May 18, 2017

Sickness causing germs at the office desk mainly due to poor personal hygiene ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The number of sick days taken by office workers could be reduced if companies implemented a better cleaning routine and staff improved their personal hygiene, finds a new academic study. The workplace is ranked as one of the unhealthiest places you’re likely to inhabit on a daily basis, says Dr Lisa Ackerley, hygiene expert and visiting professor at the University of Salford, whose study revealed that the main cause of germs at the desk and keyboard is poor personal hygiene, with nearly 50 percent of office workers responding to her survey admitting they do not wash their hands after going to the toilet. Your hands and the surfaces you touch, including your office chair are germ motorways, she warns. Crumbs and spills encourage the growth of bacteria that can lead to stomach bugs, coughs, flu and even food poisoning. Bacteria and viruses that people bring back from the toilet multiply on the hard work surfaces of the desk and chair and remain infectious for 24 hours. (more…)

May 18, 2017

Quarter of UK workers would move jobs for office with a better mobile signal ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace

One in four (25 percent) of British office workers say they would consider moving jobs (or have already moved) due to a lack of mobile coverage in their building, claims new research from Arqiva, which highlights the worrying extent of the UK’s struggle for adequate indoor mobile coverage and its potential impact to businesses in the future. The survey, conducted among 1,000 UK office workers, revealed that as many as 1 in 2 (49 percent) respondents have experienced poor mobile coverage (i.e. dropped calls or a lack of signal) within their office building. Of those, almost three quarters (72 percent) say this is an occurrence that happens every week, and a quarter (25 percent) say it is something they face daily.

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May 17, 2017

Good working relationships and less stress are key to workplace happiness ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Less stress and better workplace relationships are the reason why the happiest regions to work in the UK are Yorkshire and the Humber; while uninteresting work is the reason why employees in Scotland and the South are the most unhappy. Research into workplace happiness by Happiness Works on behalf of Robert Half UK claims that 77 percent of employees in Yorkshire and the Humber are the happiest employees in Britain, well above the national average of 63 percent. Those questioned find their work more interesting (74 percent), get on with their team (88 percent), have good friends in the office (72 percent) and suffer less stress (38 percent). Britain’s most unsatisfied employees are those working in Scotland and the South of England, with 17 percent of employees saying they are unhappy at work and one in six expressing their work is not interesting. Over a quarter of those in South (27 percent) don’t have good friends in the office or don’t get on with their teams and one in seven (14 percent) in Scotland feel the same. However, employees in Scotland (63 percent) and the South (65 percent) do believe they have a good work-life balance.

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May 17, 2017

UK employees three times more likely to work when ill than to pull a sickie ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Seven in ten UK employees – equivalent to 18 million nationally – have gone to work feeling unwell when they should have taken the day off, while less than a quarter (23 percent) say they have taken a day off work sick when they were not actually unwell, indicating that UK employees are three times more likely to go to work unwell than they are to ‘pull a sickie,’ a new report claims. The fourth edition of the Aviva Working Lives Report, which examines the attitudes and experiences of employers and employees on issues affecting the present and future of the UK workplace – also carries a wake-up call to businesses, as more than two in five (43 percent) employees feel their employer puts the results of the company ahead of their health and wellbeing as more than two in five (41 percent) say their work will pile up if they are off sick.

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May 17, 2017

Automation starting to generate productivity gains, but no major job losses yet ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

Business process automation is enabling companies to realise significant productivity gains in such areas as finance, accounting and HR, but it is not yet leading to broad job losses, according to a new study from tech research firm Information Services Group (ISG). Beyond automation’s impact on enterprises, the first ISG Automation Index report also claims that IT service providers are extensively introducing automation into their offerings, leading to dramatic improvements in productivity and service levels. This accelerated pace of change is prompting the vast majority of IT and business leaders to say that IT will be the business function most impacted by automation in the next two years.

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May 16, 2017

Three workplace managers walk into a bar … and the rest is no joke ⁰

by Paul Carder • Facilities management, Features, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

This is a long tale, but a worthwhile one to tell, and something that many of you will relate to, especially if you have anything to do with workplace design or management. Three managers walk into a bar. This is always a good place to start. They each have gender-neutral names, so I’ll leave you to work out whether they may be male or female. Not that it even matters in this context. Frankie gets there first. “Hi. Large glass of wine please. What do you have?” The bartender pauses, then replies: “We have … red … or … um … white. Um … oh, and fizzy and pink”. Frankie thinks for a moment, dismisses the idea of a cocktail or a short, then orders a beer. It’s a corporate training centre after all. What would you expect in a place like this? An extensive wine list?

