Search Results for: agile

September 8, 2015

Over a fifth of working mothers denied flexible hours are forced to quit ⁰

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

Discussions about the gender pay gap and increasing the number of women on Boards need to acknowledge that the greatest obstacle to female empowerment in the UK is balancing home and family. Just last week the TUC revealed that many women felt compelled to take time out of work to care for young children while another survey found over half of working women believe they would need to alter their career in order to have a child. Now the latest figures fromthe workingmums.co.uk 2015 Annual Survey show that over a fifth of working mums have been forced to leave their jobs because a flexible working request was turned down. Although the right to request flexible working was extended to all employees last year, this new policy has a less rigid timetable for employers and no statutory right to appeal if a request is turned down.

August 5, 2015

Near universal uptake of flexible working driving increased use of Cloud ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Case studies, Flexible working, News, Technology

One of the consequences of the near universal uptake of flexible working practices amongst smaller businesses is a growth in the use of the technology best suited to make them work such as Cloud based data services. That is one of the key findings of a new study from BT Business and the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). According to the survey of just over 300 small and medium sized business owners and decision makers, nearly all (91 percent) have at least one member of staff working away from their main place of work for significant periods, and a fifth (19 percent) claim that more than half of their staff have adopted some form of flexible working. The report concludes that this is the main driver in the growth of Cloud data services with 69 percent of firms already using cloud-based applications and more than half (53 percent) saying that they are essential for agile working.

August 5, 2015

Using office relocation as a vehicle for positive organisational change ⁰

by Lee Parsons • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design

The impact of office relocation can no longer be solely measured in immediately tangible terms. This doesn’t mean market factors can be dismissed, especially given CBRE’s recent announcement that office vacancies are at an all-time low while rents skyrocket and favourable terms for tenants erode. However, in an era where 67 percent of workplaces cite employee attraction and retention as the most important driver of their workplace design, and 46 percent cite productivity, the human factor also can’t be ignored. If such CBRE statistics aren’t challenging enough, there are also the realities of the modern workspace to contend with, such as creating an environment that suits generations of employees. It’s these human impacts that drive the importance of workplace design and urge top-flight businesses to use office relocation as a vehicle for positive change. Here are some of the latest findings.

July 30, 2015

Far from dying out, the office is becoming more essential than ever

by Luke Finch • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

Samsung recently released a new report which explores how our offices might look in the year 2025. The death of the office has been predicted over and over again, however the Samsung Smarter Futures Report goes against the grain and predicts that the office could actually become more important than ever. Driven by the adoption of smart technology the report claims that offices will become hubs for productivity and collaboration and what Samsung calls ‘Creative Villages’. Smart technology will create devices and systems that take notes, automate admin tasks, organise meetings and deliver information as you need it. This will mean employees have more time for face to face communication and collaborative work. As a consequence, current trends such as flexible working and agile workspace could actually become less of an issue than they are currently.

July 28, 2015

Beyond branding – how workplace design can express a firm’s culture

by Gary Chandler • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design

When it comes to the incorporation of branding and identity into a workplace, there is a simple option, which is to produce a design that faithfully incorporates the firm’s logos, colours and straplines in the interior. There’s nothing wrong with this, except for the fact that it is literally superficial and so may miss the opportunity to create an office design that scratches beneath the surface to reveal what lies beneath. When you get past the layers of branding and identity, you uncover something that we call culture. This can take things to a whole new level because the challenge becomes how to create a workplace design that communicates and fosters both the identity and the culture of the organisation. The benefits to the organisation can be enormous, not least because this approach bridges a number of disciplines such as human resources and office design and so drives a number of strategic objectives.

July 8, 2015

Productivity starts with people, advises CIPD ahead of today’s Budget

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Investing in people’s development and offering flexible working practices can help organisations boost productivity. This is according to research by the CIPD published ahead of today’s budget, which the Chancellor has said will put the emphasis on improving UK productivity. The report: Productivity: Getting the Best out of People, explores the factors that help to explain why some businesses have higher productivity than others and finds that there are clear links between productivity and how people are managed at work. The report finds that performance tends to be higher in businesses where there is a focus on higher quality products or services rather than only on low cost and where workplace culture is clearly aligned with the future direction of the business. Investment in workforce training and an intelligent approach to the implementation of ‘smart’ or agile working practices also has a positive impact.

