October 9, 2015

Civic centre named best workplace in the UK by the BCO ⁰

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Public Sector, Workplace design

Keynsham Civic Centre & One Stop Shop in Keynsham, near Bath, has been named the Best of the Best workplace in the country at the British Council for Offices’ (BCO) annual Awards. The office was recognised as the Best Corporate Workplace in the UK, topping a list of six other award winners recognised for excellence in office space. The building provides an environmentally sustainable, low maintenance and flexible workspace, whilst acting as a catalyst for the regeneration of the town. As a workplace for the local council, the judges praised the building’s impressive use of natural light to create an ‘uplifting workspace’ as well as the design of the office floors which lend themselves toward flexibility and encourage collaborative working. The team behind the building was also commended for conducting a thorough and impressive stakeholder engagement process, from the inception of the project through to completion.

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October 8, 2015

Employers admit to an ad-hoc approach to flexible working practices ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Organisations tend to take a flexible approach to the provision of flexible working a new global report into agile working trends claims. According to a study by WorldatWork and FlexJobs, while the majority of companies surveyed (80 percent) offer flexible work to employees, only 37 percent have a formal, written philosophy or policy to support employee flexibility options. From 2011 to 2015, flexibility programs have varied according to the type of programme offered and the organization’s demographics, industry and culture, with the most prevalent flexibility programmes being telework days on an ad-hoc basis, flex time and compressed workweeks. And according to the data, mastering a culture of workplace flexibility is not something that organizations do on the first or even second try. It’s an evolutionary process that occurs as employees tap into what they need to achieve work-life effectiveness.

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October 7, 2015

Millennial workers value variety over job security and tenure ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Employers may continuously be looking at ways to engage staff to ensure they still loyal to the organisation, but according to new research it seems they needn’t bother. Over one third (37 percent) of US workers — regardless of their satisfaction level — are seriously considering leaving their organizations, up from 33 percent of the workforce who were considering leaving in 2011. According to Mercer’s latest Inside Employees’ Mind research, which surveyed 3,000 people representing a complete cross-section of the US workforce, nearly one out of two employees who said they are very satisfied with their organizations and their jobs (45 percent and 42 percent, respectively) are still looking to leave. And perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s the Millennial workers who seem to value accelerated career paths and diversity (in the workplace and the work itself) over job security and tenure.

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October 6, 2015

Apple agrees deal for new tech palace and campus in California ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, News, Property, Technology

According to a report published in the Silicon Valley Business Journal, Apple is planning to add another tech palace to run alongside its Norman Foster designed campus in California. This time Apple is not commissioning a purpose made building but is buying one off the shelf, albeit one marked ‘exactly the sort of place Apple would occupy’. The HOK designed Central and Wolfe campus in Sunnyvale will house 3,000 employees in three connected six storey offices set in landscaped grounds that include walks, bike paths and retail and leisure facilities. The campus is designed to achieve a LEED Platinum accreditation so includes green roofs, solar panelling and water reclamation technology. According to the report: “The campus promises to dramatically alter a neighborhood dominated by single-storey industrial and R&D buildings. While Apple has been snapping up existing buildings all over the neighborhood, the massive new campus could become a new icon for the region.”

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October 6, 2015

Commercial property markets in world cities are evolving rapidly ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, News, Property

The commercial property markets in the world’s major cities are evolving against a backdrop of ongoing economic and political uncertainty, according to the new 12 Cities Report from Savills. The authors suggest that the main consequence of this since 2008 has been for investors to switch their focus from paper assets to property. This in turn has led to a number of developments in local commercial property markets including global investors looking for alternatives to the major cities within key national economies. One of the key developments is that major tech firms are now willing to spend as much on their real estate as the previously dominant financial giants. One other interesting issue raised in the report is the growing inability of people to afford to live and work in the same place, especially in cities with restrictions on the amount of space available for development.

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October 6, 2015

Colleagues more positive towards older workers than employers ⁰

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

While the majority of UK professionals believe older workers make a valuable contribution to UK businesses, many struggle to find new employment, a report has found. The study from CV-Library found that 92.2 percent of workers believe older workers make a valuable contribution to UK businesses, 76.6 percent of staff believe that older workers bring years of experience and knowledge to an organisation that can’t be found in a younger worker and 92.7 percent of workers believe the mature staff should still be able to excel in the workplace. Yet although they received an overwhelming sense of respect from the UK workforce, it seems that the same regard for older workers is not echoed by employers. When asked to explain key issues on age in relation to work, seeking new employment was the most common concern, with almost half (46 percent) of 55-64 year olds considering age to be a hindrance.

