February 7, 2018
UK drivers wasted an average of 31 hours in rush hour traffic last year, costing each motorist £1,168, a study by traffic data firm Inrix suggests. The UK is the world’s 10th most congested country and London is Europe’s second most gridlocked city after Moscow, according to the report which claims that overall traffic congestion cost UK drivers more than £37.7 billion in 2017
February 2, 2018
All business and life are about selling. Well that’s what Mark Price (Lord Price) the previous Managing Director of Waitrose and former Minister with the Department for International Trade said in a recent book, Workplace Fables: 147 True Life Stories. I like Mark Price and his writings but certainly don’t agree with his view about selling. To me business and life are about design. Just close your eyes and imagine life without it. If your imagination could handle this, and when you opened your eyes you would be standing in a field stark naked, because nothing apart from nature would exist. If you had bad eyesight things would be blurred and any illnesses could not be medicated. You may even have trouble eating unless you found some palatable vegetation or a creature willing to be caught, unless of course it did not eat you first.
February 2, 2018
Concern amongst small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) regarding the current economic climate fuelled by worries over a Brexit-related skills shortages, is at a three-year high, according to the latest Zurich SME Risk Index. It now sits at 56.38, indicating almost a 2 percent rise in perceived risk since Q1 2016 (55.43), and more than 3 percent higher than in October 2016 (54.55). SMEs attitudes towards economic growth, presently sits at a four-year low – with just two in five (40 percent) businesses confident that the UK economic situation will improve over the next 12 months. Similarly, the results regarding SMEs attitudes towards the international trade environment, reveals concern regarding overseas competition and currency rate fluctuations being at its highest in four years at 45.49. Equally, workforce challenges, namely the availability of skills and talent, is also an increasing concern for smaller businesses. Two in five (40 percent) SMEs now see workforce challenges as a major concern for their business; a rise of 8 per cent since October 2016, indicating that political issues are a major influence on the current attitudes of business owners in the UK.
February 2, 2018
Over half of UK workers (53 percent) say that the standard of technology is a key consideration for accepting a new job role and more than 1 in 3 (37 percent) would decline a job based on poor hardware alone, claims a new survey. The survey of over 2,000 British adults carried out by gadgets and technology e-tailer, LaptopsDirect.co.uk found that having the latest technology was valued more than other office perks, such as flexible working (45 percent), the working environment/decor (39 percent) and staff discounts (33 percent). Nearly a quarter of respondents (74 percent) overall, believe technology makes them more productive at work, with workers in marketing valuing technology the highest, with 84 percent of the votes, followed by those in creative and photographic (81 percent), information and communications (78 percent), professional services (73 percent) and education (71 percent).
January 31, 2018
Property developer John Baker, formerly of Baker Lorenz, has launched a new venture to develop a series of new business districts in South East commuter towns and outer London boroughs. The John Baker Group is working in partnership with building and civil engineering contractor Sir Robert McAlpine on the £2bn project which will see the delivery of some 2 million sq. ft. of new office space across the South East. The joint venture, called The Commercial Parks Group, has already acquired £20m worth of property in Crawley, Haywards Heath and Bromley in order to create a series of major business hubs.
January 30, 2018
What if your company had a great and more frequent ability to discover more valuable things than those for which it were usually looking? How would you then begin to describe your company’s overall level of awareness and sagacity? Does it make your company ’feel lucky’? Inspiring questions and understanding serendipity might give some answers to these and other questions. One of the challenges in answering them lies in the nebulous idea of serendipity in the first place. In many respects the idea of serendipity carries with it a mystical undercurrent and even researchers do not agree about a precise definition. However, serendipity is never a ’happy accident’, it’s much, much more than that. The key elements in the process of serendipity include: 1) a prepared mind 2) an unexpected event, encounter, result or contradiction 3) insight and 4) value creation. Not only is serendipity a process, but it is also a quality of mind.
January 29, 2018
Britain is dividing into seven new classes of worker as the gig economy grows, according to think-tank the RSA (the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce). Striving, Thriving or Just About Surviving has been published to coincide with the launch of the RSA’s Future Work Centre, following RSA chief executive Matthew Taylor’s employment review for Theresa May last year. The report warns of a 30:40:30 society: while around 30 percent live comfortably, economic insecurity is “the new normal” with 40 percent just managing and a bottom 30 percent not managing to get by.
January 29, 2018
One in seven British people work an additional month every year, according to a new survey of 1,000 self-employed workers. The report claims that the self-employed work on average an additional 14 hours per week, compared to permanent roles. The survey, commissioned by online accounting firm Crunch also claims that January is the most stressful time of the year for a third (31 percent) of self-employed workers. The report claims that two thirds (66 percent) of respondents find it difficult to switch off and get to sleep because of work stress, with 72 percent saying financial concerns keep them awake at night, and over one in ten (15 percent) saying it is due to business deadlines, such as the looming self-assessment tax deadline on 31st January.
January 26, 2018
It’s still perfectly possible to flourish under a psychopath boss, provided you are one too, according to new research that found the people best placed to cope with a psychopathic manager are those who are psychopaths too; largely because they are not as upset at the bad treatment. In the workplace, employees respond differently to abusive management styles, in part due to their varying levels of psychopathy, according to a new study from the University of Notre Dame. Certain types of psychopaths actually benefit and flourish under abusive bosses, according to Are ‘Bad’ Employees Happier Under Bad Bosses? Differing Effects of Abusive Supervision on Low and High Primary Psychopathy Employees. The study is published in the Journal of Business Ethics by Charlice Hurst, assistant professor of management in Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.
January 26, 2018
Americans see both good and bad in trends that are changing the workplace
Seven portraits of modern work in the UK
Podcast: It’s time we accepted that the workplace is not a playground
Film: The world in 2018 (registration needed)
Health experts recommend standing up at desk, leaving office, never coming back
Delivering business growth through diversity
January 26, 2018
Growth and development matter most to employees, followed closely by fair access to opportunities and equity in pay, yet only half (52 percent) of organisations worldwide have committed to help meet these aims claims new research. As advances in technology, like AI and robotics, disrupt industries and redefine value chains, organisations need to distinguish themselves from others in order to prevail. Thriving organisations – those that transform their work environment into a compelling experience – will be first in building the workforce for the future finds Mercer’s newest research, Thriving in an Age of Disruption. It suggests that exceptional organisations transform work into a compelling experience that meets all employees’ needs, unlocks their full potential and enables them to successfully transition into the future workforce. Employees who are energised and bring their authentic selves to work are 45 percent more invested in their role, while a trusting work environment, a feeling of personal accomplishment, faith in senior leadership, clarity around career paths and a strategy that is responsive to external market shifts and societal needs explain 79 percent of employee confidence in the company they work for.
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February 5, 2018
Developing a cultured nose for what makes workplace design great
by Steve Brewer • Comment, Workplace design
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