October 15, 2018
Some thoughts on the addictive power of workplace design
The search for some concoction or contraption to improve our performance at work is nothing new. Lawyers, bankers and other professionals have famously used performance-enhancing drugs to gain a competitive advantage. But the design of a workspace can actually have similar effects on those who create it, consume it or pursue it. And, just like a drug, workplace design can have good and bad effects. Instead of chemicals, design manipulates space to change behaviour. An increase in the length of a lunch table, for example, can encourage people who did not know one another to interact more.
More than half of CEOs (53 percent) admit they can’t find candidates with the necessary skills to help them navigate an increasingly digitalised business landscape a new survey from Robert Half has claimed. These include data analysis and digital skills, as well as softer skills such as resilience, adaptability to change and critical thinking. This means that nearly five million UK SMEs, the equivalent to four out of every five (82 percent) small and medium-sized companies, are struggling to attract the skills they need. As a result, many are being forced to offer salary packages higher than originally expected to recruit the right talent. 
Generation Z, the latest generation of workers to enter the workplace (aged 18-24) are social creatures a new report suggests, preferring to work in an office environment, with only 8 percent thinking they work best from home compared to 20 percent nationally. However, putting aside the assumption this is because they’re sharing a cramped flat or living with parents, even within the office environment, the vast majority (81 percent) think social and communal areas are important workplace facilities compared with only 64 percent of all employees and 58 percent of Baby Boomers. 
October 16, 2018
Law firms are finally embracing the agile workplace
by Simon Pole • Comment, Workplace design
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