Search Results for: business

September 19, 2016

North America leading the way in adopting healthier buildings ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

While building owners, developers, managers and investors in North America are showing increasing interest in practices that prioritise the physical, mental and social well-being of tenants and occupants, European buildings have fewer spaces created with wellness in mind. The Drive Toward Healthier Buildings 2016, by Dodge Data & Analytics and the World Green Building Council, produced in partnership with the Canada Green Building Council and Delos, says the top five healthier building features currently in use include better lighting, products that enhance thermal comfort, spaces that enhance social interaction, enhanced air quality and products that enhance acoustical comfort. However, in an analysis of global trends in health and wellbeing, European respondents reported less frequent use of spaces that enhance tenant mood, spaces that enhance social interaction or spaces that create opportunities for physical activity than their North American or Asian counterparts.

September 19, 2016

London’s sky high property costs driving uptake of coworking, claims report ⁰

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

Start-up tech firms in London face the world’s highest property costs and the result is a boom in coworking, according to a report from Knight Frank. The research, undertaken as part of Knight Frank’s 2017 Global Cities Report, examines the cost of leasing and fitting-out 600 sq ft of office space in the tech and creative districts of the world’s leading cities. Intense demand for space in Shoreditch, London, has seen start-up office costs soar with Knight Frank calculating 600 sq ft of office space to cost US$66,706 per year – the highest of any creative district in the world. This is followed by Brooklyn in New York (US$62,736), Mid-Market in San Francisco (US$61,680), 1st, 2nd and 9th Districts in Paris (US$57,426) and the Seaport District in Boston (US$50,700). However, London’s burgeoning coworking market also shows how firms are using the model to overcome the challenge of finding somewhere to work at an appropriate cost.

September 19, 2016

Overweight people considered less employable in customer service roles ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

A new study from researchers based at Strathclyde Business School suggests that both men and women who are considered overweight are deemed to be less employable in the service sector, with women’s weight in particular affecting their perceived employability. This is true even for job candidates whose weight falls within a healthy BMI range. The study based on the attitudes of 121 women and 61 men gauged the reactions of respondents to images of the faces of job candidates. The respondents were shown images that were distorted to make the candidates appear heavier as well as images of the candidates as they actually appear. The results show that heavier looking candidates were considered less employable, especially for customer facing roles and if the candidates were women. The results suggest that even a subtle simulated increase in a candidate’s BMI, even within a healthy range, is a very real stigma that negatively impacts on people’s life chances.

September 19, 2016

London firms promote health and wellbeing with Square Mile Relay ⁰

by Tim Playbook • Company news, Wellbeing, Workplace

On the 22nd September, the biggest corporations in the City of London will compete in the iconic Bloomberg Square Mile Relay. The global race series, now in seven cities across the world, is celebrating its tenth anniversary in the capital with a record sell-out of 115 teams taking part in a unique relay in the heart of the square mile, as they attempt to prove themselves to be the fastest in the city. Each team consists of 10 runners, and each runner will be required to complete a one-mile course before passing the baton to the next competitor. While at the heart of this race is its charitable motives, it is also reflective of an ongoing rhetoric surrounding the importance of health and wellbeing in the workplace. The companies who have chosen to compete in this year’s global race series are communicating their desire for employees to embrace fitness as a lifestyle choice. It is a strategy in alignment with the ‘soft’ or ‘Harvard’ model of human resource management

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.

September 15, 2016

Call for work life balance to help preserve relationships and health ⁰

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

More than a third of UK workers (35 percent) say that their work schedule is detrimental to their relationship with their partner, nearly one in five (18 per cent) say their job has caused arguments, and eight per cent admit that work was a major factor in the breakdown of their relationship. This is according to research, commissioned by Coople that suggests the extent to which work is ruining relationships, causing arguments with partners and even taking a toll on sex lives. Nearly one in 10 (nine per cent) say the pressures faced at work has had a negative impact on their sex life and one in five (20 per cent) report their work has led to a decline in their health and wellbeing, citing stress and depression. Unsurprisingly, the survey also found that 54 per cent of people value a good work life balance in a job the most, above wages, career progression, doing something meaningful in their work or any employee benefits.

