Search Results for: technology

July 31, 2014

Yet another report into the Future of Work that is really about the present

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

Just a few days ago, a survey from Morgan Lovell and the British Council for Offices highlighted the value British workers placed on having somewhere to work, regardless of its drawbacks, privations and distractions. Now a new report from consultants PwC seems to draw the opposite conclusion. Heralded by predictably tedious headlines declaring the office to be dead or dying, The Future of Work: A Journey to 2022 claims that a quarter of the 10,000 people surveyed believe the traditional job will disappear and around a fifth claim to have already had enough of the 9 to 5 in a fixed physical space and would prefer to work in a ‘virtual place’ – which seems to mean anywhere with WiFi. As ever, any report addressing ‘The Future of Work’ is primarily and perhaps unwittingly about the present.

July 25, 2014

Employees embracing flexible working law change, finds survey

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

There has been a rush of people looking to take advantage of the new flexible working laws which came into place on June 30. A survey by Powwownow found that seven out of 10 people were aware of the change in the law, with many of them considering making requests for flexible hours. The survey amongst office workers around the country found that, within a week of the rule change, 8 per cent of respondents had already filed a request for flexible hours, with a further 11 per cent saying they wanted to follow suit. Just over one in three people in the survey said that in the future, flexible working was something they would consider. The most popular request made to date was for a change in working times; 52 per cent opted for this and 47 per cent said they wanted to change their working hours, possibly to allow for other commitments outside of work. More →

July 24, 2014

Global executives value work-life balance benefits of connected workplace

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

Senior global executives are working more hours and in more locations now ever, but advances in workplace connectivity mean they are far more satisfied with their work-life balance. According to the 2014 BlueSteps Work-Life Balance Report, by the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), over half (52%) are satisfied or very satisfied with their work-life balance. In comparison, four years ago, 55 per cent did not believe their current work-life balance was satisfactory. Global executives work an average of 58.5 hours per week, with 39 per cent working over 60 hours per week; but the majority (81%) of those polled consider work-life balance when deciding on whether or not to accept a new position.Over one quarter (28%) rate their work-life ratio as more important than their potential earnings and 31 per cent would refuse a promotion or new job offer if it negatively affected their preferred work-life balance ratio. More →

July 23, 2014

There is a moral imperative to meet global standards in workplace performance

by David Sharp • Comment, Company news, Facilities management

Many corporate organisations now operate on a global scale, with operations spread across a number of countries and continents. But while they are geographically diverse, they nevertheless have a requirement to meet measurable standards of performance, delivered on a consistent basis regardless of location. If something works well in one country, companies want to be able to replicate it in all others. Wherever standards relating to compliance, health and safety, sustainability, leadership or management are most rigorous, it makes good business sense to employ those same standards wherever they have a presence. But from the collapse of a building full of factory workers in Bangladesh to the death of hundreds of construction workers in Qatar, the need to promote and adhere to international standards is more than a matter of mere commerciality.

July 23, 2014

Three major UK office developments get green light following months of talk

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, News, Property

Plans for the new Astra Zeneca facility in Cambridge by Herzog & de Meuron

Three of the most talked about UK office developments have been given the go ahead within the space of a few days. The Government has finally announced that the new construction headquarters for HS2 will be in Birmingham, rather than London. Meanwhile, following all of the wrangling about its proposed takeover by Pfizer, Astra Zeneca has announced that the controversial move of its research facility from Cheshire to a new base in Cambridge will involve the creation of a new £330 million complex designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. Finally, planning consent has been granted for the 4.9 million sq ft Wood Wharf development in docklands including nearly 2 million sq ft of office space which the developer claims will be aimed at the thriving London technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector.

July 16, 2014

Three ways in which politicians display their ignorance of the workplace

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

The recent Cabinet reshuffle in the UK Government won’t alter one fact; politicians simply don’t get it when it comes to technology, the workplace, the way people work and the needs of small businesses. Once you dismiss the paranoid idea that they DO get it but don’t care because they’re too busy looking out for The Man, you have to conclude that one of the big problems they have (this won’t go where you think) is that they don’t understand anything about technology and work, especially when it comes to emerging technology, the working lives of individuals, the needs and functions of small businesses and the fact the self-employed exist at all. These things exist outside the bubble. This is obviously a problem because they are implementing policies and making big, uninformed and anachronistic decisions about the things that shape every aspect of our lives, help to define us as people and determine how companies and individuals function. Here are just three examples.

July 14, 2014

How Arthur C Clarke and other writers predicted tablet computing and the iPad

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology

Arthur C Clarke was one of those scientists and science fiction writers who made a pretty decent fist of getting his technological predictions right. Not only did he foretell general trends such as flexible working and the future nature of work in cities, he also got a number of details right, too. His screenplay for the Stanley Kubrick directed 2001: A Space Odyssey featured astronauts using something uncannily like an iPad. Indeed, so uncanny was the resemblance that when Apple came to have their long-running global patent tussle with Samsung following the 2010 launch of the iPad, the film was cited by Samsung as evidence that Apple hadn’t come up with the idea of a rectangular screened device at all. The judge ruling in the US case ultimately dismissed this specific argument but did conclude that other real world examples of devices would be admissible.

