Good practice guide for employers on using social media as a vetting tool

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

Advice on social media vettingThe debate over the right to privacy of job applicants whose activities may be checked on social media websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, has led to some confusion over what is legally acceptable. Employers’ body the CIPD’s recent social media research revealed that two in five employers look at candidates’ online activity or profiles to inform recruitment decisions, but few inform applicants as a matter of course that this is being done. But just how aware are employers of the legalities around this kind of vetting? Managers have wide discretion within the law to decide whether or not to recruit a particular candidate, but to avoid risk of legal challenge they should be fully aware of the law on data protection and discrimination in employment. The CIPD has now published some useful guidance on what constitutes good practice. More →

Advice to Government to stick to carbon reduction budget welcomed by UK-GBC

by • Environment, News, Property

Advice to Government to stick to carbon reduction budget welcomed by UK-GBCThe Coalition must stick to agreed targets to dramatically reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the government has been told. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC), the statutory body set up to advise the government on meeting long-term carbon goals says there has been no change in the circumstances upon which the fourth carbon budget (2023 – 2027) was originally set in 2011 that would justify lowering current proposed levels of emissions cuts. Responding to Chancellor George Osborne’s request to review the carbon budget, the committee said if anything, changed circumstances point towards a tightening of the budget. Its findings were backed by the UK Green Building Council, which says that the construction and property sector has been plagued by Minister’s shifts in energy management policies.

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Remarkable resurgence of confidence in the UK commercial property market

by • News, Property

Edinburgh is one region enjoying a resurgence in confidence

Edinburgh is one region enjoying a resurgence in confidence

The UK commercial property market is continuing its strong recovery, driven in large part by a resurgence in regional markets and financed by more adventurous borrowing by investors, a juxtaposition of three new reports reveals. According to Lloyds Bank’s twice yearly Commercial Property Confidence Monitor, around three quarters of the small and medium sized commercial property agents surveyed for the report expect a  surge in activity over the next six months, led by especially strong confidence levels in Scotland, South West England, North West England and the Midlands. The results are mirrored in the latest Savills’ commercial development activity survey which found that  the UK’s commercial sector grew at its fastest rate on record during November. Meanwhile, another report from Laxfield Capital claims that investors are willing to take on more debt for new deals to take advantage of the new confidence in the market.

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New guidance on energy management published for facilities managers

by • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

New guidance on energy management published for facilities managersThe British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) has published new guidance on energy management for facilities managers. The Energy Audits Good Practice Guide presents good practice for some of the important energy management procedures, ranging from developing an energy policy to deciding which improvements to make. It is designed to enable facilities managers to compare the results of an energy audit with good practice in both energy use and energy related procedures in order to manage their organisation’s energy costs. Part of the BIFM’s series of Good Practice Guides providing practical guidance for facilities management professionals the Energy Audits Good Practice Guide, which is supported by Hoare Lea, also includes practical tips and considerations for improving energy use, managing energy costs, and protecting the environment. More →

Sale of premier real estate portfolio More London announced

by • Company news, News, Property

City Hall, part of More London portfolioMore London has been sold to Kuwaiti firm St Martins Property Group for approximately £1.7 billion, according to Reuter’s sources. Owners London Bridge Holdings said it had originally intended to refinance More London (which is located adjacent to Tower Bridge and opposite The Tower of London), by the early summer of 2014 but had been persuaded to capitalize on “a highly attractive offer,” the details of which it has not yet disclosed. In a statement London Bridge Holdings said the transaction had underscored its success in transforming “a blighted, brown field site into a vibrant and vital global business centre.” The site was acquired in 1998 and is now a fully managed estate, with occupiers that include the Greater London Assembly – housed in City Hall, as well as PwC and Ernst and Young.

More than half of UK’s increasingly disengaged workforce looking to switch jobs

by • News, Workplace

Jumping-shipStaff disengagement is already costing the UK economy dear, and is also one of the reasons why nearly half of all UK employees are currently looking to leave their current jobs over the next year, a contrast of two new surveys reveals. The first report, from private healthcare provider BUPA, found that disengaged and unhealthy staff  cost the UK economy around £6 billion each year. The second report from Investors in People (IIP) – a Government created business improvement agency – claims that just under half of all British employees (47 percent) are considering whether to move jobs during 2014. This represents some 14 million individuals so if you lend both reports credence, employers may have serious issues retaining their best employees as the jobs market picks up.

