Columnists
June 24, 2014
Five things we have learned about flexible working ahead of the new right to ask regs
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design
You can’t help but notice that surveys about flexible working have been pretty thick on the ground over the last few weeks and months. The reason is that – as well as the usual ongoing fascination with the subject – the UK Government is extending the right to request regulations at the end of this […]
June 24, 2014
The ties that bind facilities management with workplace design
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design
There is an ongoing feeling within the facilities management discipline that when it comes to the design of workplaces, the majority of facilities managers are not consulted early enough or well enough or consistently enough to ensure that the end result of the design process is a workplace that is as functional and as effective […]
June 23, 2014
Breathing space? Why our office air could be harming us
by Richard Saint • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design
As reported last week, the vast majority of office workers might prefer to work outdoors; but the office is where we spend most of our working lives. Indeed, for an average of eight hours a day, five days a week, office workers can reliably be found in the same surroundings – at a familiar desk, with […]
June 19, 2014
Virtually Uninspiring, Cautiously Aspirational – award winning offices for the VUCA world.
by Simon Heath • Architecture, Comment, Workplace design
World-of-work watchers will be more than aware that we are increasingly being informed that we are living in the VUCA age, which under normal circumstances is an acronym for volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous but in the context of these RIBA Award Winners for 2014 might be taken in a number of other ways. Commentators and self-styled […]
June 17, 2014
Workplace ergonomics changed forever twenty years ago thanks to one design
by Justin Miller • Comment, Furniture, Workplace design
By common consent, the office is a little over 100 years old, with most commentators agreeing that the first true office as we understand it was the Larkin Building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1904. Yet ninety years after this building ushered in the 20th Century workplace, there was another seismic shift in office […]
June 17, 2014
Is it time to stamp out e-cigarettes in your workplace?
by Pam Loch • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace
Electronic cigarettes, love them or hate them, they are here, but are they here to stay? Since 1 July 2007, smoking in enclosed or substantially enclosed public places and workplaces in the UK has been prohibited. E-cigarettes however emit water vapour rather than smoke and therefore could be legally used in public places and workplaces. […]
June 13, 2014
Employers may need to take a disciplined approach to the World Cup
by Richard Barker • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace
With the World Cup now underway, many football fans will be gripped with football fever over the next month, but employers could face HR headaches as a result. Given the time difference in Brazil, games at this year’s World Cup will take place during the late afternoon and evenings in the UK. England’s opening game […]
June 9, 2014
Queen’s Speech was light on employment legislation, but don’t forget flexible work changes
by Pam Loch • Comment, Legal news, Workplace
This year’s Queen’s Speech was the last before the 2015 general election and included a relatively light legislative programme of just 11 new bills. Some of the key employment changes being proposed include changes to childcare, the national minimum wage, and zero-hours contracts. But in fact a key development which was not included in the Queen’s […]
May 29, 2014
What is expense management costing you and your business?
by Richard Gyles • Comment, Workplace
Time is money. That’s why organisations are placing an ever-growing emphasis on improving productivity and streamlining administrative processes to encourage employees to focus on value-added activities. So I’m staggered by how many otherwise forward-thinking companies are still reliant on old-fashioned, paper-based expense management processes. Expenses are an obvious time-sink for claimants themselves and is often […]
May 28, 2014
Money alone isn’t enough to attract and hold on to Gen Y employees
by Jessica Pryce-Jones • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace
The retention of Gen Y employees is key for all organisations. No organisation wants to invest in their next generation of management only to find that they leave, and someone new needs to be trained. But the 20-30 year old workers of Gen Y exhibit a new-found job mobility. Which makes for a ticking time-bomb […]
June 26, 2014
The debate about open plan offices is not helped by its use of stereotypes
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Furniture, Workplace, Workplace design
The incessant debate about open plan offices is informed by a number of assumptions that can lead us to misunderstand the issues involved. Nigel Oseland eviscerates several of them excellently here, making it plain that a great deal is lost in translation somewhere over the mid-Atlantic. In truth, the European and US experiences of the […]