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May 16, 2017

Manchester leads the UK as regional creative talent market place for tech and media ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property, Technology, Workplace

Manchester tops the ranking as the leading UK regional creative talent market, having the key ingredients required by this sector to progress and develop as a future destination for the creative industries (including publishing, film, TV, media, digital, computer programming and information services). This is according to ‘Creative Regions’, a first of its kind report, showcasing the Top 25 Regional Creative locations in the UK [outside of London] published by CBRE. Common characteristics of successful creative locations, suggest the report, include large concentrations of creative businesses and professionals, deep talent pools of highly educated graduate populations, large and growing millennial populations, good transport connections, quality of life and proximity to world class universities with strong research and computer science ratings. The report’s also found that Reading punches well above its weight as a creative talent destination, given the size of its office market; Scotland features particularly well with Edinburgh and Glasgow in the top five list, and 11 of the top 25 creative talent locations are in the East and South East.

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May 16, 2017

Pay levels are falling but job market remains robust, despite Brexit relocation plans ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Public Sector, Workplace

The UK economy is about to be hit by a fall in basic pay awards and real wages warns the CIPD, which has found that employers’ median basic pay expectations in the 12 months to March 2018 have fallen to 1 percent compared to 1.5 percent three months ago, which is lower than at any time during the past three and a half years. The findings from the latest CIPD/The Adecco Group Labour Market Outlook survey are consistent with recent Labour Market Outlook reports, which have indicated a slowing in the rate of basic pay growth, and with official labour market data. The report also found that 12 percent of private sector firms say the UK’s decision to leave the European Union has led them to consider relocating some or all of their business operations abroad. Popular relocation destinations include the Republic of Ireland (18 percent), Germany (17 percent) and France (13 percent).

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May 11, 2017

Three quarters of people expect to work beyond the age of 65, claims report ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

For all the talk about the growing number of Millennials at work, most of the interesting stuff about workplace demographics appears to be happening at the other end of the age scale. A record number of employees now expect to work past the official retirement age and many expect to work up to the age of 85, according to a new study by Canada Life. It claims that 73 percent of UK employees will work past the age of 65, up from 67 percent in 2016 and 61 percent in 2015. More than a third (37 percent) of these could be older than 70 before they retire and 10 percent expect to be at least the age of 85 when they retire, if they can retire at all. Younger workers are particularly likely to expect to work past the age of 65, rising to more than four in five (84 percent) of 25-34 year olds. Many expect to be unable to afford to retire but a growing number will continue to work because they want to.

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May 11, 2017

CIPD calls for range of measures for British workforce ahead of General Election ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

The next Government needs to put ‘good work’ at the heart of its thinking in order to improve the economy, boost individual welfare and prosperity – creating the conditions for good work in organisations across the country, says the CIPD ahead of the General Election. In its ‘Manifesto for Work’ the CIPD is calling for publication of pay ratios, additional rights for zero-hours workers and increased investment in adult skills. The manifesto’s package of aim to address the systemic problems in the UK economy by focusing on the positive influence the world of work can have on productivity and wellbeing. As well as an overhaul of the UK Corporate Governance Code, the CIPD is also calling on the next Government to protect and raise awareness of employment rights, make skills the centerpiece of their industrial strategy and take steps to improve gender diversity in the boardroom. It also calls for organisations to focus more on greater organisational transparency so that businesses are more accountable for incorporating the principles of good work across their organisations.

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May 11, 2017

Two fifths of UK workers feel burnt out, but 35 to 44 year-olds lose most sleep ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Two-fifths (40 percent) of UK workers have suffered high workloads or felt burnt out during the past 12 months a new survey claims and six million people in the country are losing sleep over work issues on a weekly basis – more than the entire population of Scotland. According to research from Rungway, men have faced fewer issues at work than women, with over two-fifths (42 percent) of women enduring high workloads or feeling burnt out compared to 38 percent of men. Among age groups, 25 to 34-year-olds are the most worried about work, with more than a quarter (28 percent) saying work issues affect their sleep every week. Yet, it is the 35 to 44-year-olds who are facing the most problems at work. More than half (57 percent) of 35 to 44-year-olds have felt burnt out or had to deal with high workloads in the past 12 months. By contrast, employees over 55 have the most peaceful nights’ sleep, with only one in 10 saying that worries about work affect their sleep on a weekly basis. Still, in the past 12 months more than a fifth (21 percent) of this group have still faced high workloads or felt burnt out.

May 10, 2017

Employers struggling to fill vacancies as Brexit impacts on candidate availability ⁰

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

If UK businesses are to remain competitive whoever wins the election on 8 June needs to invest in skills and career advice, as Brexit uncertainty means people are hesitating to move jobs, while there may be barriers in future to hiring workers from abroad; according to the latest research into the UK jobs market by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC). The jobs market experienced the steepest drop in candidate availability for 16 months in April while demand for permanent and short-term staff remained high. Although growth in permanent starting salaries edged down to a four-month low in April, it remained sharp overall and stronger than the series average. Meanwhile, hourly pay rates for short-term staff increased at the sharpest pace in 2017 so far. Vacancies continued to rise markedly in April for both permanent and temporary/contract staff. This was despite growth in demand for both types of staff softening slightly since the previous month.