February 5, 2020

AI will transform financial services in two years

by Jackie Le Poidevin • News, Technology

Nearly two-thirds of financial services leaders expect to be mass adopters of AI in two years compared to just 16 percent harnessing it today, a survey from the World Economic Forum and the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) claims. This is despite fears around AI, with 58 percent of the 150 senior executives surveyed expecting it to worsen discrimination in the sector and the same number expecting privacy breaches to increase. More →

February 4, 2020

Blundering blindly towards the truth about work and workplaces

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace

If you don’t like some of the stories we publish on Insight, you should see the ones we reject. It’s something I catch myself saying a lot and underlying it is an awareness that bullshit can be appealing. We should apply the smell test to stories and go in search of what might best be described as the facts, contradictions and nuances that are characteristic elements of some sort of truth. More →

January 31, 2020

Communicating employee rewards boosts engagement

by Jackie Le Poidevin • News, Working culture

Communicating a business’s “employee value proposition” or EPV – the package of rewards that it offers in return for the person’s performance at work – is having an increasingly positive impact on employee engagement, retention and recruitment, research has claimed. Aon’s Benefits & Trends 2020 Survey (registration required) suggests that although the percentage of employers who have, or are working towards, an EVP remains similar to last year (76 percent), the number that now communicate it to staff has increased. Of those employers that have an EVP, 77 percent now explain it to employees, an increase of 9 percent on 2019.

January 24, 2020

Most executives lack skills to lead in digital economy

by Jackie Le Poidevin • News

Most executives around the world are out of touch with what it takes to lead effectively and for their businesses to stay competitive in the digital economy, a new study has claimed. Out of nearly 4,400 executives in over 120 countries surveyed by MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) and Cognizant, only 9 percent agreed that their organisation has the skills at the top to thrive in the digital economy. More →

January 17, 2020

HR struggles to develop high-quality leadership talent

by Jackie Le Poidevin • Business, News

More than one-third of HR chiefs are struggling to develop effective senior leaders and only half of 2,800 surveyed leaders believe they are well-equipped to provide the leadership to guide their company in the future, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. Efforts to tackle the emerging issues of the 2020s and beyond – including public pressure for business transparency, the rise of automation and the creation of never-before-seen jobs – will be fruitless unless HR managers find ways to nurture and retain capable future leaders, the research and advisory company concludes. More →

January 16, 2020

HR leaders feel completely unprepared for the future of work

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Most chief people officers (CPOs) in the US realise they need new skills to meet the demand of the 21st century role, but few are prepared, citing a lack of development and investment from the C-suite, meaning they feel unprepared for the future of work. This is according to a new study by HR People + Strategy (SHRM’s Executive Network of business and thought leaders in human resources) and with Willis Towers Watson, a global advisory, broking and solutions company. The study, based on direct input from more than 500 executives, examined the key changes shaping the CPO role and identifies a pathway for developing and accelerating this next generation of HR leaders. More →

January 8, 2020

From the archives: Is this the missing piece of the facilities management puzzle? ⁰

by Ian Ellison • Facilities management, Features, Premium Content, Work&Place, Workplace design

The IFMA Foundation Workplace Summit of summer 2014 felt like an optimistic time for facilities management and the workspace industry. Heavyweights from the sector were asking searching questions about our organisational contribution, with thankfully less of the internally focused, debate-free hubris typical of much of the industry narrative. The newly announced (and now evidently historical) collaboration between BIFM and CIPD was in full swing, endorsed by social media savvy Twitterati under The Workplace Conversation banner. More →

December 30, 2019

Over 65s will drive half of all jobs growth in coming decade

by Neil Franklin • News

New projections from Rest Less, a jobs, volunteering and advice site for the over 50s, claims that workers aged 65 and over are likely to be responsible for at least 50 per cent of all UK employment growth in the next 10 years. The analysis, based on population projections from the Office of National Statistics, makes an assumption that the current employment rate of each age group will remain static, and suggests that with population changes alone, the over 65s are likely to be responsible for 52 per cent of all the UK’s employment growth in the next 10 years, 57 per cent in the next 20 years and as much as 62 per cent by 2060. More →

December 19, 2019

The truth about all those workplace trends lists

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Features, Property, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

You would not believe the number of firms that ask us to publish a list of workplace trends each week. Or maybe you would, given the number that have appeared elsewhere. Each firm perhaps convinced they are saying something original, unique or interesting, or maybe simply convinced they stand out in some way, while pushing the same timid, stale narratives about the workplace. It goes without saying that the commercialised messages often do little to shine a light on complex realities. In the words of the Scottish poet and anthropologist Andrew Lang, they use information ‘like a drunk uses lamp-posts—for support rather than illumination’.

December 17, 2019

Gig workers like the work-life balance but would prefer permanent roles

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

More than one in ten (12 percent) so-called gig workers in the UK are working multiple roles and consider temporary work as their main role, taking advantage of improved work-life balance, greater variety of work and the ability to see more of their families, according to a new report. The research, carried out by Reed Specialist Recruitment, for its Temporary isn’t Temporary campaign, surveyed 5,000 workers and looked at their experience of, and attitude to, temporary and multiple career roles.

December 10, 2019

Channel 4 confirms move to landmark Leeds building

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

One of the UK’s leading broadcasters has confirmed its deal with the Rushbond Group for its new national headquarters to be at The Majestic in Leeds city centre. The third, fourth and fifth floors of the building will become home to Channel 4, with teams from across the organisation coming together to operate out of the iconic building. The deal with Channel 4 leaves four floors remaining, from 8,000 sq ft to a total of 39,000 sq ft of workspace to be let to additional dynamic organisations. More →

November 29, 2019

HR profession needs to modernise if it is to stay relevant

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Following the recent Gartner study describing the unpreparedness of the HR function for the future of work, another report is exhorting managers to step things up. According to the KPMG International global Future of HR survey, close to 3 in 5 (57 percent) Human Resources executives believe that if their function doesn’t modernise its approach to understanding and planning for the future needs of the workforce, it will rapidly become irrelevant within the modern organisation. More →