Search Results for: performance

June 1, 2015

New report lays out its 2040 vision of the workplace of the future

by Mark Eltringham • Briefing, Facilities management, News, Workplace design

By 2040 knowledge workers will decide where and how they want to work, according to a new report on the workplace of the future by Johnson Controls’ Global Workplace Solutions business. The Smart Workplace 2040 report claims that 25 years from now, work will be seen as something workers do, rather than a place to which they commute. According to the study, work patterns will be radically different as a new generation of what it terms ‘workspace consumers’ choose their time and place of work. Most workers will frequently work from home, and will choose when to visit work hubs to meet and network with others. There will be no set hours and the emphasis will be on getting work done, while workers’ wellness will take priority. Technology will bring together networks of individuals who operate in an entrepreneurial way, with collaboration the major driver of business performance.

May 29, 2015

London firms focus on wellbeing and agile working to attract staff

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Property, Wellbeing, Workplace design

An additional 5.1m sq. ft. of office space will be required by 2019 to accommodate the growth of professional services firms in London, claims new research from CBRE. According to the studio, firms will also adopt more pragmatic workplace strategies that focus on agile working and wellbeing to meet their objectives. Nearly all (92 percent) of the respondents to CBRE’s Professional London survey claim they use the workplace to enhance employee satisfaction and 83 percent of firms use it to control costs. Firms are also placing more emphasis on wellbeing and more agile and intensive ways of using space, according to CBRE. Other factors such as technology and the design of the workplace are also increasingly important. The research suggests that staff are increasingly attracted by on-site amenities, connectivity and location and other ‘lifestyle offerings’.

May 29, 2015

Everything you wanted to know about open plan but were too distracted to ask

by Maciej Markowski • Comment, Facilities management, Work&Place, Workplace design

There is a lively and ongoing debate on whether open plan offices are a good or bad thing. Many articles would suggest that they routinely diminish productivity. Yes, the open plan office is not ideal for privacy and probably bad for conceptual focused work, but it’s a bit like saying a hammer is useless when you need to tighten a screw. The point is you don’t use it for that. Fans of open plan often underline how fantastic it is for building a sense of belonging, team spirit and ad hoc collaboration, often ignoring the challenges of working there. The point I’m making is that introducing open plan into your office is probably a good idea, but you really need to make sure that you provide your employees with a menu of settings which allow them to concentrate, have ad hoc meetings without disturbing their colleagues and provide some privacy for confidential conversations.

May 28, 2015

More support needed to help people with depression stay at work

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

At any one time around 1 in 6 people of working age are experiencing a common mental health condition such as depression or anxiety but a lack of awareness may lead employers to misinterpret symptoms as poor performance, finds a new report from Lancaster University’s Work Foundation.The paper, Symptoms of Depression and their Effects on Employment, recommends that in order to improve both productivity and health and wellbeing among those of working age, more concerted action must be taken to support people with depression to stay in and to return to work. The paper considers the ways in which some of the symptoms associated with depression can form a barrier to employment and calls upon government departments at a national and regional level to commit to improving the provision of evidence-based support to help people with depression.

May 28, 2015

It’s perfectly logical why we should apply emotion in workplace design

by Dan Callegari • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

Most of the arguments put forward for enlightened workplace design are fact based. That’s useful but such arguments can also ignore the fact that we respond to our surroundings on an emotional level as well as a functional one. Once you accept that office design is as much about how it makes people feel as how it helps them work, then the design process can be as much about EQ as it is IQ. While businesses can shy away from dealing with the emotional facets of working lives, there is a growing movement that advocates not only greater awareness of the importance of emotional intelligence but is also able to draw attention to the benefits it brings to organisations and individuals. This was the underlying message of a groundbreaking event that took place in London recently which explored the use of emotion in a business context.

May 27, 2015

Majority of employers want to promote mental wellbeing in the workplace

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Eighty-four percent of employers believe they have a responsibility to provide a work environment that promotes mental well-being, according to a new Buck Consultants at Xerox survey report “Promoting Mental Well-being: Addressing Worker Stress and Psychosocial Risks,” released last week at the Global Centre for Healthy Workplaces Annual Summit in Brazil. The Global Survey on Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies – with a strong focus on companies in the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil and Singapore – found that more than one-third of employers rate the stress level within their organization as “high or very high.” However, over two-thirds of employers offer flexible work schedules, and more than half offer telecommuting to mitigate work-related stress, while more than half of employers rate their organization as very or extremely supportive of the mental well-being of their employees.

