Search Results for: Gen Z

The office is increasingly able to recognise you, but will you recognise it?

The office is increasingly able to recognise you, but will you recognise it?

The office is changing in new waysOur lives at work are about to change—again. Just as the addition of PC’s and Wi-Fi re-drew the office blueprint, emerging technologies like robots, virtual agents, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) promise to radically revise the form and the function of work and the workplace. In the near future, your office will know who you are (if it doesn’t yet) and will be ready to greet you with your preferred lighting and the array of digital tools you need to do your job.

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Wellbeing challenge known to firms, but they need to up their game

Wellbeing challenge known to firms, but they need to up their game

Employers need to up their game on wellbeingA new white paper from Aon argues that while the vast majority of employers are aware of a range of wellbeing issues, they often don’t act in appropriate ways to address poor health behaviours and chronic medical conditions. The white paper Prevention Is Better Than Cure (registration) claims that 95 percent of employers see a correlation between employee health and performance and believe they have a role in trying to educate and improve poor lifestyle behaviours.

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Businesses should focus on the greater good of people and society

Businesses should focus on the greater good of people and society

Modern corporations should work in the best interests of society and people rather than focusing primarily on making money for shareholders as they may have in the past, according to an influential group of chief executives. The body Business Roundtable, which represents the heads of some of America’s largest companies, including Apple, Amazon and Exxon Mobil, has issued a statement of its updated corporate governance principles. (more…)

Firms need to place more value on older workers

Firms need to place more value on older workers

Older workers are now a key part of the workforceAs we live longer lives, it’s inevitable that more of us want to work for longer. It makes good business sense too: with fewer younger people starting work to replace those set to retire in future years, coupled with uncertainty over Brexit and labour shortages, employers can’t afford to lose older workers.

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Mental health concerns mean two thirds of men consider quitting job

Mental health concerns mean two thirds of men consider quitting job

A depiction of poor mental health and depressionA new study from job board CV-Library claims that men across the UK have reached breaking point in their careers, with nearly two thirds (61 percent) wanting to quit their job because it’s affecting their mental health. The survey explored the views of 2,000 UK workers and found that although more women (35.4 percent) say they suffer with mental health problems than men (21.2 percent), men are more likely to feel the effects of poor mental health in the workplace. Around 82 percent of men claim that it affects their working life, compared to 68 percent of women.  (more…)

“War for talent” and Brexit ramping up staff retention efforts

“War for talent” and Brexit ramping up staff retention efforts

Is the war for talent intensifying?News that over one million EU nationals have been given permission to remain in the UK after Brexit, gaining settled or pre-settled status offers businesses expanded talent pools for plugging skills gaps and talent shortages in their workforce. New research claims that talent management concerns are on the rise. With the ongoing ‘war for talent’ intensifying over future skills requirements, businesses must remain vigilant when it comes to the growing technical skills gaps in their workforce, the report suggests. (more…)

Office design has a role to play in reflecting neurological differences

Office design has a role to play in reflecting neurological differences

office design and neurodiversityIn recent years, we have seen a growing civil rights movement focused on change in the workplace and in terms of office design, revolving around differences in brain function. Advocates for neurodiversity say that it’s just as critical to business success as gender or racial diversity in the labour force. (more…)

Is London Smart City Initiative as smart as it could be?

Is London Smart City Initiative as smart as it could be?

It’s been a year since the launch of the Mayor of London’s smart city roadmap, designed to transform the capital into the smartest city in the world. But twelve months later, is the city any smarter? The Mayor of London’s smart city roadmap is proposing to transform the capital into the smartest city in the world, and as part of the initiative, Sadiq Khan appointed his first Chief Digital Officer to help steer the plan to focus on knowledge and technical advancements that will make life easier for London’s citizens. (more…)

Knowledge workers feel out of step with their own organisation

Knowledge workers feel out of step with their own organisation

Many knowledge workers don’t feel they share common goals with their employer and colleagues, according to a study of 17,000 people by Slack. The State of Work Report summarises the findings, including the effect of this feeling of a lack of ‘alignment’ on organisational and personal performance and the role of technology in aligning people around shared goals. (more…)

Reasons to be agile, part three

Reasons to be agile, part three

Agile Working at Peaks and PlainsThe Agile Manifesto, published in 2001, signalled a shift in approach to workplace design as well as technology. Though the document was conceived as a guide to speeding up software development, its contents have gone on to inform how organisations think and operate in ways that extend far beyond IT. “Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.” That’s the fifth of 12 ‘principles’ in the manifesto. (more…)

Firms with a balance of men and women outperform male dominated rivals

Firms with a balance of men and women outperform male dominated rivals

Women on board and gender balance in firmsThe share performance and other metrics of listed companies with a balance of men and women tend to be better than those of male-dominated rivals, according to a new report from Morgan Stanley. The report is based on Morgan Stanley’s HERS ranking, a new measurement the investment bank has developed to evaluate gender diversity at companies and its impact on performance. It determines the gender diversity of a company by factoring in the percentage of women on boards, in the executive and management team, and in the workforce generally. (more…)

The endless hunt for the office of the future

The endless hunt for the office of the future 0

The office of the future has its precedents in the 1950sLewis Carroll’s second best known work The Hunting of the Snark is a long nonsense poem that describes the pursuit by a group of adventurers of an elusive creature called a Snark. This turns out to be a much more dangerous Boojum when it is finally seen, causing one of the crew members to vanish. The poem may or may not be an allegory for the pursuit of happiness but it could easily be about our pursuit of anything elusive, imaginary or ephemeral.

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