Search Results for: mental

July 6, 2016

Overworked UK staff are losing touch with their home lives ⁰

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

Over half of all UK workers’ home lives are negatively affected by work, with one in five admitting they’ve missed important milestones in their children’s lives. According to a survey of 2,000 people in the UK, commissioned by Coople, 51 percent admit that their current workloads are affecting their lives at home. They are missing kids’ birthdays and other important milestones like school plays, parents’ evenings and award ceremonies because of work. The research claims that poor work-life balance has been detrimental to parents’ relationships with their children, with 11 percent saying working late and not ‘switching off’ has distanced them from their young ones. Most worryingly, 28 percent of those that admitted to missing important events have done so more than five times during their working life, 10 percent say they have missed their child’s event once, 26 percent say they have done so twice, 29 percent three times, and 7 percent admit they’ve done so four times.

July 5, 2016

Sea and space: the final frontiers for remote working and connectivity ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Case studies, Comment, Knowledge, Legal news, Technology

Tim Peake’s recent return home from space at the end of a six month stay in the International Space Station highlighted just how essential it is for people to stay in contact with their friends, family and the rest of the world, literally from wherever they may be. Of course, back on Earth we now take it for granted that we are in a state of constant connectedness to the rest of the world. So the idea of someone being out of contact, even for brief periods of time, strikes us as odd. Perhaps that partly explains our fascination with the experiences of astronauts and other people who cannot take connectivity for granted. But it’s not just astronauts who have to consider how to enjoy the connectedness that we normally assume to be ours by right. People who work at sea face the same challenge and you could argue that it is more important for such truly remote workers to be in contact with other people and the Internet. So who fares better when it comes to achieving connectivity?

July 5, 2016

LBGT inclusion in the workplace relies on FM and HR best practice ⁰

by Peter Holmes • Comment, Facilities management, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

Much has been written about the business case for diversity and inclusion with one overarching theme; people perform better when they can be themselves. This is especially true for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans employees. Have you ever hesitated before talking about your partner to a colleague at work? Anticipated how they will react when they find out the person’s gender? Have you ever thought twice about going to the toilet in the office? Spent more time worrying about which facilities you’ll use than the looming deadline you have coming up? These are just a few examples of the thoughts that can consume the mental power of an LGBT person when you create a working environment which isn’t inclusive. According to last year’s Open For Business report, LGBT diversity and inclusion in the workplace impacts two key areas of productivity – business and individual performance, which rely on a focus on sound management and an inclusive workplace design.

July 5, 2016

Employers need more help in navigating the Apprenticeship Levy ⁰

by David Allison • Comment, Workplace

According to the latest governmental statistics, apprenticeships reached a record high in 2014/15 with over 871,000 apprenticeship participants within the UK. The majority of these were in the service sector, and almost three quarters were concentrated in three sectors: Business, Administration and Law; Retail and Commerce Enterprise and Public Services and Care. Last year the government announced its plans to introduce a new UK-wide levy on large employers in a bid to fund apprenticeships and to create 3 million more apprentices by 2020. Due for implementation in April 2017, this levy promises to have a significant impact on the existing apprenticeship landscape. As the implementation of the apprenticeship levy draws nearer, it is rising to the top of companies’ HR and Finance agendas, as businesses attempt to work out how to reap a return on investment, with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) calling for the Government to put off its introduction.

July 4, 2016

New office market briefing remains cautious about impact of potential Brexit ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Company news, Knowledge, Property

JLL has published a new briefing document to look at the possible impact of the recent Brexit vote on the UK’s office market. The report’s main claim is that the underlying economic fundamentals in the UK remain solid in comparison to previous downturns, and, while expectations are unsurprisingly being downgraded, there is still no need for occupiers or landlords to become too concerned at the moment before the full details and effects of the UK’s exit from the EU become apparent. The document also suggests: occupiers are taking stock, so flexibility is likely to become fundamental to near term decision making. Longer-term impacts or benefits of Brexit are still to play out; office occupier demand in London will be subdued in the near term although low vacancy levels, coupled with an increasingly diverse occupier base, should prevent a dramatic fall in rents compared to previous market corrections; hotels will benefit from weakened sterling and increase in tourism although they may see costs increase.

June 27, 2016

Best tall buildings in the world, regional awards winners announced ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, News, Property

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has announced the winners of its annual Tall Building Awards for 2016. The Awards are, judged by a panel of experts, primarily drawn from the property and architecture sectors. The CTBUH claims its awards provide ‘a more comprehensive and sophisticated view of these important structures, while advocating for improvements in every aspect of performance, including those that have the greatest positive impact on the individuals who use these buildings and the cities they inhabit.’ The best tall buildings have been announced for each of four regions: Americas, Asia & Australasia, Europe and Middle East & Africa. While the winners in the Middle East and US were both residential projects, the winners in Asia and Europe were both primarily office based or mixed use projects; the Shanghai Tower in Shanghai and The White Walls mixed-use building in Nicosia, Cyprus.

