotes and revealing conversations into what these workplace leaders are thinking.

Thanks to obo for providing the Mute recording booth at The Workplace Event and to MJF Interiors for their excellent Workplace Geeks podcast lounge.

Learn more 🌱🧠

• The Workplace Leaders Top 50
• Lucy Golding
• JLL
• Alishya Artwell
• Pareto
• Jennifer Bryan
• ABChange

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📩 Subscribe for new episodes, events and workplace insight from the Geeks community.

⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us.

💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore?

Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn
Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks
Or email us at [email protected]

Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️
Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback.

Supported by 2468 Group ☕️

🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

Whilst Ian was away on holiday we thought it would be a good opportunity to dig out an interview we've had on file for a few months.

During Clerkenwell Design Week, Chris was invited to an event at 'friends of the show' Obo. They'd invited Reader in Architectural Design at Loughborough University, Robert Schmidt III, to discuss adaptable architecture which looks at prolonging the useful life of buildings by designing them to be more adaptable to create a more sustainable built environment.

In the chat we explore how this compares to traditional architecture, the role of professional bodies and other education institutions as well as the idea of a building's 'usespan' (the length of time that a space has a viable use) versus the lifespan (the length of time the materials will be hanging around) and how we close the gap.

And we're joined by our very own James Pinder for the reflection section as he worked on this idea with Robert over a decade ago! Small world.

Learn more 🌱🧠 

• Robert Schmidt III
• Adaptable Architecture | theory and practice 📖
• Loughborough School of Architecture
• Clerkenwell Design Week
• Check out Obo.

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📩 Subscribe for new episodes, events and workplace insight from the Geeks community.

⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us.

💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore?

Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn
Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks
Or email us at [email protected]

Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️
Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback.

Supported by 2468 Group ☕️

🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

Chris and Ian are joined by Dr Valeria Winkworth, People Consulting Director at EY, for a longer discussion about human-centred business transformation and change. Valeria first appeared on Workplace Geeks earlier this year as part of the second WORKTECH23 event special (called ‘three takes on change’) to talk about the first report from EY’s recent ‘Humans@Centre’ collaboration with Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, called ‘The future of transformation is human’ (2022).  

We thought the topic was so important that we invited Valeria back. This episode revisits this report and the research behind it, then expands to include the next instalment from the collaborative team, called ‘Transformation Leadership: Navigating turning points’ (2024). It includes a discussion of the seminal Kübler-Ross ‘stages of grieving’ model, now co-opted into the canon of organisational change theory, as well as other collaborative approaches to change. 

So, if you truly believe that people are your most valuable asset, this is an invaluable listen.

Learn more 🌱🧠 

• Dr Valeria Winkworth  
• The future of transformation is human   
• Transformation Leadership: Navigating turning points   
• Humans@Centre collaboration   
• Elisabeth Kübler-Ross foundation   
• Penny Walker’s DAD (decide, announce, defend) vs EDD (engage, deliberate, decide)   
• Saïd Business School   
• EY   

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📩 Subscribe for new episodes, events and workplace insight from the Geeks community.

⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us.

💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore?

Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn
Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks
Or email us at [email protected]

Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️
Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback.

Supported by 2468 Group ☕️

🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

In this episode Chris and Ian are joined by another UK workplace sector stalwart, long-time flexible working pioneer, author and consultant, Andy Lake. As you'll hear, this polite and humble chap has been an advocate for working flexibly in many ways, including the Civil Service's 'The Way We Work', online community resource flexibility.co.uk and UK Smart Working Code of Practice, PAS 3000:2015.

The conversation focuses on his most recent book, Beyond Hybrid Working: A Smarter & Transformational Approach to Flexible Working. Published by Routledge in December 2023, the book draws together more than three decades of workplace experience and thinking. But of course the conversation doesn't stop there... Chris and Ian encourage Andy to whip his soapbox out from under his desk and share his views on recent central Government return to the office directives!

Learn more 🌱🧠

• Andy Lake
• Beyond Hybrid Working
• PAS 3000:2015 Smart Working Code of Practice
• The Way We Work (also known as TW3)
• flexibility.co.uk
• Dr Dan Wakelin
• Isovist Consulting

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📩 Subscribe for new episodes, events and workplace insight from the Geeks community.

⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us.

💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore?

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Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks
Or email us at [email protected]

Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️
Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback.

Supported by 2468 Group ☕️

🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

In this episode Chris and Ian sit down with someone who has been in the centre of the real estate and workplace sector for four decades... the one and only Dr Rob Harris.

Today Rob is the principal of Ramidus Consulting, a specialist built-environment research and advisory business, as well as Chairman of the BCO Research Committee. Prior to that Rob has worked for some of the leading lights in the London/UK property and workplace industry (including DEGW!) which is why he’s the perfect person to tell the story of how London went from sixteenth-century coffee houses to the digital and network offices we see today. 

What starts off as a conversation about his book 'London’s Global Office Economy: From Clerical Factory to Digital Hub', and how five ‘ages’ have defined and shaped the UK’s capital, ends up being a broad conversation about design principles, who gave birth to the modern workplace, the role of the ‘branded building’ and Rob telling us how the OG himself, Frank Duffy, called during a bleak break to Scotland to offer him a job at the centre of the workplace universe at DEGW in 1984. 

Do not miss our very own Workplace Yoda offering up precious wisdom.

Joined by friend of the show Esme Banks Marr on reflection duty.

Learn more 🌱🧠

• Rob Harris
• London’s Global Office Economy: From Clerical Factory to Digital Hub
• Ramidus Consulting
• BCO Research Committee
• Esme Banks Marr

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📩 Subscribe for new episodes, events and workplace insight from the Geeks community.

⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us.

💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore?

Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn
Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks
Or email us at [email protected]

Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️
Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback.

Supported by 2468 Group ☕️

🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

🏅The Workplace Event's Workplace Leaders Top 50 awards are in their second year, and the Geeks were honoured to be invited to speak to the winners. Each of these special episodes will feature small but perfectly formed chats with three winners 🤩

In this episode we're in conversation with movement activist Gavin Bradley (Yo-Yo Office), honorary Workplace Geek Esme Banks Marr (BVN Architecture), and the super-positive and lovely Jackie Bird (Crown Workplace).

We asked each winner the same questions to learn about their career, how they got into the workpace sector, how it's changed, what it could do better, and what advice they have for folks coming in. These are human stories, personal anecdotes and revealing conversations into what these workplace leaders are thinking.

Thanks to obo for providing the Mute recording booth at The Workplace Event and to MJF Interiors for their excellent Workplace Geeks podcast lounge.

Learn more 🌱🧠

• The Workplace Leaders Top 50
• On Your Feet Britain
• Get Britiain Standing
• Yo-Yo Office
• BVN Architecture
• Crown Workplace

Promo or the RTO L@S report.

📩 Subscribe for new episodes, events and workplace insight from the Geeks community.

⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us.

💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore?

Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn
Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks
Or email us at [email protected]

Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️
Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback.

Supported by 2468 Group ☕️

🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles