Search Results for: home working

BIFM members vote in favour of change of name

BIFM members vote in favour of change of name

by • Facilities management, News

Members of the British Institute of Facilities Management have today voted to approve its Board’s recommendation to change the Institute’s name to the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM). A Manifesto for Change unveiled by Chairman Steve Roots on 1 March which set out to reframe facilities management by emphasising its ability to make a real contribution to organisations’ performance has been resoundingly supported by members who today voted overwhelmingly to adopt the new name.

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Why a Google office simply does not work for everybody

Why a Google office simply does not work for everybody 0

by • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace design

The open plan office versus closed debate rages on, and rather than running out of steam in the face of all of the evidence and reasoned argument put forward one one side or the other by many industry thought-leaders, it seems to have nine lives. Those grand and ground-breaking  new offices occupied by the world’s tech giants seem to be particularly popular examples of why highly open and transparent workplaces do, or don’t work, especially those headline-grabbing offices created around the world by Google. This public debate has led to some very interesting and insightful discussions in various forums (to which I have contributed), inspiring me to synthesise the key themes into four reasons why a Google office is not necessarily the right type of office for your organisation. Many thanks in particular are due to David Rostie and Kay Sargent for their valuable online contributions to the debates which inspired this article.

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Over a third of staff say employers fail to invest in next-generation workplace technology

Over a third of staff say employers fail to invest in next-generation workplace technology

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Over a third of staff say employers fail to invest in next-generation workplace technologyThe majority of employees are disappointed with their company’s lack of investment in technology, and despite the fact three quarters (76 percent) want to request flexible working – almost half still don’t have the option of working more flexibly, a new report from a technology company claims. According to the survey by technology company Ingram Micro Cloud UK, in collaboration with technology company Microsoft, despite the fact that Millennials and Centennials are often thought to be the driving force behind changing workplace practices – and are often derided in popular discourse for having unreasonable and unrealistic expectations – the calls for change are coming from all segments of the workforce. However, 85 percent of Millennials admit to procuring their own workplace technologies such as instant messaging, Skype, file hosting and sharing tools (all available from Ingram Micro Cloud) that aren’t supported or provided by their employer, which raises major security issues, acco.

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The self-employed enjoy higher levels of wellbeing and happiness, but work still needed

The self-employed enjoy higher levels of wellbeing and happiness, but work still needed

by • News, Wellbeing

Policymakers and business leaders must work to improve wellbeing among the self-employed, a new report by the Centre for Research on Self-Employment (CRSE), has said. Instead of exploring self-employed wellbeing through the conventional prism of economic success, the report, The Way to Wellbeing, adopts a new approach. It considers people’s overall life satisfaction, based on their subjective assessments of various aspects of their lives – including jobs, income, health, family life and leisure. The report found that wellbeing was higher among self-employed people by using subjective assessments of different aspects of their lives. This is the first time a major report of its kind has taken a holistic view of wellbeing – looking at jobs, health, family life and leisure – to build an overall picture of life satisfaction, rather than just using a narrow measure of economic success.

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Misunderstanding of mental health means millions of employees delay seeking help

Misunderstanding of mental health means millions of employees delay seeking help

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Misunderstanding of mental health means over seven million UK staff delay seeking helpAlmost 60 percent of UK employees are unable to identify key symptoms of the most common mental health conditions resulting in treatment delays for millions of workers. A new study from Bupa examined employees’ understanding of key psychological and behavioural symptoms of six of the most prevalent conditions in the UK, as well as identifying widely-held misconceptions. The research reveals that inaccurate assumptions have caused almost seven million people to delay seeking support for a mental health problem. Early diagnosis and treatment of conditions can improve recovery rates which is why medical experts at Bupa want to raise awareness of the accurate symptoms. More →

Bento by Dataflex ready to be the first complete ergonomic toolbox

Bento by Dataflex ready to be the first complete ergonomic toolbox

by • Company news, Furniture, Insight promotion

Dataflex has launched Bento®, the all-new, proven solution to make your work more comfortable in the most stylish manner. A patent pending product with unique practicality and design. The family of ergonomic desktop accessories that is designed for the way people work today. With an elegant design inspired by the Japanese lunchbox, Bento by Dataflex turns any on-the-go work environment into a stylish, well-organised, comfortable workstation.

