Working It

Brits love to moan about their managers – but maybe they have a point. The vast majority of bosses in the UK get no formal training on how to lead, and most MPs don’t think improving the quality of management should be a priority, according to polling and data from the Chartered Management Institute. Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Ann Francke, head of the CMI, to find out where British managers go...

It’s Friday afternoon in the city. You’re surrounded by office blocks, there’s a restaurant or bar on every corner… so where is everyone? If occupancy and travel data are anything to go by, they’re probably at home. Isabel Berwick speaks to Stanford economics professor Nick Bloom and FT columnist Pilita Clark to find out whether cities will be ghost towns on Fridays for the foreseeable future. She...

New data from Gallup shows that almost one in five Brits say they feel angry at work – a sharp jump from last year and comfortably higher than our European counterparts. So how can we stop getting wound up in the office – and how should we deal with colleagues who fly into a rage? Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Mike Fisher, founder and director of the British Association of Anger Management, about...

Corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes are commonplace, and with good reason. They can help with staff satisfaction, retention and improve business outcomes. But all too often they are implemented in incoherent ways. Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Lily Zheng, a DEI strategist and consultant, about how companies can develop initiatives that make a lasting difference. Want more? F...

Work has changed immeasurably since the pandemic – and office design has adapted too. Laura Beales, co-founder and chief operating officer of Tally Workspace, tells host Isabel Berwick why beer taps are out and phone booths are in, while Ebbie Wisecarver, head of Global Design and Development at WeWork, discusses how the company’s approach to design has matured since Covid-19. Finally, FT columnis...

The Harvard Business Review once published a damning report about middle managers, saying that the very title “evokes mediocrity”. Was that fair? And what does it take to be a good middle manager? Host Isabel Berwick, the FT’s work and careers editor, discusses with Andrew Hill, the FT’s senior business writer and former management editor. This is a repeat of an episode published on October 1...

If you often feel underqualified and full of self-doubt at work, you may be suffering from imposter syndrome. But as host Isabel Berwick finds out in this episode, in some cases that may actually improve your performance. Isabel speaks to Sian Beilock, president of Columbia University’s Barnard College, a cognitive scientist who studies how people perform under stress, and Viv Groskop, author, com...

It can be dispiriting that six years after the #MeToo movement went viral, alleged office sexual predators continue to be unmasked by the media – including the recent FT exposés of hedge fund manager Crispin Odey, and of star architect David Adjaye, both of whom dispute the allegations against them. In this episode, host Isabel Berwick speaks to her colleague Madison Marriage, who led the Odey inv...

Do you ever find yourself lost for words? Or maybe you have too much to say? This week’s episode features a masterclass in chit-chat from Matt Abrahams, a lecturer in communications at Stanford University, podcast host, and author of the forthcoming book 'Think Faster, Talk Smarter'. Good conversation is an essential tool of self-promotion in the office. So what do we make of Matt’s advice here at...

The US surgeon-general Vivek Murthy recently issued a report calling attention to an epidemic of loneliness and isolation; he warned that people’s lack of social connection was “as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day”. Worst affected are men: in 2021, a study by the Survey Center on American Life said the percentage of men without any close friends had jumped from 3 per cent to 15 per cent si...

When the British broadcaster Davina McCall woke up one morning in her forties dripping with sweat, she didn’t know what was happening to her. She’d never heard the word perimenopause. But as she did her research, she became in her words an “accidental activist”, determined to raise awareness and help menopausal women, especially in the workplace. In a recording taken from the recent FT Live Women...

In a repeat of a popular Working It episode, Isabel Berwick asks if HR has an image problem. For some managers, the phrase “human resources” has become synonymous with the idea of needless corporate policies that get in the way of growth. From the employee's perspective, there is often doubt on whether HR is there to protect them - or the company. Host Isabel Berwick speaks with Jamie Fiore Higgin...

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? Want more? Will ChatGPT be Homer Simpson’s Salvation? How Cal Newport re...

