Firms struggle to get a grip on people data despite workplace challenges

Firms struggle to get a grip on people data despite workplace challenges

A new CIPD survey of business leaders claims there is a significant mismatch between the scale of the challenge that workplace issues currently pose to businesses and how often workforce issues and people data are discussed by senior leaders.A new CIPD survey of business leaders claims there is a significant mismatch between the scale of the challenge that workplace issues currently pose to businesses and how often workforce issues and people data are discussed by senior leaders. In response, the CIPD is warning that organisations are unlikely to perform well in the long term unless decisions taken at a board and executive management level are informed by an in-depth and evidence-based understanding of the value and risk their workforce poses. More →

Herman Miller launches height-adjustable tables for home and office use

Herman Miller launches height-adjustable tables for home and office use

Height-adjustable tables have become a staple in the home and office environment, offering users variety and comfort regardless of the tasks at hand.Height-adjustable tables have become a staple in the home and office environment, offering users variety and comfort regardless of the tasks at hand. These pieces offer immense flexibility, but what if that flexibility could be pushed even further? What if a table could naturally provide more mobility, agility and range, broadening its multi-use capabilities—creating an instant workspace? Herman Miller’s Passport Work Table, the brand’s newest table offering, is designed to do all of that—all while keeping space prioritization top of mind. More →

People are split on whether hybrid working improves or worsens ‘workplace community’

People are split on whether hybrid working improves or worsens ‘workplace community’

People are still undecided on whether remote and hybrid working are having a positive or negative impact on their ‘workplace community’. According to a new poll,People are still undecided on whether remote and hybrid working are having a positive or negative impact on their ‘workplace community’. According to a new poll, 37 per cent of UK employees feel that hybrid work has made it harder to create a workplace community but 41 per cent disagree. These are the findings from O.C. Tanner’s 2023 Global Culture Report which collected and analysed the perspectives of over 36,000 employees, leaders, HR practitioners, and business executives from 20 countries around the world, including 4,653 from the UK. More →

Sector leaders implore EU to be ambitious when setting carbon targets for buildings

Sector leaders implore EU to be ambitious when setting carbon targets for buildings

With a crucial vote fast approaching on the EU’s key piece of building legislation, a coalition representing 35 organisations is calling on politicians to seize a once-in-a-generation opportunity to eliminate carbon emissions from Europe’s building stockWith a crucial vote fast approaching on the EU’s key piece of building legislation, a coalition representing 35 organisations is calling on politicians to seize a once-in-a-generation opportunity to eliminate carbon emissions from Europe’s building stock. Europe’s buildings account for around 40 percent of energy consumption and 36 percent of CO2 emissions. Currently, EU policy only addresses the operational emissions of buildings but to support total decarbonisation of the EU building stock, policy must evolve to cover both operational and embodied emissions, known as Whole Life Carbon. Without addressing both sources of emissions it is inconceivable that the EU will be able to achieve its climate targets. More →

People who act as a go-between for colleagues more prone to abuse and burnout

People who act as a go-between for colleagues more prone to abuse and burnout

Employees who act as brokers, meaning they work as a go-between for coworkers who do not communicate directly, are more likely to burn out and become abusive towards their colleaguesEmployees who act as brokers, meaning they work as a go-between for coworkers who do not communicate directly, are more likely to burn out and become abusive towards their colleagues, according to new research from ESMT Berlin and published in the journal Organization Science. The research, led by Eric Quintane, associate professor of organizational behaviour at ESMT Berlin, examines the psychological costs of having to sustain communications with coworkers who do not communicate directly with each other. They could be coworkers who are in different units, regions, or time zones, which makes it hard for them to communicate. More →

Debrett’s unveils etiquette guide for hybrid working

Debrett’s unveils etiquette guide for hybrid working

Debrett’s, the well-known authority on manners and etiquette, has created a guide to hybrid working etiquetteDebrett’s, the well-known authority on manners and etiquette, has created a guide to hybrid working etiquette, sponsored by Poly. The guide claims to offer updated advice for the hybrid work era at a time when -it says here – etiquette at work has never been more important. More →

Floored by design. The new issue of Works magazine goes where angels fear to tread

