Facilities managers should become “gardeners” rather than architects, claims report

Facilities managers should become “gardeners” rather than architects, claims report 0

by • Facilities management, News

A new white paper from ’boutique’ facilities management firm Anabas. It claims that the proliferation of diverse office environments and agile working means that facilities managers must develop a greater insight into the behaviour of people to help them deliver. The report, What Type of Office Worker Are you?, claims that it ‘helps to rediscover what it means to be human in the workplace and takes us back to the beginning by focusing on understanding individual behaviours, work styles and how they influence interaction within the workplace itself. It examines the importance of people in the workplace and discusses the ‘work style formula’ of – Culture + Mobility + Temperament – demonstrating how this can guide behaviours. It also claims to identify four main types of worker based on brain chemistry; Pioneers, Guardians, Drivers and Integrators and how despite the differences, each is driven in the same way, by the environment.

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Half of UK employees work one unpaid day a week, but Germans get an even worse deal

Half of UK employees work one unpaid day a week, but Germans get an even worse deal 0

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Half of UK employees work one day a week for free, but Germans do even more unpaid timeNearly half of UK employees are effectively working an extra day per week for free, claims new research from Powwownow. On average, UK workers spend just under seven hours per week working outside of contracted hours – the equivalent of a nine-to-five working day with an hour for lunch – but nearly half of them (42 percent) receive no pay for this extra days’ worth of work. A quarter of UK workers (26 percent) receive their standard pay for any overtime, while a fifth (21 percent) are rewarded with ‘time and a half’. Only 6 per cent receive ‘double time’. Germans get a worst deal though, as employees spend an average of 7 hours and 54 minutes working extra but a huge 61 percent of workers receive no pay at all for this time. Workers in Sweden spend the least time working outside of contracted hours, with only 4 hours and 9 minutes of extra work per week.

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Third of office workers in the UK not taking the required amount of exercise

Third of office workers in the UK not taking the required amount of exercise 0

by • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Third of office workers in the UK not taking the required amount of exercise

A third (35 percent) of UK office workers fail to get the National Health Service recommended exercise quota of 150 minutes per week,  a new survey commissioned by Pure Gym to mark Global Employee Health and Fitness Month (GEHFM), has revealed. According to the NHS website, it’s advised that adults between the ages of 19-64 should take part in at least two and a half hours of moderate exercise each week. However, approximately one in three office employees in the UK are currently falling short of these guidelines, with just over two thirds (73 percent) citing work pressures as a key contributing factor to this deficit. Top reasons noted for this lack of activity include, stress at work (17 percent), long commuting hours (15 percent) and insufficient lunch breaks (14 percent), with over a third (38 percent) of office workers attributing their exercise short fall to work related tiredness and fatigue.

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Suppressed global productivity levels weigh down on personal wealth

Suppressed global productivity levels weigh down on personal wealth 0

by • News, Workplace

productivityThe slowdown in global productivity – already underway before the last economic crisis – combined with sluggish investment, continued to undermine rises in economic output and material living standards in recent years in many of the world’s economies, according to a new report released by the OECD. In its latest Compendium of Productivity Indicators, the OECD also highlights a decoupling between productivity growth and higher real average wages in many countries, resulting in continued  declines in labour’s share of national income. The report claims that the contribution of labour utilisation (hours worked per capita) to GDP growth has risen markedly in a number of countries, notably in the United Kingdom and the United States. However, rises in labour utilisation reflect two opposing effects: higher employment rates but lower average hours per worker, which points to more part-time working, often in low productivity jobs.

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British Council for Offices launches competition to imagine the office of 2035

British Council for Offices launches competition to imagine the office of 2035 0

by • News, Property, Workplace design

Participants in a new competition to define the ‘office of the future’ will be asked to consider ‘what it will look like, and how it will support the way we will work’ by the British Council for Offices (BCO). The free-to-enter competition is seeking ‘forward-thinking and innovative responses, challenging the conventionalities of today’s workplaces and anticipating future needs’. The BCO hopes that the NextGen programme will allow it to ‘mentor the next generation of professionals – designers, agents, developers, consultants and others – and provides a platform for emerging talent to share their ideas’. The announcement cites social, economic, cultural and technological factors as the main agents of change, leading to changes in the expectations of employers and workers. It suggests that ‘ubiquitous and instantaneous technology; a growing interest in health and wellbeing; a greater desire for organisational flexibility; and an increased awareness of individual’s needs are now all competing factors within the workplace’.

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Over a quarter of workplace absences are down to psychological conditions

Over a quarter of workplace absences are down to psychological conditions 0

by • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Quarter of workplace absences are down to psychological conditionsHR professionals will, on average, oversee 15 staff with mental health conditions each year, according to new analysis from consultancy, the Clear Company, which also claims that mental health in the workplace as the second biggest challenge facing employers in the next five years, with respondents stating that over a quarter (26 percent) of workplace absences were down to psychological conditions. The UK Workplace Wellbeing Survey did find that employers are already putting interventions in place to support staff, with 81 percent offering line manager training (around recognising stress within the workplace), 75 percent offering occupational health support, 72 percent offering employee assistance programmes and a further 62 percent offering separate counselling support.However, according to a recent study by Legal & General, less than 10 per cent of employees feel comfortable disclosing mental health conditions to their employer – meaning that HR may face a challenge in identifying and supporting these individuals adequately.

