EDITION 981
7 AUGUST 2023

There is no escaping it: too much news is bad for you. It should come with a government health warning: “This intellectual diet is fine taken in small doses, and preferably in weekly instalments, via a well-balanced newsletter, such as 10 things from William Montgomery."

So, as another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. Please feel free to share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can also subscribe, learn and engage. I would be very grateful if you did.

William Montgomery
Editor and CEO of TEN

1. How to encourage diversity. All organisations are responsible for providing an inclusive, and equal working experience for all their employees, regardless of age, race, sex, religion, gender reassignment, disability, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity status. However, there’s no single tried-and-true method of increasing diversity in an organisation but having role models at the top is a good place to start. READ MORE

2. Sundays best for emails [see weekly wisdom below]. A study has found that the best time to send an email to your colleagues is on a Sunday. After analysing 8.7 million emails, researchers for Axios HQ found that those sent between 6pm and 9pm on a Sunday have an average open rate of 86%, compared with between 50% and 76% for the rest of the week. However, if you follow the advice to message colleagues on a Sunday it “could leave you with few friends in the office”. The Times

3. Four-day week boosts health. The benefits of shifting to a four-day week may last and grow stronger over time, according to new research. The results come from a year-long pilot in the US and Canada, which tracked the health, wellbeing and business outcomes of 900 staff at 41 firms as they adopted a shorter week. It was coordinated by the non-profit organisation 4 Day Week Global. Self-reported physical and mental health scores held steady over the full year, while work-life balance continued to improve. Burnout rates, however, ticked up and workers’ job satisfaction dropped, though both remain better than before." Bloomberg

4. WFH less productive. Does working from home make you less productive? WFH Research's latest working paper, published by Stanford’s Institute for Economic Policy and Research, found that working remotely full-time is associated with 10%-20% lower productivity. The researchers said that challenges to productivity lay in less efficient communication and a lack of motivation when working remotely. It also means missed mentoring opportunities and chances to foster connections, while the lack of structure adds to remote worker stress. They suggest the answer may lie in hybrid or flexible working and reskilling managers to enable them to focus on "mentoring, culture-building, and motivation". City AM

5. Disturbing divide’ uncovered. “Top bosses” whose businesses have “fuelled the cost-of-living crisis” have “raked in” more than £100m in “pay and perks”. Analysis of salaries and bonuses given to chief executives at banks, energy firms and supermarkets shows they “continue to cash in excessively” despite their customers “struggling with spiralling food, fuel and mortgage bills”, said the paper. There is a “disturbing divide” between “multi-millionaire business chiefs” and “hard-pressed families weathering the biggest squeeze on household finances for 40 years”, it added. Mail on Sunday

6. ‘Crazy’ rent rises revealed. Renters are now spending nearly four times as much of their income on housing as homeowners. The average private renter is currently handing over more than a third of their wages to a landlord, found the paper, showing “the scale of the growing emergency gripping the UK”. Call handlers working for the housing charity Shelter said that they were now dealing with people facing “crazy” rent rises. The Independent

7. Boris dominates second job tally. MPs were paid £10m for second jobs and freelance work over past year. Boris Johnson’s extra income accounts for almost half of the figure, the “vast majority” of which was made up by Tory MPs. Labour, SNP and Lib Dem MPs brought in outside income of just over £400,000, it added. Transparency campaigners are calling for tighter rules, as more MPs will be looking to supplement their income over the next year with a general election looming. The Guardian

8. The rise of serious illness. By 2040, one in five people in England will have a major illness, a report has warned. In 2019, one adult in six was living with cancer, diabetes, dementia or another serious condition; as the population ages, numbers are likely to increase, leaving over 9 million people in poor health. Cases of heart failure are forecast to rise by 92%; diabetes by 49%; dementia by 45%; and depression by 16%, with gains from fewer people smoking and cholesterol-lowering drugs more than offset by the impact of obesity. Sky News

9. It wasn’t all bad. A former British paratrooper has completed a 19,000-mile walk of the UK coastline. Chris Lewis, 43, set off from Llangennith beach on the Gower Peninsula in 2017 with £10 in his pocket and just a few days of supplies. Since then, he has adopted a stray dog, raised £500,000 for an Armed Forces charity and become engaged to - as well as had a son with - a woman whom he met along the way. “This walk has restored my faith in humanity, and hopefully other people’s, too,” he said. The Guardian

10. The bottom line. 76% of British adults believe the country is becoming a worse place to live. In 2010, only 49% believed things were getting worse. Evening Standard