Engaging students in the midst of a pandemic

Work and play

Making a real difference to local government

Real difference

Engaging diverse audiences for the NHS

Your NHS

A global challenge

100% you

The social mobility challenge

Be the apprentices

The pandemic has changed student engagement in a number of different ways. Virtual has become a norm &#8211; to attract as well as assess students. And it seems that employers are determined not to go back to old methods, but to embrace a more hybrid model. But this means different kinds of challenges &#8211; breaking through the digital noise, grabbing the passers-by, reaching out to diverse audiences and creating connected experiences that students want to be part of. We are here to support employers and help them transform engagement &#8211; from school years to graduate alumni, from initial contact to webinars, social engagement and more.

/get-ready-for-amazing-virtual-campus-experiences/

Get ready for amazing virtual campus experiences

/events/employability-roundtable-focusing-on-interdisciplinary-learning/

Employability Roundtable

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is possibly the biggest challenge and opportunity facing the majority of organisations. We work with employers to engage diverse audiences, build strong communities, create peer to peer content and run events that put a spotlight on what DE&amp;I means to organisations and to their people.
Talk to us about:
• DE&amp;I insight 
• Targeting and campaigns 
• Content 
• DE&amp;I events 
• Influencers

DE&I

Today social is a way of life.  It influences our decisions in everything we do, from the music we listen to, to the food we eat. Talent brands need to socially immersed, creating and co-creating content, engaging with students, standing up for what they believe in, and showing the culture and values of the organisation.
Talk to us about:
<ul>
<li>Social media strategy</li>
<li>Content development</li>
<li>Social management</li>
<li>Influencers</li>
<li>Social measurement</li>
</ul>

Social

We are a brand and engagement agency; so we focus heavily on how a brand story can evoke the right emotions in the audience and provoke action.  We are master storytellers, using all the tools in the communications box to engage and inspire our audiences, from the first contact right through to life inside an organisation.  Remember, communications that engages really connect with the right people and builds the brand is as much about the science as it is surprising audiences.
Talk to us about:
<ul>
<li>Concept development</li>
<li>Student targeting</li>
<li>Campaign management</li>
</ul>

Campaigns

We&#8217;ve seen a seismic shift in the way we might work in the future – and it is more virtual and more digital, relying less on the traditional engagement opportunities.  Now more than ever brands need to invest in digital experiences that cut through the ever-increasing noise and engage people in novel and relevant ways.  It is no longer enough simply to have a website.  What is your social strategy?  How can you use Voice or AR?  What will help and support students in the best possible way?  Lots of questions.  We can help you come up with the answers.
Talk to us about:
<ul>
<li>Website design and development</li>
<li>App development</li>
<li>AR, VR and Voice</li>
<li>Social media engagement</li>
<li>Digital marketing</li>
</ul>

