Search Results for: business

November 15, 2015

Acas analysis for anti-bullying week reveals workplace bullying is on the rise ⁰

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

Workplace bullying is on the rise but many people are too afraid to talk about it according to a new study by Acas published to mark the beginning of anti-bullying week. The paper Seeking better solutions: tackling bullying and ill-treatment in Britain’s workplaces looks at the latest research on workplace bullying as well as calls to the Acas helpline. The analysis claims that bullying and ill-treatment is growing in Britain; and there are more incidents of bullying within certain groups such as public sector minority ethnic workers; women in traditionally male-dominated occupations; workers with disabilities or long-term health problems; lesbian, gay and bisexual and transgender people; and workers in health care. The helpline has received around 20,000 calls over the past year with some callers reporting that bullying caused them to self-harm or consider suicide.

November 13, 2015

Study claims the Internet of Things will connect 6.4 billion objects next year ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Technology

According to a new report from technology research organisation Gartner, 6.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016, up around a third (30 percent) from 2015, and will reach 20.8 billion by 2020. The study claims that in 2016, 5.5 million new things will become connected each day. Gartner estimates that the Internet of Things (IoT) will support total services spending globally of around US$235 billion in 2016, up nearly a quarter (22 percent) from 2015. Although the report claims that the technology will make significant inroads in consumer markets, services are dominated by the professional category defined by Gartner (in which businesses contract with external providers in order to design, install and operate IoT systems). However connectivity services (through communications service providers) and consumer services will grow at a faster pace, according to the report.

November 13, 2015

Remote workers endure poor communications and working practices ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Poor communication and working practices among remote teams is widespread, a new report by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) claims. Organisations are failing to capitalise on the potential for remote working to improve performance and efficiency with 88 percent of remote workers struggling with inconsistent working practices and miscommunication, while 83 percent feel overwhelmed by emails. Although 84 percent of remote workers report improvements to their work-life balance, a lack of team identity can cause isolation and loneliness. The study with over 1,000 remote workers highlighted a range of potential benefits for organisations with a remote or geographically-dispersed workforce, including increased business reach, improved productivity, cost and time savings, and access to a more diverse set of skills and experience.

November 12, 2015

The three workplace professions need to face up to a new reality ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace

The modern workplace consists of an often unholy trinity of people, place and technology and each of these facets has its own associated profession; HR. IT. FM. Six letters. Three disciplines. One big mess. When life was simple, with people generally going to work in the same place and at the same time, each of these professions could operate in its own bubble, with a clear sphere of influence and control. Sure, they could behave in interdisciplinary ways, they could have their intersections, but at the end of each encounter they could each go their separate ways. That is no longer true. The workplace is no longer primarily physical, but digital and cultural too. The boundaries of space and time have slipped and taken with them the clear demarcations between the three main workplace professions. All of this is bound to provoke as big an existential crisis for the professions as it does for the workplace itself.

November 12, 2015

Workers say regular wellness reviews would help improve productivity ⁰

by Sara Bean • Wellbeing, Workplace

Over half of UK employees are struggling to make long-term changes to their lifestyles, but believe they could adopt healthier practices with more help from their employers, new research by Bupa claims. In the study of 2,000 UK employees, 52 percent admitted that their changes generally last no longer than a few weeks, and just 7 percent have been completely successful. But more than 85 percent of employees believe they would be more productive if they were able to stick to positive lifestyle changes in the long-term, two in five (44 percent) would love their work to help them make positive changes to their lifestyle and half (48 percent) say a regular wellness review would help with this. The research showed that three quarters of employees (73 percent) have chosen to change their lifestyle to feel more physically healthy, with nearly half (46 percent) changing to improve mental health.

November 11, 2015

Record construction of London office space, but supply shortfall remains ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Demand for office space in London continues to overwhelm its availability and in spite of record levels of construction, according to two new reports. The latest CBRE Monthly Index claims that rents in Central London’s booming office market grew by 10.3 percent in the year to October 2015, the first time annual growth has hit double digits since April 2008. Despite rapidly rising rents, take-up of offices in Central London continues to outpace the 10 year average. The capital saw 1.1 percent growth in October, with 3.6m sq ft of space snapped up by businesses in the third quarter of 2015, with a further 3.8m sq ft currently under offer and expected to complete before the end of the year. Change could be on the way however as the latest biannnual London crane survey from Deloitte claims that the amount of office space being built in central London has risen by a fifth in six months, the highest level for seven years.

