Search Results for: retention

July 16, 2014

Keeping remote employees motivated is key to successful flexible working culture

by Gemma Falconer • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

Flexible working has barely been out of the news since the latest government changes. But while allowing employees to work remotely can do wonders for staff retention, motivating them and keeping them in the loop presents a new problem. Although self-starting employees feel that they have more control over their work and fewer distractions, it can also lead to a sense of isolation. It is important for retention that you not just offer a flexible working option to employees, but that all the staff make an effort to continue allowing them to feel like a part of the team. The four best practices that will help you motivate employees that telecommute are: ensuring you build trust between those who telecommute and their colleagues from the start; establish regular communication between remote and in-office staff; manage goals, expectations and outcomes and take steps to establish that remote working is made part of the company culture. More →

July 7, 2014

UK’s men and women have significantly different attitudes toward flexible working

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

As we have seen, the implementation of new flexible working legislation in the UK at the end of June has already shone a spotlight into some intriguing corners of the nation’s workplace. The latest revelation, according to a new survey from recruitment firm Kelly Services, is that men and women have markedly different attitudes towards the idea. While just over half (51 percent)of the UK’s female workers believe that the chance of flexible working would make an organisation a more attractive employer, just over a third of their male counterparts (36 percent) feel the same way. Similarly, a fifth of women surveyed (20 percent) would consider moving job in search of flexible working arrangements compared 15 percent of men and nearly two thirds of women (62 percent) believe their ideal working environment would include flexible working arrangements compared to under half of men (49 percent).

May 28, 2014

Money alone isn’t enough to attract and hold on to Gen Y employees

by Jessica Pryce-Jones • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

The retention of Gen Y employees is key for all organisations. No organisation wants to invest in their next generation of management only to find that they leave, and someone new needs to be trained. But the 20-30 year old workers of Gen Y exhibit a new-found job mobility. Which makes for a ticking time-bomb of potential cost and disruption to their employers. The iOpener Institute has gathered and studied questionnaire responses from over 30,000 professionals across the world, gaining insights into how employers can retain their Gen Y talent. The research clearly shows that while pay and financial rewards are important to Gen Y (i.e. they are not prepared to be under-paid for their work), there is no significant correlation between increased levels of pay and greater talent retention.

May 23, 2014

Workplace design and management of TMT sector aped by other firms

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Flexible working, Property, Technology, Workplace design

The publication of a report last week by the British Council for Offices highlights the wider impact of workplace design trends and commercial property arrangements in the increasingly important Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) sector. Not least it suggests that they are having a transformational influence on the way firms in other sectors approach leases, workplace design and the changing nature of work. It is no coincidence that the TMT sector is the one most commonly associated with the employment of the much-talked-about Gen Y demographic, nor that the business practices most commonly associated with this overly-stereotyped group are those that are having the greatest influence in the way we design and manage offices.

March 17, 2014

The engaged employee remains as elusive as ever, claims global Deloitte report

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Knowledge, Technology, Workplace

To describe the truly engaged employee as elusive would be something of an understatement. It seems as if the more firms strive to engage with the people who work for them, the less engaged they become, like somebody responding to the gifts and attention of a needy and increasingly creepy lover. A new study from Deloitte frames the paradox. The Global Human Capital Trends survey of 2,500 organisations from around the world found that as they pursue policies to engage employees, they also exhibit a startling inability to do so. Regardless of what they try, they struggle to attract and retain the right people and are all too dispiritingly aware of their ability to create a compelling and engaging brand. The findings back up those of a worldwide Gallup report published last October which found just one in eight employees feel committed to their jobs and able to make a positive contribution.

March 6, 2014

British employees are most stressed workers in Europe

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

UK office workers are more affected by stress than their European counterparts, with only 13 per cent of British employees saying they don’t suffer from any stress and deal with their workload well, compared to the European average of 42 per cent. According to new research by recruiters StepStone and totaljobs.com nearly one quarter (24 per cent) of British workers are feeling increased pressure at work. At the other end of the spectrum, the Dutch and the French are the most relaxed, with sixty four per cent of employees in these countries not at all stressed and feeling perfectly able to handle their workload. These disturbing revelations follow recent statistics from the ONS that showed absence related to stress, depression and anxiety accounted for 15.2 million lost days of employment last year, up from 11.8 million in 2010. More →