Digital

Student Marketing

Rolling out of bed at 8:45am, to commute only as far as the desk on the other side of the room may be appealing for a day or two, but how often should we really be working from home?
Covid has hardly gone, but the world is moving on. With a war in the East, and rising prices everywhere; the pandemic is reaching our ears less and less through the news. Why then are so many of us still working in our PJs?
In 2019, 4.7% of individuals worked from home, already an increase on previous years. In fact working from home has been gradually on the rise for decades with an increase of 3.2% since 1981 when only 1.5% worked in their homes.
However, this jumped to a staggering 43.1% in April 2020 after Boris Johnson’s instruction that everyone “must stay at home” on 23rd March 2020 (Felstead &amp; Reuschke, 2020).
There are numerous reasons that people may prefer working from home.
<ul>
<li>Money saver – According to an article by The Motley Fool, an average Brit will save £126 a month or £1,500 a year on commuting when working from home (Bocco, 2021).</li>
<li>Time saving – The average Brit spends almost five hours a week commuting to and from work (Lilly, 2022). Not only does travel take up a significant proportion of the day, but add to this the time spent getting ready to leave the house; only a third of the time spent in personal grooming is needed when people don’t plan on being out of the house all day (Reuter, 2022).</li>
<li>Work from anywhere – Relocating to a tropical country may only be a realistic endeavour to very few people, but the ability to work entirely remotely can have a huge impact for multinational companies who are interested in hiring and collaborating with people from all over the globe.</li>
<li>Productivity &#8211; A report by Harvard Business School in 2020 in which over 30,000 work emails were analysed, found that those involved in hybrid working conditions (partly at home, partly in the office) were more productive and managers were more impressed with their work than those working full-time in one environment, whether the office or working from home.</li>
<li>Employment possibilities – When searching for a new job, more often than not we tend to find ourselves limited by geography. Remote working can allow people to work for companies whose offices are not in their region or even country.</li>
<li>Fewer distractions – For most people, working from home will mean being around less people, and therefore they may find themselves less distracted by small talk and interruptions. Of course, for some individuals or at certain times, such as school holidays, working from home could be far more distracting than being in the office.</li>
<li>Flexibility – Working from home often includes setting your own working hours or at least being able to move your lunch breaks to fit in with other appointments you may have.</li>
</ul>
Despite these benefits however, there are some disadvantages of WFH:
<ul>
<li>The need for a home office and equipment – Many remote jobs require equipment and software that you may not have at home. Space can also be an issue, whereas in the office you are likely to have access to a desk and chair of you own, space may be limited in people’s houses and finding an appropriate environment away from distractions can be difficult. Working in your bedroom can have a negative effect on mentality and cause a lack of productivity.</li>
<li>Difficulty separating work and home life – When working at home, it is often hard to stop the line between the working day and your leisure time from blurring. A consensus completed by the National Office for Statistics in 2021 showed that when working from home, on average individuals did 6 hours of unpaid overtime per week, compared with 3.6 hours for those that worked out of the house (ONS, 2021).</li>
<li>Isolation and anxiety – Whilst many people thrive in a quiet and solitary environment, working at home can cause a rise in anxiety down to lack of social interaction. Roughly 2.6 million Brits reported feeling “chronically lonely” during lockdown (Lilly, 2022). Going back to work in the office involves seeing co-workers and being surrounded by the public on commutes, which may be taken for granted usually, but during lockdown the lack of personal interaction was felt by most people.</li>
<li>Fresh air and exercise – For those who actively exercise on a daily basis, this may not make much of a difference, but for many people walking to work or to public transport and even moving around the office is as much exercise as they do during the week; and although it may not seem like a lot, not leaving the house can have negative effects on both peoples mental and physical state after a while.</li>
</ul>
So what’s the solution?
Many companies are bringing in ‘Working From Home’ policies and limiting the amount of days working out of the office per week. Others are letting their employees chose how and where they work. Whatever your company may be doing it is worth recognising the benefits and disadvantages of both, and considering which is best for you, and for managers, your employees.
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Citations:
Bocco, D. (2021). Working from home can save you over £1,500 a year &#8211; The Motley Fool UK. Retrieved 11 May 2022, from <a href="https://www.fool.co.uk/2021/12/06/working-from-home-can-save-you-over-1500-a-year/#:~:text=The%20average%20Brit%20spends%20%C2%A3,1%2C500%20a%20year%20in%20savings">https://www.fool.co.uk/2021/12/06/working-from-home-can-save-you-over-1500-a-year/#:~:text=The%20average%20Brit%20spends%20%C2%A3,1%2C500%20a%20year%20in%20savings</a>.
Reuter, D. (2022). MSN. Retrieved 11 May 2022, from https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/career/workers-spend-one-third-less-time-on-personal-grooming-when-they-clock-in-from-home-compared-with-when-they-commute-to-the-office/ar-AATfq48
Felstead, A and Reuschke, D (2020) ‘Homeworking in the UK: before and during the 2020 lockdown’, WISERD Report, Cardiff: Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research. Available for download from: https://wiserd.ac.uk/publications/homeworking-ukand-during-2020-lockdown
Lilly, C. (2022). Working from home (WFH) statistics | Finder UK. Retrieved 11 May 2022, from https://www.finder.com/uk/working-from-home-statistics#:~:text=The%20average%20daily%20commute%20time,a%20plus%20for%20employers%20too.
ONS, (2021). Homeworking hours, rewards and opportunities in the UK: 2011 to 2020 &#8211; Office for National Statistics. (2021). Retrieved 11 May 2022, from https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/articles/homeworkinghoursrewardsandopportunitiesintheuk2011to2020/2021-04-19