June 24, 2016

Procrastination + Transparent office design + That Brexit thing ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Legal news, Newsletter, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Newsletter; Sathesh Alagappan outlines the impact on UK employment law following the Brexit vote; Mark Eltringham looks at taking transparent office design to new extremes; and why, according to Dr Piers Steel, this is the golden age of procrastination. Over a third of jobs in the tech and creative sector found within the Capital; a lack of trust precludes employees from donning wearables in the workplace; and new liability rules for the automated workforce of sophisticated ‘smart’ robots. News that 15 percent of organisations in the UK don’t place any focus on the mental health and wellbeing of employees; small firms more likely to adopt virtual working and both UK and US staff routinely work beyond their contracted hours. You can download our Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, on the boundless office; visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

June 24, 2016

Property and workplace experts have their say on the Brexit outcome ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Comment, Facilities management, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

Well, the results are in and the UK’s electorate has voted by a narrow margin for the country to leave the EU. There are likely to be other developments but whatever you make of the UK’s decision to vote to leave the EU – and I think it’s fair to say most independent people think it’s inexplicable – there’s no doubt that it will have a profound impact on the UK’s economy, relationship with the world, culture, working conditions and markets. What it will mean in practice won’t be apparent for months or years, of course, but that hasn’t stopped experts who work in the property, workplace, design, legal, HR and architecture sectors having their say on its potential implications. We’ll look at these specific issues in more detail going forward but for now, here’s a round-up of those we have so far, which we’ll keep updated throughout the day as the dust settles on what will prove to be a momentous decision for the UK, Europe and rest of the world.

June 23, 2016

How could UK employment laws be affected by the outcome of the Brexit vote? ⁰

by Sathesh Alagappan • Comment, Legal news, Workplace

The result of yesterday’s EU referendum vote will dominate the UK’s political scene for months now and the outcomes will be followed with particular interest by business owners, who currently have to adhere to a range of employment laws that either originate from the EU itself or have been developed within the context of our membership of the organisation. Therefore, a vote for Brexit today could fundamentally change the way businesses operate in the UK. This is particularly true given that a large amount of the UK’s employment law has its roots in Brussels. Article 153 of The Lisbon Treaty set the precedent for this. It allowed the EU to create a base level of legislation that applies to all facets of the workplace. This includes working hours, workers’ rights, and health and safety. Individual nations are free to supplement this with their own legislation. For example, the minimum wage is an example of employment legislation that is independent of the EU.

June 22, 2016

One in six business leaders don’t link staff wellbeing with organisational success ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

You can take this story however you like, but a new YouGov survey of attitudes amongst British business leaders claims that just one in six (17 percent) believe that fostering a healthy work-life balance for employees is not important for their organisation. The research also found that 15 percent of organisations in the UK don’t place any focus on the mental health and wellbeing of employees. Furthermore, three in ten (31 percent) say that their company does not do anything to actively promote mental well-being in the workplace. However, there is a clear difference in approach based on size of the organisation involved. Small businesses (44 percent) surveyed are far more likely to admit they don’t do anything, compared to medium (29 percent) and large (15 percent) businesses. This all still means that the majority of firms are actively interested in their employees’ wellbeing, but the proportion of those who aren’t may raise an eyebrow.

June 20, 2016

What happens when you take transparent office design to extremes ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Case studies, Comment, Facilities management, Furniture, Workplace design

A rigid and unswerving adherence to a principle is rarely a good thing in the long run. This is perhaps doubly so when it comes to office design because the end result is often something that overlooks what offices are really for; namely giving human beings a place to go to be with one another. So, when you take a design dogma to extremes that ignore the human being that should be your core concern, you end up getting something like the office with no chairs, because ‘sitting is the new smoking’. Or you get the office made completely of glass because ‘transparency generates trust’. While it’s true that the Dutch firm MRVDV responsible for the refit of the building in Hong Kong has included some genuinely successful features, not least in the use of natural light and the environmental performance of the building, the interior itself is clearly the end product of meetings in which nobody felt comfortable telling everybody to knock it off.

June 17, 2016

Home or away. What should employers be doing about the game? ⁰

by Anita Rai • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news, Workplace

The Euros 2016 are underway. It’s an exciting time for the nation, but not so much for businesses that are potentially facing a largely absent workforce, be it physically or simply because they will spend at least 90 minutes of their afternoon glued to their mobile phones watching the match. Some employees might have been organised enough to book annual leave for the afternoon, but for many, they will be devising a cunning plan as to how they can get away to watch the match. Employers can expect to be faced with a hike in “sickies” and last minute requests to work from home as suddenly there’s a delivery due or a poorly child to look after. Some employees will just decide to chance it and not come back to the office after their lunch breaks, with no pre-authorisation at all. So what should you be doing as an employer?