Search Results for: flexible

UK government falling behind in plans to modernise its workplaces

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, Public Sector

WhitehallThe UK government has conceded that it is falling significantly behind in its plans to create a modern workplace involving a more flexible working environment for public sector employees. The plans were outlined in the Civil Service Reform Plan a year ago with the aim to create a “decent working environment for all staff, with modern workplaces enabling flexible working”. However, a report released this week by Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude confirms that the plans are now rated red, meaning they are significantly delayed or off track and that there is now a great deal of work that needs to be done to meet the stated aims of the plan. While some departments have made good progress, there is little cross-government work to meet the demands of the Government’s commitment.

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Personalised design and office plants proven to boost wellness and performance

by • Facilities management, News, Workplace, Workplace design

Personalised design coupled with office plants boost well-being at workAllowing staff to make design decisions in a workspace enhanced with office plants can increase wellbeing and wellness by as much as 47 per cent, increase creativity by 45 per cent and increase productivity by 38 per cent, new research has revealed. Visitors at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show were challenged to take part in the study which measured their creativity, happiness and productivity as they experienced a range of different workspace designs. The findings, which would be expected to translate to a significant increase in business profitability, confront the popular belief that plants and art are an unnecessary or even wasteful element of the business environment. Results from this and related scientific investigations indicate that across all measures of psychological comfort and business performance, the managerially popular flexible, controlled, lean office, is consistently inferior to a space enriched by the design decisions of people who work there.

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Latest edition of Insight newsletter available to view online

by • News, Newsletter

Office Insight announces partnership with WorkTech 13

In the latest issue of the Insight newsletter we are pleased to announce a partnership with Worktech 13, which will be held at the British Museum in London on the 19th and 20th November. Over the next few months look out for content from some of the world’s foremost thinkers on office design and management including Frank Duffy, Philip Ross, Dave Coplin and Greg Lindsay. Also this week, according to two new property reports the London office market continues to thrive; why flexible workers may be limiting their career prospects and how desk size can influence behaviour. Regular contributor Simon Heath warns that the BIFM partnership with DWP may prove an ill-advised and short-lived union and Mark Eltringham hails the Design Museum’s move to the long empty Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington. To view this week’s newsletter click here.

UK’s superfast broadband arriving very slowly, claims government report

by • Flexible working, News, Technology

snail's paceA new report from the National Audit office claims that the much vaunted roll out of superfast broadband to 90 percent of UK households is now two years behind schedule. The programme, seen as vital for the uptake of flexible working in rural areas, is now scheduled for completion in March 2017, around 22 months later than planned.  The reasons identified by the NAO for the delays include six months awaiting EU approval along with a range of issues with the procurement of services including those related to the three key principles established to ensure the cost-effectiveness of the programme: the competitive framework; cost transparency; and the terms of supplier contracts. The NAO report claims that of these only the final principle is still functioning. BT is now the only bidder to provide services as others withdrew and it has failed to be sufficiently transparent about its costs.

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UK workers mistrust more contented home-based colleagues

by • Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Workplace

UK workers mistrust more contented home-working colleagues

The debate which ensued following the Yahoo ban on home working earlier this year was as much as about the level of trust felt towards home workers as it was about the importance of collaboration within the workplace. The fact is that for the majority of home workers, day to day life is easier. No commuting, work where you please, no irritating colleagues and the freedom to nip out to the dentist, doctors or parents meeting without having to book a half day off. As a result, while home workers enjoy the best mental health and wellbeing of four groups in a survey of contact centre workers, office workers, home workers and mobile professional workers, their distance from the office-based working population breeds suspicion between them and everybody else. (more…)

Latest edition of Insight newsletter now available to view online

by • News, Newsletter

The latest issue of the Insight newsletter is available to view online. This week, what Jeremy Clarkson can’t teach us about workplace productivity; the string of surveys, ideas and terminology that can lead commentators to make grand and daft pronouncements about flexible working and why the latest wellness figures show a disturbing lack of fitness amongst the UK workforce. Our regular contributor Simon Heath ponders the somewhat derivative and cautious designs amongst the RIBA awards winners, while our latest contributor Andrew Brown questions the futility of designing a state-of-the-art office in the first place if it’s the management that make the workplace stink. To view this week’s newsletter – which includes an update on the changing structure of the market for corporate offices in the U.S. – click here.