The great debate: Office v Hybrid v Remote

The debate about returning to the office has raged on and on over the last few months and there are no signs of it stopping.
Recently, two law firms come out fighting.
Stephenson Harwood are adopting a hybrid model, like the majority of other law firms; but if you don&#8217;t ever want to go into the office again, you&#8217;re in for a shock.  All fully remote workers will see their pay cut by 20%.
Meanwhile Quinn Emanuel Urquhart &amp; Sullivan has told its London lawyers to spend over half their working week in the office, and is promising &#8216;hot lunches&#8217; as a way of enticing them back.  It&#8217;s like Luncheon Vouchers all over again.
Many companies and firms are making Thursdays a day when everyone is in, and that seems to be evidenced by the journeys on the Tube.
<img loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-9363" src="https://api.106comms.com/app/uploads/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-17.36.49-300x189.png" alt="" width="302" height="190" /><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-9366 size-large" src="https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20220506181956/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-18.20.26-1024x641.png" alt="" width="1024" height="641" srcset="https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20220506181956/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-18.20.26-1024x641.png 1024w, https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20220506181956/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-18.20.26-300x188.png 300w, https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20220506181956/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-18.20.26-768x480.png 768w, https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20220506181956/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-18.20.26-1536x961.png 1536w, https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20220506181956/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-18.20.26.png 1544w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
However, many firms are struggling to persuade certain populations to come in at all.  Two of our clients are struggling with getting their tech teams to love the office once again &#8211; which is surprising because in many ways, the Silicon Valley style office was built for tech folk.
We do have to ask ourselves, why do companies want their people back in the office?  Surely, the starting point is money. We either keep with the office and you use it.  Or we lose it.  Currently, UK offices are just a quarter full &#8211; which is surely not sustainable. The other reason seems to be the ability to collaborate and innovate better when you&#8217;re together. At least this is the reason being put forward &#8211; although I suspect that it&#8217;s also leaders saying &#8216;If I&#8217;m coming into the office, I want to make sure everyone else is too!&#8217;.
Okay, so, say we need to get people to return to the office &#8211; for the sake of the business, collaboration, innovation and to keep the boss happy &#8211; what do we do?
At the recent Innovation@Work event held by The Economist, Hamish Badenoch, Global head, future of work and real estate transformation, Deutsche Bank, talked about how people had changed their habits during the course of the pandemic. It was now a habit to work at home; and if you want to get people to return to the office, you have to change habits (and that takes time).
Changing habits is not simply about sending out an email, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/4/22961592/apple-april-11-return-office-corporate-pandemic-tim-cook">a la Tim Cook</a>.
The backlash was quick with a group of Apple employees saying that &#8220;forcing them back to the office will kill diversity and make tech firm &#8216;younger, whiter and more male-dominated&#8217; because it only benefits privileged staff who can &#8216;disappear into the office all day'&#8221;.
So what&#8217;s our advice on creating comms and engagement to encourage colleagues to return to the office:
Start consulting &#8211; this is a hot potato.  Find out what people really think; and what are real barriers and opportunities.
Always co-create &#8211; get teams of people involved in helping to co-create your comms.
Get creative &#8211; let&#8217;s not roll out &#8216;One Team&#8217; nonsense.  That&#8217;s gone.  Get a strong creative team on the job (like 106).  And if you need to be radical, do it.
Go beyond a campaign &#8211; this is not some one-off campaign that can solve this.  Think about the medium and long term.
And keep leaders consistent &#8211; make sure they are role-modelling, sharing and talking about their office experience (and struggles), and what&#8217;s working for them.
And here&#8217;s how not to do it.  Don&#8217;t remind employees of what they are missing when they are coming into the office:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
In the lobby of an office building in Toronto. I guess to make sure employees are flooded with resentment the instant they walk in the door? <a href="https://t.co/oWUDofGvzK">pic.twitter.com/oWUDofGvzK</a>
&mdash; Audra Williams (@audrawilliams) <a href="https://twitter.com/audrawilliams/status/1500669564711014401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Classic!