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The future of the workplace emerges from the mists at Neocon

The future of the workplace emerges from the mists at Neocon

by • Features, Furniture, Workplace design

Chicago is one of the world’s great cities. Its dramatic lake and river setting, its magnificent architecture and its raw energy inspire the locals and businesses to achieve great things. People work and play very hard. Competition is fierce both in business as in the way the people relate to each other, and befits a city heavily influenced by waves of immigration down the ages. Apart from somewhat overly aggressive and noisy driving, if there is friction, you don’t sense it and it isn’t obvious. Most locals seem genuinely open and friendly, including to strangers, and happy to get on with their lives without troubling others. Perhaps they’re all being buoyed up by the great street music which is everywhere.

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We should not be quite so quick to demonise the open plan office

We should not be quite so quick to demonise the open plan office

by • Facilities management, Features, Furniture, Workplace design

There is a witch hunt on in the workplace. “Open plan” has become a dirty word and the national press are leading the mob in vilifying this so-called scourge. The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail and Business Week have all reported that “we can’t get anything done in an open-plan office” as it affects our concentration, our performance and our health. These news items are all damning, but perhaps not as damming as the Wikipedia entry on open plan which states: “A systematic survey of research upon the effects of open plan offices found frequent negative effects in some traditional workplaces: high levels of noise, stress, conflict, high blood pressure and a high staff turnover… Most people prefer closed offices… there is a dearth of studies confirming positive impacts on productivity from open plan office designs”.

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Employers and government need to work together to address looming Brexit skills gap

Employers and government need to work together to address looming Brexit skills gap

by • News, Workplace

As the UK continues to navigate a period of uncertainty ahead of its exit from the European Union, new research published by the City & Guilds Group and Emsi claims that nine in 10 employers already struggle to recruit the skilled staff they need. With most industries expected to grow between now and 2024, a significant number of skilled workers will be needed to meet demand. However, People Power, a study based on City & Guilds Group interviewing over 1,000 C-Suite employers in the UK and work with Emsi to undertake extensive economic modelling, has found that two thirds of UK employers think that the skills gaps in their businesses are likely to get worse or remain the same in the next three to five years.

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Nearly half of employees still assigned to same place as the traditional office clings on

Nearly half of employees still assigned to same place as the traditional office clings on

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property

Nearly half of employees still assigned to one place as traditional office clings on

The worry over a loss in productivity when people are able to work anywhere is entirely unfounded, and what we once called “alternative”, we have come to call current and future workplace strategies, a new report claims. Yet the new study, ‘The Once Alternative Workplace Strategies’, which was conducted and released by Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA), Global Workplace Analytics and Haworth Inc, found that nearly half of employees are still permanently assigned to one space; with no change since 2008. The research pinpoints five leading trends within today’s workplaces and compares the findings to the initial research from more than a decade ago. More →

Keeping people at the heart of the modern workplace

Keeping people at the heart of the modern workplace

by • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

skullcandy workplaceThe modern workplace is undergoing significant change, and it’s no surprise that many of these changes are driven by the adoption of new technologies. However, unlike previous eras of technological change, most of the technologies being adopted by organizations today have the potential to offer more autonomy, choice and flexibility to their employees. This can cause disconnects (literally) with the built environment, but it’s also possible for those who design and manage work spaces to adopt a new mindset to stay in lockstep with technological change and to ensure the creation of positive workplace experiences.

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Your happiness at work is not just down to your employer

Your happiness at work is not just down to your employer

by • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

When Google promoted a software engineer named Chade-Meng Tan to the role of “Jolly Good Fellow”, his career – and the entire culture of Silicon Valley – took a sharp turn. Meng, a cheerful employee valued for his motivational qualities, went from developing mobile search tools to spreading happiness across the organisation. Happiness became his job. Google wasn’t the first to hire someone with the sole remit of enforcing employee contentment. In 1999, when Google was still a start-up, French fashion brand Kiabi hired Christine Jutard as its chief happiness officer. She was one of the first to perform the role. But once Google did it, happiness at work became a key metric and other organisations quickly adopted their approach. Three years after Meng’s appointment, fast food giant McDonald’s even promoted Ronald McDonald from brand mascot to CHO.

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