Search Results for: change

May 10, 2013

The biggest challenge is building flexibility into an office design

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

The design of offices and the furniture that fills them matters because of what they tell us about how we work, how organisations function and even what is happening in the economy. If you want to know what’s going on, take a look at the places we work and the things with which we surround ourselves and how they change over time. Because the way we work changes so quickly, buildings need to have flexibility built into them so that they meet our needs today but anticipate what we will need tomorrow.In his book How Buildings Learn, Stewart Brand outlines the process whereby buildings evolve over time to meet the changing needs of their occupants.

May 9, 2013

Large organisations are unprepared for new generation of executives

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Workplace

It’s not just Manchester United who need to worry about the succession process following the departure of an aging white male. According to a new report from Cass Business School and recruitment consultants Ogders Berndtson, firms are largely unprepared for the changes in business practice that will come as their babyboomer executives are supplanted by their Generation X and Y descendants. The report – After The Baby Boomers – argues that over half of organisations are unprepared for the changes. The report interviewed executives from 100 large organisations, making it most relevant for the sorts of blue-chip firms who are led primarily by 50-something accountants in the first place.

April 30, 2013

Balfour Beatty profits warning cites challenging construction sector

by Sara Bean • Company news, Property

Building and infrastructure firm Balfour Beatty has issued its second profits warning in six months, with the announcement that its UK construction business is expected to deliver significantly lower profits than expected this year. The company said the UK construction market has been a challenging environment in which to win and execute work, adding: “Market conditions which deteriorated significantly in the second half of 2012 continue to be difficult. Change in procurement trends, which we have previously highlighted have persisted, allowing customers to impose increasingly stringent conditions onto contractors.”

April 30, 2013

New survey reveals risks of cutting costs in corporate real estate

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Knowledge, News, Property

A new report from Jones Lang LaSalle claims to highlight how those firms who see their property as a driver of added value rather than a cost reap rewards in the form of higher revenue, employee performance and shareholder returns. In contrast, those firms who view their facilities as a cost and seek to reduce those costs for short term gain are, in fact, storing up long term problems and risks. JLL’s report – Global Corporate Real Estate Trends – claims to reveal the top five corporate real estate risks, including negative impacts on competitive advantage and profitability from cost cutting, procurement processes, lack of collaboration between functions and failure to drive productivity.

April 30, 2013

Dubai developers switch unwanted commercial property projects to other uses

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Property

The UK isn’t the only country looking to convert its unwanted office space into other uses. According to a new report from CBRE, the oversupply of new commercial property in Dubai is leading developers to switch the use of projects in the Emirate before they have even finished building them. With occupancy levels already at less than 50 percent in some areas and swathes of new developments coming online thanks to Dubai’s ongoing commitment to a policy of ‘build it and they will come’, developers are taking the decision to convert construction projects to homes or hotels.

April 26, 2013

Corporate culture of presenteeism leads to inequality

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

Over half (60 per cent) of senior executives say their productivity would be increased if their organisations played a more active role in helping them balance their work and non-work lives; the majority by 10 to 25 per cent. The research by the Inspire board network and executive search firm Harvey Nash also reveals that male dominated corporate cultures are the biggest barrier to women reaching the board, with over half (52 per cent) believing that today’s corporate cultures which celebrate presenteeism, dramatically reduce the length of time women are prepared stay and develop their career with their employer. More →

April 25, 2013

New projects to research green building solutions

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Two major new projects to further the development of sustainable building solutions have been launched. The BRE (Building Research Establishment) National Solar Centre, aimed at providing a research based, independent platform in the use of solar energy in the UK was officially opened in Cornwall today, and a £1m ground-breaking building called the HIVE funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and led by Dr Mike Lawrence from the University of Bath’s BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials, is to be built at a dedicated research park in Swindon.

April 25, 2013

Diversity is key to an effective board finds global study

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, Legal news, News, Workplace

As we’ve previously reflected, progress has been slow in promoting more women to executive levels, and there are increasing concerns on a lack of diversity within the built environment. Now new evidence has emerged which helps prove just why boardroom diversity is such a pressing issue. According to a major report released by law firm Eversheds there is a global trend towards smaller boards, which means that although companies with smaller boards tend to deliver better share price performance, chairmen and nomination committees have to balance size with a number of other important factors shown to demonstrate better share price performance, such as appointing more executives to boards and encouraging greater diversity in the broadest sense. More →

April 23, 2013

CIBSE creates diversity panel to reflect varied workforce

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace

Efforts to encourage a more inclusive culture within the built environment appear to have moved up a gear. RIBA President Angela Brady has voiced concerns on the “gender inequality that continues to pervade the profession,” and now the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineering (CIBSE) has launched a Diversity Panel. Formed to encourage diversity in all its forms, whether race, gender, age, sexual orientation or disability, it is made up of CIBSE members who are keen to increase the routes to the profession through educational paths and by promoting a diverse workplace. Commented CIBSE: “The employment and retention of a varied workforce is integral to meet the building services engineering skills gap and to therefore improve building performance.” More →

April 22, 2013

Shortlist for green business awards published on Earth Day

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News

Green charities, consultancies and a range of businesses that have helped to promote and facilitate environmental progress within the corporate community over the past year have been nominated for a BusinessGreen Leaders’ Award. The shortlist for the green business awards, which celebrate leading businesses and individuals’ contributions to the green economy is published today on Earth Day, when it’s expected that over one billion people in approximately 192 countries will be taking action to protect the environment. The day is being marked in Seattle by the formal opening of the “greenest commercial building in the world,” the Bullitt center by one of Earth’s day’s founders, the environmental activist Denis Hayes. More →

April 22, 2013

NHS Estate inefficiencies present ‘Hyde Park sized opportunity’, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Knowledge, News, Property, Public Sector

Consultants E C Harris have just published the latest edition of their report into the NHS Estate which claims that the service has an opportunity to save around £2.3 billion a year in the way it manages and procures space. Every report needs headlines to go with and in this case E C Harris have plumped for the idea that the NHS is underutilising space equivalent to an area the size of Hyde Park and that an eighth of the estate is unsuitable for its intended use, equivalent to ‘three Hyde Parks’. Last year’s edition of the report claimed the potential saving of disposable space was the equivalent of ‘264 Premier League football pitches’, which at least has the advantage of being comprehensible for those who can’t envisage how big Hyde Park is.

April 19, 2013

Flexibility not finance motivates Generation Y workers

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

Millennial or Generation Y workers are not the bunch of entitled youths we’ve been led to believe. Those born between 1980 and 1995 say they would choose workplace flexibility, work/life balance and the opportunity for overseas assignments over financial rewards. PwC’s NexGen survey reveals that millennials view work as a thing rather than a place that requires a traditional nine to five routine, so are more likely to stay in a job if they feel supported and appreciated, are part of a cohesive team and have greater flexibility over where and how much they work. This contrasts with the non-millennial generation, who place greater importance on pay and development opportunities.