July 15, 2019
July 14, 2019
Workers want offices that inspire themselves and others
New research from Ambius, claims that more than half (56 percent) of Brits have felt what they call office envy after visiting another organisation’s workspace. Despite the majority (55 percent) communicating this ‘lack of office inspiration’ to their office manager or employer, most saw no change as a result. The survey of 1,000 UK office workers also claims that employees are conscious of how their office looks on social media. Just one in five think their office space is beautiful, and as a result, only 22 percent would be proud enough to post a picture of it on Instagram, or other social channels. (more…)
July 14, 2019
Sheer volume of data can make marketers blind to strategy
The vast majority (83 percent) of senior marketers are struggling to adapt to the volume of data available to them, while 80 percent feel the industry as a whole focuses on too many performance metrics, according to a new report from research company Censuswide and Domo. The study polled 681 senior marketers around the world on their opinions, routines and plans for the future. It revealed that analytics, from a vast number of sources, are driving ‘data blindness’ as marketers lose sight of KPIs, and 78 percent of respondents admit to chasing short-term results over long-term strategy. (more…)
July 12, 2019
Regional productivity gaps at near record high
Differences in typical household incomes across the UK’s regions and nations have halved since their 1990 peak, but differences in productivity remain close to record highs, according to new research published by the Resolution Foundation. The report, Mapping Gaps, examines the relative economic performance of UK regions and nations since the 1960s, and the extent to which this has driven differences in household living standards. The report notes that regional inequality is a hot topic – particularly since the EU referendum exposed huge voting divides between London, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the rest of the UK – and that the UK is one of the most unequal countries in the OECD when it comes to the relative economic performance of its regions and nations.
July 12, 2019
Family firms focus more on corporate social responsibility
Companies owned by families pay more attention to issues of corporate social responsibility (CSR), such as sustainability and environmental issues, according to research from Vlerick Business School, but the research also found that attention to CSR decreases as the company is handed down to the next generations. Dr. Kerstin Fehre, Professor of Strategy at Vlerick Business School, alongside Dr. Florian Weber from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, studied family firms and the attention they gave to CSR compared to non-family firms. The study, published in the journal Business Ethics: A European Review, used over a hundred of the largest HDAX listed companies in Germany and analysed messages to shareholders published in annual reports. (more…)
July 12, 2019
UK adults prioritise workplace culture over salary
Glassdoor has released a new survey that claims to measure sentiment around mission and culture in the workplace, along with the level of importance of both. Glassdoor surveyed over 1,000 adults in the UK (and a further 4,000+ in U.S., France and Germany) and, among key findings, claims 77 percent of people would consider a company’s mission and purpose before applying for a job there, and 57 percent say workplace culture is more important than salary when it comes to job satisfaction. (more…)
July 12, 2019
Firms can overplay the war for talent, researchers find
Firms often put great effort in retaining good employees because they fear the loss of talent and knowledge spillover to rival companies. However, new research published in the Academy of Management journal by Stefan Wagner, Professor of Strategy at ESMT Berlin, and Martin Goossen from Tilburg University suggests that losing key employees to a competitor can actually be a benefit to companies and so the war for talent may be futile or even counterproductive. To assess the impact of mobile employees the researchers focused on R&D alliances in the pharmaceutical industry, where partnerships are a common mode of innovation as they diffuse the burden of costly drug development. They collected data on alliance formation amongst the 55 largest pharmaceutical firms over a 16-year period, identifying all scientists that moved between these firms. Of the 130,000 scientists the researchers tracked, more than 8,200 moved from one firm to another. (more…)
July 11, 2019
HMRC extends deal for new London hub
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) today completed the topping out at the 12-storey office where HMRC will establish a new Regional Centre. HMRC has also leased a further 58,000 sq. ft. to become the sole tenant of the 300,000 sq. ft. development next to Westfield Stratford City. The topping-out ceremony was attended by senior executives from Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, HMRC and Legal & General, which has funded the development. the offices are located above the shopping centre at Westfield Stratford City. Works continue with completion of the facade and internal works, in preparation for handover of office floors for final fit out by HMRC. (more…)
July 11, 2019
Tick box attitude to women on boards must stop
Although the percentage of women on boards at FTSE 100 firms is on track to reach 33 percent by 2020, a new report claims there are worrying signs that companies are appointing women for symbolic value. The Female FTSE Board Report, produced annually by Cranfield University’s School of Management, claims that women serve shorter tenures than men (on average, female non-executive directors serve 3.8 years – with men serving 5 years) and are less likely to get promoted into senior roles. (more…)
July 11, 2019
Take up of shared parental leave constrained by traditional attitudes
Despite the introduction of shared parental leave rights, more than half of UK adults still think that women be the primary carers of babies and children, according to the latest British Social Attitudes Survey. Despite this, there has been a notable shift in attitudes over the last seven years, according to the researchers from the National Centre for Social Research. (more…)
July 11, 2019
Commercial property investors losing appetite for UK
Enthusiasm among international investors for the UK commercial property market has continued to wane over the past quarter, according to BrickVest’s latest commercial property investment barometer. According to the data ,capturing the views of over 6000 international professional real estate investors, only 27 percent view the UK as their preferred market, a 4 percent fall in the past 12 months. (more…)
July 10, 2019
Large firms not investing enough in productivity
A new report claims that 86 percent of Britain’s largest businesses are worried about raising their productivity with two-fifths (39 percent) calling their productivity ‘very concerning’, but that they are investing just 0.25 percent of turnover in measures to improve it, less than they invest in telecoms. The report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) and Concentra Analytics also suggests there is a “spray and pray approach” to driving productivity caused by a lack of insight into the performance of people. (more…)