RTO is one hot potato

Recently Bright Network released their report on ‘What do graduates want?’ for 2022/3.  As a recent graduate, I was interested to learn more about what 14,234 graduates thought!
First up, I was surprised that only 60% of students are planning on starting a graduate job straight after graduating.  Are graduates still concerned about entering the job market?
Yet there’s a rise of 16 percentage points when asked about how confident they are about securing graduate roles this year than in 2021.  And those from Black Heritage backgrounds are more confident than the student population as a whole regarding getting a job.
We only have to look back at last year’s result and see how confidence has grown. In response to the same question during Covid, graduates seemed to have lost a lot of confidence in the job market with 33-39% of respondents feeling confident between April 2020 and January 2021 down from 57% in January of 2018 and 2019.
So confidence levels are rising – and we’re also seeing another positive sign.  The majority of students are being selective about their applications and only applying for programmes that are strongly related to their interests and future careers – over 50% of students apply for up to 6 graduate programmes and internships, whilst under a quarter applied to over 16.
What about background?  Is this affecting student confidence?  Whilst the percentage of Black Heritage students that agreed to having felt that their background has hindered their work or study applications is concerningly high (43%), I am surprised that more than half of this number (24%) is also true of individuals who were privately educated.
Surprisingly, more respondents from private schools believed that the competition for internships was a barrier to them securing one than that of their state-school counterparts.
Maybe we are finally seeing a re-balance on the social mobility front.
&nbsp;
Remote vs In-person
I am slightly surprised that remote work is preferred by many graduates (91% interested in having flexible working) looking for their first job, because personally I find that being in the office the majority of the time is preferable for a few reasons; being new to the company I find it much easier to get guidance when in the office, and being in the office is of course much more sociable than working from home. This being said, I really appreciate having the flexibility when necessary, and working from home the odd day can be a welcome change especially before I moved and was having to commute for over an hour each morning.
&nbsp;
Moving to London
Having just moved to London for a job myself, I am not surprised that 53% of respondents would like to work in London for their first job. There are a few likely reasons for this, with the salaries, progression opportunities and social life most likely being the main reason for many graduates; however, the constant relocation of individuals into London has made certain factors such as finding affordable accommodation in the city very difficult.
&nbsp;
Diversity perception
When asked ‘Are there any sectors which you perceive as lacking diversity and inclusivity?’ the sectors rated at the worst were Banking &amp; Finance, Technology, Engineering, Construction &amp; Manufacturing and Law.  This is despite so much work being done in these sectors to address these issues; maybe there’s been more focus on words than actions!
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Candidate experience is all important 
Whilst the prospect of a more exciting role would be the #1 reason to turn down an offer or renege on one; the experience during the application process is the reason for 15% of applicants considering turning down the offer. And a staggering 88% of graduates would consider reneging on a job offer if the experience is poor!
I wholeheartedly empathise with this. Having recently been job-hunting, I understand that the degree to which you are made to feel comfortable by the interviewers (and the way they communicate with you before and after) has a huge influence on your decision, especially if you are torn between two positions.
&nbsp;
Applying 
Word of mouth is still a big factor in recruitment: in fact 82% of respondents admit to talking to their friends and peers about their careers, discussing both their current jobs and those that they are applying to. Not only does this help the individual to recognise how they feel about the position, but it also spreads brand awareness and trust. I experienced this when I applied for my job at 106; my housemate at the time (in another city) mentioned that she had previously been to a few of the company’s events, and this in itself made the company stand out to me.
Graduates believe that having a 2:1 or above in their degree is the most important thing to employers and related experience second, whilst employers place these factors as the 6th and 11th most important things respectively. Employers are most interested in applicants who have a passion for the business and are resilient.  But I wonder how much employers are swayed by relevant experience?!
&nbsp;
Salary and the cost of living
With the price of living constantly rising, it is no surprise that 59% of respondents said that they would be more likely to apply if the salary is listed on the application. Meanwhile, 27% said they would only apply if they knew the salary and a mere 14% said that they would apply if they didn’t know the salary. This being said; graduate salary expectations have not increased in the past few years, and after dropping into the £25k range in 2021, it has bounced back to exceed £27k – which is where we were before the pandemic.
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This is my first blog for 106; watch out for more blogs from me on student marketing and comms in the coming weeks and months.  Bye for now!

