17309
Christine Armstrong is a researcher, author and vlogger on the future of work, and founder of Armstrong & Partners.
By exploring current working trends, workplace culture, workplace communication, work/life balance, remote working and all the data that comes with it, she examines the challenges present in using old business practices. These include being overloaded with communication, the challenges between professional/personal boundaries and burnout. She also explores how these working practices can impact different groups such as carers and parents.
Christine is a much sought-after keynote speaker on the future of work and has worked for companies including the BBC and NHS to help them use more up-to-date working trends to ensure employee health, happiness and productivity.
Christine Armstrong first studied politics at York University, but by her own admission, did not study nearly hard enough, but enjoyed the experience and made friends for life. Following her graduation, she worked for a number of companies such as APCO Worldwide, BBDO Worldwide and Penn Schoen Berland, in locations as far and wide as London, Washington DC and Toronto. During this period, she also had her three children and was trying to find a way to balance new parenthood with her career.
In 2013, she co-founded Jericho Chambers, an early leader in flexible and hybrid working, including working from home. It was once described as “public relations as it should be, not public relations as it has become”.
She has written regularly for a number of popular publications including The Times, Red Magazine, Grazia and The Telegraph and is a contributing editor for Management Today. In 2018, she published The Mother of All Jobs: How to Have Children and a Career and Stay Sane(ish). The book was based on six years of interviews with employers, leadership experts, working parents and carers. The book was a huge success and was a finalist in the 2019 Business Book UK Awards.
Below: Christine talks about the differences between fixed hybrid and fluid hybrid working practices and why each could benefit your colleagues.
As well as looking at home/work balances and company productivity, Christine and her team have broadened their research and are now looking into the cost-of-living crisis and how that may affect employees at work.
At Armstrong & Partners, Christine combines meticulous data analysis with inspiring content creation to ensure audiences are informed but entertained. She provides keynote talks, workshops, in-depth research and writings, and each one is tailored to that specifically audience.
In 2021, Christine spoke at the IAB UK Leadership Conference about how the pandemic has permanently reshaped personal lives and how companies can adapt to the new way of working. Christine was ranked the best speaker across the two-day event. Then in 2022, she hosted and spoke at KPMG UK’s first all-partner conference after lockdown, presenting research on how hybrid and remote working can improve company culture and productivity.
– Making hybrid and remote work in practice
– How to improve employee productivity whilst avoiding burnout
– How to make the new world of work actually work for you
– Responses to the cost-of-living crisis and potential future recessions
– Attraction and retention in a stressed labour market (especially women)
– How to mix work and parenting/caring whilst staying sane(ish)
Below: Christine examines the 6 different ways of working from fully remote to fully office and variations in between – which is right for your organisation?
CLIENTS: Accenture, Adobe, Allianz, Balfour Beatty, Barclays, BBC, CIPD, Deloitte, the Economist, EY, Fujitsu, GSK, Greater London Authority, IBM, KPMG, Lloyds Bank, Marks and Spencer, Microsoft, NHS, Pepsi, Randstad, Saga, The Times, Universal Music Group.
A Chat with Christine Armstrong
As part of our ‘Chat with…’ podcast series at Great British Speakers, our director Jane Farnham sat down with Christine to talk about her work in current working trends, workplace culture and communication, work/life balance, remote working, and challenges faced by using old business practices.
Christine is an outstanding speaker. Her storytelling ability, intellect and onstage energy are unmatched. And if that’s not enough, she’ll have you rocking back in your seats. Her style is brilliantly matched by the substance of what she’s saying – bold insight backed p with hard facts and stats with the perfect smattering of anecdotal soundbites to boot. Whether you’re curious, sceptical or just completely overwhelmed with how work is fundamentally changing, you need a bit of Christine in your life.
James Chandler, CMO and Event Host for IAB
Ahead of the curve.
Isabel Berwick, FT Work and Careers Editor
Thank you Christine and team for the research, you did an epic and brilliant job!
Eleanor Mills, Noon
Research-backed insights presented in a uniquely engaging, sharp and humour-injected style.
Elizabeth Kerry, PA Consulting
Brilliant stuff Christine, thank you. you went down a storm and were definitely the most talked about slot, the most energy and the most interesting.
Terry Meighan, Balfour Beatty
We’ve not worked before with someone as adaptable and evidently talented at picking-up exactly what the event topic was.
Marketing for PepsiCo
Christine’s incisiveness helped us to move forward with the project in a very practical way. We are very proud that it has already led to a positive result.
Marie Heyvaert, Liedekerke
Christine was excellent, the best in ten years!
Partner, KPMG
Brilliant. You were utterly engaging, funny and incisive.
Colin Gibson, Fieldfisher
Christine was delightful, message on point, a real hit for our audience.
Ceridian UK