Floored by design. The new issue of Works magazine goes where angels fear to tread

What is the office for, how should we design it, what does it do better than other places of work and what do people want from it?Just what is it that you want to do? People of a certain age will know what answers come next. The rest of you can scroll down to find out. At least two-thirds of those responses still resonate when you ask people want they want from their work and workplaces. They wanna be free to do what they wanna do. And they wanna have a good time. And that’s what they’re gonna do. These are the exact same responses you hear when THE great, existential questions facing the office sector and occupiers are brought up along with those others that follow on from them. What is the office for, how should we design it, what does it do better than other places of work and what do people really want from it? More →

Government Environmental Improvement Plan is ambitious but needs a clear plan

Government Environmental Improvement Plan is ambitious but needs a clear plan

The UKGBC has welcomed the ambition and vision of the Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan, particularly the water efficiency roadmap which broadly aligns with UKGBC recommendations. Yet the lobbying group also claims that the Plan falls short of providing the practical targets and policiesThe UKGBC has welcomed the ambition and vision of the Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan, particularly the water efficiency roadmap which broadly aligns with UKGBC recommendations. Yet the lobbying group also claims that the Plan falls short of providing the practical targets and policies for the built environment to play its part in halting nature’s decline. Many critical areas of interest to our sector – including planning system reform, policies for environmental net gain, and tangible targets – are insufficiently explained or missing entirely from the Plan. More →

New legally-binding air quality targets fall short of their ambitions, safety body warns

New legally-binding air quality targets fall short of their ambitions, safety body warns

The British Safety Council has warned that new legally binding air quality targets for the UK, which passed the final stages of parliamentary scrutiny earlier this week, fall well short of what is needed to keep people safeThe British Safety Council has warned that new legally binding air quality targets for the UK, which passed the final stages of parliamentary scrutiny earlier this week, fall well short of what is needed to keep people safe. The new limits will  come into force in the wake of last year’s Environment Act, after the Government missed its own deadline of December to introduce them, following a consultation. More →

Multi-tasking managers offer the key to cooperation between rival firms

Multi-tasking managers offer the key to cooperation between rival firms

For rival companies to successfully cooperate in the name of innovation, they need “ambidextrous” managers who can make the most of their pooled resources and exhibit strong multi-tasking skillsFor rival companies to successfully cooperate in the name of innovation, they need “ambidextrous” managers who can make the most of their pooled resources and exhibit strong multi-tasking skills, research from NEOMA Business School claims. Antony Paulraj, Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at NEOMA, co-authored a study analysing the approach of over 300 companies that are collaborating with their competitors, known as “coopetition”. More →

New study will explore the impact of economic turmoil on workplace experience

New study will explore the impact of economic turmoil on workplace experience

eople's workplace experience in the wake of recent economic upheavals is to be investigated as part of a major new survey led by Cardiff UniversityPeople’s workplace experience in the wake of recent economic upheavals is to be investigated as part of a major new survey led by Cardiff University and funded mainly by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The Skills and Employment Survey 2023 (SES2023), which also involves researchers at UCL, the Universities of Oxford and Surrey and the National Centre for Social Research, will help academics assess the impact of an extraordinary period of turbulence for workers which includes the economic downturn, Cost-of-Living Crisis, Covid-19 and Brexit. More →

Issue 13 of IN Magazine celebrates ten years of workplace insight

Issue 13 of IN Magazine celebrates ten years of workplace insight

The new issue of In Magazine has now been published. It marks ten years of Workplace Insight with a few things we think we know about work, working culture and work places.The new issue of In Magazine has now been published. It marks ten years of Workplace Insight with a few things we think we know about work, working culture and work places. Elsewhere in this issue: Stephanie Fitzgerald talks about the unspoken privilege of wellbeing; we consider the sprawl of the world’s megacities; Jo Knight argues that the office sector needs to really up its game on the environment; Rene Stevens makes the case for a strategic approach to learning environments; we weigh up the pros and cons of retrofit and new builds; Neil Usher sets out to develop a universally acceptable definition of hybrid working; Andy Brown on what we really need data for; why dead tech hangs around; and we do the maths on what it means when people say the office should be worth the commute it takes to get to it. More →