“What do graduates want?” – a graduate’s perspective

See that <a href="https://www.pimco.com/en-us/insights/economic-and-market-commentary/global-markets/asset-allocation-outlook/mid-cycle-investing-time-to-get-selective/">graph</a>? ESG is a certified hot topic right now. Organisations are talking about it, making a business case for it, shouting about it! So what’s changed?
Stakeholders are putting pressure on organisations and top talent candidates are demanding serious social credentials from potential employers.
70% of employees consider a company’s stance on social issues in deciding whether or not to stay in their current job
38% of customers are boycotting products or services for ethical reasons
92% of people want corporations to address societal issues and build an economy serving all stakeholders. 
                                                                                                          Robin Nuttall, Expert Partner at McKinsey &amp; Company
                                                                                                          SimplySUMMIT ‘After COP26 – what’s your purpose?’
Perhaps one of the most important changes in the attitudes of investors. Investors have (finally…) swung the dial and are now investing in the future too. It’s not all from the good of their heart though, there is a strong business case to be made for ESG investing. In research shared by Robin Nuttall at the SimplySUMMIT conference, it was quantifiably clear that ESG leaders outperformed ESG laggers both when Covid hit initially, and on the way out.
 So we can agree, it’s crucial your organisation has clear ESG goals and is accountable to them. For a truly an ESG strategy to be successful, however, an organisation needs clarity in the mission and a strategy.
&nbsp;
High jumps and long jumps.
In Robin’s fantastic framework, a high jump is when an organisation clears the bar on a range of criteria. This includes things like disclosing diversity statistics, company policies, ethical codes. A long jump is when an organisation takes a commitment to the next level in selected areas.
Some long jumps for inspiration
E: Microsoft declared they would work towards being lifetime carbon negative
S: Paypal have extended their work to democratise money by raising the employee basic income
G: Starbucks have tied executive compensation to meeting diversity and inclusion targets
Pick one cause, one purpose, and go for it with everything you have.
&nbsp;
The four tenets of ESG for business leaders
Map your world: This is reflexive. What’s your starting point? What your organisations superpowers and vulnerabilities?
Define your contribution: What are the initiatives to make it happen?
Embed it in the business: What are the metrics of success? How can we weave this purpose into daily practices?
Engage: Develop tailored stakeholder engagement plans. Who are the champions who are going to amplify your efforts? (Short answer: employees!)
COP26 was another milestone in a very long journey, but seeing organisations pivot their focus to ESG and recognise their role in societal issues and change is encouraging. We all need to keep the pressure on and innovate practical solutions to address the plethora of challenges we collectively face.

