Search Results for: covid-19

Want people to spend more time in the office?  Give them a little piece of home

Want people to spend more time in the office? Give them a little piece of home

For many people, a large portion of the day is spent at the workplace. In fact, the average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime. The Covid-19 pandemic saw the typical ‘workplace’ setting change for many people, after businesses around the globe were forced to adjust to a ‘work-from-home’ model. Now, three years later, we are starting to see more employees return to the office, with large corporations including JPMorgan, Chase, Apple and Google all announcing plans to bring their workers back to base. More →

Angry, stressed and worried. The utter state of the UK workforce in 2023

Angry, stressed and worried. The utter state of the UK workforce in 2023

Gallup has published its 2023 Gallup Global Emotions report [registration]  – a study of employee sentiment in the UK workforceGallup has published its 2023 Gallup Global Emotions report [registration]  – a study of employee sentiment in the UK workforce. According to the report’s Negative Experience Index, which tracks how many people experience daily sadness, anger, stress, worry, and physical pain, full-time UK employees are experiencing historically high levels of daily negative experiences. This latest Gallup data claims that full-time UK employees scored a 32 on Gallup’s Negative Experience Index. This is up substantially from 23 in 2020. Full-time employees in the UK are now some of the most emotionally distressed in Europe, second only to employees in Malta. More →

CIBSE publishes revised maintenance guide

CIBSE publishes revised maintenance guide

A new fully revised edition of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Guide M: Maintenance, Engineering and Management sets out the latest technological and legislative developments that will impact facilities managers, designers, building owners and operatorsA new fully revised edition of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Guide M: Maintenance, Engineering and Management sets out the latest technological and legislative developments that will impact facilities managers, designers, building owners and operators, otherwise known as the ‘maintenance bible’. Containing all the information needed for the successful operation of a buildings’ services, while ensuring buildings are safe and optimised for energy performance, this revision has been published to provide guidance on the many areas of change since Guide M was last amended in 2014, including publication of the Building Safety Act and amendments to the Building Regulations. More →

Workplace absenteeism soars to its highest level in over a decade

Workplace absenteeism soars to its highest level in over a decade

the upsurge in workplace absenteeism comes at a time when employers are under increasing pressure with recruitment and retention challengesUK employees were absent an average of 7.8 days over the past year according to new survey findings from the CIPD and Simplyhealth. This is the highest level the trade body has reported in over a decade and two whole days more than the pre-pandemic rate of 5.8 days. The report claims the upsurge in workplace absenteeism comes at a time when employers are under increasing pressure with recruitment and retention challenges. As a result, the CIPD and Simplyhealth are calling on organisations to have an open and supportive culture where people can speak to line managers about health issues and access helpful support and adjustments such as flexible working options and health services. More →

Smart technology needs to start with people if it wants to get smarter

Smart technology needs to start with people if it wants to get smarter

A wood carving of a blank, slumped person sitting at a desk with a laptop to depict the dehumanization potential of smart technology“My engineering students had come to class with technology on their minds.” So says artist and design researcher Sara Hendren, author of What a Body Can Do: How we Meet the Built World. It’s a fascinating book in which she consciously pushes back against the prevailing narrative that so-called smart technology has a fix for every problem. As a professor teaching design for disability at Olin College of Engineering, Massachusetts, Hendren draws attention to the assumptions that drive normative behaviours to define what is a ‘problem’ in the first place. More →

Most workers are worried about poor indoor air quality

Most workers are worried about poor indoor air quality

Most workers are concerned about poor indoor air quality and close to half think its damaging their health, according to anew surveyMost workers are concerned about poor indoor air quality and close to half think its damaging their health, according to a new survey conducted by Opinium for Spiralite. According to the poll, British workers are mostly concerned about the impact of air-quality on their health (64 percent concerned compared to 36 percent not concerned). More →

Is the workplace experience shaped more by maintenance or by design?

Is the workplace experience shaped more by maintenance or by design?

The workplace experienceWhat has resilience got to do with the workplace experience? It is a word that has been used a lot recently as the great British public has demonstrated massive amounts of resilience in coping with Covid-19, fuel shortages, worries about food availability and a massive shift in how we work. So what is it? The dictionary gives two meanings: firstly the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, i.e. toughness. And then secondly, the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity – like nylon for example.   More →

Narcissistic leaders cause employees undue stress in crisis situations

Narcissistic leaders cause employees undue stress in crisis situations

Vulnerable narcissistic leaders are especially likely to make employees irritated during crisis situations, reveals new research from NEOMA Business School. Birgit Schyns, Distinguished Professor of People & Organisations at NEOMA, and co-authors analysed survey data on workers in the UK education sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents reported their levels of irritation and Coronavirus-related worry in five weekly surveys, as well as their experiences with vulnerable narcissistic leadership – an unstable form of leadership characterised by covert feelings of entitlement. More →

Help over-50s and other groups into self-employment to boost economy, say MPs

Help over-50s and other groups into self-employment to boost economy, say MPs

a new scheme developed to encourage people to set up their own businesses and move into self-employmentThe UK Government’s Work and Pensions Committee has called for more employment support to address economic inactivity. The support for helping people into work should be widened to those not on benefits, with a new scheme developed to encourage people to set up their own businesses and move into self-employment. The Committee has also called for more focus to be given to measures to help young people, the over 50s and people with disabilities and long-term health conditions find and stay in work. More →

Lockdown continues to affect people’s mental wellbeing

Lockdown continues to affect people’s mental wellbeing

The Covid lockdowns have left a lasting impact on our mental wellbeing, according to recent polling and an academic studyThe Covid lockdowns have left a lasting impact on our mental wellbeing, according to recent polling and an academic study. Events company Hyve Group has partnered with Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge, to uncover the ways in which the pandemic has transformed our brains and how it has impacted our working lives. The study claims to highlight the significance of in-person professional social interactions and their essential role in rebuilding lost connections. More →

Artificial intelligence will boost short term headcount, claim half of employers

Artificial intelligence will boost short term headcount, claim half of employers

More than half (54 percent) of Britain’s employers expect Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies will have a positive impact on their staff headcount over the next two yearsMore than half (54 percent) of Britain’s employers expect Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies will have a positive impact on their staff headcount over the next two years, according to a survey by Experis, a part of ManpowerGroup.  The survey of 2,000+ British employers also suggests that more than two thirds (69 percent) of businesses expect AI tools and technologies – including ChatGPT, Machine Learning and Virtual Reality – to have a positive impact on upskilling and reskilling, as well as on employee training (68 percent). 67 percent of British organisations anticipate a positive impact on employee engagement because of AI technology, and 60 percent think it can positively impact the onboarding process too. More →

Hybrid working, work from anywhere and the evolution of the Third Place

Hybrid working, work from anywhere and the evolution of the Third Place

Two people working separately in neighbouring booths in an office to illustrate the principle of third place facilities in hybrid working cultures. The restrictions brought about by COVID-19 altered where we work and thus also how, when and through which channels we do work related activities. These changes radically altered the way previously office-based workers thought about ‘work’ as an activity. This new era of hybrid working had a significant impact on traditional models of workplace provisioning. One could argue that pre-COVID-19 the ‘work mindset’ was almost an afterthought because there were distinguishing markers that indicated when you were expected to work and when you were not. If you were in the office, then you were expected to be doing work-related tasks. Then, at the literal end of the day, you switched off your computer and went home and mentally ‘turned-off’ until you returned to work the next morning. More →