November 10, 2015

Research reveals the main reasons why people still go to work when ill ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

High job demands, stress and job insecurity are among the main reasons why people go to work when they are ill and should probably stay home, according to new research from the University of East Anglia. The study sets out to improve understanding of the key causes of employees going to work when sick, which is known as one of the main forms of presenteeism, and to help make managers more aware of the existence of the phenomenon, what triggers the behaviour and what can be done to improve employees’ health and productivity. A key finding of the study, published yesterday in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, is that presenteeism not only stems from ill health and stress, but from raised motivation, for example high job satisfaction and a strong sense of commitment to the organisation. This may motivate people to ‘go the extra-mile’, causing them to work more intensively, even when sick.

November 10, 2015

Employers have dodged UK recruitment crisis threat, claims CIPD ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

Salaries are not likely to increase much next year, and despite predictions of a recruitment shortage, vacancies are still relatively easy to fill, the latest Labour Market Outlook from the CIPD claims. The quarterly survey of more than 1,000 employers shows that across all sectors just fifteen percent of current job vacancies are proving difficult to fill. It also reveals that, outside a limited number of industries, UK employers continue to be able to recruit the workers they need without significantly hiking wages and that median basic pay rises of just 2 percent are predicted by employers in the 12 months to September 2016. The research suggests that in general, most businesses are seeing a steady flow of suitable candidates, despite unemployment falling to a seven-year low in October and despite a slight year on year increase (44 percent – 49 percent) in the number of employers reporting any hard to fill vacancies.

November 6, 2015

Shortage of German office space as demand in Europe reaches record high ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The demand for office space in Europe grew over the third quarter of 2015 with total take up of over 3 million sq metres, on a par with the previous third quarter peak seen in 2007, according to new figures from property consultancy JLL. Take-up over the third quarter of 2015 is the highest on record – up 29 percent year-on-year and full year volumes are forecast to reach 11.5 million square metres, an increase of 8 percent on 2014. Across the continent, demand for office space is being driven by multiple markets recovering, albeit at varying speeds. Germany demonstrated some of the strongest results in Europe. Four of the five largest markets improved on Q3 2014 and Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich reported a combined take-up of 775,000 sq m, as the strong employment market in Germany pushes up demand for office space even further.

November 5, 2015

Data transforms the roles of offices and the people who manage them

by Philip Ross • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace

The modern workplace creates the physical,technological and cultural point of intersection between a number of abstract or movable facets of the business, including people, technology, culture and creativity. That has always been true to a large extent but with the growing complexity of exactly how, when and where we work, this role of the office as the epicentre of it all has been thrown into sharp relief. With that has come a greater understanding of the intersections that exist between disciplines such as IT, FM and HR. In some areas, the roles already appear indistinguishable and I believe this will only become more apparent. The main driver of that growing convergence of roles will be the availability of data to make informed decisions about interrelated aspects of organisational culture, work practices, office design and management and the development and motivation of individuals.

November 4, 2015

Commercial property owners not keeping up with changing needs of tenants ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace design

A new study from Northumbria University, sponsored by serviced office provider Citibase, claims that the owners of commercial property in the UK stand to lose out on £4.8 billion over the next decade because they are failing to adapt to the changing needs of tenants for more agile spaces. The study claims that property owners in 27 towns and cities in England, Wales and Scotland are already missing out on £325 million annually and paying out another £170 million on holding cost and there are stark differences between the prime and secondary office sectors. The report, Taking Stock: Secondary opportunities and the agile future, claims that out of all total empty stock calculated, only 10 percent of vacant office space is prime, the other 90 percent is secondary. The secondary sector currently has an estimated 26.4m sq ft of office space vacant compared to just 3m sq ft of empty stock in the prime market.

November 3, 2015

Almost half of UK employees plan to change jobs within three years ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

UK employees are among the least loyal in Europe, according to new research by ADP, with nearly half of UK workers (47 percent) planning to change jobs within three years, compared to a third (34 percent) in the rest of Europe. Just 17 percent want to spend the rest of their career in their present organisation, whilst 40 percent of German workers see this as an option. The job market is now becoming more competitive as employees are looking for opportunities outside their home country. However, attitudes towards foreign talent are generally positive with 69 percent of UK employees who don’t see foreign talent as a threat. Even though companies may benefit from a global talent pool, losing local workforce is causing a headache for some countries. Employees in Spain (49 percent), Italy (47 percent), and Poland (39 percent) are particularly concerned about a talent drain to other countries.