Search Results for: management

February 23, 2016

Belief in a corporate wellness narrative is more important than action ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The complexities of wellness at work are laid bare in a new report from the US based pressure group Global Wellness Institute. The most eye-catching conclusion from The Future of Wellness at Work study is that it’s not actual wellness programmes that do most to boost worker health and productivity, but whether employees identify that company as ‘caring’. The report claims that ‘unwellness’ now costs the US around $2.2 trillion each year, equivalent to 12 percent of GDP. The report is published alongside a white paper which lays out the findings from a survey of American employees. Unlocking the Power of Company Caring gauges how employees feel about their work culture and wellness programmes. The main finding of the two reports is that to understand what has the most powerful impact on employee wellness ‘you must look well beyond the wellness programme’ itself. Instead, the pivotal factor is whether an employee identifies their company as caring about their health and wellness.

February 22, 2016

Commercial property costs organisations more than commonly supposed ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The British Council for Office (BCO) has released a new report which questions the commercial property industry’s commonly ‘accepted wisdom’ that if you break down overall business operation costs, 80 percent of the total goes on salaries and 10 percent on property, with other expenses making up the rest. The BCO’s analysis has found that a more realistic split is 55 percent (salaries), 15 percent (property) and 30 percent (other business costs). So while salaries continue to dominate overall costs, property and non-property business costs play a greater role than the commonly received idea. The BCO believes this clearer understanding of how much property represents of overall business costs will now change, influence and underpin business decisions. This new analysis may also have an impact on rental forecast and could also affect the impact of changing business rates – affecting what organisations may be able to afford.

February 19, 2016

A fifth of UK commercial property may fail to meet new energy standards ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Earlier this week, we reported on the surprisingly large proportion of the UK’s commercial property that emitted far more carbon than it was designed to produce. Now, a new report from Cushman & Wakefield suggests that nearly a fifth of commercial buildings in England and Wales could be barred from being let because it does not comply with new Government energy standards. The report urges owners and investors to understand their risk and where necessary make improvements to ensure their buildings exceed the minimum energy efficiency standard – or face the prospect of the value of their assets decreasing significantly. The Government’s Energy Act, passed in the last Parliament, included a provision that from April 2018 it will be unlawful to rent out a business property with an EPC rating below the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), which is an ‘E’ rating. Any building that fails to meet this requirement (rated ‘F’ or ‘G’) will be classed as “sub standard” and may suffer a substantial drop in value.

February 18, 2016

What would happen if you didn’t turn up for work tomorrow? ⁰

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

You might assume that most people would like to think of themselves as more or less indispensable at work. And if they’re not already, would like to make themselves indispensable at some point. But what exactly would happen if you simply didn’t turn up for work tomorrow? It might be nothing, as the recent case of Joaquin Garcia proved. The Spanish civil servant hadn’t turned up to work for at least six years, according to reports from last year. His absence only came to light when his employer decided he was eligible for a long term service award. His case became something of a sensation in Spain, where he earned the moniker el funcionario fantasma – the phantom official. But his story isn’t a one off. In a grim news item from 2004, a Finnish tax inspector died at his desk and the fact went unnoticed for two days.

February 18, 2016

The UK public sector workplace is disempowered and can’t cope with change ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A new report claims that the typical public sector workplace in the UK is dysfunctional on a number of levels. That is not the conclusion of some right wing think tank, but instead comes from Civica’s Invigorating the Public Sector Revolution report, commissioned in partnership with Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE). Based on a survey of 276 senior and middle management staff, a mere 7 percent of respondents said that the public sector offered an empowering working culture and just 25 percent believe their management teams have the skills and attitudes to lead the organisation over the next ten years. Of particular concern was the ability of organisations to cope with change. Just under half (47 percent) of those surveyed believe their leadership team lacks the management skills needed for ‘a period of massive and accelerating change’.

February 15, 2016

UK commercial buildings emit far more carbon than they were designed to ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News

Commercial buildings in the UK may be producing an average of 3.8 times more carbon than the estimate presented at their design stage, according to research from InnovateUK. The study examined six years of data from Innovate UK’s Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) Programme. It found that only one of the 48 buildings studied produced the amount of carbon specified by its design. In some cases, total emissions were 10 times the rate calculated for Part L compliance. ‘Building Performance Evaluation Programme: Findings From Non-Domestic Projects’, identifies complex energy controls and building management systems (BMS) as significant factors in poor levels of carbon emissions, suggesting that they should be simplified. Although two-thirds of the buildings studied employed renewable energy, a significant proportion of these experienced problems that had a negative impact on their energy consumption and carbon emissions.