US corporate occupiers changing the size and type of office space they demand

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, Knowledge, Property

America’s corporate occupiers are not only reducing the amount of office space they use, they are changing their requirements too according to the latest Office Occupier View report from CBRE. Not only did overall demand for commercial space fall during the first quarter of 2013 compared to the last of 2012, the average amount of space allocated to each worker is falling below 225 sq.ft. (21 sq.m.) , and occupiers are demanding more open, ‘creative’ working environments in Class A buildings with large floor plates. Occupiers are also looking for space that is ideally located  in central business districts (CBDs) with easy access to transport links and amenities and offers them flexible terms.

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Managing a work-life balance isn’t solely a women’s issue

by • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

Maintaining a work-life balance isn't solely a women's issue

Two reports published this week show that a cultural change is needed to stop employers assuming only female workers have families or other personal concerns that could impact on their workplace performance. A report into workplace equality by the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee (BIS) has called on the UK Government to do more to tackle female underrepresentation in sectors of the economy and to dispel the myth that any type of flexible working is a ‘women’s issue,’  problematic and cannot work. In the US a study by employee assistance providers Bensinger, DuPont and Associates (BDA) into stress has found that men are more than twice as likely to receive formal disciplinary action when the stress of a personal problem impacts on their work performance. (more…)

Land Securities £260m development confirms City office confidence

by • Architecture, Company news, News, Property

Land Securities announcement today of a £260 million development of 1 & 2 New Ludgate, EC4, a speculative mixed-use development in the City of London confirms a growing confidence in the City office market. The 379,000 sq ft scheme occupies an island site near St Paul’s Cathedral and comprises two distinct buildings united by a new public piazza, which together aim to offer 346,000 sq ft of office accommodation set around open and green spaces. Colette O’Shea, Head of Development, London said: “Our decision to commence the speculative development of 1 & 2 New Ludgate reflects our confidence both in the City office market, where we believe supply of new space will be constrained in 2015, and in the quality of the attractive and highly efficient office space we are creating.” (more…)

Five essential things to consider before you implement a BYOD policy

by • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace

BYOD is far more than just allowing your staff to check their email on their personal mobile. It’s about the security of corporate information – we’re all demanding more flexible working to fit our lifestyles, but with flexibility comes personal responsibility. Are we rushing to join the BYOD party without realising some of the more serious considerations. A recent article on OfficeInsight considered a Gartner survey which suggested that BYOD would be prevalent by 2017. The article implied that companies should embrace this as an inevitable change. Before we get too excited, though, let’s explore some of the issues that BYOD should be raising for employers – including the technical demands that these policies make on IT departments and infrastructure, and the compliance IT departments will demand of staff.

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Gender equality and senior roles where are we now?

by • Legal news, Workplace

Gender equality at senior management and Board level has been and is likely to remain an area of contention. According to recent research by analysts BoardEx into gender inequality in Britain’s top 100 private companies, 73 per cent of companies still have all male teams of executive directors, 51 per cent have only male non-executive directors and there are still 56 per cent of all male Boards. At the end of May a new National Equality Standard was launched by the CBI and the Equality and Human Rights Commission in response to the continued concerns about the issue, which some EU members have argued requires the imposition of mandatory board quotas.

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UK public sector leading the way in procurement and sustainable building

by • Comment, Facilities management, Public Sector, Technology

Nottingham City Council's Loxley Building

Nottingham City Council’s Loxley Building

Over the last few years, the UK Government has grown increasingly interested in finding ways of making its £30 billion property portfolio more efficient. Both the last Labour government and the current Coalition administration have been driven by the opportunities offered them with the advent of new technology, new ways of working and new procurement models. They’ve pursued these issues to cut costs by reducing and changing the way property is designed and managed but have also found how that can also help to establish best practice in sustainable building. What is increasingly apparent, especially given recent news from the Major Projects Authority about cost savings in procurement is that the public sector is now leading the way as models of good practice.

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