The rise of ESG and how to capitalise on it

In October 2021, 106 Communications (in partnership with Not Going to Uni) released the findings from our second Get Real School Leaver Insight series which looked at the impact of the global pandemic on some key areas of school leavers lives.
Firstly, we looked at the academic impact of having studied at home during two major lockdowns.  
Despite the headlines of grade inflation during the last 2 academic years in particular, nearly 2 in 3 of the surveyed students felt that the pandemic had reduced their actual or predicted grades.
And only 10% of GCSE year students feel that the pandemic will work in their favour when it comes to grades. Perhaps unsurprisingly Years 13 and 11 most impacted by a predicted or actual grade reduction.
Impact by ethnic background 
Asian and mixed-race students are significantly more adversely impacted when it comes to predicted or actual grades with nearly two-thirds agreeing that the pandemic has reduced their actual or predicted grades.
Their black peers are more confident about their grades due to covid – they are the audience with the highest number of students who have seen an improvement in their grades as a result of the pandemic.
Are student views changing regarding university applications? 
In 2020, 44% of all 18 year-olds applied for a place via UCAS and this is up by 19% from 2019 – many students were seeking the shelter of university with the potential of a seismic economic storm due to lockdowns. With the easing of restrictions we wanted to see the impact of the ongoing pandemic on these choices…
University still seen as the best option by all ethnic groups
Nearly 53% see university as the best option post-18; and if 100% of these students convert this view into an application, UCAS will see another huge hike in 2021 for 2022 start dates.
58% of Black students see it as the best option – and in 2020 this translated into 47.5% of all black A Level students securing a place at unviersity compared to only 32.6% of all white students.
What about their views on Apprenticeships?  
There is an equal split in those who are either more likely to do an apprenticeship now compared with those who don’t want to pursue that route.
The pandemic has seen a 45% increase in interest from Years 10 in apprenticeships – despite the survey numbers being relatively small this could represent a significant potential opportunity for many employers.
Specific ethnic differences… 
We see the importance of delivering targeted comms to different groups when it comes to apprenticeships; when we look at ethnic differences, we see that one in five mixed-race students are more convinced than before that an apprenticeship is the right thing to do – the most enthusiastic of all the groups we looked at.
Conversely, black students are the least convinced about apprenticeships with a slight majority of black students never having wanted to do an apprenticeship despite the pandemic and more black students since the pandemic are now not looking to pursue that route.
Overall the picture is still not as positive as we would want it to be when looking at students general propensity to consider an Apprenticeship. 
Covid has made students more anxious about their job chances.
An average of nearly 60% of our Years 10-13 are more anxious about their future job chances as a result of the global pandemic.
The least concerned about the jobs market and the most confident are those in Year 10 compared to those in their GCSE year who are the most concerned and the least confident .
Connecting with Year 10 in a meaningful way  can support greater career confidence and interest in apprenticeships into Year 11 and beyond – especially since the pandemic, with 45% of Year 10 students more likely to consider an apprenticeship than previously.
Men are 15% more confident than female students about their job chances
Only just over one in ten students are prepared to do any job for now while continuing to look. This is a worrying statistic given the current headlines around vacancy numbers and the stark news is that it is hitting every sector.
Anecdotally, in the graduate market we are hearing that levels of student engagement in virtual events is average at best. With many students gravitating to the more well-known brands offering a higher volume of roles, with the perception that they have a better chance of getting an offer. If we translate this to the schools market, then many employers who don’t have as strong an employer brand, offering lower numbers might see an impact here – with fewer students seemingly willing to compromise on their choice of employer or even sector.
Anxiety is greatest amongst Asian students, with black students being the most confident
Asian students are the most anxious about their job chances since the pandemic.  Is this to do with virtual selection processes? Is it to do with cultural perceptions – do Asian students feel there is more focus from employers on attracting and hiring more black talent given the Black Lives Matter campaign and focus on employer and university black action plans?
Generation covid and the impact on their skills development
There is unsubstantiated anxiety about the jobs market, i.e. there are over a million jobs out there but of our Year 10-13 students, only 13% of them will take any job whilst they look for a role in their chosen career.
So, we wanted to sense-check what students thought about the impact of the pandemic on their skills and what in the future employers will be looking for; and we found a disconnect in a couple of places here:
Teamwork – students have lacked face-to-face time in school and in their extra-curricular activities so the development of their team-working has suffered; and at the same time they recognise that employers will likely value teamwork more as a result of the pandemic.
Problem-solving – this is a key skill that apprentices need to learn and develop, yet our survey participants do not think that employers prioritise this.
 Ideal working week
We wanted to understand what Year 10-13 students thought about their ideal working week…
…and we saw no marked differences in preferences from a gender perspective, with almost two-thirds preferring hybrid way of working from home and in the office, and a third preferring to work full-time in the office. Only 5% were keen to work from home full-time.
But when it comes to ethnicity, we can see that Asian and mixed-race students have the highest preference for five days a week in the office. Your messaging needs to reassure Asian and mixed-race students that they won’t be missing out by working from home.
A big stand-out result is that the vast majority of black students want hybrid working by some 11% more than their white peers and 16% more than their Asian peers. Providing black students with details on your policies around hybrid and flexible working is critical to engage with this audience. One in five black students will be nervous about the longer term, and the risk of businesses slipping back into full-time office working. Be prepared for these conversations with black students.
If you found this blog of interest then look out for the next in our Get Real School Leaver Insight series which is taking place IN PERSON on 9th December at 3pm- 5pm, Office Space in Town® Blackfriars 22 Tudor Street, London, EC4Y 0A
Book your space <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/get-real-school-leaver-insight-session-3-tickets-178009610537">here</a>
If you would like to have an informal chat about the findings of this, or any of our previous or upcoming research do get in touch with Jayne – <a href="mailto:jayne@106comms.com">jayne@106comms.com</a>

