Search Results for: flexible working

August 1, 2013

Predicting the future of the office means looking at what is happening now

by Charles Marks • Comment, Facilities management, Furniture, Workplace, Workplace design

Futurology is notoriously a mug’s game. Especially when it comes to making predictions about technology. Just ask Ken Olson, the founder of DEC who in 1977 pronounced that ‘there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home’. Or Bill Gates himself who once claimed that Microsoft ‘will never make a 32 bit operating system’. Most recently Steve Ballmer, a billionaire executive said in 2007 ‘there’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share.’ But mone of these retrosepctively viewed dodgy predictions should make us blind to those that we know will certainly come true, especially those based on what we know is happening in the present.

July 13, 2013

UK government falling behind in plans to modernise its workplaces

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Flexible working, Public Sector

The UK government has conceded that it is falling significantly behind in its plans to create a modern workplace involving a more flexible working environment for public sector employees. The plans were outlined in the Civil Service Reform Plan a year ago with the aim to create a “decent working environment for all staff, with modern workplaces enabling flexible working”. However, a report released this week by Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude confirms that the plans are now rated red, meaning they are significantly delayed or off track and that there is now a great deal of work that needs to be done to meet the stated aims of the plan. While some departments have made good progress, there is little cross-government work to meet the demands of the Government’s commitment.

July 5, 2013

UK’s superfast broadband arriving very slowly, claims government report

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

A new report from the National Audit office claims that the much vaunted roll out of superfast broadband to 90 percent of UK households is now two years behind schedule. The programme, seen as vital for the uptake of flexible working in rural areas, is now scheduled for completion in March 2017, around 22 months later than planned. The reasons identified by the NAO for the delays include six months awaiting EU approval along with a range of issues with the procurement of services including those related to the three key principles established to ensure the cost-effectiveness of the programme: the competitive framework; cost transparency; and the terms of supplier contracts. The NAO report claims that of these only the final principle is still functioning. BT is now the only bidder to provide services as others withdrew and it has failed to be sufficiently transparent about its costs.

July 4, 2013

UK workers mistrust more contented home-based colleagues

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

The debate which ensued following the Yahoo ban on home working earlier this year was as much as about the level of trust felt towards home workers as it was about the importance of collaboration within the workplace. The fact is that for the majority of home workers, day to day life is easier. No commuting, work where you please, no irritating colleagues and the freedom to nip out to the dentist, doctors or parents meeting without having to book a half day off. As a result, while home workers enjoy the best mental health and wellbeing of four groups in a survey of contact centre workers, office workers, home workers and mobile professional workers, their distance from the office-based working population breeds suspicion between them and everybody else. More →

June 21, 2013

Managing a work-life balance isn’t solely a women’s issue

by Sara Bean • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

Two reports published this week show that a cultural change is needed to stop employers assuming only female workers have families or other personal concerns that could impact on their workplace performance. A report into workplace equality by the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee (BIS) has called on the UK Government to do more to tackle female underrepresentation in sectors of the economy and to dispel the myth that any type of flexible working is a ‘women’s issue,’ problematic and cannot work. In the US a study by employee assistance providers Bensinger, DuPont and Associates (BDA) into stress has found that men are more than twice as likely to receive formal disciplinary action when the stress of a personal problem impacts on their work performance. More →

June 19, 2013

Five essential things to consider before you implement a BYOD policy

by Julia Johnston • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace

BYOD is far more than just allowing your staff to check their email on their personal mobile. It’s about the security of corporate information – we’re all demanding more flexible working to fit our lifestyles, but with flexibility comes personal responsibility. Are we rushing to join the BYOD party without realising some of the more serious considerations. A recent article on OfficeInsight considered a Gartner survey which suggested that BYOD would be prevalent by 2017. The article implied that companies should embrace this as an inevitable change. Before we get too excited, though, let’s explore some of the issues that BYOD should be raising for employers – including the technical demands that these policies make on IT departments and infrastructure, and the compliance IT departments will demand of staff.

May 30, 2013

UK public sector leading the way in procurement and sustainable building

by Paul Statham • Comment, Facilities management, Public Sector, Technology

Nottingham City Council’s Loxley Building

Over the last few years, the UK Government has grown increasingly interested in finding ways of making its £30 billion property portfolio more efficient. Both the last Labour government and the current Coalition administration have been driven by the opportunities offered them with the advent of new technology, new ways of working and new procurement models. They’ve pursued these issues to cut costs by reducing and changing the way property is designed and managed but have also found how that can also help to establish best practice in sustainable building. What is increasingly apparent, especially given recent news from the Major Projects Authority about cost savings in procurement is that the public sector is now leading the way as models of good practice.

May 17, 2013

Survey into UK culture of overwork highlights need for better worklife balance

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

A new study is published today which reveals how the UK’s long hour-culture is damaging family life, causing high stress levels, cutting time spent with loved ones and creating an inability to switch off from work. A survey of more than 1,000 working parents throughout the UK, commissioned by health cash plan provider Medicash, found that 83 per cent of working parents feel guilty about the amount of time they spend working, with 50 per cent saying it has a negative impact on relationships with their children, and almost half (45.9%), saying it caused problems in their relationship with their partner and caused them to neglect friends (25%).

May 2, 2013

UK underemployment rates more accurate measure say economists

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

The current economic downturn differs from previous recessions in that unemployment rates haven’t been quite as devastating, with employers opting to freeze pay rates and offer flexible working and reduced hours in order to retain staff. But according to a white paper published today this has led to an important new phenomenon – underemployment. In the latest issue of the National Institute Economic Review, economists David Bell and David Blanchflower of the University of Stirling and Dartmouth College describe workers who are underemployed when they are willing to supply more hours of work than their employers are prepared to offer. More →

May 1, 2013

Resistance to workplace change marks the passing of the old order

by Martin Brooker • Comment, Facilities management, Technology

When Vodafone announced in March that the UK’s businesses could save up to £34 billion with the more widespread application of flexible working models, the research to support the claim had two very familiar components. The first was a crystal clear business case, the second an admission that the message was still not quite getting through to those at the top. In fact, Vodafone claimed, around two-thirds of business leaders continue to insist their business can’t afford to reduce the number of workstations they use despite all evidence to the contrary. A third haven’t even considered the idea of reducing the number of workstations they use as a way of cutting costs.