Search Results for: workplace

February 27, 2019

Digitisation and culture of uncertainty lead employees to seek stability

by Sara Bean • AI, Technology, Workplace

Job security is the top reason employees in the UK joined their company, and also the main reason they stay, according to Mercer’s 2019 Global Talent Trends study. With close to one in three employees being concerned that AI and automation will replace their job, senior managers are also worried about the effects of digitisation, with nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of executives in the UK predicting t significant disruption in the next three years, compared to 23 percent in 2018. Mercer’s global findings reveal a similar story finding that as executives focus on making their organisations “future-fit”, significant human capital risks – including the ability to close the skills gap and overcome employee change fatigue – can impede transformation progress. Addressing these concerns is paramount, given that less than one in three executives rate their company’s ability to mitigate the effect on employees as very effective.

February 27, 2019

Businesses leaving themselves vulnerable to a failing of business continuity

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

By failing to properly explore what service provision is offered in the event of a serious incident such as flood or fire, businesses are leaving themselves vulnerable to a failing of business continuity, a new survey from Regus suggests. The survey found that 40 percent of businesses rely solely on what their workplace recovery provider tells them, or what is in their contract to protect them from a crisis. The lack of testing of recovery facilities by businesses also leaves them open to further disruption, with businesses at risk of finding that, in reality, the location they have been allocated is too small, with seats only available on a first-come-first-served basis, leaving business-critical staff unable to work.

February 26, 2019

IFMA UK joins forces with Greenpeace and Kids Against Plastic

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, News

With over 12.7 million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean every year, killing over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals, it is estimated that by 2050 plastic will outweigh fish in our seas. Humans produce nearly 300 million tonnes of plastic every year, half of which is for single use. This is simply unsustainable.

February 26, 2019

Men are less likely to be stressed by long hours at work, research suggests

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Men who work long hours are less likely to become depressed than women who have similarly time consuming roles, a study from researchers at University College London and Queen Mary University has found. The study of more than 20,000 adults published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, found that women who worked 55 hours or more a week had 7.3 per cent more depressive symptoms than those on a standard 35-40 hour week. No significant link was found for men working the same hours.

February 26, 2019

Digital and mobile tech at work is still not being used to full advantage

by Sara Bean • AI, Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace

Just a third of businesses are using mobile technologies for their administration tasks, and as organisations struggle to digitise, many employees admit to finding pen and paper simpler to use. The vast majority (91 percent) of workers still prefer to use a desktop or laptop for administrative tasks, according to the research commissioned by ABBYY, as only one third (35 percent) use mobiles for admin, despite 43 percent of workers wanting to use it for this purpose. Millennials in particular are keen to use mobiles, with 55 percent wanting to use mobiles for admin – yet only 43 percent currently do. Older generations are also open to using mobile for admin, with 35 percent of Gen X currently doing so, and 41 percent wanting to. However, it’s clear that some employees are finding the latest technologies, such as mobile, too difficult to use – 28 percent still want to use pen and paper for admin tasks, as 46 percent find it simpler than other means. Desktop still runs the workplace in the UK, regardless of today’s remote working climate. Almost half of workers (48 percent) use a desktop or laptop because it’s easier, and 41 percent because it’s faster.

February 26, 2019

Survey suggests that all age groups are similarly motivated at work

by Sara Bean • Comment, News, Workplace

When comparing the results of 18 – 29-year-olds with other age brackets, we often find that researchers are bending over backwards to find some kind of pattern. Now a new survey a new study from Automatic Data Processing (ADP) finds unsurprisingly, that there is actually little difference between the age groups regarding those who go to work because they like their company and feel that they’re on the same mission. Of those aged 30 – 49 years old, 9 percent choose this option as did 11 percent of 50 – 64-year-olds.

