Skip to content
Melo Podcasts Home
CategoriesLanguagesFollowing

Season 2, Episode 91 · Working It

How to get the long-term sick back to work

19 Nov 2024 · 18 min

Play episode WhatsApp Download

Episode notes

The UK has a well-known problem with long-term sickness in the workforce – but it’s not alone. In several wealthy countries, the number of young people turning to disability benefits has risen. Why is that? What can managers do about it? And just how much could helping people back to work boost productivity? To find out, host Isabel Berwick speaks to John Burn-Murdoch, the FT’s chief data reporter, as well as Camilla Cavendish, FT contributing editor and columnist. Want more? Free Links: Out of work and unwell: the worrying rise of young people on benefits How companies can deal with in-work…

Podcast

Working It

Financial Times · Business · English

Whether you’re the boss, the deputy or on your way up, we’re shaking up the way the world works. This is the podcast about doing work differently. Join host Isabel Berwick every Wednesday for expert analysis and watercooler chat about ahead-of-the-curve workplace trends, the big ideas shaping work t

More from Working It All episodes →

  1. S2 · E96 · 24 Dec 2024 · 22 min

    Best of: How to master the art of schmoozing

    This week's episode of Working It – the last of the year – is a repeat of one of our favourite episodes. It features a masterclass in chit-chat from Matt Abrahams, a lecturer in communications at Stanford University, podcast host, and author of the since published 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 FT office? Host Isabel Berwick gets the views of award-winning FT columnist Pilita Clark and Stephen Bush, who writes the FT’s daily Inside Politics newsletter. Want more? Top…

  2. S2 · E95 · 17 Dec 2024 · 16 min

    How to get ahead (without getting promoted)

    You thought you were getting that big promotion – but you missed out. What are your next steps? Isabel Berwick speaks to Sarah Ellis (co-founder of careers consultancy Amazing If) and FT Management Editor Anjli Raval to find out. They discuss how to keep your emotions in check after suffering professional rejection, who you should turn to for advice, and why ‘squiggly’ careers are more popular than ever. Want more? Free links: What can I do if I hit a career plateau? ‘The flattening’: tech sector calls time on middle managers A big internal move Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by…

  3. S2 · E94 · 10 Dec 2024 · 19 min

    Best of: How to survive the office Christmas party

    It's the work Christmas party season: you're out of the office, and the alcohol is flowing. How can you make sure you don't embarrass yourself (or derail your career)? And how can you bounce back if you do go wrong? Isabel Berwick speaks to FT columnist and veteran party-goer Stephen Bush, author and comedian Viv Groskop and party-shy FT columnist Emma Jacobs to find out. Warning: contains drunken secret Santas, dancefloor embarrassment and toe-curling apologies. Got a Christmas party nightmare you’d like Isabel and Jonathan to help you with? Submit it here:…

  4. S2 · E93 · 3 Dec 2024 · 20 min

    How can middle-aged women get the most out of work?

    Many middle-aged women leave the workforce with plenty left to give. What can managers do to stop that from happening? Isabel Berwick speaks to Lucy Standing, founder of Brave Starts, a not-for-profit that helps older workers realise their potential. Isabel and Lucy are joined by writer and comedian Viv Groskop, who coaches and consults widely in the corporate world. Together, they discuss how women can ask the right questions about company culture, the factors you can’t fight at work, and why the last thing older workers want is another training course. Want more? Free links: The perils of…

  5. S2 · E92 · 26 Nov 2024 · 18 min

    Luck makes careers. Here’s how to get more of it.

    Most successful people will tell you that hard work and talent can get you where you want to go. Fewer of them will admit that luck is at least as important. Some of us are born into luckier circumstances than others; but we can all do more to make our own luck, and be ready to capitalise on it when the opportunity arises. In this episode, Isabel Berwick speaks to Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of business psychology at UCL and Columbia, chief innovation officer of ManpowerGroup, and author of books including ‘The Talent Delusion’ and ‘Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?’…

  6. S2 · E90 · 12 Nov 2024 · 21 min

    What I wish I’d known when I started my career

    Isabel Berwick writes about how managers and workers can get better at their jobs. But that doesn’t mean she’s always been a perfect employee… In this special episode, Isabel speaks to her former boss (and good friend) Michael Skapinker about how she’s changed over the course of her career, her professional shortcomings, and some of the run-ins the two of them have shared. Later, Isabel and Michael discuss nuggets of career wisdom from FT colleagues including Stephen Bush, Claer Barrett and Jemima Kelly: how important is talent to a successful career? Does anyone care where you went to…

  7. E89 · 5 Nov 2024 · 18 min

    How to be a kind manager – without being a pushover

    We do not always associate bosses with kindness. But being kind to your team can make workers more engaged, more likely to stick around and more productive. So how can managers weave kindness into their daily work, even if they’re annoyed or dealing with a colleague they are not keen on? Isabel Berwick speaks to Graham Allcott, author of ‘KIND: The quiet power of kindness at work’, and Bonnie Hayden Cheng, a professor at the Hong Kong University Business School and author of ‘The Return on Kindness’. Want more? Free links: How acts of leadership kindness make everyone better Kindness in the…

  8. S3 · E88 · 29 Oct 2024 · 20 min

    Best of: Has ‘retirement’ had its day?

    Retirement used to be a cliff edge: you’d be working one week, and gardening the next. That’s changing. Now, retirement can mean working on the things you enjoy at a slower pace, and staying engaged with new ideas. Isabel Berwick speaks to author, columnist and Harvard Professor Arthur C Brooks on the science of flourishing in later life, and what older brains can do that younger ones can’t. Later, Isabel talks to former FT journalist Michael Skapinker about the importance of staying engaged with old colleagues and new ideas – even if you’re not doing the same thing every day. Want more?…

  9. S3 · E87 · 22 Oct 2024 · 17 min

    How to network without being inauthentic

    The idea of networking makes many of us shudder. But connecting with colleagues doesn’t have to mean cold emails and awkward encounters. Alison Fragale tells host Isabel Berwick how ‘strategic socialising’ can help us make genuinely helpful connections at work. They’re joined by Natasha Wood, head of strategy at the FT’s events business, FT Live. Natasha explains how joining colleagues in an ekiden — or long-distance relay race — helped her boost her professional status after coming back from maternity leave. Want more? Free links: Top ways to be a super schmoozer Workplace friendships…

  10. S2 · E86 · 15 Oct 2024 · 18 min

    Why the pandemic couldn't kill the 100-hour week

    Bankers and lawyers have long had punishing work schedules. Has the pandemic – and a widespread move towards flexible working – changed that? Guest host Bethan Staton speaks to Craig Coben, a former senior investment banker at Bank of America and Deutsche Bank, as well as Suzi Ring, the FT’s legal correspondent. They discuss why client satisfaction trumps work-life balance, why law firms can’t just hire twice as many lawyers to work half as hard, and what bankers actually do during a 100-hour work week. Want more? Free links: The ‘80-hour circuit breaker’: Wall Street banks tackle workloads…

Take it with you

The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.

Get it on Google Play