July 8, 2019

Volkswagen to apply agile working at new Berlin campus

by Freddie Steele • News, Technology, Workplace design

Volkswagen has opened its new ‘We Campus’ in Berlin and claims that the agile working principles used in its design will transform the working lives and output of the 900 people at the facility. The campus will bring together about experts from Volkswagen and other firms who have previously worked at different locations. Volkswagen claims that the centre will be an essential part of what it calls the We ecosystem, which includes an electric car sharing service WeShare which has been launched in Berlin with 1,500 e-Golf cars. Volkswagen also plans to create new future-oriented jobs at the campus. More →

July 8, 2019

Meetings ruined by late arrivals and setting up tech

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace design

A report from Moo claims that people are wasting time by waiting for all attendees to arrive at or dial-in to meetings. Engaging in small talk with colleagues and tackling technology followed closely behind. The findings include the claims that nearly half of British workers spend up to ten minutes trying to find a meeting room on average, and around the same number spend up to 15 minutes waiting for other attendees to arrive or dial-in.

July 8, 2019

Companies need to be more honest about employer branding

by Jayne Smith • News, Workplace

Almost a third of employees have left a job because the culture wasn’t what they expected so firms need to address their employer branding. The research from pre-hire assessment specialists, ThriveMap, claims that 32 percent of employees have left a job because the culture wasn’t what they thought it would be when they joined the organisation. When asked what was different from what they expected, 56 percent said it was the behaviour of senior leaders, 53 percent said it was the behaviour of colleagues and 51 percent cited everyday management. These figures indicate that a significant proportion of companies are not being completely honest around their employer brand and selling candidates an untruthful picture of what their organisation is really like.

July 5, 2019

NeoCon marks a transitional year in 2019

by Anna King • Features, Workplace design

Chicago, considered the home for the modern workplace by many, played host once again to the 51st edition of NeoCon at The Merchandise Mart. The Mart, as is it affectionately known, is itself an interesting building; a vast space of 25 floors, it spans two city blocks and was the largest building in the world when it opened in 1930. More →

July 5, 2019

Closing the gender pay gap needs more than final ideas of Theresa May

by Sarah King • Comment, Workplace

Theresa May has spent her final few weeks in office trying to salvage a meaningful prime ministerial legacy from the long shadow of her failed Brexit strategy. Part of this effort is her plan to introduce 12 weeks’ paternity leave for new fathers, as part of her drive to reduce the UK’s gender pay gap. It is proposed that employers would pay fathers for the first four weeks of paternity leave at 90 percent of their normal salary, while the remaining eight weeks would be unpaid. This is intended to reduce the gender pay gap by increasing the sharing of parental responsibilities, and freeing mothers up to return to work earlier. More →

July 3, 2019

Gig economy and freelance workers would prefer secure work

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Freelancers, the self employed and workers in the so-called gig economy may like the flexibility but they would prefer a steady job, according to new research from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP). The rise of non-traditional work arrangements is not due to workers wanting or demanding these jobs, but rather because they have no other choice the report concludes. What’s more, workers would agree to earn less in order to increase their employment security. The results come from analysis of data from over 4,000 UK and US workers, who were surveyed on their current work arrangements and the job attributes they most want. More →

July 2, 2019

A Turing Test for the workplace ⁰

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

One of the ideas we’re going to hear about a lot over the next few years is the Turing Test. It describes the point at which a machine’s behaviour becomes indistinguishable from a human’s, so that a typical person is unable to work out if he or she is interacting with a machine or an individual. This matters for lots of reasons; functional, philosophical and ethical. More →

July 2, 2019

Fears about impact of AI now widespread

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

A significant proportion of the global population is concerned about the use of artificial intelligence (AI), with scepticism about its use by business greater than its use by government, a poll published by the World Economic Forum suggests. According to the poll, which surveys the attitudes of over 20,000 people across 27 countries, 41 percent of respondents said that they were worried about the use of AI. This compares to 27 percent that disagreed and 32 percent that were undecided. When asked whether the use of AI by companies should be regulated more strictly than it is today, 48 percent of respondents said they agreed compared to 20 percent that disagreed. More →

July 1, 2019

BDG completes Amsterdam offices of WPP

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Workplace design

BDG architecture + design has completed the new Amsterdam campus for WPP as part of its global co- location strategy, which is to provide world-class spaces that bring together its people and agencies into one location, encouraging greater collaboration and giving clients easier access to all of WPP’s talent and expertise. More →

July 1, 2019

The biggest problem with open plan offices is how they are used

by Prof Dr Alexander Brem • Features, Workplace design

For decades the trend among workplaces has seen employees moving out of individual offices and into open plan spaces. This has not always been successful, with the open-plan approach receiving significant criticism. The key issues are distraction and noise, which apparently leads to uncooperative behaviour, distrust and negative personal relationships, and the lack of privacy and sense of being universally observed. Now that the internet connectivity is available almost everywhere and thus allows much more flexible working, the question arises: What might the set-up of an ideal workplace environment look like today? More →

July 1, 2019

Modern comms tools can shut out workers

by Neil Franklin • Technology

The use of technology to support communication and collaborative working in an increasingly digital and flexible world is something many of us recognise. However, a global study released today by Avast Business claims this technology is potentially causing a divide in the workplace, with 40 percent of UK respondents concerned that less tech literate employees will be ‘shut out’ unless they embrace the latest chat, collaboration and digital project management tools. More →

June 28, 2019

Office taxonomy and an increasingly diverse workplace ecosystem ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

It is perhaps the most common misconception of evolutionary theory that all animals are somehow evolving towards some end point – meaning us. This notion is perhaps best summed up when a sceptic asks: “If we have evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?” The lesser of the two problems with this is its solipsistic assumption that humans are the pinnacles of life and that, if evolution were true, all species would eventually evolve into people. More →