Working It

There’s plenty of finger pointing taking place following the CrowdStrike software outage that took down millions of computers all over the world earlier this month. So what’s the best way to deal with big mistakes in the workplace – and can you win back trust after a huge error? Senior editor Hugh Carnegy, who administers the FT’s corrections and complaints process, tells host Isabel Berwick how h...

We all experience peaks and troughs over the course of a working day. Knowing how to manage them can make us much more productive. Isabel Berwick speaks to Daniel Pink, bestselling author of books including When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing , about why people work best at different times of day – and how we can harness those differences to do our best work. Later, producer Mischa Fran...

CEOs ultimately take responsibility when something goes wrong on their team. But leaders have a lot on their plates. How can they stay on top of what the people under them are doing, without burning themselves out? To learn more, Isabel Berwick speaks to Cath Bishop, a former Olympic rower who now helps businesses create sustainable working cultures, and the FT’s senior business writer Andrew Hill...

When you step into a senior job, your in-tray is stuffed (just ask the new UK prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer). People who work under you are trying to win you round; the colleagues you beat out for the top job may be looking to sabotage you. And, as guest Laura Empson – a professor in the management of professional services firms at Bayes Business School – tells guest host Andrew Hill, some staf...

We’re conditioned to believe that persevering in a tough situation is more noble than quitting. But decision strategist (and former poker champion) Annie Duke tells host Isabel Berwick that that’s not always the case. Too often when we’re faced with a stick-or-twist decision at work, we underplay the positives that may come from a change – and overplay the negatives. Want more? Free links: Quittin...

Generative AI models have improved rapidly over the past few months – and that has spooked some people in the creative industries. Many worry that models such as Midjourney and ChatGPT could take work off the plates of artists, designers and musicians. In this episode, we hear some more optimistic views. First, Dan Sherratt, VP of creative and innovation at the design agency Po...

All managers want to hire the best people, but the recruitment process can be a slog. Busy managers don’t want to spend their time sifting through hundreds of applications, and candidates don’t want to be ignored. Could AI help streamline this process? Host Isabel Berwick hears from micro1 founder Ali Ansari. Ansari says his AI interviewer is already being used to perform thousands of job intervie...

There’s been a lot of talk about artificial intelligence in the workplace – but not much in the way of specifics. Isabel Berwick wants to change that. In this episode, she speaks to Iliana Oris Valiente, managing director and Innovation lead at Accenture Canada. Iliana has a ‘digital twin’ who attends meetings in her stead. But will it catch on? Later, Isabel speaks to the FT’s AI editor, Madhumit...

Introducing Power for Sale, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. In Untold: Power for Sale, host Valentina Pop and a team of FT correspondents from all over Europe investigate what happened in the Qatargate scandal, where EU lawmakers were accused of accepting payments from Qatar to whitewash its image. Subscribe and listen on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you get your pod...

The UK has a well-reported productivity problem, with mediocre managers, poor communication and chronic underinvestment all hampering growth. What can Britain glean from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, all of which have more productive economies? And what lessons can be learned from Japan, the only major developed economy that is less productive than the UK? Host Isabel Berwick speaks to FT senior bus...

TikTok and Instagram are awash with videos about so-called personality hires – young, fun-loving employees whose main contribution to work seems to be… well, ‘vibes’. These videos are tongue-in-cheek, but they raise interesting questions about the role our personalities play at work: how big a factor should personality be in hiring decisions? Can we put a value on being a good colleague? And can b...

Many managers hate giving feedback just as much as employees hate receiving it. So how can we give our colleagues pointers without upsetting them? Isabel speaks to Joe Hirsch, who helps CEOs and corporate clients design better feedback, to find out why a spirit of partnership is key to making the process more fluent. Later, she speaks to Kim Scott, a former Google and Apple executive, and author o...

The modern employee is overloaded. Alongside various projects, the average office worker has to deal with a huge administrative burden, responding to emails and instant messages, attending meetings, and trying to figure out which of their seemingly endless tasks is the most urgent. Academic, author and productivity expert Cal Newport thinks there’s a better way. In this episode, he explains how wh...