The impact of the pandemic on school leavers

Workplace health and safety is a familiar phrase to everyone, and it’s something office workers often take for granted. But what does it mean when our workspace is at home?
Organisations still have a duty of care to every employee to safe-guard their wellbeing – and that means more than physical wellbeing. With the advent of the pandemic, working from home became a fact of life. After 18 months, we are starting to see the long-term effects WFH.
A burgeoning field of research is looking at digital wellbeing and methods of mitigating ‘technohazards’ and ‘technoharms’ that are prevalent in a hybrid work environment. Elizabeth Marsh, Director of <a href="https://digitalworkresearch.com/21-digital-work-wellbeing-tips-for-2021/">Digital Work Research</a>, is carrying out great research and galvanising this important conversation from a sound foundation of quantitative data.
“The term ‘digital well-being’ is used to refer to the impact of digital technologies on what it means to live a life that is good for a human being.” <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338560887_The_Ethics_of_Digital_Well-Being_A_Thematic_Review">(Burr, Taddeo, Floridi 2020)</a>
As it is a relatively new field, there is plenty to cover! So here are some things for you and your team to look out for, and to try.
TECHNO TIPS
<ol>
<li>Get good at the tech</li>
</ol>
We can all get by with our various software and platforms, but rarely do we delve deep into their real capabilities. Instead of winging it and dealing with inevitable frustrations, take time to participate in workshops or take a short course on the particular tech. Secondary to this is get your digital house in order. Organise your files, clear out the Download’s debris, and streamline apps where possible so you have clear comms channels.
<ol start="2">
<li>Identify and manage tech anxieties</li>
</ol>
If you’re feeling stressed at your computer/tablet/phone, it’s important to identify the source of this discomfort. When it comes to technology there is a plethora of triggers from navigating unfamiliar technology to unreliable connections, concerns over data privacy and personal interactions. If we stocktake the stress and isolate the issue we can be mindful and take steps to combat it.
<ol start="3">
<li>Rituals are your right</li>
</ol>
Not many people are missing the old commute after the wallet friendly and efficient journey from the bedroom to the living room. But the ritual of the journey – the coffee you got on the way, the podcast you listened to on the tube, the cheery good mornings – held symbolic value marking the shift from personal time to being on the clock. When living space becomes workspace, maintaining the personal/professional boundary is a challenge. We can feel obliged to be always on, extending work hours and attending to work tasks ad hoc in the evenings. Create a ritual to begin and end your workday – and stick to it!
<ol start="4">
<li>Don’t be a victim of distractions</li>
</ol>
We’re bombarded by notifications all the time, and it’s not just people vying for our attention. Social media apps actively work to get you back on the scroll, sending you notifications when a friend of a friend liked a silly video or reminding you of that great holiday you went on 5 years ago today. Think about what’s important and switch of notifications for everything else. Having protected time and space to focus is not only important for productivity, but it reduces stress and brain fog.

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