June 14, 2019

The greenest building is no building, our false craving for silence and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

As climate scientists issue increasingly stark warnings about the global environmental catastrophe that is increasingly likely within a very short time frame, Will Jennings issues a timely reminder in the Architects Journal that the greenest type of building is no building at all. And that is doubly so when the building we are talking about is The Tulip, which would clearly be a very bad idea at any time. The author takes particular exception to the glossy environmental pledges made by high profile architects when contrasted with the ugly, vacuous grandstanding typified by The Tulip. More →

June 12, 2019

People can hit career dead end in their fifties

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

With a rising retirement age and the prediction that by 2020, a third of UK workers will be aged 50 or over, new research from job board Totaljobs and recruitment firm Robert Walters found that many workers in their 50s find their career options and development opportunities are extremely limited.

June 7, 2019

On target for a toxic workplace culture

by Nick Pye • Comment, Workplace

Setting clear and bold targets has become part of leadership 101. We take it for granted that the first action for anyone taking over the helm of a business or team is to state or re-state targets. The rise of “management by objectives” in the 1970s drove the initial focus on target-setting and, in line with shoulder pads and lapel width, the 1990s saw a shift in management culture to ‘bigger is always better’. In 1994 Jim Collins and Jerry Porras wrote their highly influential best seller Built to Last. In it, they memorably wrote of the power of BHAGs – big, hairy, audacious goals. Targets were no longer for hitting but represented something bigger, a longer-term vision of the future.

June 6, 2019

In defence of open plan office design

by Elizabeth Mixson • Features, Workplace design

Noisy, distracting, toxic and disastrous. These are just a few words that have been used to describe open plan office layouts. Though the open office layout model was originally conceived to promote collaboration, innovation and stronger workplace relationship, if recent press is to be believed, it’s had the opposite effect at many companies. More →

June 5, 2019

Workers want firms to improve environmental policies

by Marie Hillen • Environment, Facilities management, News, Workplace

Research commissioned to mark today’s World Environment Day claims employees expect their employers to commit to better environmental policies and sustainability, with three quarters of office workers (73 percent) wanting their workplace to improve its sustainability policy, and nearly a quarter (24 percent) claiming they would refuse a job at an organisation with a poor sustainability record.

June 3, 2019

Come for the rent, stay for the experience of coworking

by Aki Stamatis • Comment, Coworking, Workplace design

When attending last year’s CoreNet Global Summit in Boston, there was a poll of the real estate executives gathered to discuss the key trends affecting the world of commercial property. During the event we were asked about our attitudes to coworking by the event organisers and Cushman & Wakefield. What emerged was a portrait of genuine revolution in real estate thinking. The number of employees from the respondents’ organisations using coworking space had doubled in the previous two years and now stood at around 11 percent of all employees. More →

April 26, 2019

A third of accountancy professionals feel stressed at work

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

Accountancy has joined the legal profession in a developing mental health epidemic within their respective workplaces. Recent studies found that just over a third (37 percent) of solicitors feel stressed by work, striking a worrying comparison between themselves and accountants. The accountancy profession is in the grip of a mental health crisis according to a new study which claims that a third (31 percent) of chartered accountants feel stressed on a daily basis. The research, conducted by CABA, a wellbeing charity, suggests that as few as 2 percent of respondents claim to be unaffected by stress. More →

April 26, 2019

Great expectations at work causing stress and rise in mental ill health

by Marie Hillen • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Employees feel expectations at work are playing an integral role in diminishing their mental health a new report suggests, which includes increasing pressures to work outside of office hours, through annual leave and even on sick days. Westfield Health’s inaugural Wellbeing Index, which claims to shine a spotlight on stress, found 61 percent of HR professionals identified mental health related issues as the main reasons for absences within their workforces, with over half (51 percent) noticing an overall increase in sick days. ‘Leavism’ – working outside of contracted hours and on annual leave days – is also prevalent throughout the British workforce, with 67 percent in HR saying it’s a very real issue for them.

April 10, 2019

Insecure managers can cause huge damage to their organisations

by Marie Hillen • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Insecure managers who worry that their performance could be undermined by competent subordinates can end up ostracising talented employees they feel are a threat to their own position. According to an paper published in The International Journal of Human Resource Management by Professor Kirk Chang of the University of Salford Business School and his research team, managers whose negativity towards staff they see as threats can go on to cause huge damage to their organisations. Professor Chang, an expert in human resource management, said: “While the competence of subordinates is considered desirable in the workplace, it may create challenges in managing people in organisations.”

April 5, 2019

The ladder of life, the death of work, the cane toad of property and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features

We start with a question. Why hasn’t the gig economy killed traditional work?, asks Greg Rosalsky and goes on to explain what many people have now realised. The answer, as Greg points out, is that the gig economy doesn’t replace traditional work, never has, and the rise of casual work of this kind has primarily been a way for people to deal with a volatile labour market and shrinking real incomes. Offer them the choice of a decent monthly income, benefits and a contract and most of them will take you up on it.

March 22, 2019

UK workforce increasingly concerned with impact of Brexit on employment

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

More than a third (34.25 percent) of UK residents believe that Brexit would affect their current employment in a negative way, and only a negligible 3 percent of respondents think that Brexit will positively affect their current employment. Compared to the survey from Personal Group in 2018, there are some gender, age and professional nuances. Twelve times as many men than women have become more concerned about the impact on Brexit on their current employment. In February 2019 the number of men who believe Brexit will affect their employment negatively increased by almost 8 percent (7.89 percent) compared to a less than 1 percent (0.63 percent) rise amongst women.

March 18, 2019

Greatest motivator for employees is more recognition, whether monetary or not

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

The biggest motivator for staff at work is more recognition, whether monetary or not, according to a new survey on rewards at work by XpertHR. When asked which rewards are most important to employees, more than half (53 percent) said higher basic pay, followed by a wider range of benefits (37.1 percent), but being recognised for the work they do was also cited as an employee priority by 56.1 percent of respondents). The survey also claims that employers are facing a constant battle to get employees’ salaries at the right level. Almost all (97.7 percent) organisations questioned said they would be looking at salary levels in some way over the coming year – whether that be through the annual pay review, benchmarking salaries against the market or complying with the national minimum wage legislation.