September 15, 2016

Sick staff pressured to come to work, despite reduced productivity ⁰

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

Over two thirds of employees (68.3 percent) say that they feel guilty for taking sick days despite the fact that they’re vastly less productive when they do show up ill, a new survey suggests. Yet more than two thirds (67.5 percent) still go into work when they are unwell, and over half (54.6 percent) report that their employer does not send them home when they’ve felt ill at work. According to the research from CV-Library, the average employee (66.4 percent) only takes between one to two sick days a year; and of those that do take time off, over a third (34.2 percent) of employees say their managers put pressure on them to return to work early and a further 44.7 percent said their employer questions their sickness when they are ill. Worse still, it seems that over half (52.9 percent) of managers still contact their employees whilst they are off sick, adding extra pressure and not giving staff time, and space, to relax and recover.

September 14, 2016

New alliance aims to help eradicate maternity discrimination at work ⁰

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

A new alliance between leading businesses and the Equality and Human Rights Commission is being launched today to combat the level of pregnancy and maternity discrimination that affects around 390,000 pregnant women and new mothers each year. A coalition of businesses in the initiative ‘Working Forward – supporting pregnancy and maternity rights’, aims to inspire other organisations to follow their example by working to eradicate discrimination from their businesses and show employers how to attract, develop and retain women at work. The launch follows the EHRC’s recent landmark research, carried out in conjunction with the former Department from Business, Innovation and Skills which highlighted that while the majority of employers say they are firm supporters of female staff during and after pregnancy and find it easy to comply with the law, three in four (77 percent) mothers say they have had a negative or possibly discriminatory experience at work.

September 14, 2016

Study shows how a green city in the desert still has much to teach the world ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Environment, Facilities management, Knowledge

A much publicised but occasionally troubled green city in the United Arab Emirates without light switches or water taps has much to teach people around the world about saving energy and precious resources, claims a new study from researchers at Birmingham University. With its low-rise and energy efficient buildings, smart metering, excellent public transport and extensive use of renewable energy, the 2,000 citizens of Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, are living in a place which is a ‘green’ example to city planners around the globe, claims the report. There are no light switches or water taps in Masdar City. Movement sensors control lighting and water in order to cut electricity and water consumption by 51 percent and 55 percent respectively. Masdar is a mixed use development that is the world’s first city designed to be ‘zero carbon’ and ‘zero waste’. Masdar City is a large-scale mixed use development which lies 17 kilometres south-east of the city of Abu Dhabi.

September 14, 2016

Calls to improve London’s transport infrastructure in Brexit negotiations ⁰

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

London’s property sector has been resilient following the EU referendum, with commercial property rents remaining strong over the summer, though over the next few months the overall direction of the market is likely to become clearer. This is according to the latest CBI/CBRE London Business Survey, which has found that businesses want the city’s mayor to play a leading role in influencing Brexit negotiations, particularly in driving improvements to the city’s transport infrastructure. Two thirds (67 percent) wish to see upgrades to the existing London Underground network, whilst over a half (55 percent) want a commitment from City Hall to start building Crossrail 2 and one third (31 percent) hope for greater investment in the capital’s road network. Unsurprisingly, uncertainty over the UK’s role in the EU is the most significant cause for concern (75 percent of firms), followed by retaining the best people for the job (49 percent) and a lack of appropriately skilled staff (44 percent).

September 13, 2016

Sensory response to workplace environment influences performance ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Knowledge, News, Workplace, Workplace design

Improving employees’ physical and emotional response to their working environment – from the look and feel of a workplace to non-visual sensory inputs such as smell, noise and temperature – can significantly improve productivity and cognitive performance, a new report suggests. According to Decoding the workplace experience: how the working environment shapes views, behaviours and performance, experience is not just about how well the workplace satisfies functional needs, it is about the overall impression it leaves on the user and the way an employee experiences an environment is emotional and occurs potentially at a subconscious level. Sensory influences such as the smell, noise and temperature of the working environment are among the main factors that influence employees’ experiences of the workplace and impact thier performance. Expectations of the workplace also change depending on personality, background and numerous other factors; which is why understanding your workforce is the key to creating an effective workplace experience.

September 13, 2016

How climate change may be affecting us in more ways than we suppose ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, Facilities management, Knowledge, News, Wellbeing

Just how affected we all are by what is going on in our surroundings is confirmed by a new academic studies which links the environment to to our moods, physical wellbeing and performance. Although we are increasingly aware of the impact the working environment has on our productivity and wellbeing, the new study from researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Joint Global Change Research Institute suggests we are more influenced by the global environment and climate than we might suppose. The meta-analysis of over 200 papers published in Science magazine concludes that while climate change concerns are largely focussed on its long term and worldwide effects, we should also pay attention to the effects over the short term and at local level because of the impact on individuals, businesses, society and the national economy. As well as slowing the global economy by 0.25 percent each year, it also has a profound additional effect at local levels.