January 20, 2016

Third of firms introduce flexible working to cut absenteeism, claims study ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Over a third of UK employers have introduced flexible working to reduce absenteeism, claims research from insurance industry trade association Group Risk Development (GRiD). Its survey of 501 employers also found that a quarter (25 percent) have seen absence rates improve over the last 12 months, compared to 40 percent last year. One in ten have actually seen rates worsen over the same period and 54 percent of employers say their absence rates have remained the same, which the report’s authors claim suggests a general slow-down or even complacency when it comes to managing absence. The report found that 57 percent of businesses said absence cost them up to 4 percent of payroll, but employers are using a range of initiatives to address this. This includes introducing flexible working (36 percent – up by 4 percent from last year), return to-work interviews (28 percent) and disciplinary procedures (17 percent).

January 20, 2016

Number of smart cities worldwide jumps 40 percent in past two years ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property, Technology

According to a new report from Navigant Research, the total number of identified smart city projects worldwide has grown from 170 in the third quarter of 2013 to 235 today. The report examines the current state of global smart city development, covering the related aspects of the smart energy, smart water, smart transportation, smart buildings, and smart governments sectors, segmented by region. The authors of the report claim that, as the benefits of smart cities become clearer, the number of projects and partnerships supporting the cause is rapidly increasing. In the last few years, city leaders, central government ministries, and technology and service suppliers have announced a range of new smart city initiatives, incentives, and product and service offerings, while more cities are moving from one specific technology interest to a broader range of solutions that have multiple applications.

January 20, 2016

Regional office take up in 2015 is 20 percent above the five year average ⁰

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

The UK’s regional commercial property market has continued to improve on last year’s record levels of occupational take-up, with 9.6 million sq ft transacted in the Big Nine city centre and out-of-town markets during 2015, 20 percent above the five year average. According to Bilfinger GVA’s quarterly review of the regional office occupier markets this is the fourth consecutive annual increase in take-up and compares to an average of 6.6 million sq ft during the downturn years of 2009 to 2012. Take-up over the year was well above average in Birmingham and Manchester in both the city centre and out-of-town markets. Other markets where activity was well above average include Cardiff and Leeds city centres and the suburbs of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Fourth quarter take-up was dominated by above average activity in most city centres and a number of large deals in Edinburgh out-of-town.

January 20, 2016

British companies lead the Bloomberg Best Employers UK 2016 Survey ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Public Sector, Wellbeing, Workplace

The UK’s top three employers are Jaguar Land Rover, AstraZeneca and Harrods according to an independent survey conducted by Statista for Bloomberg’s content and research arm. The results were from an extensive online employee survey among 15,000 workers in more than 1600 UK-based firms with at least 500 workers. They revealed that 70 percent of the best employers within the top 50 are British firms, including the top three. Microsoft, Nike and Google led the US companies within the top 50 which make up 12 percent. Microsoft is the only technology firm in the top 15 of the full ranking, with Google in second place, ranked 16th. The survey found that employees working in the Professional Services industry were the most likely to recommend their employer, while employees in Government Services were the least likely. The complete list of 400 firms across 25 industry sectors and the methodology can be found at the Bloomberg Best Employers UK 2016 site.

January 19, 2016

Fourth industrial revolution will result in five million job losses by 2020 ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

Disruptive global employment trends, including flexible working, the rise of robots, other forms of automation and Big Data analytics will see over five million jobs disappear worldwide over the next four years, a new report claims. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report has calculated that current disruptive labour market trends, including improvements in artificial intelligence, cloud technology, the Internet of Things and flexible working arrangements, could lead to a net employment loss of more than 5.1m jobs in the 15 countries surveyed. The report estimated that new trends would result in a total loss of 7.1m jobs – two thirds of which are concentrated in the office and administrative functions – and a total gain of 2m jobs. The WEF surveyed those who it felt were best placed to observe the dynamics of workforces including heads of HR departments and CEOs in 15 developed and emerging economies.

January 19, 2016

Skilled migrants attracted to regional and city work hubs, not countries ⁰

by Sara Bean • Cities, News, Property, Workplace

Highly-skilled migrants are increasingly attracted to cities and regions rather than countries, the latest Global Talent Competitiveness Index has revealed. Silicon Valley, Dublin, Helsinki-Espoo, Dubai [pictured] and London are the real hubs, rather than the United States, Ireland, Finland, the United Arab Emirates or the United Kingdom. The index, produced by Adecco Group, INSEAD and the Human Capital Leadership Institute, ranks the factors driving the international movement of skilled migrants of 109 countries, covering 87 percent of the global population and 97 percent of global GDP. Switzerland is in top place, followed by Singapore and Luxembourg in second and third place. At seventh place, the UK is ahead of Germany and France, but behind top performers such as the United States and Canada. It also trails behind in terms of gender diversity; ranking 56th for female graduates and 71st for the gender earnings gap.

