Search Results for: wellbeing

Don’t be a turkey, get on the commercial property gravy train

Don’t be a turkey, get on the commercial property gravy train

Last week, the RICS Commercial Property conference tackled the biggest issues impacting the built environment sector, arming delegates with fragments of the formula for future success. The morning CEO Question Time panel put a trio of CEOs in the spotlight. In addition to airing concerns about the current political climate, rapidly shifting societal attitudes, diversity and inclusion, the ageing population coupled with the ongoing housing shortage, climate change and the complexities involved in exploring new business models to drive and diversify revenue, they all zoomed in on the accelerated pace of change we’re witnessing, crowning it the key challenge for today’s C-suite.

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More than half of employees have experienced some form of workplace bullying

More than half of employees have experienced some form of workplace bullying

More than half (52 percent) of employees in global organisations have encountered workplace bullying and felt psychologically unsafe at work, according to a new study conducted by City & Guilds Group. The report also claims that only one in ten firms proactively take steps to support staff mental health, and found a major discrepancy in how senior management and employees view psychological safety in the workplace. Almost all of respondents surveyed (94 percent) said that they consider psychological safety to be “important”, but just 10 percent of businesses are seen to treat it as a priority. In part this seems down to confusion over accountability; almost half (43 percent) of senior management expect HR to deal with the psychological safety of employees at work, while the majority of employees (56 percent), believe line managers and senior management should take the lead.

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Flexible working should not mean employers ask people to work all the time

Talking about the role of technology within the flexible working arena is hardly ground-breaking. For decades, technological advancements have been hailed as pivotal to developments within the employment landscape. But this year, conversation appears to have reached another level. In an article for Open Access Government in June 2018, for instance, Richard Morris, UK CEO of International Workplace Group (IWG), explained the extent to which technology-driven shifts have caused significant social change. And in September, HR headlines homed in on a study by Capita and Citrix, which stressed that an inability to quickly introduce new IT services is restricting organisations’ flexibility proposition, and consequently their competitiveness.

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The best office designs of 2018, the future of work in 2019, and some other clickbait

The best office designs of 2018, the future of work in 2019, and some other clickbait

This week’s beachcomb of the best workplace stories is brought to you in the wake of the first flood of retrospectives and predictions that wash up in the media at this time of year. The first piece of flotsam [sound of a metaphor snapping] is Dezeen’s listing of the world’s best office designs of 2018, which appears to be based on the answers to three questions. Is it a coworking space? Does it look like an office? Is there anybody actually working there? Answer yes, no, no to those three simple questions and you’re in the frame.

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Seven reasons why this will not be the office of the future

Seven reasons why this will not be the office of the future

At this time of year, it seems like we don’t have to wait more than a few hours before some or other organisation is sharing its prognosis about how we will be working in the future. The thing these reports usually share in common, other than a standardised variant of a title and a common lexicon of agility, engagement and connectivity, is a narrow focus based on their key assumptions about what the office of the future will be like. While these are rarely false per se, and often offer valuable insights, they also frequently exhibit a desire to look at only one part of the great workplace elephant. While the more informed reports make excellent points and identify trends,  across most there are routine flaws in thinking that can lead them to make narrow and sometimes incorrect assumptions and so draw similarly flawed conclusions. Talk of the office of the future tells us rather a lot about how we view offices right now.

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Half of employees prefer to discuss health issues with colleagues than loved ones

Half of employees prefer to discuss health issues with colleagues than loved ones

Half of employees prefer to discuss health issues with colleagues than loved onesAlmost half (49 percent) of UK employees admit they speak to colleagues about health concerns before sharing it with a partner or loved one, claims new research by Bupa Health Clinics. Stress, sleep, anxiety and weight problems are among the main concerns being discussed by employees at work, before confiding in those closest to home.  The new report found that 46 percent of employees prefer to talk about health with a colleague over a loved one. Many do so with good intentions with more than a third finding it easier to talk to a colleague as they are less likely to worry.

