March 11, 2016

CIPD reveals limited action by employers to address gender inequality ⁰

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

According to a new survey by the CIPD to mark the close of the Government’s consultation on gender pay reporting regulations today, a minority of organisations currently conduct any gender pay analysis, and limited action is being taken by employers to address the causes of gender inequality. The survey of over 1,000 employers found just 28 percent of employers overall and 34 percent at larger organisations (those with 250 or more employees) say their organisation conducts any analysis of the pay of men and women. Among organisations that don’t currently analyse gender pay differentials, only 7 percent of large organisations plan to conduct any analysis of the pay of men and women in the next 12 months, with 47 percent saying they won’t and 46 percent responding that they don’t know. Employers are taking steps to equal opportunities however, such as improving flexible working opportunities available to staff.

March 10, 2016

Staff believe 91 percent of UK firms will no longer be competitive by 2020 ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace

Studies using 2020 as an apocalyptic landmark are thinner on the ground these days as we get closer to the actual year, so it’s great to see the old chestnut given another roasting in a new report from tech consultancy Infomentum. The headline stat from their new Beyond Digital report is that 91 percent of UK employees believe that new technology will mean that their current businesses will no long be competitive by 2020 unless they face up to the challenges of the digital economy. The report, based on a study of over 1000 office workers, examines how new technology is set to disrupt businesses and employment. Around 50 percent of respondents believe their employers will have to invest in new technology in order to fend off extinction. The survey also suggests that organisations resort to bandwagon jumping when it comes to new technology rather than assessing their needs before making decisions.

March 9, 2016

The nine workplace trends every organisation must learn to address ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

The latest company to set out its vision of workplace trends is food services provider Sodexo. The company’s 2016 Workplace Trends Report suggests there are nine key areas that managers should address, each linked by the common theme of striking the right balance between the organisation’s commercial objectives and the needs of its stakeholders. The report is a detailed meta-analysis based on primary research, client feedback and research from academics, trade associations and FM providers. The report covers the most talked about themes in workplace design and management including wellness, work-life balance, diversity, green building and workforce engagement. The authors acknowledge the challenge firms face in striking the balance between these complex and conflicting demands and call for an ‘holistic’ approach to resolve them (which may suggest they have as much of an idea about the right answers as anybody else).

March 9, 2016

Corporate real estate strategy shifts focus from cost to people ⁰

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

A new survey of corporate executives indicates a major shift in how companies make real estate decisions today, with more than half (50 percent) saying that talent is more important than cost (31 percent) as their foremost consideration. As a result, executives view the workplace as primarily a recruitment and retention tool that offers attributes such as a flexible workplace, high quality amenities and interiors. But while the people and workplace experience dominate the corporate real estate agenda, according to CBRE’s Americas Occupier Survey – escalating costs are a major concern. Of survey respondents, 85 percent cite space efficiency and restructuring as a top strategy for reducing occupancy costs. These two issues are driving real estate conversations; with the result that workplace strategy is increasingly being viewed as both a critical employee attraction and retention strategy (57 percent), and as a means to control costs.

March 8, 2016

Eight in ten women believe gender discrimination still prevalent at work ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

Today is International Women’s Day, which marks the official day of the year when gender equality across the world comes under the spotlight. In the UK, a poll by Investors in People found that 8 in 10 of women (83 percent) in full time employment believe gender discrimination is still present in the workplace. According to the poll of 2000 employees almost half of women (45 percent) think they have personally experienced discrimination in the workplace because of their gender. And what is depressingly unsurprisingly to many women is that when the poll explored employee perceptions of gender discrimination versus the reality, 30 percent of men believe there is no difference between men and women’s pay, when according to the facts, women are earning on average 19 percent less than men an hour (UKCES, 2015). More encouragingly though, 41 percent of employees believe their workplace has a culture of encouraging gender equality, a statistic that has room for growth.

March 8, 2016

Gen X most interested in just doing a good job than other generations ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace, Workplace design

We reported the other week that the hardest working generation in the UK is Generation X (born 1965-1980). It seems this applies all around the world, as a global survey by Korn Ferry Futurestep shows that this generation cares most about making an impact on the business and are the most engaged demographic. When asked which generation is the most engaged in the workforce, more than half of respondents of any generation (52 percent) said Generation X. Baby Boomers and Millennials were tied at just under 25 percent. The heads down, get-the-job-done attitudes and priorities of Gen X employees means they care more about the job than the environment and culture of the organisation than other age groups. Well over a third (39 percent) of respondents said that the “ability to make a difference in their organization” is most important to Gen Xers in the workplace. That’s nearly double the percentage that cite “job stability” or “development opportunities.”

