Search Results for: motivation

November 1, 2017

Division of workplace hierarchy on impact of office design and flexible working

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

There is a divide in the importance placed on the office environment among different levels of the UK workforce, with new research suggesting C-Suite executives do not fully appreciate the factors that keep employees happiest at work and the impact that the office environment has on their employees’ productivity and wellbeing. According to the new research by Peldon Rose and are happier and work most productive in the office, 88 percent of middle management and 84 percent of junior employees say they always or sometimes enjoy coming to work every day compared to 76 percent of C-Suite executives. In addition, junior and middle management employees are more inclined to work in the office, with 62 percent and 63 percent, respectively, saying they prefer to work in the office over at home (29 percent, 30 percent) compared to C-Suite who prefer to work at home (40 percent) rather than the office (24 percent). As a result, just a quarter of junior employees believe their office has a culture that allows them to work flexibly compared to nearly half of C-Suite.

October 25, 2017

Frederick Taylor was a man of his time not a whipping boy for ours

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, News, Workplace, Workplace design

Everybody likes a pantomime villain, and for many commentators on management and office design, they don’t come more dastardly than Frederick W. Taylor. Not only do pictures of him betray him as wealthy, white and starched, his ideas and the language in which they are couched are totally out of step with the way we think now. So for anybody writing about enlightened contemporary management practices, it’s no wonder that it is almost customary to start with a rejection of Taylorism in general and his theory of scientific management in particular. The gist of Taylorism laid out in his 1911 book The Principles of Scientific Management is that work should be analysed to establish the most efficient way of doing it, the right person to do that work must be chosen and managers are there to make sure that it all goes to plan. As far as workers are concerned, what we now think of as Taylorism is best (and partly unfairly) summed up as:‘You’re not paid to think. Shut up and do your job.’

October 25, 2017

Employees motivated by bad news as well as good news, research finds

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Bad news is better than no news at all when it comes to motivating staff, according to new research from academics in Warwick and Zurich. The study found that withholding important information from staff could mean the difference between a motivated workforce and an unmotivated one – irrespective of whether it was good or bad news for workers. The study, led by Leif Brandes, of Warwick Business School, found that many managers underestimate the motivational power of bad news. In the paper The Value and Motivating Mechanism of Transparency in Organizations, published in the European Economic Review, Dr Brandes and Donja Darai, of the University of Zurich, designed a new version of the so-called ‘dictator’ game to study the effect of information sharing on motivation.

October 23, 2017

An environmental psychology perspective on workplace design

by Nigel Oseland • Facilities management, Features, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

I recently had the pleasure of travelling to Cape Town to present a keynote address at the Dare to Lead conference organised by Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA). I had just 20 minutes to speak on a psychologist’s view of health, wellbeing and performance; that’s a huge subject area and pretty much my whole career condensed down to the typical time it takes to boil a pan of potatoes. So, I focused on just three psychological theories: motivation, personality and evolutionary psychology.

September 28, 2017

How smart workplaces increase performance and attractiveness ⁰

by Kati Barklund • Case studies, Facilities management, Premium Content, Technology, Work&Place, Workplace design

The workplace can and should be used as a strategic tool to support work and cooperation, to shape the experience of the brand and to produce competitive advantage for the organization. Even when not used as a strategic tool the workplace still affects all these parts and there is always a risk that the workplace has instead a negative impact if we are not aware of the relationship and really use workplace as a strategic tool to affect attractiveness, productivity, efficiency and sustainability. The workplace makes a great difference and it is becoming an important differentiator between successful and less successful organizations. I also strongly believe that the workplace management area is a key for us in the FM industry to bring FM to a higher level, to shift from cost focus to more value focus, and this is something we need to do together within the FM industry and we really should take the driver’s seat. But, let’s start from the beginning.

September 28, 2017

Ongoing drive to replace full-time employees with freelancers and contractors in US, claims report

by Neil Franklin • News

According to a new report from software firm Mavenlink, over three quarters (79 percent) of US executives believe that the use of contracted white collar workers offers them a competitive advantage, while 63 percent of employees say they would quit their current job to take advantage of a freelance opportunity. The study, On the Verge of a White Collar Gig Economy: On-Demand Workforce Trends According to Today’s Business Leaders claims to have uncovered significant trends in enterprise use of external contractors, an influx of highly skilled contractors into the workforce and increased individual interest in flexible working structures. This study conducted interviews with 300 professionals from different US based organisations with titles of director or above.