January 19, 2016

More than half of US firms allow smoking in the workplace, study finds ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Legal news, News, Wellbeing

Now here’s a thing. It appears that more than half of American workplaces continue to allow smoking in the workplace. That is the possibly surprising finding of a new study from the US based Society for Human Resource Management, in spite of the facts that there are laws prohibiting the practice in many US states, the majority of employers have formal smoking policies and that a 2012 report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention declared a majority of US workplaces to be smoke-free. The report is based on a survey of HR managers working for 376 organisations across the country and found that just over one-half (53 percent) of respondents indicated their firms allowed smoking in the workplace. The study also found that more than four-fifths (85 percent) had a formal, written smoking policy in place while 8 percent had an informal, unwritten smoking policy. Of those with a formal policy, 58 percent have designated smoking spaces.

January 18, 2016

Firms demanding more data about workplaces…and they’re about to get it ⁰

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

Companies are increasingly focussed on generating workplace data as they seek to make better decisions about the ways their real estate supports their key organisational objectives. That is one of the key findings of the latest European Occupier Survey from property consultants CBRE (login required). The good news (or bad news, depending on your point of view) is they’re about to get it in spades, according to another study from researchers International Data Corporation which found that there will be a huge surge in the availability of Big Data infrastructure in EMEA countries over the next four years. The acquisition of data about buildings and their inhabitants remains a troublesome issue, especially when executives do things like introduce sensors to monitor working patterns of employees without their knowledge, as bosses at The Telegraph found in a very public way recently.

January 18, 2016

Managerial fairness key to successful business change, claims report ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Managers are underestimating the impact they have on their workforce during a period of organisational change, according to a study from EMLYON Business School authored by associate professor Tessa Melkonian. The study claims that employees are more likely to cooperate in the process of a disruptive change if the management is seen to be fair in their treatment of staff. This will increase employees’ willingness to cooperate in long-term transitions and work harder to support the process. Over 600 interviews in 10 countries and thousands of questionnaires were carried out to gauge employee satisfaction and willingness to cooperate with change following the merger of KLM and Air France. During the interviews employees revealed they were more inclined to back change because of the example set by their CEO. Leading from the front remained a strong influence two years into the transition.

January 15, 2016

New report links workplace design with greater employee engagement ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Products, Workplace design

A new analysis by real estate consultancy JLL links more intelligent and agile workplace design with the ongoing and often elusive quest to better engage employees. The report sets out to identify the impact that disengagement has on both organisations and the economy, identifies problem areas and sets out a number of suggested solution. The authors make the startling claim that active disengagement costs the US economy somewhere between $450 billion and $550 billion each year. Conversely, based on an analysis of 207 organisations over an 11 year period, other research suggests that companies who actively develop their culture and engage staff return 516 percent higher revenues and 755 percent higher profits. The report also claims that firms who get things right are better at attracting and retaining talent, standing out from their competitors and meeting their strategic objectives through employee engagement.

January 15, 2016

Three quarters of Millennials will change jobs over the next five years ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

It must be the time of year but we are suddenly awash with surveys and reports suggesting that pretty much everybody in the UK is about to change their jobs. Following our report earlier in the week that suggests older workers are perfectly prepared to just give up on work completely, it was inevitable that we were about to hear something from those pesky Millennials. Sure enough, along comes a report from Deloitte that suggests that nearly three quarters of Millennials plans to leave their jobs over the next five years. Millennials and their employers: Can this relationship be saved? found that the UK has a higher than average percentage of Millennials planning to change jobs in the next five years, with the average in developed economies standing at 61 percent. Worldwide, forty-four percent of Millennials say, if given the choice, they expect to leave their current employers in the next two years.

January 14, 2016

Demand for offices in Paris to remain strong in the coming months ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Competition for office space and investment assets in Paris remains strong, on the back of healthy economic growth, with GDP in the country expected to grow by 1.1 percent this year, and a further 1.4 percent in 2016, after three years of subdued growth. Following a relatively weak performance in the first quarter of 2015, office leasing in Île-de-France recovered in the third quarter, with annual take-up forecast to again exceed 2 million sq m. Though demand remains high, rents have been left unaffected, further increasing the desirability of the market. Limited development will continue to restrict occupier activity – the development pipeline for the next two years has reduced, with much of the new stock likely to be pre-leased before completion. Heena Kerai, International Research Analyst at Knight Frank, commented: “Occupier and investor confidence will remain positive and despite stock limitations, we can expect both markets to put in a strong performance in the coming quarters.”