Isabel Berwick has spent the last year writing  The Future-Proof Career , a book about how to thrive at work, now and in the future. Last month, she held a launch event at Daunt Books, where she spoke to her friend and colleague Claer Barrett, the FT’s consumer editor, about what she learned in the process. Want more? Free links: Five secrets of workplace success Can AI make brainst...

More than 30mn Americans are subject to non-compete agreements, which temporarily bar them from working for rival companies if they leave their jobs. These clauses were meant to protect trade secrets and client relationships at banks, tech companies, and similarly flashy organisations – but they now affect tens of millions of Americans, including in low-paid jobs. The US Federal Trade Commission l...

Most people think of loyalty as a good thing, but in a professional context, being too devoted to an employer can have damaging consequences. Disengaged workers who don’t leave their jobs will hardly make the best ambassadors for a company; longstanding employees might run out of fresh ideas; and some research shows loyal employees are less likely to cover up wrongdoing at their firms. Isabel Berw...

Introducing Money Clinic’s Five Minute Investor, a miniseries hosted by Claer Barrett, the FT’s consumer editor. In each episode, Claer challenges top financial commentators to break down financial jargon in just five minutes, making you a smarter, and hopefully richer, investor. Tune in every Tuesday, and subscribe to Money Clinic wherever you get your podcasts. If you would like Claer to demysti...

Tens of thousands of workers have been made redundant already this year – but some are refusing to go quietly. Younger employees are posting videos of their layoffs (or of the moment they quit their jobs) on TikTok and Instagram, publicising an intimate moment that usually stays hidden. Why are they doing it? And how can managers protect themselves from the fallout of those videos? Isabel Berwick...

During the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of workers got used to working at home. Some moved hundreds of miles from the cities where their companies were based to live a cheaper and less stressful life. But now that in-office work is back, a rising number of people are looking to eat their cake and have it, too, combining good jobs in urban centres with a peaceful rural life. To make that work, they...

US aircraft maker Boeing has faced major scrutiny over its safety standards in recent years, after accidents – some catastrophic – involving its jets. But even after fatal incidents, and the recent mid-flight blowout of a door panel on one of its planes, its employees are reluctant to speak out about safety issues, according to a report released in February by the Federal Aviation Administration....

The higher up you go in most careers, the more likely it is you’ll become a manager. But plenty of workers want to keep doing what they’re best at, and not get involved in the messy admin and politics of overseeing other people. Martin Wolf is a leading economics commentator at the FT. He hasn’t formally managed anyone in 35 years – and doesn't’ regret it. What can we learn from Martin’s success?...

The pandemic showed us we could all work in different places; can we all work at different times, too? That idea – known as ‘asynchronous’ work – has gained traction at a number of companies. Workers march to the beat of their own drum, and only occasionally speak to their scattered colleagues in real time. That gives them greater flexibility; but does it make collaboration harder? How can a manag...

Most of us are hired because of our “hard” skills. But the more senior we get, the more important soft skills become; none more so than how we communicate with people. Isabel Berwick speaks to Charles Duhigg about how the world’s best communicators (or “super communicators”) listen, experiment and ask questions to get into sync with people. Later, Isabel speaks to Ruth Girardet, an executive coach...

Crafting a CV (or résumé) can be extremely tedious; wading through CVs as a hiring manager can be just as boring. So why are they still the default method for filtering job candidates? Can we do better? And might alternative hiring methods help managers choose more suitable candidates – rather than ones who just look good on paper? Isabel Berwick speaks to Jess Woodward-Jones, co-founder of talent...

Office politics isn’t something we choose to do – it’s an inescapable part of working life. Our workplace rituals, friendships and the alliances we forge play a big part in how our careers pan out; so how can we make sure we’re doing them right? Can we ever get ahead without our colleagues hating us? And why does it matter if we’re late for meetings? Isabel Berwick is joined by John Curran, CEO an...