Columnists
September 30, 2013
United States and Europe; closing the gap on flexible working law
by Debbie Kovak • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news
Vermont became the first U.S. state to enact a law requiring employers to consider workers’ requests for a flexible schedule without fear of retaliation. The law, signed by the governor in May, includes a statutory process which requires “good faith” discussions relative to the employee’s needs and the company’s business operations. Despite Vermont’s efforts to make […]
September 30, 2013
Don’t let the sofas fool you; work can still be red in tooth and claw
by Twyla Howse • Comment, Flexible working, Furniture
We keep filling our workplaces with sofas, coffee shops and other lifestyle touches while our homes are being slowly eroded by the trappings of work. First it was the fax machine. Then the mobile phone. Then working from home. The places available for us to work is seemingly more diverse than ever. But does this […]
September 27, 2013
What’s wrong with adopting a more positive approach to work and workplaces?
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Public Sector, Workplace, Workplace design
[embedplusvideo height=”160″ width=”220″ standard=”https://www.youtube.com/v/u6XAPnuFjJc?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=u6XAPnuFjJc&width=220&height=160&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=&notes=” id=”ep2086″ /] Has there ever been a UK government more interested in the workplace than this one? Most of it has been about cutting costs of course, so the majority of announcements emanating from the Cabinet Office have been about procurement, design and environmental performance. David Cameron even at one […]
September 20, 2013
The rehabilitation of the cubicle and other lessons from 100% Design
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Events, Flexible working, Furniture, Products, Workplace design
As we’ve said before, acoustics has become the dominant theme at office design exhibitions over the past three or four years. That’s been true at shows in Milan, Cologne, Chicago and London and was certainly the case at this year’s 100% Design at Earl’s Court. A quick whizz around the office zone at this year’s […]
September 12, 2013
When it comes to transparency, most businesses might fail The Peacock Test
by Simon Heath • Comment, Workplace
[embedplusvideo height=”180″ width=”220″ editlink=”https://bit.ly/16me1M8″ standard=”https://www.youtube.com/v/TYQvVUDeZEo?fs=1&hd=1″ vars=”ytid=TYQvVUDeZEo&width=220&height=180&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=1&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=” id=”ep1269″ /] The HR profession took a savaging yesterday in a Daily Telegraph article by Louisa Peacock following what many felt to be a disastrous appearance by the BBC’s head of HR, Lucy Adams in front of the Public Accounts Committee. You can see a brutal excerpt above. […]
September 10, 2013
We deserve better than a polarised debate about cellular v open plan offices
by Andrew Mawson • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design
Stimulated by a number of rather unsubtle commercial interests, the ‘in’ workplace discussion seems to have swung from ‘collaboration’ i.e. organisations need more new spaces for formal and informal collaborative interactions, to ‘distraction’ i.e. open plan workplaces are creating a loss of productivity because people whose work requires concentration are impeded by constant interruption. The […]
September 5, 2013
Open-plan office workers need time out from the madding crowd
by Sara Bean • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Workplace design
Open-plan offices are now the most popular workplace layout, primarily because they save on space, enable flexible working and, it’s argued, foster better communication and collaboration between employees. Yet open-plan still has some way to go to convince occupants of its merits. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, of […]
September 4, 2013
Facilities managers should harness information to show the value of what they do
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management
Of the various myths that plague the facilities management profession, the most pernicious may well be that the role of facilities managers is largely to carry out what the early feminists called shit-work – the kind of job that only becomes visible when it is done badly or isn’t done at all. Conversely, when it […]
August 30, 2013
Sometimes health and safety failures can be a laughing matter
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Legal news, Workplace
One of the regular refrains from those involved in health and safety management is that while they aren’t killjoys, protecting people from harm is no laughing matter. Well actually yes, sometimes it is. And if the health and safety profession wants to shake off the po-faced image it claims is unjust, it needs to realise […]
August 27, 2013
Forget Gen Y – the future workplace is multigenerational
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Knowledge, Legal news
There is quite possibly more guff talked about the impact of Gen Y on businesses and the workplace than any other management topic. However, it’s not only wrong to characterise the people of Generation Y as some homogeneous blob with stereotyped attitudes that set them apart from the rest of humanity, but also to miss […]
October 8, 2013
More than half of twenty-something UK men would like all male offices, claims survey
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace
At Insight we report surveys from firms on an almost daily basis. We generally do so without too much comment, trusting that readers are smart or jaded enough to apply their own filters based on whichever company is responsible and the number of people surveyed before dusting them all with a liberal pinch of salt […]