June 23, 2015

Design must support knowledge circulation in the next generation workplace

by Lee Parsons • Comment, Knowledge, Workplace design

Businesses thrive because of their workforces, and the ideas, work and creations they bring to an organisation. But despite the fact that sharing knowledge and thoughts is vitally important, most designers focus on providing individual space for workers, while little thought is given to creating spaces that support knowledge circulation. Separate offices for one or two people, cubicles and individual desks are just some of the factors included in what is perceived to be an average building, but very often is the reason why there is a lack of knowledge sharing and co-creation. New methodologies are emerging on how to get the most out of employees, by providing an environment that encourages them to work together. These new strategies, such as swarm intelligence, place focus on the entire workforce rather than the individual, encouraging them to work together and share their knowledge and ideas.

May 29, 2015

Everything you wanted to know about open plan but were too distracted to ask

by Maciej Markowski • Comment, Facilities management, Work&Place, Workplace design

There is a lively and ongoing debate on whether open plan offices are a good or bad thing. Many articles would suggest that they routinely diminish productivity. Yes, the open plan office is not ideal for privacy and probably bad for conceptual focused work, but it’s a bit like saying a hammer is useless when you need to tighten a screw. The point is you don’t use it for that. Fans of open plan often underline how fantastic it is for building a sense of belonging, team spirit and ad hoc collaboration, often ignoring the challenges of working there. The point I’m making is that introducing open plan into your office is probably a good idea, but you really need to make sure that you provide your employees with a menu of settings which allow them to concentrate, have ad hoc meetings without disturbing their colleagues and provide some privacy for confidential conversations.

May 16, 2015

The latest edition of Insight Weekly is available to view online

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Newsletter, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s issue; the intersection of the different physical and technological spaces which make up the modern workplace is the theme of the latest issue of Work&Place, which is now available to view online. Paul Statham examines the transformation agile working is making to the global workplace; Paul Goodchild on the enduring appeal of wooden furniture and John Blackwell explains why IT and Property Directors need to come out of their silos. In news, the CIPD reveals that employers are using more of their resources to skill up their workforces, Acas issues advice on managing mental health problems, and how most Brits would rather lose a finger than their access to the Internet. Sign up to the newsletter via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar and follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

May 11, 2015

Does declining productivity spell the end for IT and property directors?

by John Blackwell • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Technology, Work&Place

When it comes to increasing organisational output, which in turn directly relates to real wage growth and higher living standards, the only determinant is productivity, measured in terms of output per hour worked. This is at the heart of all businesses and is essential for growth. The basic facts on productivity are clear. For over a decade, productivity has been painfully weak across all the major economies. The UK has performed particularly badly, with productivity having declined by 3.7 percent since 2008. A recent OECD report went as far as saying: “weak labour productivity since 2004 has been holding back real wages and well-being. The sustainability of economic expansion and further progress in living standards rest on boosting productivity growth, which is a key challenge for the coming years”.

May 8, 2015

The world’s enduring addiction to the joy and misery of commuting

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Work&Place, Workplace

Commuting is one of the most complained about yet least explored facets of our working lives. This is in spite of the fact that it consumes so much of people’s time, energy and money, is presented as one of the main arguments for more flexible working practices and is so closely linked to our wellbeing. Yet the half a billion – and growing – commuters worldwide could be forgiven for assuming nobody is really that much interested in the effects of their daily grind into work, especially when you consider the attention given to other workplace issues. Douglas Langmead in his feature on page 32 of the new issue of Work&Place does his bit to redress this imbalance with a fascinating look at commuting in the rapidly developing and endlessly fascinating economies of the United Arab Emirates.

May 6, 2015

TfL to occupy first commercial property at International Quarter

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Company news, News, Property

Construction is to begin this summer on the first of a number of office buildings planned for the second stage of the International Quarter, a £2.1 billion mixed-use development in Stratford in East London. Transport for London (TfL) has signed a pre-let with Lend Lease and London and Continental Railways (LCR) to occupy all of the space in the 265,000 sq ft commercial property. An estimated 3,000 TfL workers will relocate to the International Quarter’s new offices and, once completed, an estimated 25,000 people will work at and visit the site each day. The developers claim they are in discussions with other tenants about moving to The International Quarter – which, at a total of four million square feet, will be one of the largest new commercial property developments in the capital.