Search Results for: decision making

UK organisations remain unprepared to deal with effects of cyber attack

UK organisations remain unprepared to deal with effects of cyber attack

by • News, Technology

A new report from insurance broker Lockton, claims that UK businesses are unprepared for the potential length and severity of a cyber security breach. In ‘Cyber Aftershock: How UK companies underestimate the seismic waves produced by a data breach’, the firm claims that fully half of UK companies (50 percent) expect to be entirely operational 48 hours after a large-scale cyber security breach. The survey of senior decision-makers shows that only 2 percent of UK businesses think a breach will affect them for more than 10 days. The report challenges these ways of thinking and sets out the key steps organisations should now be taking.

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The most successful business leaders adopt a courageous approach to technology and the future of work

The most successful business leaders adopt a courageous approach to technology and the future of work

by • News, Technology

Software consultancy ThoughtWorks has published a new report which claims that the best business leaders share a particular approach to the running of their organisations that the report characterises as ‘courage’. The Next Big Disruption: Courageous Executives claims to revealing what sets top business leaders apart from their competition. The report profiles a segment of leaders referred to as “Courageous Executives” in the US, the UK, Australia and India and the findings ‘underscore the critical role technology plays in business strategy, from navigating the chaos of digital transformation to how they’re setting their business up for future success.’ The report also claims to shed light on the leadership styles of Courageous Executives including their tolerance for risk and failure, their use of customer insights and the ways leaders in all four countries are preparing for the future of work.

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Link between offices and wellbeing is too important for landlords and occupiers to ignore

Link between offices and wellbeing is too important for landlords and occupiers to ignore

by • Facilities management, News, Property, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Developers and landlords who invest to create offices that embody the occupier-driven focus on wellbeing will reap their rewards commercially while those that don’t face diminishing returns, according to a new report from Cushman & Wakefield. The Well Workplace report claims to map out the major trends, opportunities and challenges of the future facing owners and occupiers of commercial office space due to the growing emphasis on employee health and vitality as part of the work environment.  Improved lighting, layout and use of plants are all known to benefit wellbeing and can increase employee performance. Gains through boosting performance far outweigh potential cost savings through real estate efficiencies – making the imperative for occupiers clear, according to the report’s authors.

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Employers must prepare for emerging technologies that will reshape work by 2030

Employers must prepare for emerging technologies that will reshape work by 2030 0

by • News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

Employers should prepare for emerging technologies that reshape society and work by 2030Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual reality, augmented reality and cloud computing, will transform our lives and how we work over the next decade; and by 2030 every organisation will be a technology organisation. As such businesses need to start thinking today about how to future-proof their infrastructure and workforce, according to a report published by Dell Technologies. The research, led by the Institute for the Future (IFTF) alongside 20 technology, academic and business experts from across the globe also offers insight on how consumers and businesses can prepare for a society in flux. ‘The Next Era of Human-Machine Partnerships’ forecasts that emerging technologies, supported by massive advancements in software, big data and processing power, will reshape lives. The report predicts that an estimated 85 percent of jobs in 2030 haven’t been invented yet. The pace of change will be so rapid that people will learn “in-the-moment” using new technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality. The ability to gain new knowledge will be more valuable than the knowledge itself.

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The world has its say on the Taylor Review into modern working practices

The world has its say on the Taylor Review into modern working practices 0

by • Features, Flexible working, Legal news

Yesterday, the much-awaited Taylor Review into modern working practices was finally published. And by modern working practices, the report focussed primarily on what has become known as the gig economy. People have been speculating about the contents of the report for months and things ramped up last week after a partial leak to the media. So, things were already bubbling under nicely before the actual publication of the document brought things to a boil yesterday. Assuming the government do more than kick the whole thing into the long grass, always a possibility, debate will continue for a while. We’ll let politicians do their thing with it, but here are a few of the initial reactions from interested parties and the experts. More →

Self-employed would value receiving sick pay above other benefits

Self-employed would value receiving sick pay above other benefits 0

by • Flexible working, News

UK micro-business owners and freelancers would be more interested in receiving sick pay than any other statutory benefit, according to new research carried out in collaboration between cloud accounting software firm FreeAgent and The Freelancer & Contractor Services Association (FCSA). A poll of nearly 900 UK micro-business owners conducted by FreeAgent and FCSA claims that sick pay provision is the benefit that self-employed workers would most welcome, coming way ahead of other benefits such as maternity pay, job seekers allowance and pension auto-enrolment. The survey claims that 76 percent of respondents currently do not have any method of providing sick pay, maternity/paternity leave, holiday or redundancy pay in their business. Projected across the country’s 5.2 million-strong micro-business sector, this potentially equates to millions of people working without the same kind of basic entitlements that employed workers have. Notably, people’s appetites for additional benefits varied depending on the structure of their business with sole traders more likely to value benefits (rating sickness provision 8.7 out of 10) compared to those working through their own limited companies who gave a score of 6.4 out of 10 for sickness provision.