February 9, 2016

Career progression stalled by lack of respect for mums who work part-time ⁰

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

A recent UKCES report suggested it is career and personal choices that explain the gender pay gap, because so many women work part time after children. Now a new report supports the view that the dearth of women in senior management roles is a result of a lack of access to promotion for those in a part time role. A survey conducted by Mothers Mean Business, claims that mothers returning to work are frustrated at the lack of opportunities to further their careers. The survey canvassed the views of women from a wide range of sectors and varying levels of seniority and found that nearly three quarters (71 percent) returned to work part-time after having their children but 83 percent feel there has been a potential or definite limit to their career options, 71 percent haven’t received a promotion since working part-time and 42 percent said they had received negative comments from colleagues after switching to part-time hours.

February 5, 2016

What the commercial property market tells us about trends in office design ⁰

by Paul Goodchild • Comment, Property, Workplace design

It’s become commonplace in recent years for certain people to foresee the death of the office. The problem with this argument is that, in spite of its drawbacks, office life maintains an attraction for both employers and employees and there will always be an upper limit on how long people want to spend away from other people. Things are changing but the death of the office is a myth. As we’ve known for at least a quarter of a century, there is no absolute need for us to go to work at all. Theoretically we could just do away with offices completely if we wanted to. But as we have seen, the fact we have evolved technology to the point where we could forget about bricks and mortar, doesn’t necessarily mean we will. Not only are there practical reasons for offices to continue to exist, there are emotive ones too. If you want evidence of this, look no further than the records currently being set by the UK’s commercial property markets.

February 3, 2016

HR managers must innovate to stay relevant in the evolving workplace ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

As the workplace moves from the traditional 9-5 model, management needs to adapt accordingly. Facilities managers are already being forced to think outside the box, and now human resources and line managers must do the same. The latest CIPD/Workday HR Outlook leaders’ survey spells out the challenge; that new ways of working and operating is an increasing reality for organisations. Yet while there is general agreement about overall strategic priorities it seems to be less clear to the wider business world how HR professionals will contribute to achieving these. Despite nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of HR leaders saying that their current people strategy will help the organisation achieve its future priorities, just a quarter (26 percent) of other business leaders agree. The CIPD recommends that the profession must look at ways in which it can innovate itself in order to stay relevant and more visibly demonstrate its ‘enabling role’ as the workplace evolves.

February 3, 2016

Flexible working men pay a greater career premium than women ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News

The growing complexities of flexible working and changing gender roles are laid bare yet again in a new report published in Australia by management consultancy Bain & Company and advocate group Chief Executive Women. The report, The Power of Flexibilty, claims that male workers pay a penalty in their careers when they opt for flexible working because they enjoy less support and are more harshly judged than their female counterparts. Many are regarded as anomalies, caught between the expectation that men spend longer hours at work on the one hand, while striving to create a more balanced life, often in a household in which a woman is increasingly likely to be the main breadwinner. The authors of the report claim that men are currently experiencing the same sort of stigmas and biases faced by women in the early days of flexible working, even though both sexes continue to face barriers when opting for flexible work.

February 2, 2016

Record investment in UK commercial property in 2015, but trouble ahead ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

A near record £67.5 billion was invested in UK commercial property in 2015, making it the second strongest year on record and 46 per cent above the 10-year average, according to research from commercial property analysts CoStar Group. Momentum slowed sharply in the second half of the year, with investment down 19 per cent from the previous year. According to CoStar, this reflects the fact that investment activity has been especially strong over the previous 18 months and good opportunities are harder to find, but also that global economic and political uncertainty are impacting investment decisions. Nevertheless, 2015 was a strong year for the UK’s Big Six regional cities. Office investment increased 16 per cent to £3.2 billion, which is the highest level since the recession and more than double the eight-year average. Foreign investors seeking standing assets and development opportunities underpinned much of this investment.

January 29, 2016

Rise in skills shortage vacancies as training in UK firms falls short ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

New figures, published by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), show that despite a surge in job openings, the number of positions left vacant because employers cannot find people with the skills or knowledge to fill them has risen by 130 percent since 2011. These so-called “skills shortage vacancies” now make up nearly a quarter of all job openings, leaping from 91,000 in 2011 to 209,000 in 2015. Over a third of vacancies in electricity, gas and water and construction are now subject to some form of skills shortage, with transport and manufacturing not far behind. Only in public administration are skills shortages below 10 percent. And of particular concern, said the Chartered Management Institute was the revelation that almost half (48 percent) of UK managers have not received any form of training at all during the last 12 months, down from 50 percent in 2013.