March 7, 2016

Nearly all managers are now seeking to redesign their organisation ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace, Workplace design

Ninety-two per cent of the UK’s human resources and business leaders see redesigning their organisation as their most important priority, according to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2016 survey. As part of this shift in focus, 42 per cent of UK respondents say they are already currently restructuring their organisation and 49 per cent have recently completed the process. Only seven per cent say they have no plans to restructure. The report also claims that lack of employee engagement is an issue currently facing 80 per cent of respondets. Only 36 per cent report that they are prepared to tackle engagement issues. Despite the emergence of ‘easy to use’ tools to frequently evaluate employee sentiment, 76 per cent of UK organisations still measure employee engagement only once a year. Forty-two percent measure this engagement through annual surveys and 20 per cent through interviews and focus groups.

March 5, 2016

Boundless office + Well Buildings + Open plan design drawbacks ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Technology, Workplace

In this week’s Insight Newsletter; Darren Bilsborough explains why Well Building is the new ‘green’ in building design; and Sara Bean finds open plan offices are not necessarily improving staff engagement levels. In news, the leading world cities are in danger of pricing out business tenants; the Chinese embrace Smart Cities as a route to rapid urbanisation; and employers really do attract and retain staff by offering flexible working. Why even the innovative Australians are facing challenges in keeping up with a fast evolving workplace; when technology at work doesn’t match that offered in many homes; and the digitisation of the office finally spells the dawn of a [nearly] paperless office. Download our latest Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, on how the boundless office can be freed from the shackles of time and place and access the latest issue of Work&Place. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

March 4, 2016

World cities are victims of own success as high costs price out businesses ⁰

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

The two highest ranking global cities in the world, London and New York (as measured in the A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index), are also the most expensive for businesses and workers to occupy. According to Savills latest Live/Work Index, which measures the combined cost of residential and office rental per person per year across leading world class cities, the cost of accommodating an employee in London (US$112,800) is more than double that of Sydney, ($49,500). The average total cost of accommodation per worker, per year in the 20 cities that were measured is US$56,855, in a list that includes established world cities and some dynamic up and coming rivals, dubbed “upstarts” by Savills. The rise of the digital economy has pushed these smaller cities, such as Berlin (population 4.3 million) and Dublin (1.7 million) into the realm of world class city status; with San Francisco seeing the greatest price rise over 2015, up by 13 percent, compared to a 9 percent fall in Moscow and Rio de Janeiro.

March 4, 2016

Technology in the office failing to keep pace with the digital revolution ⁰

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

Despite, or possibly because of the development of sophisticated digital handheld devices, a majority (85 percent) of UK office workers believe they would be able to perform their duties more efficiently if their workplace was equipped with better technology. In fact, 16 percent said that the technology they use at home is far superior to that provided by their employer. The research, conducted by webexpenses, found that over a quarter (28 percent) of respondents felt client relationships and sales could also benefit from a boost in technology at their organisation. When asked about what aspects of their job could be improved by better technology, 41 percent said that the management of teams and internal communications could be greatly enhanced. The workers also said that poor temperature controls (21 percent) a lack of space available in the office (20 percent), and their company’s reliance on arduous paper based processes (14 percent) were other sources of frustration.

March 3, 2016

Global lack of support by management in encouraging innovation at work ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

Too many managers expect their employees to innovate without offering them any practical support. In a global survey by consultants O.C. Tanner published in the Harvard Business Review – a poll of nearly 3,500 people from companies in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Germany, and India found that although a majority of employees say innovation is everybody’s responsibility, not everyone actually gets the resources needed to innovate. There’s an especially large disconnect on this subject between leaders and lower-level employees. While nearly nine in ten non-managers believe they ought to be involved in innovation, far fewer (roughly six in ten) say they actually are. The research claims this applied to small as well as large companies and among all age groups. The problem the review suggests, is that most employees believe that management does not inspire them to do great work — or give them the opportunity to do so.

March 2, 2016

Effect of robots at work on people’s future wellbeing still very uncertain ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

The effects of robotics on workers’ and managers’ motivation and wellbeing are not widely known, meaning psychosocial factors related to robotics will require more attention in the field of safety and health. This is just one of the conclusions of a new discussion paper – drawn up by EU-OSHA (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work) on the influence of robotics on the future of work. While the use of robots in a complementary role would be the least challenging for society, economic and productivity pressures are likely to result instead in a substitution approach, whereby individuals and groups are replaced in their jobs by robotics and automation. Fewer workers will be needed for jobs that are routine or have clearly definable tasks, as they will be done instead by industrial and service robots. A result of this technical change will be a relative increase in the demand for highly educated workers and a reduced demand for less educated workers traditionally carrying out jobs consisting of routine cognitive and manual tasks.