Search Results for: management

Dog-friendly offices more appealing to Millennials than play rooms

Dog-friendly offices more appealing to Millennials than play rooms 0

Dog in officeOnly a third of US workers believe that promotion offers the potential to advance their career with more than a third of all workers and 44 percent of Millennials preferring to jump ship if the right opportunity arises. Addison Group’s second annual generational workplace survey found that regardless of generation, healthcare benefits was most important benefit (70 percent), followed by a high salary (59 percent). However, Millennials would choose one company over another that paid a higher salary if free meals, beverages and snacks (40 percent) and tuition reimbursement (36 percent) were provided. Millennials also rank a dog-friendly office (14 percent) higher than a napping room, concierge services and a play room with ping pong, billiards and video games. They also value the social aspect of the workplace highly, with nearly twice as many (15 percent) marking work-sponsored happy hours as important compared to Baby Boomers (8 percent).

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Too much focus on standing in the sit-stand debate say ergonomics experts

Too much focus on standing in the sit-stand debate say ergonomics experts 0

sit-stand-workstations-230X200Campaigners have been keen to promote the health benefits of adjustable or sit-stand workstations. However, according to the latest advice from the experts at the Ergonomics Program at Colorado State University’s Office of Risk Management and Insurance, too much focus has been placed on standing more and sitting less, when the mixture of the two postures is most important. Although sitting for too long can have detrimental effects on the body, standing for too long has its own set of detriments such as pooling of blood in the feet, increased back pain, varicose veins and even an increased risk of atherosclerosis (i.e. hardening and narrowing of the arteries). At the recent U.S. National Ergonomics Conference and Exposition, Dr. Joan Vernikos, former director of life sciences at NASA, simply said to stand up often. “Standing up often, at least 30 times a day, is a powerful antidote to sitting,” she said.

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RICS issues new international property measurement statement

RICS issues new international property measurement statement 0

RICS statementFrom 1 January 2016, all property measurements undertaken or commissioned by RICS’ professionals will need to comply with its new Property Measurement Professional Statement, which incorporates the new International Property Measurement Standard (IPMS), that changes the way office buildings are measured worldwide. The IPMS was developed by the independent Standards Setting Committee to address how different measurements create inconsistencies between regions. According to RICS, the change represents a major advance and will be welcomed by investors, occupiers and governments. RICS is making the new Property Measurement Professional Statement (incorporating IPMS) mandatory for all its professionals that undertake or commission property measurements in order to assure clients of surveyors that they will benefit from international best practice as the norm when working with RICS professionals.

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BRE acquires rival green building scheme to create new accreditation

BRE acquires rival green building scheme to create new accreditation 0

Green building LeedsThose bewildered by the confusion of acronyms that surrounds building environmental standards will be pleased to hear that BRE has acquired a rival standard to merge with itsBREEAM accreditation. BRE claims that the acquisition of CEEQUAL, a sustainability scheme for civil engineering, allows it to ‘create a single, science based standard and certification tool for civil engineering and infrastructure projects’. As a result of the acquisition, CEEQUAL will transfer its operations to BRE Global after which CEEQUAL will then be delivered by the BREEAM certification team with support from a CEEQUAL management team. The move is supported by the Institution of Civil Engineers and has been prompted by ‘the industry’s desire for a single sustainability rating scheme that addresses the challenges that infrastructure clients, professions and contractors currently face in delivering more sustainable and resilient infrastructure.’

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Over a third of UK workers are miserable at work and most plan to leave

Over a third of UK workers are miserable at work and most plan to leave 0

Hate jobOnly 35 percent of UK workers are happy with their job, and over a third (39 percent) admit that they feel miserable at work. In a new survey by Workwear Express  of over 1,000 people, just 14 percent said they planned to stay in their current job for the next year. This appears to be reflected in the amount of sickness they take, with 25 percent admitting that they’ve taken sick leave from work due to being so unhappy. Poor management was seen as the biggest contributor to an employee’s low sense of satisfaction at work, as just over 31 percent of those polled agreed that being badly managed was their biggest issue in the workplace. However, having a heavy workload was a close second, with 29 percent of people citing this as the reason for their unhappiness. A third (35 percent) of those polled said that Monday was the most miserable day of the week to work.

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Fast workplace migration to Windows 10 as demand for digital devices soars

Fast workplace migration to Windows 10 as demand for digital devices soars 0

Twice as many employees will use BYOD by 2018 predict analystsBy 2019, organisations will deliver twice as many applications remotely compared with 2015, according to analysts Gartner which predicts that 50 percent of enterprises will have started Windows 10 deployments by January 2017. Several factors are driving this, specifically awareness of the end of support for Windows 7 in January 2020, strong compatibility with Windows 7 applications and digital devices, and a pent-up demand for tablet and 2-in-1 device rollouts. Gartner also predicts that by 2018, touchscreens will be shipped on one-third of all notebooks. As the incremental price for touch decreases, it will become more normalized as a default feature for notebooks. Pricing is expected to get much more competitive in the second half of 2016 as manufacturing processes continue to improve and Windows 10 migration planning starts to accelerate. In addition, by 2018, 30 percent of enterprises will spend more on display screens than on PCs.

