November 15, 2018

Majority of office workers discontented with workplace environment

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design

The vast majority (97 percent) of office workers in UK feel frustrated by their workplace environments, with many feeling the need to escape office life as a result. A new report from Staples has discovered that one-in-five (22 percent) end up browsing LinkedIn job ads for something better when they’re frustrated. As a result, job-hopping is prolific, with workers now predicted to have 11.7 jobs between the ages of 18 and 48. The expectation that the grass must be greener elsewhere is leaving most thinking about switching jobs. However, when they do end up jumping ship, many just experience a short-term fix. According to the study, a third (37 percent) get frustrated in their new office before the end of their first six months. The majority of office workers say they seek fulfilment (89 percent) at work, and for most (77 percent), the quality of their office workspace is a contributing factor in how fulfilled they feel.

November 13, 2018

Fostering creativity within organisations through space and culture

by Serena Borghero • Comment, Workplace design

In organisations around the world, hierarchical structures are breaking down, replaced by deeply interconnected, constantly shifting networks, linked by innovative technology. Meanwhile, huge leaps forward in artificial intelligence promise to fundamentally change the nature of work, either by enhancing or replacing human-beings. Research by McKinsey suggests that half of today’s work activities could be automated by 2055, with repetitive and process-based roles the first to go. For employees, this looks likely to mean a greater focus on creative skills, where humans retain an advantage. These skills are not restricted to being purely artistic, as creativity describes the process of problem-solving in a new way. The rise of creativity is also being driven by new generations entering the workplace with different demands and expectations than those before them.

November 12, 2018

Two thirds of HR professionals say working environment contributes to sickness levels

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

New research carried out by HR consultant AdviserPlus claims that two thirds of HR professionals say that a poor workplace environment can ‘substantially’ contribute to sickness levels. The survey, which asked 300 HR professionals their opinions on the state of absenteeism in the UK, found that factors such as lifestyle and environment played a big part in the levels of absence in their workplace. Absenteeism is said to cost the UK economy £18 billion a year, and an average sick day costs a company around £100 a day.

November 7, 2018

Flexible office market to grow by a third each year for next five years

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace design

The gig economy has helped lead to the doubling in size of the flexible office space sector since 2014 and it’s set to grow by up to 30 percent per year over the next five years claims new research published by JLL. Disruption or Distraction, a report delving into the growth of flexible office space across Europe explores the main drivers of the sector’s boom – including evolutionary changes in how, when and where people work, shifts in lifestyle, and rapid advancements in technology – and provides unique insights into the risks and rewards for both companies and real estate investors in Europe. More →

November 5, 2018

An intersectional approach to trends in workplace design at Orgatec 2018

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design

There are perhaps three characteristics that ensure the European office furniture and workplace design fair Orgatec continues to attract so many exhibitors and visitors to Cologne. Firstly, it takes place every two years, so offers a snapshot of a sector, framing the most important workplace developments in a particular time and place. For those of us who’ve been attending the shows for any length of time (in my case 26 years), we can track the evolution of workplace thought in a measured way, noting key developments like the launch of the Aeron chair (1994), Vitra’s Alcove (2006) and in 2018 – what?

November 2, 2018

Happiness at work: Lessons from home

by Dr Tracy Brower • Comment, Facilities management, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

Thanks to technology and mobility, our work has come home with us. So it’s only fair that home should come to work, right? It would seem logical that if people sit in front of a TV on the sofa at home while they work remotely, employees would be thrilled to have a similar set up within their office. However, in the workplaces where we’ve seen companies install couches and big screen TVs, those work spaces are almost never used by employees. Those companies missed the bigger picture. Home is as much an emotional experience as a physical one.

November 1, 2018

South American firm to join global workplace design and fit-out network

by Neil Franklin • Company news, Workplace design

South American workplace designer and fit out specialist Contract Workplaces has become the latest organisation to join The United Workplace (TUW). With over 20-years’ experience working across ten countries from Mexico in central America right down to Southern Ocean, Contract Workplaces dramatically increases the reach of the TUW as a global business network of workplace design and fit-out firms. Beginning with its founding partners Fourfront Group in the UK and Amicus in Australia, TUW now has members in the Middle East, USA and South America.

October 29, 2018

This design and fit-out firm would like to give its time to a charity

by Andrew Brown • Company news, Workplace design

Burtt-Jones & Brewer is giving away its time for free as part of its tenth birthday celebrations. Formed ten years ago over a cup of coffee between Steve Brewer and Adam Burtt-Jones, the workplace designers are celebrating by giving away ten thousand pounds’ worth of its workplace consultancy time to a single charity. So, instead of putting a birthday present list – they are sharing their experiences from a decade of design, development and delivery – from Moorgate to Milan, banks to brand agencies, lawyers to lottery operators, insurers to investors, the Bank of England to The Treasury.

October 22, 2018

Regus to sue WeWork; blinkers for office workers; and some other stuff you should know about

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Property, Technology, Workplace design

What to make of the announcement that Chengdu is thinking of creating an artificial moon so that it can do away with street lights, bathing the city’s streets in permanent dusk? Well possibly a big thumbs up for the ingenuity and maybe thumbs down for the impact on people’s circadian rhythms and awareness of what’s in the heavens. People really should look up more, both figuratively and literally. Maybe there’s also room for a thought about we we can over-complicate designed solutions when we look to innovate beyond a certain point.

October 19, 2018

Smart spaces and the other top technology trends for 2019

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace design

Technology researcher Gartner has highlighted the top strategic technology trends it believes organisations should be aware of in 2019. Gartner defines a strategic technology trend as one with ‘substantial disruptive potential that is beginning to break out of an emerging state into broader impact and use, or which are rapidly growing trends with a high degree of volatility reaching tipping points over the next five years’. One of the interesting points to note is the inclusion of the physical workplace yet again, as we highlighted in our recent feature on the trends shaping office design.

October 16, 2018

Law firms are finally embracing the agile workplace

by Simon Pole • Comment, Workplace design

Strong office space take-up is predicted for this year after activity from law firms was down in 2017 against 10-year averages and compared to other sectors. Many legal companies are anticipating how their approach to workspace might have to change. This includes trialling new ways of working and years of overreliance on private offices. The legal sector is compared to many other services’ professions “closed” – and therefore ripe for change. There is an abundance of technology start-ups looking to introduce disruptive tech that will render many legal roles obsolete. The sector is also haemorrhaging senior talent as experienced professionals leave and the sector has failed thus far to adapt to modern working conventions including the agile workplace. Despite working in the digital age of wireless tech and cloud computing, 64 percent of lawyers found it difficult to work remotely because their technology wasn’t suitable (according to research from Lexis Nexis).

October 15, 2018

Some thoughts on the addictive power of workplace design

by Agustin Chevez • Comment, Workplace design

The search for some concoction or contraption to improve our performance at work is nothing new. Lawyers, bankers and other professionals have famously used performance-enhancing drugs to gain a competitive advantage. But the design of a workspace can actually have similar effects on those who create it, consume it or pursue it. And, just like a drug, workplace design can have good and bad effects. Instead of chemicals, design manipulates space to change behaviour. An increase in the length of a lunch table, for example, can encourage people who did not know one another to interact more.