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October 5, 2015

Collaborative work goes hand in hand with better talent retention ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology

Companies are rethinking the tools they use to keep employees engaged and loyal – especially at a time when flexibility and choice are increasingly important to an workforce that craves mobility and choice. A newly released survey from Jive Software claims that as the workforce continues to evolve and new future of work trends emerge, seven out of ten (72 percent) employees want to use more technology in the workplace that enables them to work from anywhere. Furthermore, the same percentage state that the freedom to try tools make them more effective in their job, with 43 percent finding it a powerful loyalty driver. According to the study of 1,000 US based employees, firms are also catching on to future of work trends and the impact that technology can have for employee retention. Eighty-four percent of employers want to implement technology that enable workplace flexibility.

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October 2, 2015

Caring employers key to improving mental wellbeing at work ⁰

by Sara Bean • Events, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

With one in four adults experiencing a mental health condition in any given year, a caring and supportive boss is the missing link between employee engagement and mental health. This was the message of a MetLife breakfast briefing in partnership with Buck Consultants at Xerox, where the impact of ignoring mental health in the workplace was discussed. MetLife’s UK Employee Benefit Trends Study has found that for every one point increase in “having a caring and supportive boss” there is a 9 percent increase in employee engagement. Key themes of the briefing included the best strategies for identification and prevention of mental health issues, and how to build a more resilient workforce. It also emerged that employers are almost unaware of the negative impact insufficient sleep has on employees’ mental wellbeing, yet along with stress and work life balance – insufficient sleep is seen as a key health concern.

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October 1, 2015

US sees biggest jump in working from home since 2008, claims study ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Wellbeing

According to an analysis of the just-released 2014 American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com, approximately 3.7 million US employees (2.5 percent of the workforce) called home their primary place of work in 2014. This represents a 6.5 percent increase and the largest year over year growth in the number of people working from home since before the recession. The ACS data is based on a nationwide survey of answers to the question “What was your primary means of travel to work during the survey week—’Worked at Home’ is one of the choices. The count only includes those who work at home at least half of the time. According to Global Workplace Analytics far more people work at home on a less frequent basis and many work in “third places” such as coffee shops, co-working facilities, libraries, and just about anywhere there’s an internet connection.

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October 1, 2015

Employers plan to woo returning mothers with flexible working ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A fifth of UK businesses are planning to hire more returning mothers than they did a year ago, and are offering flexible working to attract them. New research from Regus claims returning mothers are valued by businesses because of their experience and skills, as well as reliability and time management. They are seen as less likely to change jobs, saving firms the cost of recruitment and re-training. Because the contrasting demands of motherhood and work are one of the main reasons women don’t return to work, respondents emphasised the important role flexible working plays in attracting female talent; with 81 percent believing that flexible working is key to attracting and retaining women. These workers are also valued for their experience and skills according to 73 percent of respondents and are seen as more reliable (24 percent) and organised (29 percent) than other staff.

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September 30, 2015

Sales of tablets will go into reverse next year, claims new report ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Wellbeing

A new study from US based technology research organisation ABI Research claims that sales of tablets as well as their worldwide user base will start to shrink next year for the first time. According to the study, the global installed base of tablets will recede as shipments of large slate devices continue their decline as users switch their preference to larger smartphones. While sales of tablets enjoyed consistent growth between 2010 and 2014, the report claims that buyers are looking to replace this generation of products and are discovering that they can enjoy much of the same functionality thanks to the growth in popularity of smartphones with larger screens and a broader range of software and apps. Small businesses, meanwhile, are increasingly attracted to hybrid laptops as a replacement for tablets. According to the study, usage of tablets worldwide will peak at the end of this year.

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September 30, 2015

Human error remains the leading cause of data loss for UK organisations ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

New research suggests that human error is still the leading cause of data loss for UK organisations. According to the study from technology security firm Databarracks, based on responses from 400 IT decision makers, around a quarter (24 percent) of organisations admitted to a data loss caused by a mistake by employees over the last twelve months. Other high-scoring causes of data loss included hardware failure (21 percent) and data corruption (19 percent). Perhaps surprisingly, only a little over half of respondents (55 percent) had a specific disaster recovery plan in place and another 15 percent intended to create one over the next twelve months. This is in spite of the fact that a quarter (25 percent) of those surveyed admitted they had been subject to a cyber attack in the preceding year. As we reported this week, such attacks now cost the UK some £200 billion each year.