October 4, 2023

BCO Awards dominated by South East offices yet again but Glasgow office takes top spot

by Neil Franklin • News, Property, Workplace design

Barclays’ Glasgow campus (pictured) was celebrated as the Best of the Best at the British Council for Offices (BCO) National Awards last night, also taking home the prize for Corporate Workplace. Seven further winners of BCO Awards were recognised as leading examples of excellence in workplace design in the UK. There were no winners in any category in the Midlands or North of England, Northern Ireland or Wales, although two offices in Manchester and Widnes were commended and the President’s Award went to HMRC for its ongoing national estate management programme. More →

October 3, 2023

Workers are generally happy at work, but bored by what they do

by Jayne Smith • Business, News

Happiness and boredom are the most common emotions experienced by people at work, according to a Right Management survey of more than 2,000 British workers and managers. According to the poll, ‘Gen Z’ are most likely to be bored at work (23 percent). But Gen Z leaders worry more than others about reduced employee productivity due to hybrid-working (37 percent). In addition, 70 percent of British employees feel they work better as a team in-person, but only 1 percent claim face-to-face time with colleagues contributes to their wellbeing. More →

October 3, 2023

CIBSE publishes revised maintenance guide

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Facilities management

A new fully revised edition of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Guide M: Maintenance, Engineering and Management sets out the latest technological and legislative developments that will impact facilities managers, designers, building owners and operators, otherwise known as the ‘maintenance bible’. Containing all the information needed for the successful operation of a buildings’ services, while ensuring buildings are safe and optimised for energy performance, this revision has been published to provide guidance on the many areas of change since Guide M was last amended in 2014, including publication of the Building Safety Act and amendments to the Building Regulations. More →

October 3, 2023

Beady-eyed employee monitoring is also subject to data protection law

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is calling on organisations to consider both their legal obligations and their workers’ rights before they implement any employee monitoring in the workplace. With the rise of remote working and developments in the technology available, many employers are looking to carry out checks on workers. The ICO has today published guidance to help employers fully comply with data protection law if they wish to monitor their workers. More →

October 2, 2023

Sustainability and skills at heart of RICS’ new manifesto for the built environment

by Jayne Smith • Environment, Facilities management, News

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is launching its manifesto for the built environment in the lead-up to the next UK General Election, titled Empowering a Sustainable Future. The UK’s built and natural environments face large-scale challenges ranging from climate change to a cost-of-living crisis. According to the manifesto, endemic skills shortages undermine development in the industry while the workplace has become more fluid post-pandemic, with the built environment needing to reflect the change in workforce behaviour and its approach to sustainability. More →

October 1, 2023

Three days in the office seems to be the ‘sweet spot’ for hybrid working

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

A new survey concludes that three days a week in the office appears to be optimal for many people to optimise key aspects of workplace culture and performance. The report claims to provide empirical analysis into the impact that remote and hybrid working are having on employee experience, culture and productivity. The report commissioned by Ipsos Karian and Box is based on a survey of 1,400 full-time UK office workers. More →

September 26, 2023

Poor workplace design means a quarter of people may consider quitting job

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace design

A new poll claims that over a quarter (27 percent) of workers would consider leaving their job due to poor workplace design, as an increasing number of companies phase out remote working. Commissioned by design and architecture studio MoreySmith, the survey of 2,000 UK adults by Yonder asked the public about the importance of the office environment for their wellbeing at work. Half of those that responded said that the amenities of a workplace would impact their decision on whether to work for a company, rising to 57 percent of 25-34 year olds. More →

September 25, 2023

Report links economic growth with the idea of ‘good work’

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

In advance of the main party conferences, the CIPD is calling for the next UK Government to develop a long-term workforce strategy to underpin a broader, bolder vision for economic growth. This is a central message in its new ‘Manifesto for Good Work’ which outlines the public policy changes needed to address the UK’s multiple challenges, for all the main UK political parties. These challenges include stagnating productivity, rising skills shortages and our ageing working population. More →

September 22, 2023

Generative AI will affect two thirds of jobs, but most people shouldn’t lose them

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

Around two thirds (66 percent) of jobs are considered “highly” or “moderately” exposed to Generative AI, according to the AI at Work Report from job site Indeed. The report claims finds that all US jobs listed on the firm’s website – from truck driver to software engineer – have skills that can be carried out or augmented by Generative AI. However, only 1 in 5 (19.8 percent) of jobs are considered “highly” exposed to the technology, showing that while it can learn to do tasks within a specific job, ‘GenAI’ is unlikely to fully replace many jobs. More →

September 20, 2023

Knowledge workers have a particularly unhealthy relationship with work

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Three quarters of UK knowledge workers say they have an unhealthy relationship with work and two thirds of those say that work has had a negative effect on their health and wellbeing. That is one of the headline findings from a new report into the working lives of 15,600 people worldwide from HP. The report also suggests that three quarters of respondents would take a pay cut to be happier at work or to work wherever they want. More →

September 18, 2023

Smart technology needs to start with people if it wants to get smarter

by David Sharp • Features, Technology, Wellbeing

“My engineering students had come to class with technology on their minds.” So says artist and design researcher Sara Hendren, author of What a Body Can Do: How we Meet the Built World. It’s a fascinating book in which she consciously pushes back against the prevailing narrative that so-called smart technology has a fix for every problem. As a professor teaching design for disability at Olin College of Engineering, Massachusetts, Hendren draws attention to the assumptions that drive normative behaviours to define what is a ‘problem’ in the first place. More →

September 13, 2023

Half of firms won’t meet 2030 decarbonisation target, report claims

by Jayne Smith • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

A new report from Siemens Infrastructure claims that there is limited agreement amongst businesses on how best to progress towards a decarbonised and resource-efficient world and under half expect to meet their net zero targets based on current thinking. According to the Transition Monitor 2023: The Great Divide on The Path to Net Zero report, whilst more than half of those surveyed believe the infrastructure transition is accelerating in their region, a quarter of senior executives said that progress on decarbonisation is “too slow”, while 29 percent believe progress is “coordinated”, and 31 percent describe it as “on target”. More →