September 6, 2017

More nations trial universal basic income as report suggests it could provide a major economic boost

by Mark Eltringham • AI, Legal news, News

The much talked about idea of a Universal Basic Income in developed economies is now attracting greater political momentum, at the same time that a major new research project from an American think tank sets out the potential economic benefits. Yesterday, Scotland’s First minister Nicola Sturgeon called for research into the plausibility of a “citizens’ basic income” in a speech to the Scottish Parliament. Her appeal follows an announcement on the same day that Hawaii is to become the first US state to formally explore the idea. A trial is already under way in Finland, although a recent report in the New York Times suggests it is deeply flawed.

August 22, 2017

Employees with higher levels of trust and autonomy at work are more productive

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

Employees who feel trusted by their employer to manage how and when they work for themselves can improve their levels of productivity, a new survey suggests. The research by Peldon Rose claims that UK workers rate feelings of trust and autonomy from employers and colleagues as increasingly important in keeping them productive and happy in the workplace. But the survey also shows that many employers are failing to provide employees with the resources and support they need to manage their workload and keep them motivated. Although the majority of staff (59 percent) say they work most productively in the office, a third (33 percent) wish they were more trusted to manage how and when they work and 42 percent say that their office does not support a culture that allows them to work flexibly. Despite the clear value that staff place on trust and autonomy, employers are overlooking an opportunity to create a confident and self-motivated workforce.

August 10, 2017

Could a four-day week help improve UK productivity?

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

Over half (61 percent) of office workers believe they’d improve their performance levels if they worked a four-day week; and 40 percent believe they would be more productive working remotely. This is according to new research which claims that UK productivity has fallen dramatically, with one in three (31 percent) office workers admitting they are unproductive for a huge two hours every day. The report, commissioned by office products firm Fellowes, argues that despite being the fifth largest economy in the world, the UK sits 15th in the productivity table, lagging behind the likes of Sweden (31 hours p/w), Denmark (27.2 hours p/w) and Norway (27.3 p/w) – who all work, on average, less hours per week than Brits (32 hours p/w). As a third of workers are essentially working a six-hour day, many believe it’s time to look towards Scandinavian countries like Sweden – who recently trialled a 6-hour working day – where employees have more flexibility to choose when and where they work. More →

August 2, 2017

Whatever you might be told, this is not the Office of the Future

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

It seems like we don’t have to wait more than a few days at a time before some or other organisation is making its own prognoses about how we will be working in the future, especially at this time of year. The thing these reports about the office of the future all share in common, other than a standardised variant of a title and a common lexicon of agility, empowerment, collaboration and connectivity, is a narrow focus based on several of their key narratives and assumptions. While these are rarely false per se, and often offer some insights of variable worth, they also usually exhibit a desire to look at only one part of the elephant. The more serious reports invariably make excellent points and identify key trends, it has to be said. However, across them there are routine flaws in their thinking that can lead them to make narrow and sometimes incorrect assumptions and so draw similarly flawed conclusions. Here are just a few.

July 10, 2017

Three quarters of managers are happy to allow staff to work flexibly to watch Wimbledon matches ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

According to a survey from the Institute of Leadership & Management a majority of workplaces are dealing with the summer of sport, by using flexible working to accommodate people’s enthusiasms. Based on a small sample size of around 200 organisations, three quarters (75 percent) of managers would allow staff to watch or listen to sporting events in the office. Staff wellbeing (28 percent) and lower absences (25 percent) are seen by managers as the two biggest benefits in allowing staff to watch or listen to sporting events in the office, according to the study. 78 percent said holiday clashes leaving too many employees off was the hardest aspect of managing staff over summer. The survey claims that 45 percent of managers see sporting events as a tool to boost staff morale. ‘Dress down Fridays’, flexible working hours and picnics were other popular methods. The study also found that managers believed allowing sport to be watched in the office means less absence due to sickness.

June 9, 2017

Job satisfaction is high but more focus is needed on employee development ⁰

by Claire McCartney • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace

The CIPD/ Halogen’s Employee Outlook survey of over 2,000 employees has been tracking employee perceptions of work and working lives since 2009. In this article we explore trends in employee satisfaction with their jobs and broader engagement measures, as well as views on managers and satisfaction with learning and employee development opportunities and career fulfilment. Job satisfaction has increased since 2016, with 64 percent of employees now saying they are satisfied with their jobs, compared to just 16 percent who are dissatisfied. What is particularly interesting, though, is that job satisfaction continues to rise in the public sector at levels not seen before in this survey series. Seventy-two per cent of public sector workers are now satisfied with their jobs, compared to just 13 percent who are dissatisfied. While it’s not clear from this research exactly why such improvements have been made, it is part of an overall improvement in scores for the public sector which include attitudes to senior leaders, opportunities for voice in the workplace, as well as increased opportunities to learn and grow.