Episode's summary
Our jobs have turned into the place where we’re told what to do: show up and follow orders. That was the finding of the latest cycle of the long-running Skills and Employment Survey. When asked, only a third of UK workers say they are given the discretion to decide how to do their jobs, a number that has dropped from two-thirds in three decades. When we hear this it’s hard not to think of the two other issues of contemporary work that have come to define the era: low engagement and low productivity. Professor Alan Felstead was one of the leads of the research and I asked him to explain the disappearance of workplace agency. Check out the workplace quiz: How Good Is My Job There's a full transcript on the website. Sign up to the Make Work Better newsletter or check out the best ever episodes at the website. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is made and hosted by Bruce Daisley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our jobs have turned into the place where we’re told what to do: show up and follow orders. That was the finding of the latest cycle of the long-running Skills and Employment Survey. When asked, only a third of UK workers say they are given the discretion to decide how to do their jobs, a number that has dropped from two-thirds in three decades. When we hear this it’s hard not to think of the two other issues of contemporary work that have come to define the era: low engagement and low productivity. Professor Alan Felstead was one of the leads of the research and I asked him to explain the disappearance of workplace agency. Check out the workplace quiz: How Good Is My Job There's a full transcript on the website. Sign up to the Make Work Better newsletter or check out the best ever episodes at the website. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is made and hosted by Bruce Daisley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
The simple answer to improving productivity: asking employees
ListenedOur jobs have turned into the place where we’re told what to do: show up and follow orders. That was the finding of the latest cycle of the long-running Skills and Employment Survey. When asked, only a third of UK workers say they are given the discretion to decide how to do their jobs, a number that has dropped from two-thirds in three decades. When we hear this it’s hard not to think of the two other issues of contemporary work that have come to define the era: low engagement and low productivity. Professor Alan Felstead was one of the leads of the research and I asked him to explain the disappearance of workplace agency. Check out the workplace quiz: How Good Is My Job There's a full transcript on the website. Sign up to the Make Work Better newsletter or check out the best ever episodes at the website. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is made and hosted by Bruce Daisley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What is REALLY happening with AI and jobs
ListenedBruce speaks with Daniel Susskind, economist and professor of business at Gresham College, about how AI is changing work, education, and the meaning of our jobs. Daniel's new book tackles AI and how we should prepare for the future. Predictions of the future have shown it is too uncertain to predict, so what can any of us do to ready ourselves? Susskind says that we should prepare by learning the basics while training on cutting edge technology. Above all else he believes we need to teach the essentials of character. We also discuss Ethan Mollick's posts on AI. AI2027 updated, Reddit post. AI2027 gives a positive vision of what is next. It's an important, timely discussion. The website has a full transcript and links to Daniel's recent lectures. Sign up to the Make Work Better newsletter or check out the best ever episodes at the website. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is made and hosted by Bruce Daisley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What hospitality teaches us about culture
ListenedDanny Meyer is one of the most respected restaurateurs in the world, but beyond the success of the likes of Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern and Shake Shack he's also become famous for writing a book, Setting the Table, that has become an inspiration to hundreds of thousands of readers around the world. The book is used as training manual beyond the hospitality trade by businesses who want to be famous for providing strong customer service. Danny talks about service being a monologue, whereas hospitality is a dialogue. In his new book, What Could Possibly Go Right?, he updates his story. His first book documented many slips on the way to running a series of beloved restaurants; he was proud that he'd never closed an eaterie. The new book catalogues closures, missteps, Covid and an even an intervention by his leadership team when the culture of the business was on the wrong tracks. Danny tells Bruce that restaurants are the perfect space to watch culture on fast forward, and how anyone can learn lessons…
Stop talking about culture - deal with behaviours
ListenedProper ding dong this week. I have a fabulously enjoyable back-and-forth with the brilliant Professor Rob Briner. At one stage Rob says: ‘If you tell someone - whose favourite thing is organisational culture - and you tell them it’s not a very useful idea - they don’t like it.’ Well, I felt seen. To be fair I’d already acknowledged that I agreed on what he was saying that behaviours are more important than culture. Also I’m more than a culture fan, I promise. But it’s a sign that it’s an outstanding discussion. Rob’s key point was that the idea of culture is vague and subjective. Rob says that culture is ‘a description. So if you want to change something, you don’t change the description of it, you change the cause of it.’ He says we should be specific about what we're trying to change, not just wave our arms and mouth 'culture'. We discuss if an obsession with scale is the curse of modern business. How to build effective organisations. Why you should focus on being specific about culture. It's worth…
What chance do we have versus the machines?
ListenedSarah O'Connor is a journalist for the Financial Times who specialises in writing about work and the evolution of our jobs. Over the last year or so that has meant a lot of reflection about AI job displacement. In her new book, We Are Not Machines, Sarah reflects on how technological change is reshaping the workplace - and the invisible enshittification it often brings with it. Sarah has a strong message: firstly that we should have more belief in the unique strengths of human labour, and secondly that individual agency is the most important differentiator in our favour. It's a brilliant conversation that gives a flavour of her book. Sign up to the Make Work Better newsletter or check out the best ever episodes at the website. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is made and hosted by Bruce Daisley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.