March 3, 2014

World Green Building Council to quantify productivity benefits of sustainability

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, Property

In an attempt to broaden the business case for sustainable building, the World Green Building Council has launched a new initiative to define the productivity and wellbeing benefits associated with low carbon and sustainable property. The initiative, launched ahead of this week’s Ecobuild conference in London, will be steered by a group of experts who will produce a final report later in the year. The premise of the study is to show that, as well as cutting costs and improving environmental performance, green buildings have a beneficial effect on the health, wellness and productivity of occupants. According to the announcement, around 85 per cent of an average organisation’s costs are associated with salaries and other costs of employment so a modest improvement in productivity can have a huge impact.

December 6, 2013

Businesses missing the potential of property to benefit performance says BCO

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Workplace design

The UK spent an estimated £28.5 billion on offices in 2012 – outstripping business expenditure on legal services (£24.3bn), accounting (£14bn) and insurance services (£23.8bn). Yet despite this, nearly three fifths (57%) of 250 senior executives from large organisations in a recent poll said property issues are not regularly discussed in the boardroom and responsibility for property is still likely to fall outside management teams. The research, carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) and Populus, found businesses take a very cost-centric view towards the workplace. Although almost three-quarters of organisations were constantly analysing and assessing whether their space is being used efficiently, cost was still found to be the most important factor in assessing the office’s performance (73%). More →

December 3, 2013

Majority of businesses acquire employee data; far fewer apply it, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Workplace

Peter Drucker’s old adage that ‘what gets measured gets managed’ may be a cliché, but it’s endured to become one because there is a lot of truth in it. Now a new report commissioned this year by recruitment consultants Alexander Mann Solutions and the HRO Today Institute has found that firms that use employee data to inform strategic decision making outperform their competitors around 58 percent of the time. Which is great except the survey of HR managers and directors at over 300 companies also found that only a third of businesses use data in this way. This is in spite of the fact that nearly all (90 percent) of companies acquire employee performance data. According to the report, Success: How metrics & measurement correlate with business, nearly a third don’t use the data in any way whatsoever.

November 13, 2013

Workplace Week highlights the changing shape of the office

by Richard Byatt • Comment, Events, Facilities management, Workplace design

‘High Street’ at Network Rail’s Milton Keynes base

This year’s Workplace Week which took place last week was a great success, with more people participating and more money raised for charity. Across the week, over 500 people took part, visiting innovative workplaces, attending the Workplace Week Convention or going along to one of the many Fringe events. Workplace Week is organised by Advanced Workplace Associates and supported by CoreNet Global, BCS, RICS, FMA and BIFM. All proceeds go to the Children in Need charity. Around 60 people joined the speakers at the headquarters of PWC on London’s Southbank for the Workplace Week Convention to discuss ‘Driving productivity through the connected organisation.’ The informal atmosphere and roundtable format encouraged participation, with a focus on developments in organisational design, change management and technology.

October 10, 2013

Why the serviced office sector needs to put more effort into its customer service

by David Saul • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working

Serviced offices at Cheapside

It’s National Customer Service Week, a week-long initiative set up to inspire businesses to take a step back, look at their customer relations and promote excellence in customer service amongst their teams. Across every business in every sector, excellent customer service is key to gaining and retaining custom, and this is particularly the case when it comes to the serviced office industry. Average customer retention rates are just eight months in the officing sector, so addressing this through improved customer service can have a huge impact on the bottom line. I believe the serviced office industry can do more. There is a danger that low retention rates cause companies to place a greater emphasis on winning new businesses, with existing clients’ needs coming second place. More →

October 7, 2013

More women on UK boards welcomed, but business leaders urged to do more

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

Female representation on the UK’s top companies’ boards continues to increase according to new figures published today by the Professional Boards Forum (PBF). The statistics show that 19 per cent of directors are now female (up from 17.4% in May) and 24 per cent of board appointments since 1 March 2013 have been women. To meet the target of 25 per cent of board positions being held by women by 2015, as set out in the original report by Lord Davies published in February 2011, FTSE100 companies need to appoint 66 more female directors in the next two years. The news has been welcomed by business leaders and politicians who have resisted efforts by the EU to impose mandatory female quotas. More →