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I’m a designer and I job share with an AI

I’m a designer and I job share with an AI

Thomas Edison is credited with the phrase “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration” and I believe there is no field where this applies more than architecture and design. So often people assume that interior design is such a fun, creative job – that it’s all about drawing, colours and furniture, something like being paid to colour in and shop – when today being a designer is just as much about people management, psychology, project management, documentation, checking codes and standards and managing contracts.  It’s also often about a culture that expects long hours and being always available to the job. “It’s not work when you are passionate about it?” is common. But what if instead we could all work less hours and job share with our computers?

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Majority of UK employees want Britain to adopt French out-of-hours email ban

Majority of UK employees want Britain to adopt French out-of-hours email ban

Majority of UK employees want Britain to adopt French out-of-hours email banOver a third (35 percent) of UK workers continue to work when then get home from the office, claims research from Insurance2go into whether British workers are struggling to stick to working within their designated office hours. The survey found that a third (35 percent) of continue to answer work email or conduct work tasks on their personal mobile phones when they get home from work, a quarter (25 percent) do the same during their lunch break, and just under a quarter (23 percent) have said they work on their personal handsets on their commute. Meanwhile, across the channel, French employees have been given the legal right to ignore work emails outside of working hours, with companies of over 50 workers providing a charter of good conduct, setting out the hours when staff are not supposed to send or answer emails. When asked if the UK should follow-suit, 65 percent of workers were in favour, implying a strain on British staff and an expectation to be ‘always on’ even in non-working hours.

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Not enough support given to employees suffering from mental ill health in the workplace

Not enough support given to employees suffering from mental ill health in the workplace

Majority of staff say employers remain apathetic regarding mental health at workWell over half of workers do not think enough support is given to employees suffering from mental ill health in the workplace, as according to research released today by Personal Group a startling 39 percent of respondents said their workplace does not offer any mental health support for employees. And of all employees surveyed 66 percent felt their employer does not offer enough support for employee mental health. This corporate apathy felt by employees arrives at a time when awareness of mental health issues in the UK is on the rise. 80 percent of respondents said they had noticed an overall increase in awareness of mental health generally in the UK, however a staggering 62 percent said they noticed no change in the levels of awareness in the workplace.

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The biggest challenge facing HR managers in 2019 will be employee engagement

The biggest challenge facing HR managers in 2019 will be employee engagement

An annual study commissioned by Cascade HR has revealed the topics most likely to keep Human Resources professionals awake at night in 2019. The 2019 HR Landscape Report report claims that employee engagement has topped the list for the second year running, with 40 percent of the 423 respondents believing it will be their biggest challenge over the next 12 months. Recruitment and retention were a close second and third (37 percent and 36 percent respectively), followed by absence management (29 percent) and wellbeing (22 percent). It appears similar themes have posed the biggest headaches as 2018 has unfolded too. When asked to reflect on their toughest encounters from the last year, HR directors, managers and executives ranked recruitment as the clear front runner (45 percent), followed by absence management (36 percent), with retention and GDPR compliance in joint third place (35 percent).

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Line up of speakers announced for Workplace Trends: Research Spring Summit

Line up of speakers announced for Workplace Trends: Research Spring Summit

The research-driven Workplace Trends Spring Summit returns for 2019. We have two sessions with invited guest speakers, our keynote and the after lunch debate. Following a recent Call for Abstracts and a blind peer review by our two moderators for the day, Nigel Oseland (Workplace Unlimited) and Mark Eltringham (Workplace Insight), the remaining sessions have now been filled with the highest ranked submissions.

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New interior design collective launches in Manchester

New interior design collective launches in Manchester

Mix Design Collective in association with Bruntwood, part of Mix Week Manchester, is a brand-new workplace design event that will celebrate the best national and international design products. Created by Mix Group, home to Manchester Headquartered, award winning Mix Interiors magazine and Out There Events, Mix Design Collective will see themed spaces, curated by leading architects and designers including Gensler, Hassell, Faulkner Brown Architects, Incognito, Michael Laird Architects and tp bennett. Heart Space, Health & Wellbeing, Engage, Smart & Connected, New Analogue and Escape will showcase a range of workplace settings incorporating cutting edge design ideas and products. Mix Design Collective is a must attend event and free of charge for those involved in architecture, design, commercial property and construction. Visitors will have access to the design leaders of the future whilst being immersed into the six live working zones.

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