February 25, 2019

A four day week, people-watching at work, the art of AI and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • AI, Facilities management, Features, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

While the recent Finnish pilot of universal basic income had mixed results, a trial of the other most talked about solution to our problem with work – the four day week – has been reported as far more promising. A New Zealand financial services firm called Perpetual Guardian switched its 240 staff from a five-day to a four-day week last November and maintained their pay. The results (registration) included a 20 percent rise in productivity and improved staff wellbeing and engagement.

February 25, 2019

Growth of flexible working locations in London is lowering the costs of office space

by Sara Bean • Cities, Coworking, News, Property

There is a boom in the number of new flexible working locations opening in Central London, which has seen a growth of 42 percent year-on-year. According to the new report by Office Freedom this growth is driving ever more competitive rates and lowering the cost of all kinds of office spaces within the capital. Over the last two years, office prices in Hammersmith have fallen by 29 percent, whilst Paddington is 32 percent cheaper as a direct result of greater flexible space availability. The rates in prestigious Knightsbridge are still amongst the highest in Central London, but have dropped by 38 percent between 2014 and 2018. More →

February 22, 2019

The biggest problem for city centres is a lack of high skilled jobs

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, News

The Centre for Cities, in partnership with George Capital, has mapped the UK cities with the strongest city centre economies in the UK, and identified their common features. The report City Centres: Past, Present and Future found that focusing on the struggles of certain high streets ignores the success of well-performing city centres and misdiagnoses the core problem: insufficient footfall in city centres due to a lack of jobs.

February 22, 2019

Managers blame cost of adjustments for reluctance to hire disabled workers

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

Nearly a quarter (24 percent) of UK employers admit they would be less likely to hire someone with a disability, new data from disability charity Leonard Cheshire shows, and over two thirds (66 percent) of managers cite the cost of workplace adjustments as the barrier to employing a disabled person, up from 60 percent in 2017. Seventeen percent of disabled candidates that had applied for a job in the past five years said the employer withdrew the job offer as a result of their disability. Attitudinal barriers continually featured in the latest research. Of the employers across the UK that said they were less likely to employ someone because they were disabled, 60 percent were concerned that a disabled person wouldn’t be able to do the job. Of the disabled people in the UK who applied for a job in the last five years, 30 percent said they felt like the employer had not taken them seriously as a candidate.

February 22, 2019

Employees put off seeking medical advice due to worries over missing work

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Although the majority (85 percent) of all business decision-makers agree that workplace health is a top priority, employees still aren’t being as open as they should, often playing down their illness or injury (32 percent) or feeling too busy to miss office hours (27 percent), a new survey by Bupa and Babylon Health has claimed. Worry over missing work is a key driver in avoiding appointments as seven in 10 employees (70%) have delayed or put off seeking medical advice when they should, despite the majority of business leaders having no issue with colleagues taking time off to deal with health issues. Men, young workers (18-34), Londoners and those employed in SMEs are all more likely than average to delay or put off seeking help. The data also shows that those in manual roles (vs. clerical) are more likely to shrug off illness or injury. Mark Allan, Commercial Director, Bupa UK, said: “As much as those in decision-making positions really want their employees to put their health first, they’re competing against a strong resistance from those who will strive to soldier on. This is particularly the case with those employees in SME businesses, amongst others.”

February 21, 2019

How do we reach consensus about what constitutes good design? ⁰

by Paul Goodchild • Comment, Furniture, Technology, Workplace design

In shows and the media, we are often invited to pass judgement on products and ideas that have been created by other people. The reviews that follow often cement some form of accepted view, even if we often outsource the decision making to people who are better placed to decide, or at least better enabled to express an opinion. Such judgements would not function at all in this regard unless there was some underlying consensus about what constitutes good and bad design at the same time that we all believed we know what good taste is and we all know a good piece of design when we see it. In so far as the consensus is universally accepted, we are all right. But how much do we really understand about the things that surround us and their design? And how meaningful is the consensus? In JG Ballard’s novel High Rise, recently made into a film, he writes of the disdain Anthony Royal, the architect of the eponymous tower has for the tastes of its residents.