Search Results for: environment

March 16, 2016

The difference between ‘recyclable’ and ‘recycled’ is management not material

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Environment, Facilities management, Furniture

The Times (paywall) has uncovered some pretty remarkable statistics about the way the British consume coffee. It appears that we now buy some 2.5 billion paper cups of coffee each year, primarily from the main High Street chains. That’s about 7 million cups a day. The good news for the environmentally conscious public would appear to be that all the chains ensure that each cup is fully recyclable and so prominently displays its green cred where the consumer can’t miss it. The problem is that just 1 in 400 of the cups are actually recycled with the rest going to landfill. The firms involved may include recycling bins in-store, but that accounts for just a fraction of the disposal of the cups. As The Times points out, the companies understand that consumers are more impressed by the claim that a product is 100 percent recyclable than 0.25 percent recycled. They are swayed by the material and ignorant of the management.

March 16, 2016

A new guide to delivering successful sustainable fit-out projects ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Facilities management, News, Workplace design

Today marks the publication of a new guide which claims to help contractors and end-users deliver sustainable fit-out projects. Published by trade body the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA), the Fit-out environmental good practice on site guide (C757) claims to be a more practical guide than other publications and standards and addresses the most important challenges for those responsible for fit-outs across a range of sectors including offices, retail, education, leisure and health. The authors claim that the fit-out sector faces unique challenges that include the need for a quick turnaround of projects, the need to control costs as well as deal with project specific site constraints. The guide aims to help the managers of fit-out projects to meet these challenges as well as helping them to deliver projects that are sustainable both during the fit-out phase, occupancy and the life of the completed project.

March 16, 2016

Hong Kong, London and Beijing most expensive cities for office space ⁰

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

Hong Kong is the world’s most expensive office location, followed by London, Beijing and New York.This is according to JLL’s Premium Office Rent Tracker, which compares like-for-like occupation costs across 24 cities around the world. This ranks Established World Cities such as New York and London, Emerging World Cities like Shanghai, Dubai and Mumbai, and New World Cities such as San Francisco, Boston and Toronto. The latest research shows that six of the top ten most expensive cities for office rentals are in Asia; with Hong Kong the world’s costliest office rental market on a net basis as well as including added costs such as service charges and property tax. The tracker found continued demand prime office space, despite a rise in economic uncertainty; while across the global cities, the technology, media and telecommunications sectors are moving into premium office space – previously dominated by the finance and professional services sector.

March 15, 2016

Décor matters but location most important factor for the ideal office ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace, Workplace design

Recent data has shown that increasingly, it’s people, not cost, which is the primary driver behind real estate decisions. British Land has carried out research into what features would make up the UK workers’ ideal office and the results point to a clear link between delivering these ideal features and talent recruitment and retention. The good news is that the workers surveyed believe they would be 36 percent more productive at work if they were working in the ideal office, and, 86 percent say they’d stay longer with an employer that had the ideal office location and features. The other side of the coin is that 80 percent believe that companies that don’t offer their employees a convenient location and attractive features are more likely to lose them. Younger workers in particular are markedly more likely to move jobs to find a working environment that suits them, and this includes offering a workplace with a ‘buzz’.

March 9, 2016

The nine workplace trends every organisation must learn to address ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

The latest company to set out its vision of workplace trends is food services provider Sodexo. The company’s 2016 Workplace Trends Report suggests there are nine key areas that managers should address, each linked by the common theme of striking the right balance between the organisation’s commercial objectives and the needs of its stakeholders. The report is a detailed meta-analysis based on primary research, client feedback and research from academics, trade associations and FM providers. The report covers the most talked about themes in workplace design and management including wellness, work-life balance, diversity, green building and workforce engagement. The authors acknowledge the challenge firms face in striking the balance between these complex and conflicting demands and call for an ‘holistic’ approach to resolve them (which may suggest they have as much of an idea about the right answers as anybody else).

March 9, 2016

Corporate real estate strategy shifts focus from cost to people ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

A new survey of corporate executives indicates a major shift in how companies make real estate decisions today, with more than half (50 percent) saying that talent is more important than cost (31 percent) as their foremost consideration. As a result, executives view the workplace as primarily a recruitment and retention tool that offers attributes such as a flexible workplace, high quality amenities and interiors. But while the people and workplace experience dominate the corporate real estate agenda, according to CBRE’s Americas Occupier Survey – escalating costs are a major concern. Of survey respondents, 85 percent cite space efficiency and restructuring as a top strategy for reducing occupancy costs. These two issues are driving real estate conversations; with the result that workplace strategy is increasingly being viewed as both a critical employee attraction and retention strategy (57 percent), and as a means to control costs.

