Search Results for: manufacturing

IWBI launches WELL health and safety rating for buildings

IWBI launches WELL health and safety rating for buildings

health and safetyThe International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has annouced the launch of the WELL Health-Safety Rating for all building and facility types, an “evidence-based, third-party verified rating focusing on operational policies, maintenance protocols and design strategies to address a post COVID-19 environment”. The new health and safety rating is one of the earliest outcomes of IWBI’s Task Force on COVID-19, a group of nearly 600 public health officials, virologists, government officials, academics, business leaders, architects, designers, building scientists and real estate professionals, which was established in late March to help guide a response to the pandemic. (more…)

Surface Design Awards announce judging panel for 2021

Surface Design Awards announce judging panel for 2021

Steve Webb of Webb Yates Engineers and Basha-Franklin’s Creative Director, Nicola Osborn have been appointed as Co-Chairs of the highly respected Surface Design Awards for 2021. Webb and Osborn are joined by a multi-disciplinary team of fellow judges selected from the architecture and design communities. The Co-Chairs invite their own team of design industry colleagues to join them on the judging panel. Steve Webb has invited Sarah Castle from IF_DO; Joseph Henry of GLA’s Regeneration Team and Architecture Initiative’s Lee Mainwaring. (more…)

Organisations think empowering people is the route to success (but only a few act)

Organisations think empowering people is the route to success (but only a few act)

Nearly 90 percent of organisations say their success depends on empowering frontline employees to make decisions in real, but only 7 percent offer people the tools they need, according to a new report from  Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, sponsored by ThoughtSpot. The report, The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers For Success, analyses the sentiments of 464 business executives from 16 industry sectors in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.  Only one-fifth of organisations say they currently have a truly empowered and digitally equipped workforce while 86 percent agree their frontline workers need better technology and more insight to be able to make good decisions in the moment. (more…)

Organisations should seize this opportunity to look at their values

Organisations should seize this opportunity to look at their values

Not since 911 has one event triggered such global impact and uncertainty across all businesses and industries. The unprecedented speed and scale of organisational change has challenged even the prepared leadership team. (more…)

When it comes to the future of work, we only know what we don’t know

When it comes to the future of work, we only know what we don’t know

As the threat and reality of COVID-19 simultaneously sweep the earth, the only certainty is the uncertainty, which is the least favourable place for businesses and individuals. The complexities of this situation cannot be underplayed, with multiple layers to consider, from human health both physical and mental to world economies. Whilst COVID-19 may be a great equaliser in terms of its indiscriminate contagion, the response from governments has varied widely. (more…)

Pandemic will force companies to rethink how they work

Pandemic will force companies to rethink how they work

Covid-19 pandemicThe Coronovirus outbreak and the worldwide reaction to the pandemic will force companies to radically rethink how they operate and embrace technological investment, claims global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research. In its new white paper, Taking Stock of COVID-19: The Short- and Long-Term Ramifications on Technology and End Markets (registration), ABI Research Analysts look at the current and future ramifications of COVID-19 across technologies and verticals.  Analysts also offer recommendations to weather the storm and strategies to help companies rebound and prosper after the pandemic has slowed.

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Workplace transformation decisions shifting from HR to senior management

Workplace transformation decisions shifting from HR to senior management

Infosys Knowledge InstituteWorkplace transformation (IKI), the thought leadership and research arm of Infosys, have published a global research report titled, ‘Drive Change from Within.’ The research claims that CEOs are now prioritising on driving a workplace transformation roadmap and contributing to its development in the organisation. (more…)

The theme park of modern office design

The theme park of modern office design

office design is moving into a new phaseHere’s an interesting exercise you may want to try. Off the top of your head and without thinking about it too much, write down the names of five iconic office furniture designs. The kind that your Aunt Sheila might recognise if she saw them but wouldn’t necessarily be able to name. When I did this recently while writing a piece about design trends, the products I came up with automatically were things like Frank Lloyd Wright’s desks for the Larkin building, Action Office, the 3107 chair (pictured), and Marcel Breuer’s Wassily Chair. (more…)

UK outpaced by other nations when it comes to women in work

UK outpaced by other nations when it comes to women in work

Despite holding firm in 16th place, the UK is being outpaced by greater improvements in female employment prospects in other OECD countries, according to PWC’s latest Women in Work Index, which analyses female economic empowerment across 33 OECD countries. While the UK performs above the OECD average and is second only to Canada when compared to other G7 economies, its position has barely budged since 2000 when it stood in 17th position, despite improving its performance across all five indicators. (more…)

Public sector hiring intentions at 12-year high

Public sector hiring intentions at 12-year high

An increase in hiring intentions among public sector employers looks set to support further employment growth in the UK, according to a report from the CIPD and the Adecco Group. The latest quarterly Labour Market Outlook survey suggests that public sector employment growth is expected to increase in line with the private sector for the first time since 2008. (more…)

EU membership can hamper local businesses

EU membership can hamper local businesses

EU membershipEastern European businesses have benefited overall from EU membership but, for local firms, the promise of joining does not always live up to expectation or improve productivity, a report has warned. On the plus side, EU membership results in a significant increase in foreign investment, the report from IZA World of Labor suggests. (more…)

Workplace leaders must adapt to a new technological reality

Workplace leaders must adapt to a new technological reality

workplaceI speak with senior workplace leaders daily and those conversations, coupled with our research and that of other people, offer us a striking perspective on the trends and changing nature of the workplace and in particular the impact of technology. Some themes are cropping up time and time again in these conversations and research and point to a new technology-led reality that we must all address. (more…)