EDITION 840
19 OCTOBER 2020

As another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. So grab a brew and find out what's new.

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1. How to create a company culture. Culture shapes both employee productivity and business results, but often it is ambiguous and hard to define. To help, think of culture as three layers with increasing levels of importance. READ MORE

2.  Johnson and Hancock fare badly in new opinion poll. British voters do not trust Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock to beat coronavirus, according to a new survey. Just 36 per cent trust the prime minister to lead the response to the pandemic, against 44 per who do not – an overall rating of -8. The health secretary has a trust rating of -13 based on just 26 per cent trusting him and 39 per cent expressing distrust. One quarter of those polled say their household income has dropped due to the crisis. The Independent

3. Recession not as bad as first feared. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted the global economy won't suffer quite as severe a recession as previously forecasted. In its World Economic Outlook, the IMF predicts the global economy will contract by 4.4% this year, which is 0.8 percentage points smaller than its June estimate. It expects the UK economy to decline by 9.8% in 2020 (down from the June forecast of 10.2%). The only G7 economy predicted to experience a sharper decline is Italy – with a predicted 10.6% decrease. The report notes that tourism-dependent economies are in a "particularly difficult spot". BBC

4. How businesses can save the planet. Climate change affects not just the natural world, but also the economy: According to WWF's Living Planet Report, continuing "business as usual" could cost $1 trillion by 2050. That's because the environment has a material impact on key services, "from carbon storage to crop pollination." Addressing this issue is, however, good for business - 63% of corporate leaders surveyed by Capgemini said sustainability initiatives increased total revenue. Businesses have a significant role in fighting the climate crisis, and many take it seriously, says renowned natural historian Sir David Attenborough. News Break

5. The key to being a better listener. Building strong relationships - at work and beyond - largely comes down to how we listen to others. And while not all of us are naturally gifted listeners, we can improve with practice. To do this, we should break the process down into three core steps. To start with, we can pay active, silent attention to what others are saying. Next, we can repeat what we have heard in our own words, making sure we understand what's been said (even if we don't agree). And finally, we can ask open-ended questions, the kind that can't be answered with a yes or no and demonstrate that we are processing what we've heard. Editor

6. Redundancies grow at fastest rate on record. The number of people losing their jobs in the UK doubled in the three months to August, the fastest it has grown since records began. The Office for National Statistics said redundancies increased by 114,000 to 227,000 per month. The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the winding down of the government’s furlough scheme are expected to lead to more job losses. The Guardian

7. Lockdown curbed global emissions. Global emissions decreased 8.8% in the first half of the year, according to a study published in scientific journal Nature Communications. Restricted movement and a slowdown in economic activity reduced emissions by 1.6 billion tonnes between January and June as transportation and aviation recorded the biggest drop. In its effort to become climate neutral by 2050, the EU is now targeting buildings, which are responsible for over a third of its greenhouse-gas emissions. The European Commission plans to make 35 million buildings more energy-efficient over the next decade and create 160,000 'green jobs' in the process. National Geographic

8. Scientists predict one million tests by Christmas. Scientists say that Britain will be carrying out a million coronavirus tests a day by Christmas. The government has spent more than £500 million in the past fortnight on new laboratory-based testing machines. A senior scientist said: “It’s going pretty well. They have really scaled up their capabilities. By Christmas we’ll be at a million a day, I think. That seems perfectly possible.” The Times

9. Study reveals the world’s most walkable city. Hong Kong has been ranked as the world’s most walkable city. London, Paris and Bogota also feature in the top five of the study, which judged cities on citizens’ proximity to car-free spaces, schools and healthcare and the overall shortness of journeys. The report from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy ranked US cities particularly low for walkability due to urban sprawl. The Guardian

10. The bottom line. A YouGov survey revealed that 42% of UK voters think current coronavirus restrictions do not go far enough in their area of the country. 14% think they go too far, and 34% think they are about right. The Times