March 8, 2016

Gen X most interested in just doing a good job than other generations ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace, Workplace design

We reported the other week that the hardest working generation in the UK is Generation X (born 1965-1980). It seems this applies all around the world, as a global survey by Korn Ferry Futurestep shows that this generation cares most about making an impact on the business and are the most engaged demographic. When asked which generation is the most engaged in the workforce, more than half of respondents of any generation (52 percent) said Generation X. Baby Boomers and Millennials were tied at just under 25 percent. The heads down, get-the-job-done attitudes and priorities of Gen X employees means they care more about the job than the environment and culture of the organisation than other age groups. Well over a third (39 percent) of respondents said that the “ability to make a difference in their organization” is most important to Gen Xers in the workplace. That’s nearly double the percentage that cite “job stability” or “development opportunities.”

March 8, 2016

Classrooms are starting to mimic the form and function of the office ⁰

by Tricia McCall • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

Technology is not the only factor impacting the way education is being approached in the classrooms of today. While it’s true that many classrooms have begun to adapt to the inclusion of technology in the curriculum, there are also several “offline” options which have clearly trickled down from business design. Globally known companies such as Google and Apple have long been getting attention for the offbeat office culture they are cultivating. This trend has been fanning out into the other companies and industries as well. In-house chefs, rock climbing walls, and unconventional meeting spaces are a few of the unusual features popping up in offices all over the globe. Employers are striving to entice potential job candidates and retain their existing employees through unique and engaging environments. It may well be that the bells have already tolled for the conventional cubicle culture of the past.

March 7, 2016

Nearly all managers are now seeking to redesign their organisation ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace, Workplace design

Ninety-two per cent of the UK’s human resources and business leaders see redesigning their organisation as their most important priority, according to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2016 survey. As part of this shift in focus, 42 per cent of UK respondents say they are already currently restructuring their organisation and 49 per cent have recently completed the process. Only seven per cent say they have no plans to restructure. The report also claims that lack of employee engagement is an issue currently facing 80 per cent of respondets. Only 36 per cent report that they are prepared to tackle engagement issues. Despite the emergence of ‘easy to use’ tools to frequently evaluate employee sentiment, 76 per cent of UK organisations still measure employee engagement only once a year. Forty-two percent measure this engagement through annual surveys and 20 per cent through interviews and focus groups.

March 4, 2016

When you can choose to work anywhere, where will you choose to work? ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Insight Briefings, Premium Content, Technology, Workplace design

One of the great questions that hangs over workers in the new era of boundless work is this: When you can choose to work from anywhere, where will you choose to work? It’s not just a question for the growing army of workers who find themselves unfettered from the traditional times and places of work. They will naturally choose to work in the places they feel make them most productive and happy, which nurture their wellbeing and chime with their values. The challenge for the owners and the occupiers of offices is to create the working environments that will draw people to them. This is particularly important for those organisations with strong cultures who understand the role that physical presence plays in nurturing creativity and the way people exchange information, such as tech and creative firms. The terms of this conundrum and its possible solutions are the themes of our new briefing, produced in partnership with Connection. You can see it here.

March 4, 2016

World cities are victims of own success as high costs price out businesses ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property, Technology, Workplace

The two highest ranking global cities in the world, London and New York (as measured in the A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index), are also the most expensive for businesses and workers to occupy. According to Savills latest Live/Work Index, which measures the combined cost of residential and office rental per person per year across leading world class cities, the cost of accommodating an employee in London (US$112,800) is more than double that of Sydney, ($49,500). The average total cost of accommodation per worker, per year in the 20 cities that were measured is US$56,855, in a list that includes established world cities and some dynamic up and coming rivals, dubbed “upstarts” by Savills. The rise of the digital economy has pushed these smaller cities, such as Berlin (population 4.3 million) and Dublin (1.7 million) into the realm of world class city status; with San Francisco seeing the greatest price rise over 2015, up by 13 percent, compared to a 9 percent fall in Moscow and Rio de Janeiro.

March 4, 2016

Technology in the office failing to keep pace with the digital revolution ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace

Despite, or possibly because of the development of sophisticated digital handheld devices, a majority (85 percent) of UK office workers believe they would be able to perform their duties more efficiently if their workplace was equipped with better technology. In fact, 16 percent said that the technology they use at home is far superior to that provided by their employer. The research, conducted by webexpenses, found that over a quarter (28 percent) of respondents felt client relationships and sales could also benefit from a boost in technology at their organisation. When asked about what aspects of their job could be improved by better technology, 41 percent said that the management of teams and internal communications could be greatly enhanced. The workers also said that poor temperature controls (21 percent) a lack of space available in the office (20 percent), and their company’s reliance on arduous paper based processes (14 percent) were other sources of frustration.