July 10, 2014

BBC announces further moves out of London to reduce cost of property estate

by Sara Bean • Company news, Facilities management, Workplace

BBC announces more moves out of London to MediaCity

MediaCityUK in Salford

The BBC has announced plans to move more of its BBC teams out of Media Village, London W12, to bases in Salford, Birmingham, Caversham and other buildings in London. It’s part of the corporation’s strategy to reduce the size and cost of its property estate, invest more of the Licence Fee in programmes, and build its presence outside the capital. Around 120 Future Media roles and 102 Technology roles will move to Salford during 2015, joining around 3,000 colleagues already based at MediaCityUK. Anne Bulford, Managing Director Finance and Operations, said: “We are well advanced with reducing the amount of space the BBC occupies in London W12. Spending less on these buildings will enable us to invest more of the Licence Fee in programmes, as well as continuing to build up our presence out of London, ultimately bringing us closer to audiences. BBC Worldwide is due to leave the Media Centre early in 2015, so we are developing proposals on how to accommodate the remaining occupants and free up this building to release savings.” More →

July 9, 2014

New Internet of Things consortium aims to set new global standards

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Technology

The familiar sight of companies scrabbling to define a standard global technology format on their own terms is evident with the announcement of yet another consortium intent on becoming the de facto standard for the Internet of Things (IoT). The Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC) includes heavyweights such as Samsung, Intel, Dell and Broadcom and is intent on defining ‘connectivity requirements to ensure the interoperability of the more than 30 billion devices projected to come online by 2020’. It joins the AllSeen Alliance and the Industrial Internet Consortium as one of a triumvirate of organisations, some with shared member companies, intent on cutting through the mish-mash of protocols associated with the Internet of Things. The principle will see a growing number of products and materials connected directly to the Internet and so able to exchange data. The adoption of the technology will have a profound impact in many areas of our lives, including workplace design and management.

July 4, 2014

A third of BYOD use is invisible to the organisation, claims new report

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

In spite of the ongoing effort by companies to manage the use of employees’ own technology through Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies, around a third of all BYOD activity is invisible to the IT department, according to new research from Ovum and Samsung. The report also claims that while over half of employees now use their own devices to work and access information, nearly two thirds of them are not subject to any formal IT policy. According to the report, the problem centres on the issue of ‘multi-screening’, whereby people decide which device is appropriate for whatever they are doing and don’t much care what the IT department thinks. In addition, nearly a quarter (22 percent) of employees use their own software and apps to work, which means that this is not a problem restricted to hardware. The upshot is that between 30-35 percent of BYOD is invisible to the organisation, although that represents a marked improvement on the situation a couple of years ago, when the proportion was around half.

July 3, 2014

Flexible work could dissuade the one in three workers that pull a sickie

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

One in three British workers admit to having pulled a ‘sickie’ – according to new research by PwC – and it’s costing UK business £9bn a year. As part of the research PwC surveyed over 2,000 UK adults and found that the most popular reasons for why people pulled a ‘sickie’ are hangovers (32%), to watch a sporting event (8%), being bored with your job (26%), interviews (26%) and Mondays (11%). One in 10 people said they have lied to take time off work due to good weather. A flexible working approach by employers is the measure that would most likely put people off from pulling a ‘sickie’, followed by initiatives such as ‘duvet mornings’ (where employees are allowed to take a couple of last minute lie ins a year). One in ten employees said that having to report the reason for their absence over the phone to their manager would put them off lying.Illness is by far the most common excuse used, but the research has revealed that some employees go to very creative lengths to cover up why they are taking off unauthorised time from work, including I was attacked by ants, my dog has eaten my keys, I got a rash from eating too many strawberries, and a male employee who told his boss that he had started the menopause.

June 24, 2014

The ties that bind facilities management with workplace design

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

There is an ongoing feeling within the facilities management discipline that when it comes to the design of workplaces, the majority of facilities managers are not consulted early enough or well enough or consistently enough to ensure that the end result of the design process is a workplace that is as functional and as effective as it could be. The reason this feeling persists is that in many cases it is true. Or at least is true to a greater or lesser extent depending on how you view these things. And if that sounds woolly, then you have to remember we are talking about facilities management here, finding a definition for which has been like nailing jelly to a wall for many years. In many cases the demarcation between workplace design and workplace management is based on the mistaken idea that the two have little correlation when in fact the relationship between them should be more akin to that between sex and parenthood. One is an act of creation and the other of care, with the latter a direct consequence of the former.