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Employees unaware extent of digital monitoring their employers are legally allowed

Employees unaware extent of digital monitoring their employers are legally allowed 0

by • Facilities management, Legal news, News, Technology, Workplace

Employees unaware extent of digital monitoring access employers legally allowed

Most employees incorrectly believe the monitoring by their bosses of their personal social media and work email is illegal, but they’d be wrong, new data from Broadband Genie has revealed. The research found public ignorance over monitoring in the workplace, with the majority (79 percent) believing that workplaces weren’t legally allowed to monitor personal social media accounts. Similarly, the opening of work mail or email (58 percent), recording of work phone calls (53 percent) and checking logs of websites (36 percent) were all believed to be illegal. However, sources such as Citizens Advice explain workplaces in the UK can monitor employees use of phone, internet and email if, “it relates to business, the equipment being monitored is provided partly or wholly for work, [and] the employer has made all reasonable efforts to inform the employee that communications will be monitored”.

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Three quarters of HR professionals expect Brexit to escalate the war for talent

Three quarters of HR professionals expect Brexit to escalate the war for talent 0

by • News, Workplace

New research claims that, as a result of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, nearly three-quarters of HR professionals (72 percent) expect the war for talent to intensify, and nearly two-thirds (61 percent) predict further difficulty recruiting senior and skilled employees over the next three years. The latest CIPD/Hays Resourcing and Talent Planning Survey of more than 1,000 HR professionals found that recruitment difficulties are already being reported by three quarters of HR professionals (75 percent), and nearly two-thirds (65 percent) agree that the skills needed for jobs in their organisation are changing. Professionals with leadership (58 percent), digital (54 percent) and commercial awareness skills (51 percent) are most likely to increase in demand over the next 12 months.

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Property developers welcome extension of office to residential conversion rights

Property developers welcome extension of office to residential conversion rights 0

by • News, Property

Three quarters (74 percent) of property developers expect to see an increase in the number of conversions of under-used office buildings into new homes over the next two years as a result of the government’s decision to extend property development rights (PDR) legislation. Of these, nearly a third (30 percent) of developers expects to see a significant growth in PDR-related conversion schemes. This is according to a small study commissioned by Amicus Property Finance. More than two thirds (69 percent) of property developers welcome the PDR extension, which was designed to enable thousands of new homes to be built by making use of neglected industrial and office property while preserving the green belt. In the UK between July 2015 and June 20163, a total of 1,066 office to residential permitted development applications were permitted with prior approval not required and a further 1,480 applications granted with prior approval.

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Improving adult skills can help countries benefit from globalisation, claims OECD

Improving adult skills can help countries benefit from globalisation, claims OECD 0

by • News, Workplace

In an increasingly competitive international environment, providing workers with the right mix of skills can help ensure that globalisation translates into new jobs and productivity gains rather than negative economic and social outcomes, according to a new OECD report. The OECD Skills Outlook 2017 reveals big differences in the extent to which countries are equipping workers with the right knowledge and ability to benefit from the globalisation of production chains. The report finds a country with a skills mix that is well aligned with the requirements of technologically advanced industries can specialise in these industries on average 8 percent more than other countries, and up to 60 percent more than countries with a low alignment between the mix and these industries requirements. A supplementary note covers the UK’s situation.

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Employee freedom and self-regulation is the key to successful home working

Employee freedom and self-regulation is the key to successful home working 0

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace

Employee freedom and self-regulation is the key to successful home working

The lazy assumption that employees who work from home are invariably shirking work is gradually dissipating, as flexible working becomes part of accepted working practice. Now new research suggests that to really get the best from their home workers, employers need to treat them as responsible adults who can actually be trusted. A new study, conducted by Nick van der Meulen of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) has revealed that job performance in working from home is driven by employee self-regulation and decision-making freedom rather than previous beliefs that it was achieved through managerial or peer control. In fact, any suggestion of shirking is erased by the evidence of a positive relationship between the extent of telework and number of hours worked. On average, full-time teleworkers perform just as well as those who do no telework at all — even under conditions of infrequent communication with the manager, low peer performance monitoring, and no outcome reward systems.

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Commercial property lenders should drive sustainability through financial innovation

Commercial property lenders should drive sustainability through financial innovation 0

by • Environment, News, Property

The commercial real estate finance sector is witnessing a dramatic shift in attitudes towards the issue of sustainability, according to a new report from the Better Buildings Partnership. It claims that major commercial property lenders are already exploring new opportunities that go well beyond traditional risk management through sustainability initiatives that ‘drive new business, strengthen customer relationships and improve the data they hold on the buildings in which they have underwritten’. The report, Beyond Risk Management: How sustainability is driving innovation in commercial real estate finance, is sponsored by CREFC Europe, GeoPhy, ING Bank and Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, and claims to reveal pioneering examples of how lenders are incorporating sustainability into their core business activities.

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