The modern workplace: how to make it work for people

Since the pandemic changes are evident in the way people work. Hybrid working has become more commonplace. Many employees, but not all, value this but it has implications for employees and managers. Employees’ self-regulating capacity is challenged as they are required to regulate themselves, their working place and time. Managers need to adapt their management style for effective performance management, have a more active focus on team building and managing relationships and be careful not to lose focus on employee well-being. Employers are reducing and reworking expensive office spaces in the light of the low occupancy that hybrid working brings, with the danger of making them less conducive spaces for employees, while paradoxically trying to encourage employees back to the office because of concerns about the impact on productivity, creativity and team working when teams are dispersed. Organisations need to rethink how they invest in physical spaces, approach workplace design and what support they provide for those working outside the office. This year’s workshop, led by Professor Evangelia Demerouti of Eindhoven University of Technology and Dr Nigel Oseland from Workplace Unlimited will examine these trends, present the latest research findings and demonstrate approaches that can be used to enhance both effective ways of working and worker well-being in the modern workplace.

Evangelia Demerouti is a Full Professor at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). Her research focuses on the processes enabling performance, including the effects of work characteristics, individual job strategies (including job crafting and decision-making), occupational wellbeing, and work-life balance.

Evangelia Demerouti studied psychology at the University of Crete (Greece) and obtained her PhD in Work and Organizational Psychology (cum laude, 1999) from the Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (Germany). Having worked as a post-doc researcher at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Radboud University Nijmegen, Demerouti was assistant professor and associate professor at Utrecht University between 2002 and 2009. since 2015 she is Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

She has published over 200 national and international papers and book chapters, and is associate editor of Journal of Occupational Health Psychology and European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology.

Nigel is an environmental psychologist, avid behaviourist, statistics sleuth, agent of change, broadcaster and respected author. Nigel’s forte is in understanding the individual, team and organisational needs and through design and behaviour change, produce unique workplaces that enhance creativity, motivation, wellbeing and performance whilst simultaneously improving efficiency and reducing costs. He often participates in major projects involving culture change, consolidation, mergers, relocations or implementing agile working. He gained his PhD in Psychology and Engineering from Cranfield University and as well as running his own consultancy (Workplace Unlimited) he is a Visiting Research Fellow at Liverpool John Moores University. Nigel has published over 100 articles including his recent books Beyond the Workplace Zoo: Humanising the Office (2022), A Guide to Post-Occupancy Evaluation (2024) and The Science of People and Office Design (2025).