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RIBA signs UN Compact as part of an increased focus on ethics

RIBA signs UN Compact as part of an increased focus on ethics 0

RIBARIBA (The Royal Institute of British Architects) has become a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and has undertaken to support its principles on human rights, labour standards, the environment and corruption. Joining the UNGC is part of the RIBA’s focus on ethics which has recently included co-founding a new coalition to develop a set of globally recognised ethics standards for real estate and related professional organisations. RIBA President Jane Duncan said: “As our profession changes and becomes increasingly international, so must our approach to developing and reinforcing professional ethics. Architecture has a direct impact on societies and economies; it shapes and influences the world we live in. For this reason, we architects have a duty to uphold the highest standards wherever we practice. I am delighted that RIBA has signed the UN Global Compact and undertaken to support and promote its principles.”

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One in three high-earning and influential part time workers are men

One in three high-earning and influential part time workers are men 0

Flexible working power listThree in four workers in Britain do not believe it is possible to have a successful part time career, yet new statistics by flexibility experts Timewise shows that there are now an estimated 680,000 workers who are working formally part time in the higher income bracket (earning a minimum of £40,000 full time equivalent). And of these, 230,000 are men and 450,000 are women. The figures were unveiled as part of the publication of the fourth Power Part Time List – in association with Management Today, which lists the UK’s top 50 men and women who work in senior, business-critical roles, all on less than full time hours. This includes a record number of men – 11 out of 50, including the highest number of male nominees since the list’s launch in 2012; including part-timers from businesses such as – Dixons Carphone plc, leading advertising agency AMV BBDO, famed architecture practice EPR Architects, the Bank of England and EY.

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Acas analysis for anti-bullying week reveals workplace bullying is on the rise

Acas analysis for anti-bullying week reveals workplace bullying is on the rise 0

Workplace conflictWorkplace bullying is on the rise but many people are too afraid to talk about it according to a new study by Acas published to mark the beginning of anti-bullying week. The paper Seeking better solutions: tackling bullying and ill-treatment in Britain’s workplaces looks at the latest research on workplace bullying as well as calls to the Acas helpline. The analysis claims that bullying and ill-treatment is growing in Britain; and there are more incidents of bullying within certain groups such as public sector minority ethnic workers; women in traditionally male-dominated occupations; workers with disabilities or long-term health problems; lesbian, gay and bisexual and transgender people; and workers in health care. The helpline has received around 20,000 calls over the past year with some callers reporting that bullying caused them to self-harm or consider suicide.

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Study claims the Internet of Things will connect 6.4 billion objects next year

Study claims the Internet of Things will connect 6.4 billion objects next year 0

Internet_of_ThingsAccording to a new report from technology research organisation Gartner, 6.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016, up around a third (30 percent) from 2015, and will reach 20.8 billion by 2020. The study claims that in 2016, 5.5 million new things will become connected each day. Gartner estimates that the Internet of Things (IoT) will support total services spending globally of around US$235 billion in 2016, up nearly a quarter (22 percent) from 2015. Although the report claims that the technology will make significant inroads in consumer markets, services are dominated by the professional category defined by Gartner (in which businesses contract with external providers in order to design, install and operate IoT systems). However connectivity services (through communications service providers) and consumer services will grow at a faster pace, according to the report.

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Remote workers endure poor communications and working practices

Remote workers endure poor communications and working practices 0

Poor communciation within remote teamsPoor communication and working practices among remote teams is widespread, a new report by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) claims. Organisations are failing to capitalise on the potential for remote working to improve performance and efficiency with 88 percent of remote workers struggling with inconsistent working practices and miscommunication, while 83 percent feel overwhelmed by emails. Although 84 percent of remote workers report improvements to their work-life balance, a lack of team identity can cause isolation and loneliness. The study with over 1,000 remote workers highlighted a range of potential benefits for organisations with a remote or geographically-dispersed workforce, including increased business reach, improved productivity, cost and time savings, and access to a more diverse set of skills and experience.

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The three workplace professions need to face up to a new reality

The three workplace professions need to face up to a new reality 0

Eternal triangleThe modern workplace consists of an often unholy trinity of people, place and technology and each of these facets has its own associated profession; HR. IT. FM. Six letters. Three disciplines. One big mess. When life was simple, with people generally going to work in the same place and at the same time, each of these professions could operate in its own bubble, with a clear sphere of influence and control. Sure, they could behave in interdisciplinary ways, they could have their intersections, but at the end of each encounter they could each go their separate ways. That is no longer true. The workplace is no longer primarily physical, but digital and cultural too. The boundaries of space and time have slipped and taken with them the clear demarcations between the three main workplace professions. All of this is bound to provoke as big an existential crisis for the professions as it does for the workplace itself.

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