Search Results for: values

September 7, 2017

Report sets out building blocks of a successful digital workplace strategy

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace design

Digital workplace developments often lose their way, or fail, due to a fragmented approach that prioritises a few technology ‘fixes’ over business strategy, according to analysts at Gartner. To combat this, ‘digital workplace leaders’ in public sector organisations need to employ a framework to ensure their digital workplace initiatives address eight critical components required for a successful implementation, according to Gartner. The report (paywall) sets out what it claims are the eight critical components — “building blocks” — that application leaders need when planning, directing and evolving digital workplace programs:

September 5, 2017

The United Workplace launches to support business workplace strategy on a global scale

by Neil Franklin • Company news, Workplace design

A global collaboration of workplace experts has been formed to assist companies in the development of their workplaces. Workplace specialists Fourfront Group and Amicus are the founding partners of The United Workplace (TUW), an organisation set up to share expertise and knowledge and deliver workplace design, fit-outs and commercial furniture consultancy and installation worldwide. The network comprises of Fourfront Group in the UK, Amicus which delivers workplace design and fit-out projects in Australia, Ware Malcomb an architectural practice in the US, and Summertown Interiors, a United Arab Emirates fit-out contractor.

August 25, 2017

Half of UK workers plan to leave their current job over the next year

by Sara Bean • Cities, Flexible working, News, Workplace

Fifty percent of full or part-time workers in the UK want to leave their current job in the next 12 months claims a new study conducted by Citation. London businesses will be the worst hit, with two thirds (64 percent) of workers in the capital planning on eyeing up other employers. Furthermore, those aged between 18 and 24 are most likely to jump ship (64 percent), and men are 10 percent more likely to leave than women. For two in five workers, it’s salaries that’s forcing them to look elsewhere – this is most likely to be the key driver for 18 to 34-year-olds. Better career prospects (22 percent), drab company cultures (16 percent), dislike of managers (11 percent) and loathing of their job (10 percent) were other reasons given for wanting to leave. With, according to a study by Oxford Economics the average cost of recruitment costing £30,000, UK business owners look set for a costly year ahead. 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 28, 2017

UK commercial property market remains largely resilient

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Although the commercial property market in the UK is proving largely resilient, demand to rent levelled off for the first time in almost five years during the past three months, according to a study from The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Its gauge of commercial tenants’ demand for property fell to -2 for the second quarter of 2017, its lowest reading since the third quarter of 2012. Demand varies across market sectors, however, with occupier demand declining in the office and retail sectors of the UK commercial property market, but conditions in the industrial segment remain firm, according to the survey.

June 20, 2017

Extending the length of working lives could boost UK GDP by £80 billion ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The UK could boost its GDP by around 4.2 percent (around £80 billion at today’s values) if the employment rate of workers aged over 55 could match that of Sweden, the highest performing EU country, according to a new PwC analysis comparing the employment of older workers across 34 OECD countries. There is a 12 percentage point gap between the employment rates of workers aged 55-64 in the UK and Sweden. PwC’s Golden Age Index is a weighted average of indicators – including employment, earnings and training – that reflect the labour market impact of workers aged over 55. The UK has remained middling in the rankings since 2003, falling by one place from 18th in 2014 from 19th in 2015. The report suggests that extending working lives could have a transformational effect on the economy.

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.

June 7, 2017

Coworking and the current French revolution in the workplace ⁰

by Baptiste Broughton • Case studies, Cities, Features, Flexible working, Workplace design

In France, we might have been the first to behead a King and hold a revolution, or to stand on barricades and die for ideals of justice and equality, but when it comes to change – especially in large organisations– we always seem to lag behind. You could blame it on a number of factors: a cultural bias towards tradition, the legacy of an interventionist and ever-present state, spawning bureaucratic models of large state-owned corporations, the everlasting grasp of the elites stifling innovation and the ability to “think outside the box”… Whatever this may be, the debate around remote working – a type of work organisation which allows employees to work regularly away from the office – in France has always been articulated around the preconception that France was behind. And that while its Anglo-Saxon or Nordic European neighbours displayed a boastful 30 percent of the working population as remote workers, France struggled to reach a meagre 9 to 10 percent in 2010.

March 30, 2017

AHMM completes work on New Scotland Yard for Metropolitan Police ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Case studies, Company news, Workplace design

Architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) have completed design work on the new headquarters for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in London. The practice claims that the design ‘supports cultural organisational and conveys a new image for the MPS by creating a building that looks to engage with public and media alike’. The £60m new headquarters is a re-modelling and extension of the Curtis Green Building, a 1930s riverside site in Westminster, central London currently owned by the MPS. AHMM’s design includes the addition of new entrance and rooftop pavilions and a reworking of the existing accommodation. The new entrance is designed ‘to create a welcoming and non-institutional yet secure front door’ and reinstates the iconic revolving sign. The project has been completed as part of a major rethink of the organisation’s corporate real estate strategy.

March 22, 2017

HR needs to help employers better prepare for the digitised workplace ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

HR leaders must take responsibility for bridging the gap between leadership and employees to help ensure organisations deal with the challenge of an increasingly digitised workplace and create a shared sense of direction, values and collaboration, a new piece of research suggests. According to the report, ‘Leadership Connections: HR’s role in business transformation’ from Ipsos LEAD and Cirrus, HR leaders are the crucial drivers of transformation in UK businesses through their roles of promoting devolved decision making, employee engagement and collaboration. Figures have shown that while half of CEOs expect their industries to be substantially or unrecognisably changed by digital, as of late 2016 10 percent of employees claim to have seen no significant change in their organisations at all – according to MORI’s Representative Employee Data (RED). This presents a significant difference between what we are being told by senior leadership and what employees believe to be the case.

March 15, 2017

Mobile and internet connectivity should be a priority for commerical real estate ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Facilities management, News, Property, Technology

Cluttons has proposed that a mobile coverage rating should be added to lettable workspace criteria, because despite mobile and internet connections being the fifth essential utility for the modern environment they are often overlooked when leasing space. With the rise of dependence on SIM-based equipment, the property firm argues that workplaces should be let with a coverage rating, measuring connectivity within a property. It argues that given the fast-paced evolving nature of the sector, landlords who invest in excellent telephony infrastructure are likely to secure tenants for longer periods and potentially achieve higher rental values. The approach is being borne out by the government recognising the importance of better mobile and internet infrastructure, by making it a focal point to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by the end of 2017. This comes as no surprise given that several emerging markets are leap-frogging the adoption of technology and are quickly outpacing the UK in the sophistication of infrastructure on offer to occupiers. London is ranked near to the bottom of the internet connectivity league table when looking at Europe.

March 9, 2017

What the budget meant for the workplace; experts have their say ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Property, Technology

As has been the case with recent UK Government Budget announcements, Chancellor Philip Hammond’s first Budget addressed a number of issues related to the workplace, technology and infrastructure. It was the first Budget delivered in the post Brexit era and this clearly informed many of the announcements made. While most of the headlines over the past 24 hours have related to the changes to the tax status of the self-employed as a way of raising around £2 billion, the announcements also covered a broad range of topics related to the workplace, HR, technology and property sectors and have drawn an immediate response from key figures in the sector. These include nearly half a billion pounds relief on the vexed question of business rates reforms, a new focus on technical qualifications and a greater investment in 5G and other forms of digital infrastructure. We’ll be having our own say about the implications of the Budget in the near future, but in the meantime, here’s a rundown of the key announcements and the reaction of industry experts.