Will generative AI and ChatGPT in the workplace make some jobs redundant or will they simply change the way we work, ridding us of some of the more mundane, boring parts of our job? Isabel Berwick hears from Jeff Wong, head of the innovation team at professional services firm EY, who believes this new technology will free employees to become more productive. Plus, Madhumita Murgia, the FT’s artifi...

The formal workwear of pre-pandemic office life doesn’t feel quite right any more. But what should we put on in its place? Isabel Berwick hears from two of the FT’s best writers on fashion about what to wear for our hybrid working lives. Jo Ellison, editor of the FT’s HTSI magazine, gives her tips for updating your look, and the FT’s Robert Armstrong sings the praises of the navy blue suit.&n...

Finance firms like BlackRock, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are trying hard to get their staff to show up more often in the office. But occupancy rates seem to be stuck at permanently lower levels than pre-pandemic. Isabel Berwick hears from Professor Scott Galloway at NYU, on why he thinks more office time would be good for us all. And the FT’s Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson has been listening to chief e...

Do you ever feel invisible at work? Making sure your successes are recognised is more important than ever now that hybrid working is the norm in so many jobs. Host Isabel Berwick hears from two experts on building your profile at work: author and consultant Aliza Licht talks about growing your ‘personal brand’ while FT contributor Viv Groskop explains why that’s different from your professional re...

 The way employers recruit staff is changing. There’s a shift towards selecting people for their key skills, rather than solely on their educational qualifications or job titles. Isabel Berwick hears from Josh Graff at LinkedIn and from the FT’s Andrew Hill about what employers - and workers - are seeking in today’s job market.  Want more? Six insights into how business can bridge the sk...

Does sorting out your personal finances fill you with anxiety and trepidation? What can you learn from your money mistakes? Money Clinic host Claer Barrett, and Isabel Berwick, host of the FT’s work and careers podcast, Working It, answer listeners’ questions in this special episode, taken from a webinar made in conjunction with the FT’s financial literacy charity, FLIC. Want more? The first lesso...

We’ve probably all had one: a boss whose traits include a grandiose sense of self-importance, a need for excessive admiration, a lack of empathy and a sense of entitlement. They’re all traits of a narcissist. Psychologist Ramani Durvasula, an expert on the subject, tells host Isabel Berwick why so many narcissists end up in positions of leadership, and how to handle them. Plus, psychotherapist Nao...

There’s been a lot of big finance and economics news in 2023. Whether it's stories about rising interest rates, tech industry layoffs or bank runs, it can almost feel like you need an MBA just to make sense of it all. That’s why the Financial Times is launching a bonus series called Behind the Money: Night School.  Over the next five weeks, this show will help you understand the concepts behi...

How difficult is it to fix a workplace that’s gone wrong? It’s a question being asked in the UK following allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment at the country’s leading business lobby organisation, the CBI. Host Isabel Berwick hears from Frances Frei, the Harvard Business School professor who helped change the internal culture at Uber in 2017 after allegations of sexual harassment and se...

In the UK, more women are being appointed to boards, but not so often to other leadership roles in large companies. Meanwhile, wage growth for women in the US appears to have stalled and progress on closing the gender pay gap has seen little change over the past 20 years. Latest data also show that about 80 per cent of UK employers pay men more than women on average in their organisation. Host Isa...

We’re living in a time of multiple crises — from bank collapses to business failures. So what are the best practices when it comes to anticipating the worst-case scenario and dealing with risk? Isabel Berwick discusses the ways flawed judgement and tribalism get in the way of risk assessment, as well as how to plan ahead with Michael Skapinker, author and FT contributing editor, and John Mullins,...

Rising numbers of adults are choosing to reveal a diagnosis of neurodiversity at work and companies have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for them. But what’s the best way to do that? Isabel Berwick hears from Dan Harris, the founder of Neurodiversity in Business, Nancy Doyle from Genius Within, Janice Rae, who runs TechTalent Academy, and the FT’s Emma Jacobs, who’s been hearing f...