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Businesses missing the potential of property to benefit performance says BCO

by • Facilities management, News, Workplace design

Organisations need to unleash potential for property to benefit performance

The UK spent an estimated £28.5 billion on offices in 2012 – outstripping business expenditure on legal services (£24.3bn), accounting (£14bn) and insurance services (£23.8bn). Yet despite this, nearly three fifths (57%) of 250 senior executives from large organisations in a recent poll said property issues are not regularly discussed in the boardroom and responsibility for property is still likely to fall outside management teams. The research, carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) and Populus, found businesses take a very cost-centric view towards the workplace. Although almost three-quarters of organisations were constantly analysing and assessing whether their space is being used efficiently, cost was still found to be the most important factor in assessing the office’s performance (73%). More →

Dressing down for work could improve career chances says Harvard Business Review

by • News, Workplace

Dress down at workIn his book How to Lose Friends & Alienate People writer Toby Young recalls when advised he could dress ‘casually’ for his first day at glossy magazine Vanity Fair, he opted for a tee shirt which said ‘Young, dumb and full of…. ‘ you can guess the rest. While most people wouldn’t so grossly misjudge what to wear to work; those who play it safe could learn from the latest research from Harvard Business Review. In The Red Sneakers Effect: Inferring Status and Competence from Signals of Nonconformity  the researchers advise that non-conforming habits, such as wearing red sneakers to work can boost your prestige. A series of studies demonstrates that people confer higher status and competence to nonconforming rather than conforming individuals. The next step presumably is determining the accepted level of non-conformity that equals success.

New report finds lack of consensus in measurement of social sustainability

by • Environment, Facilities management, News

Green-chainA lack of consensus on what is to be reported on and measured makes comparison difficult when measuring social sustainability. This is one of the key findings of the first annual Sustainable FM Index report, which examines how sustainability is embedded within facilities management service companies. Compiled by Acclaro Advisory, the University of Reading and Workplace Law; the index provides a comparative assessment of FM providers within the UK market. The results, which can be applied to internal and outsourced organisations, aims to showcase achievement, as well as highlighting areas of weakness to stimulate change and raise the delivery of sustainability. The companies which made the index, including Carillion, CBRE and Vinci facilities, have reported high levels of commitment to sustainability in terms of the governance, social and environmental criteria assessed. More →

Benefits of social media for employers are not being realised says CIPD

by • News, Technology, Workplace

Benefits of social media for business relationships and employee engagementResearch launched today at the CIPD’s Social Media in HR conference reveals social media is still a long way off from infiltrating the workplace to the extent it is used in our social lives. Three in four (76%) use social media in their personal lives, but just one in four (26%) use it for work purposes. Given the news this week that the attorney general is to publish guidance on Twitter to help prevent social media users from committing contempt of court, employers could be forgiven in being wary of the risks of social media. This is a mistake, as according to the research, ‘Social technology, social business?’ almost half (47%) of employees who use social media for work on a daily basis already see real benefits for their organisations. More →

Built environment vows to improve accessibility for UK’s 12m disabled people

by • Facilities management, News, Property

Built environment vows to improve accessibility for disabled in UKSix of the top professional institutions that represent architects, town planners, surveyors, engineers and facilities managers have committed to improving accessibility for the country’s 12 million disabled people. To mark International Day of People with Disabilities, built environment institutions, including the Royal Institution of British Architects (RIBA), the British Institution of Facilities Managers (BIFM) and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), have signed up to the Built Environment Professional Education Project; to  change the curriculum so inclusive design becomes a requirement of all built environment accredited courses at universities and colleges. The aim is to have nearly one third of all built environment professionals proficient in inclusive design within 10 years.  More →

UK leads Western Europe in offering flexible working – and checking it’s safe

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

UK leads Western Europe in offering flexible working and checking it's safeThe inexorable rise of flexible working continues, particularly in the UK, where 64 per cent of the organizations questioned in a new poll said that they implemented flexible working more than a year ago. And despite the best efforts by some high-profile employers to roll back the trend, it is HR which is endorsing the adoption of flexible working, with 92 per cent responsible for its implementation within their organisations. Although, Germany (57%), the Netherlands (48%) and Belgium (38%) currently lag behind the UK, all the countries polled agreed that flexible working results in higher productivity, especially in England (85%). A surprising view however, was that it is the employees who are responsible for setting up their own workstation, with just UK staff likely to have any sort of ergonomic checks. More →

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