July 28, 2020

Containing office costs in the post-lockdown era

As companies transition back to the office and set out on the road to economic recovery, business leaders are focussed on developing resilient and sustainable strategies. Faced with a new business environment, companies are looking for opportunities to contain office costs, both in the short-term and in the future. Some who have been immune from cost pressures in the past are looking to contain if not reduce costs for the first time. And, after a forced trial of remote working, many are viewing their property portfolio in a new light and questioning whether they are paying for more space than they need. More →

July 23, 2020

Flexible models of work will shift focus from place to purpose

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News

A new report from Poly claims that there is a ‘granular shift’ in focus from place to purpose of work as businesses respond to the COVID-19 crisis, redesign their operations and reinvent the way they work. Out of city coworking spaces, ergonomic at-home work setups and virtual water cooler moments will define the new age of flexible working, the report claims. Drawing on experts in the future of work, workspace design and psychology, the Poly report, Hybrid Working: Creating the “next normal” in work practices, spaces and culture, sets out the path to what it refers to (tediously) as the “next normal,” where employees enjoy flexibility and choice, and businesses thrive through motivated, collaborative and productive teams. More →

July 22, 2020

Don’t be a commute Canute, Boris

by Andrew Mawson • Comment, Flexible working

So, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told the British people to get back to work by Christmas. This means that millions would be renewing their season tickets, getting up in darkness to dress up for work, crowding onto those trains, buses and tubes while swaddled in facemasks and battling their way into the office (which for the time being will be a pretty dull experience with social distancing). More →

July 22, 2020

Employee anxiety and stress levels massively up on last year

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Anxiety in employees has rocketed over the last year, according to a new report from Inpulse. The research, which includes the views of over 3,000 UK employees, claims that anxiety is the most dominant negative emotion at work and has risen 240 percent over the same period as last year – up from 5 percent to 17 percent. Stress is another high negative emotion for employees, at 11 percent, while Isolation rates stands at 7 percent. More →

July 17, 2020

HR is often the last resort for people with mental health issues

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Stigma around mental health in the workplace persists in many organisations, amid signs that stress is putting significant pressure on workers across a range of industries, claims new research from the ADP Research Institute (registration). Only one in seven (14 percent) of respondents polled in ADP’s study say they would feel comfortable telling HR about a mental health problem or concern. One in four (25 percent) would not feel comfortable telling anyone at work. More →

July 16, 2020

We need to include disabled people in our conversations about diversity

by Toby Mildon • Comment, Working lives

This sounds really obvious but when organisations talk about diversity and inclusion they often forget to include disability. They talk about the importance of women in leadership and the gender pay gap, the need to include people from an ethnic minority background especially following the Black Lives Matter movement. And June just gone was dedicated to LGBT+ Pride month. More →

July 15, 2020

Business leaders remain confident about post lockdown growth

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

CEOs and the self-employed are cautiously optimistic about post-lockdown growth, claims a new report. As the country begins to emerge from lockdown, new research from The Institute of Leadership & Management ‘Life after lockdown: future of work’, explores the predicted changes to the workplace following the Covid-19 pandemic. More →

July 14, 2020

SMEs say that lockdown has made them braver about the environment

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

Two thirds of Britain’s SME business leaders say they are now more environmentally conscious in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey, jointly commissioned by Opus Energy and Haven Power. The report claims that small and medium business bosses are having to make bolder decisions as they prepare for a brave new business world. 66 percent say that their own leadership requires a greater degree of bravery in decision making since the pandemic. More →

July 8, 2020

Mental health of finance workers seriously harmed by lockdown

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

More than eight-in-ten London-based banking and finance professionals (86 percent) say Covid-19 lockdown has affected their mental health, according to a new survey of white-collar employees by Helix Resilience. According to the survey of 352 banking and finance professionals, over half (52 percent) of respondents claim to be less productive, and nearly four-in-ten (39 percent) say they find it difficult to concentrate outside the office. While most working in the sector (53 percent) feel their employer is doing enough to support their wellbeing during lockdown, a third (33 percent) do not feel supported. More →

July 7, 2020

Overcoming the fear of going out

by Michelle McQuaid • Comment, Wellbeing

Over the last several months, some workers have exhibited a new ailment that has got nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic that sent them scurrying home to set up virtual offices in the first place. It’s called FOGO, as coined by Forbes magazine contributing writer Jodie Cook, and it refers to a new phenomenon known as the “Fear of Going Out”.

July 5, 2020

From the archive: the future of work and place in the 21st Century ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Features, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

However much we know about the forces we expect to come into play in our time and however much we understand the various social, commercial, legislative, cultural and economic parameters we expect to direct them, most predictions of the future tend to come out as refractions or extrapolations of the present. This is a fact tacitly acknowledged by George Orwell’s title for Nineteen Eighty-Four, written in 1948, and is always the pinch of salt we can apply to science fiction and most of the predictions we come across. More →

July 3, 2020

Watch where you sit: new workplace setups could hit productivity

by Geoffroy de Lestrange • Comment, Wellbeing

Slowly, it seems we are seeing a gradual return to some sort of normality. Shops are opening up as well as restaurants and pubs and many of us are now also heading back into the office. But these aren’t the offices as we once knew them. Workspace layouts and seating plans are being completely overhauled to bring in new social distancing and safety measures. Beyond just the physical changes this incurs, this could also have a wider impact on how we work – and businesses need to be prepared and ready for that too. More →