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Financial problems for over half of employees are affecting their work performance

Financial problems for over half of employees are affecting their work performance 0

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

One of the biggest concerns cited by many of those being polled on their views during the General Election campaign has been the high cost of living compared to wages. Now a new report claims that over half (55 percent) of employees are experiencing financial problems, which are affecting their behaviour, relationships and ability to perform at work. Although the nationwide study of the financial wellbeing of UK workers The DNA of Financial Wellbeing 2017 report, claims that nearly a third (32 percent) cite finance as their biggest concern; 66 percent of HR directors, think that financial worries are not of concern to their employees. The findings from Neyber, a financial wellbeing company, shows that 47 percent of workers are borrowing money to meet their basic financial needs, with 25 percent borrowing on a credit card, followed by 13 percent through a bank overdraft and 13 percent borrowing from friends and family. Meanwhile, an increase in so-called zero hour contracts means that nearly half (47 percent) of workers in the North and Midlands have an income fluctuation of more than 10 percent each month.

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Long commutes cost firms a week’s worth of staff productivity each year

Long commutes cost firms a week’s worth of staff productivity each year 0

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Long commutes are causing poor health and productivity outcomes for the UK’s employees, according to a study of more than 34,000 workers, developed by VitalityHealth in partnership with the University of Cambridge, RAND Europe and Mercer, examined the impact of commuting as well as flexible and home working on employee health and productivity. The study found that employees commuting less than half an hour to get to work gain an additional seven days’ worth of productive time each year compared to those with commutes of 60 minutes or more. Longer commutes appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with longer-commuting workers 33 percent more likely to suffer from depression, 37 percent more likely to have financial concerns and 12 percent more likely to report multiple dimensions of work-related stress. These workers were also 46 percent more likely to get less than the recommended seven hours of sleep each night and 21 percent more likely to be obese.
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Inventing the Future: techUK launches 2017 manifesto

Inventing the Future: techUK launches 2017 manifesto 0

by • News, Technology

techUK, the association that represents a large part of the UK’s technology sector, has published a new manifesto ahead of the General Election which it claims ‘sets out a bold and ambitious vision for the next Government to create a modern and dynamic digital economy that works for everyone’. The organisation has set out a series of recommendation that aim to show how Britain can remain at the forefront of global tech innovation while it navigates Brexit and other forces. Its objectives include: boosting the UK’s productivity; harnessing digital transformation to build a smarter state; creating new jobs and a new skilled, adaptable workforce; and protecting and empowering people in a digital age.

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Only one in four people with a long-term mental health issue are in work

Only one in four people with a long-term mental health issue are in work 0

by • News, Wellbeing

Only a quarter of people with a long term mental health issue are in work, according to a report published by the TUC to coincide with its Disabled Workers’ Conference yesterday. The report, Mental health and employment, contains new analysis of official employment statistics, which finds that while 4 in 5 (80.4 percent) non-disabled people are in work, people with mental illness, anxiety or depression have substantially lower employment rates. Only one in four (26.2 percent) people with a mental illness lasting (or expected to last) more than a year are in work. Less than half (45.5 percent) of people with depression or anxiety lasting more than 12 months are in work. The TUC is concerned that this suggests employers are failing to make adequate changes in the workplace to enable people with mental illnesses, anxiety or depression to get a job, or stay in work. Mental health problems can often be ‘invisible’ to others, so a lack of mental health awareness amongst managers and employers is also likely to be a factor.

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Senior public sector managers feel more able to enjoy flexible working

Senior public sector managers feel more able to enjoy flexible working 0

by • Flexible working, News, Public Sector

A growing number of senior managers in the UK public sector feel they are able to enjoy flexible working, although workloads remain a constraining factor, claims a new study by the FDA Union which represents senior civil servants. The study found that nearly all public sector bodies now offer some form of flexible working, but uptake is held back by job pressures.  More than one in six managers now say they are able to work flexibly, according to a survey by the FDA union, a figure which has risen markedly over the last year. Nearly all respondents (95 percent) said their employer had flexible working policies in place, a slight increase from the previous year’s survey, when 93 percent of respondents said such policies were in place.

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People who work from home more likely to sustain injuries than those based in offices

People who work from home more likely to sustain injuries than those based in offices 0

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

work from home

Today is National Work from Home Day, held to promote the benefits of home working, which includes having more time to take exercise and eating more healthily; but new research suggests home workers might risk doing more harm than good if too little attention is paid to ergonomics. The data from Bupa found that over half of those who work from home (51 percent) have sustained injuries, aches and pains as a result of their working environment with the most common being backache and neck pain, which is 10 per cent more likely than those working in a ‘traditional’ workplace. Not having the right work set-up at home could be the cause, as one in four (25 percent) home-workers do not have a dedicated workspace at home, half (50 percent) of admit to hunching over while working and 40 per cent regularly work from their bed or sofa. All of these factors increase the risk of musculoskeletal injury, with the most common problems being backache (24 percent) and neck-ache (20 percent).

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