May 27, 2015

Smart buildings, smart cities and the promise of infinite data

by Paul Doherty • Cities, Comment, Facilities management, Technology

The rapid urbanization of our world and the weaving of existing and new buildings into the urban fabric of Smart City initiatives are some of the great challenges facing our global industry today. Along with the vast amount of definitions and marketing campaigns surrounding the phrase “Smart Cities” comes the challenge of understanding why the movement is important to the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facility Management (AEC/FM) industry and how industry stakeholders can profit from, or at the very least, not get run over by the tsunami called Smart Cities. The emergence of Smart Cities as the conduit for ideas, thoughts, policies and strategies for the world’s urban environments is an important milestone for our industry, and it comes at a time of rapid innovation, convergence and redefinitions.

May 25, 2015

Clerkenwell Design Week explores the links between design and the individual

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Events, Flooring, Furniture, Workplace design

For a show with such an international perspective there are many aspects of Clerkenwell Design Week that mark it out as a typically British event. There’s the weather, of course, which can vary from day to day between drizzle and bright sunshine, marking the difference between visitors dodging showers and huddling in showrooms or spilling out onto the pavements to drink beer and talk turkey. Then there’s the very idea of Clerkenwell itself, a district in East London historically associated with the arts and crafts movements, dodgy dealings, immigrant artisans and labourers and the sort of denuded former glories that those with the right mindset like to appropriate and reinvent. London may exist as a City State within the UK, but it also provides the beating heart for many nationwide industries. For the UK office interiors industry that heart can be found in Clerkenwell.

May 20, 2015

Women over 55 most likely to be business strategists, finds report

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

A new report claims that only 8 percent of senior managers currently have ‘Strategist’ leadership capabilities and have the attributes and mind sets to lead transformational change and solve their most difficult problems. This is because employers don’t identify and empower their leaders with the right capabilities and attributes, says the report published by PwC’s Consulting practice. According to “The hidden talent: Ten ways to identify and retain transformational leaders,” the work of strategists is underpinned by inquiry-based experimentation. They see both the vision and detail, employ positive language and exercise power courageously. They understand the complexity of the environment in which they’re working and are able to employ passionate detachment. The report claims that the largest proportion of ‘Strategist’ leaders, are women over 55.

May 18, 2015

Management is needed to ensure people actually use sit stand workstations

by Kati Barklund • Comment, Furniture, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Lately I’ve seen many articles about sit stand workstations and references to Scandinavia where almost all of us employees have access to sit stand workstations. It is true that most of the Scandinavian employees have access to sit stand workstations and in for example in Denmark employers are required by law to provide sit stand workstations to the employees, but this does unfortunately not automatically mean that the Scandinavian employees actually stand by the workstations. Even though most of us actually know that sitting is bad for our health, wellbeing and even our performance, we tend to sit most of the time while working. It is mostly about us being used to sit while working. It is a habitual behaviour and instead we need to get new habits of standing and moving at work. Change management is needed.

May 15, 2015

Employers embracing more collaborative hands-on learning cultures

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

There is a growing trend for employers to create collaborative hands-on learning cultures, with internal knowledge-sharing initiatives such as job shadowing and social learning increasingly commonplace. In the latest snapshot of the annual survey of L&D professionals by the CIPD, coaching by line managers or peers was the method of learning most likely to grow in use in organisations over the next two years, according to almost two-thirds (65%) of respondents. Over half (53%) expect to see the use of in-house development programmes increase, and on-the-job training (48%) and internal knowledge sharing events (46%) are also expected to become prevalent. The findings imply a growing focus on efforts to foster a learning culture with many organisations using technology to support learning and development.

May 14, 2015

Expert advice issued on managing mental health in the workplace

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Mental health can affect people’s personal lives, wellbeing and morale. But it can also impact on their performance at work and be costly for businesses. That’s the message from Acas, which, to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, has issued a guide to managing mental health in the workplace. It advocates creating an environment where people feel confident they can disclose conditions to employers; that employers be aware of any changes in behaviour that might suggest they’re having problems; and suggests that if a problem is being caused by work, look into ways of facilitating changes, such as offering flexible working opportunities. It is also suggested that wellness initiatives which encourage healthy eating, exercise and mindfulness can also help to reduce the severity of mental ill health.