Search Results for: opportunities

September 16, 2016

Career advancement opportunities help attract and retain staff ⁰

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

Three in 10 US employees say they are likely to leave their employer within the next two years as employers continue to experience difficulty with attracting and retaining staff. According to the Global Talent Management and Rewards Survey, from Willis Towers Watson roughly half of employers are experiencing difficulty attracting critical-skill employees, top performers and high-potential employees. More than a third of respondents reported challenges in retaining high-potential employees (37 percent), top performers (36 percent) and critical-skill employees (35 percent). The firm’s Global Workforce Study identified advancement opportunities as key. Over a third (36 percent) cited opportunities to advance as a key reason to join a company and to leave (45 percent). However, only four in 10 (41 percent) indicated their employer does a good job of providing advancement opportunities, while nearly half (47 percent) said they would need to leave their organisation to progress.

July 18, 2016

Opportunities and challenges crystallise for smart cities and buildings ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Case studies, Cities, Facilities management, News, Workplace design

Global law firm Osborne Clarke has released its fourth research report on smart cities and the future of the built environment. The new edition addresses a number of key issues related to the built environment and poses what it suggests are the two key questions: How can the built environment become smarter? And what are the challenges and obstacles that might prevent this from happening? The report looks at case studies cross Europe and interviews experts in an attempt to discover how smart built environments ‘leverage data, new technology and innovative and collaborative thinking to deliver services that benefit citizens’. The report concludes that a fundamental shift in thinking is already well underway but it is patchy and still faces a large number of major obstacles, not least a silo mentality in decision making which restricts the ability of organisations to innovate and achieve results across a broad base of objectives.

May 6, 2016

Management needs to improve opportunities for career progression ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

Almost a quarter of employees (24 percent) are intending to move, as job satisfaction in the UK drops to its lowest level for over two years finds the latest CIPD/Halogen Employee Outlook report. The survey reveals that almost a fifth (23 percent) of employees believe their organisation’s performance management processes are unfair (an increase from 20 percent in Autumn 2015). Over a quarter (27 percent) are dissatisfied with the opportunity to develop their skills in their job and this is reflected in the number of employees who say they are unlikely to fulfil their career aspirations in their current organisation, which has also increased to 36 percent (32 percent in Autumn 2015). Opportunities for women in senior roles have slipped as well with separate research by the European Women on Boards (EWoB) showing that Britain has a below-average proportion of women on boards; falling from sixth to eighth place among 12 leading economies since 2011.

August 21, 2015

Employee’s entrepreneurial opportunities linked to job satisfaction ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

US employees are seeking opportunities to perform more like entrepreneurs within their organisation, and according to researchers from the University of Phoenix School of Business this is reason enough to add a new word, ‘intrapreneurship’ into the business-speak lexicon. The survey claims that more than one-third (37 percent) of working adults consider themselves entrepreneurial and more than half (56 percent) acknowledge that their current job gives them the chance to apply an entrepreneurial mindset. Over 3 in 5 (61 percent) of those who say they enjoy a degree of job satisfaction say their organisation provides opportunities to be entrepreneurial and of those who are unsatisfied with their career, only one-third (33 percent) cited entrepreneurial opportunities in their organisation. In addition, 34 percent said firms should provide more training and education opportunities.

March 25, 2015

Report identifies the challenges and opportunities of workplace wellbeing

by Mark Eltringham • Briefing, News, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

Much of what has been called workplace strategy in recent years has been more about cutting costs than supporting people, often to the detriment of the latter. That is the central claim of a new report authored by Kate Lister and Tom Harnish of Global Workplace Analytics and sponsored by office furniture maker Knoll. The paper, What’s Good for People? Moving from Wellness to Well-Being, explores how better workplaces, processes and practices can improve workplace wellbeing, employee engagement and organisational performance. The study starts from the premise that people are dealing with unprecedented stresses and pressures in the workplace which now need to be addressed in the context of a recovering economy, the limits of an approach that focuses on doing more with less and an increasingly scant pool of human resources and talents.

