June 9, 2022

EU issues mandate on standard charging port. The UK and Apple moan about it

By autumn 2024, USB Type-C will become the common charging port for all mobile phones, tablets and cameras in the EU, Parliament and Council negotiators have agreed. The provisional agreement on the amended Radio Equipment Directive, establishes a single charging solution for certain electronic devices. This law is a part of a broader EU effort to make products in the bloc more sustainable, to reduce electronic waste, and make consumers’ lives easier. More →

June 8, 2022

Strategic workforce planning blocked by lack of data and defined employee responsibilities

by Neil Franklin • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

Poor data quality and a lack of clearly defined roles and responsibilities within the organisation are amongst the key challenges management faces when implementing vital strategic workforce planning (SWP), according to new academic research. The researchers also claim that a lack of methodology to execute a strategic workforce plan and the lack of support across all organisational units of the firm were contributing to a slower and less efficient strategic workforce planning. More →

June 1, 2022

Not busy-ness as usual: how boredom may be one of the keys to creativity

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology

The modern world seems geared to help us avoid boredom. But there’s a problem. Artists have long recognised that boredom can drive creativity. The great Italian writer-philosopher Giacomo Leopardi described boredom as “the most sublime of all human emotions because it expresses the fact that the human spirit, in a certain sense, is greater than the entire universe. Boredom is an expression of a profound despair at not finding anything that can satisfy the soul’s boundless needs.” More →

May 23, 2022

The future of work isn’t what it used to be

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

At the 1983 International Design Conference in Aspen, Steve Jobs delivered a speech addressing the theme of the conference; The Future Isn’t What It Used to Be. In it he set out his thoughts on new technology, intuitive design, personal computing as well as the need for a constantly evolving idea of what the future will look like, including the future of work. More →

May 20, 2022

Half of people aren’t comfortable talking about disability in the workplace

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

A new poll from Samsung UK claims that people are generally uncomfortable talking about disabilities, including the issue of disability in the workplace. According to the survey, nearly half of the population (45 percent) admit to feeling uncomfortable saying the word ‘disabled’ or ‘disability’ in everyday conversations. Meanwhile, over half of people with disabilities say they have tried to conceal their challenges from work colleagues due to the fear of stalling their professional progression or landing a promotion (almost 45 percent) or being judged and made to feel like an outsider (41 percent). Forty percent felt that their colleagues valued them less after they realised they had a disability. More →

May 19, 2022

Reinventing procurement for a post pandemic world

by Stuart Waine • Business, Company news, Technology

Most businesses have undergone some form of digital transformation over the last two years simply to remain afloat. This has typically involved a total shift to the cloud, the relocation of inhouse comms rooms to co-location facilities, or incorporating remote login functionality into core IT systems to support home/hybrid working. This also boosted the demand for cloud computing courses. Whilst 5G, all fibre broadband and cloud computing have been gaining traction for a while, the pandemic has given agile working a turbocharge. This change has resulting in businesses relocating to smaller premises with flexible, more appealing leasing contracts. Hybrid working has also affected many internal departments, none more so than procurement which has been totally transformed More →

May 18, 2022

‘Return to office’ remains a divisive issue

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology

According to a survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Citrix Systems, employees remain divided on how they want to work going forward. Based on the poll: the majority enjoy the flexibility they’ve been given to work from anywhere and are willing to leave jobs to maintain it. Of the 6,500 workers polled in ten countries, 57 percent prefer hybrid work, and 69 percent will ditch their current positions if it isn’t an option and they are asked to return to office based working. More →

May 16, 2022

Future Shock: a message from the past that defines the present ¹

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology, Wellbeing

We are all futurologists now. We all have our 2020 visions, at least for a little while. But there was a time, not so long ago, when the title was reserved for a few people who would be able to shake and shape the world with a single idea and a book. Yes, a book. Nowadays a book has to go hand in hand with a Ted Talk, blogs on the Huff Post and a speaking tour to get you anywhere at all. But within living memory it was possible to shift the thinking of the planet with a book. More →

May 4, 2022

Two thirds of US employees resist calls for a ‘return to the office’

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Technology

Nearly two thirds of American employees are resisting the calls for a ‘return to the office’, according to a poll published in The Hybrid Performance Review from Poly. The firm surveyed 5,000 US employees and employers to uncover how workspaces, technology, and personality traits impact performance; and how employers are responding. More →

April 27, 2022

A third of workers think their jobs are at risk from automation

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology

A new poll claims that one in three (37 percent) employees consider their current job to be at risk from automation and digital transformation. HR software provider CIPHR has compiled a list of the occupations that are the most and least likely to be replaced by technology or machines, based on the results of a survey of more than 1,000 UK workers: www.ciphr.com/jobs-at-risk-from-automation. Survey respondents were asked to rate the likelihood that their own occupation could become automated in the future, due to advances in smart technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and robotics. More →

April 13, 2022

Firms mark the cards of employees who go mute or turn cameras off in remote meetings

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Technology

Nearly all executives (96 percent) agree that primarily remote workers are disadvantaged compared to those who work primarily in the office, according to a poll of 200 executives at large US firms, commissioned by Vyopta. However, 92 percent of respondents also believe employees who are less engaged, either frequently on mute or don’t turn on their camera during remote meetings, probably don’t have a long-term future at their company. More →

April 8, 2022

The Metaverse in the workplace: Meta’s wobble may affect how we use emerging technologies

by Neal Riley • Comment, Technology

There has been much talk over the past two years of the adoption of hybrid working for elephant-in-the-room reasons and it is now the case that the practice is being widely adopted by many organisations. Knocking at our office doors now is the next big talking point in terms of technology: the Metaverse. There has been much speculation recently on how this collective, virtual open space, which incorporates environments including those in which to shop, learn, be entertained and, of course, work, will evolve. It has been described as the ‘next chapter of the Internet’ and is created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality. More →