December 4, 2013

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

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

Research 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 →

December 3, 2013

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

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Six 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 →

December 3, 2013

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

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

The 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 →

December 3, 2013

Majority of businesses acquire employee data; far fewer apply it, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Workplace

Peter Drucker’s old adage that ‘what gets measured gets managed’ may be a cliché, but it’s endured to become one because there is a lot of truth in it. Now a new report commissioned this year by recruitment consultants Alexander Mann Solutions and the HRO Today Institute has found that firms that use employee data to inform strategic decision making outperform their competitors around 58 percent of the time. Which is great except the survey of HR managers and directors at over 300 companies also found that only a third of businesses use data in this way. This is in spite of the fact that nearly all (90 percent) of companies acquire employee performance data. According to the report, Success: How metrics & measurement correlate with business, nearly a third don’t use the data in any way whatsoever.

December 2, 2013

Mid-sized firms are unsung champions of the economic recovery says CBI

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

Medium-sized businesses (MSBs) are making a significant contribution to jobs and growth across the UK. Between March 2010 and March 2013 they have created 185,000 jobs, a 4.1 per cent increase compared with 1.9 per cent by large companies and 2.8 per cent by small firms. New CBI research published today shows that despite only accounting for 1.8 per cent of the UK private sector, MSBs, which employ between 50-499 people and have a turnover of £10-100 million, now employ 4.7 million people across the UK – 16 per cent of the total UK workforce. The CBI has launched #MSBMonday to boost recognition for MSBs and is calling on local government and policy makers to do more to recognise and support medium-sized businesses as their local champions. More →

November 29, 2013

Revival in UK commercial property driven by high tech enclaves such as Cambridge

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Technology

As we reported recently, it’s not just technology firms in London’s creaking digital enclaves that are driving recovery in the economy and commercial property markets. The UK is home to several hothouses of innovation and talent and the cluster of technology firms and related businesses in Cambridgeshire – inevitably Silicon Fen – are contributing to the highest level of commercial real estate activity in over six years, according to a survey we reported recently from property advisor Savills. The Cambridge arm of the firm is reporting that as well as new projects, schemes that were shelved during the recession are coming back online. Now in an interview in local magazine, Business Weekly, Savills has described how the national recovery is manifesting itself in one of the UK’s high tech hotspots.

November 29, 2013

Technology means UK small business owners are unable to switch off, says report

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

Nearly half of the UK’s small business owners feel unable to ever get away completely from work, according to a new report from Lloyds Bank. The survey, published in the bank’s Small Business Report found that 47 percent of microbusiness owners and sole traders feel unable to completely switch off from work due to their reliance on technology to operate. More than two fifths (41 percent) work longer hours to keep up according to the report from Lloyds, which has itself recently been accused by the Government of deliberately forcing small businesses under. According to the survey, over two thirds (70 percent) of small businesses are concerned that their commercial health will suffer if they neglect their online presence.

November 29, 2013

Rail fares and grind make London based staff yearn for flexible working, claims survey

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Perhaps one of the least talked about factors driving the uptake of flexible working in the UK is the cost of getting into work. But a new survey commissioned by Citrix of 500 commuters in the capital claims that more than a fifth (22 percent) of London based employees are considering a job outside the city following the latest above-inflation increase in fares although the majority of the want-aways (79 percent) would stay in their current job if they could work from home at least once a week. Just under half (45 percent) would like their employer to offer flexible working, 58 percent feel they would be more productive if they didn’t have to commute, and 62 percent felt that flexible working would improve their quality of life. Ed: For those of us who already work outside London but get the occasional glimpse of the horror of commuting, those numbers are bafflingly low.

November 28, 2013

RICS ‘Think Strategic’ campaign opens with advice to FMs on cutting costs

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has published the first in a series of monthly articles offering practical advice from leading industry professionals for FM practitioners. It marks the beginning of RICS new ‘Think Strategic’ campaign designed to encourage FM professionals to think and act more strategically by providing the tools to develop an FM plan that will directly feed into their wider corporate objectives. The idea is to help FM leaders demonstrate the value of the profession to business and gain a competitive advantage. Click the link Why cutting FM costs can have a business-wide impact to access the first of the articles, which are all available to download for free from the RICS website. More →

November 28, 2013

One in five US workers will spend Thanksgiving day with colleagues

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

With most American firms closed today for the country’s annual Thanksgiving celebrations, comes the surprising news that a significant number of workers will in fact be spending the day together after all. According to a survey carried out by CareerBuilder, co-workers may play a role in many Thanksgiving celebrations. Nearly one-in-five (19%) employees say they plan to celebrate Thanksgiving with co-workers either in or out of the office. Those working in transportation and utilities are most likely to spend the day together (28%), with Atlanta (35%) showing the highest percentage of colleagues meeting up on the day and Boston (6%) the lowest. Fourteen per cent of workers said they have to work on Thanksgiving anyway, with hospitality staff the most likely to be on the clock (36%).

November 27, 2013

CIPD research finds zero-hours contracts unfairly demonised and oversimplified

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Further evidence has been published this week that maintains the use of zero-hours contracts is not the evil employment practise portrayed by the media. According to new research by the CIPD, the use of zero-hours contracts in the UK economy has been underestimated, oversimplified and unfairly demonised. The survey of more than 2,500 workers found that zero-hours workers are just as satisfied with their job as the average UK employee, and more likely to be happy with their work-life balance than other workers. The CIPD has also published new guidance, in collaboration with law firm Lewis Silkin, to help tackle poor practice highlighted in the research, such as the poor level of understanding about employment rights among many employers and zero-hours workers. More →