March 9, 2015

Men and women have differing views on equal pay and opportunities

by Mark Eltringham • Legal news, News, Workplace

Men and women have differing views on the pay and career opportunities available to female employees in the workplace, according to a report published today by recruitment firm Hays. The report is based on a study of 6,000 employees which found that just under half (45 percent) of women think that equally qualified and capable male and female colleagues are not paid the same compared to around 20 percent of men. The survey also produced an almost identical result when respondents were asked whether the same career opportunities were available to both sexes, with 21 percent of men and 48 percent of women claiming that both genders enjoyed the same opportunities. Overall both sexes agree that quotas are not the best solution to any mismatch with just 9 percent agreeing that they would have a major impact.

January 8, 2015

We all need to embrace the opportunities presented by BIM

by Michael Page • Architecture, Comment, Technology, Workplace design

Described as ‘key to growth in the sector’ by chief construction adviser, Peter Hansford and increasingly recognised as a much more collaborative and efficient way of working, Building Information Modelling (BIM) continues to gather supporters from across the industry, yet there is a percentage of people who are still keeping their heads down and hoping it will all just go away. Maybe it’s the required element of investment or maybe it’s the small matter of change itself – always a difficult one for the construction industry – but there is still an amount of SMEs who are shrinking away from BIM, despite the fact that it is destined to become the established way.

January 16, 2014

BIM learning opportunities expand in new RICS and Salford University agreement

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

A distance learning version of a Certificate in BIM Implementation and Management, available online to professionals across the world is being offered by the University of Salford’s School of the Built Environment. The Certificate is designed to offer those working within the built environment the fundamental knowledge and understanding of BIM principles, terminologies, tools and techniques, including the technology, process and people needs for the successful adoption of BIM on construction projects. A range of new Continuous Professional Development programmes have been agreed with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), which includes a one-day Introduction to BIM Implementation and Management and a five-day Certificate in BIM Implementation and Management. More →

October 28, 2013

Global urbanisation trends present UK cities with new opportunities

by Charles Marks • Comment, Environment, Property, Technology

There is a great deal of talk about the growing urbanisation of the world right now, and its effects on societies, economies and individuals. The numbers of people involved are daunting, especially in the developing world. As a result, many countries are currently experiencing the sort of upheaval we in Britain experienced nearly 300 years ago, and they are doing so in a very compressed time span compared to the 150 years it took in Britain. But the changing nature of cities is also apparent in the UK where it is having an effect not only in the country’s only megacity but in regional centres too. For places such as Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Glasgow the challenges presented by a new generation of initiatives focussed on urbanisation can be profound and mark an opportunity to shift at least some of the UK’s economic focus away from London.

May 3, 2013

BIM provides opportunities for the built environment finds report

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Facilities management, Knowledge, News, Public Sector

Building Information Modelling (BIM) will raise productivity, provide better buildings, faster and cheaper and represents opportunities for the built environment to become a powerful international player. This is according to a major new report, Growth through BIM produced by Richard Saxon, the UK Government’s BIM Ambassador for Growth who concludes: “No wonder it has been mandated as government policy“. The Built Environment sector, for the purposes of his report, is defined as Property, Construction and Facilities Management, which accounts for about 15 per cent of GDP, and which he describes as: “an enabling sector, facilitating the performance of most other sectors”. More →

April 24, 2024

US workers gain more freedom to change jobs as government bans noncompete agreements

by Neil Franklin • Business, Flexible working, News

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has dealt a blow to restrictive employment practices by issuing a final rule that bans most noncompete agreements nationwide. This means millions of American workers will soon have more freedom to leave their current employers for jobs with competitors or even start their own businesses. The FTC estimates this change will have a significant positive impact on the economy. The agency predicts the creation of 8,500 new businesses every year, along with an average annual pay increase of $524 for workers. Additionally, the rule is expected to lead to lower healthcare costs and a surge in innovation, with estimates suggesting as many as 29,000 more patents filed each year in the coming decade. More →

April 21, 2024

VMA GROUP launches 10th edition of Inside Insight, offering exclusive industry perspectives for the UK Internal Communications profession

by Freddie Steele • Business, Company news

VMA GROUP, a trusted name in the world of communications, marketing, digital and change recruitment, has announced the release of its highly anticipated research report, Inside Insight. This all-encompassing benchmarking report delves deep into the current state of the internal communications industry, providing invaluable insights to professionals and organisations alike. Formulated from the survey responses of nearly 600 UK-based internal communications professionals, along with commentary from key internal communications leaders and VMA GROUP’s specialist team of recruitment and executive search consultants, this report focuses on emerging trends, opportunities, and challenges within the industry. More →