March 28, 2024
Search Results for: self employed
January 31, 2024
People don’t want to work for firms that can’t live up to their own brand values
by Jayne Smith • News, Workplace
Businesses that lack clear brand values and a defined company purpose are at risk of losing their employees, according to a new poll from Berkeley Communications [registration]. In an international study looking at workers’ attitudes around company loyalty, the report suggests that three quarters (75 percent) of respondents believe a company’s purpose is an important aspect of their current or prospective employer and 73 percent said the same about their current or prospective employer’s brand values. More →
January 17, 2024
A look back at The Stoddart Review: the once and future guide to workplace productivity?
by Rachel Houghton • Comment, Workplace design
The Stoddart Review, published in 2016, was one of the most significant reports of recent years to explore the role of the workplace for employee productivity in extensive detail and why the office environment was key for productivity purposes. There has been a huge shift in the world of work since then. What we once knew as the workplace has changed forever. More →
January 16, 2024
Technology is stealing your time in ways you may not realise
by Ruth Ogden, Joanna Witowska and Vanda Cernohorská • Comment, Technology, Wellbeing
Technology is supposed to make our lives easier. Smart phones provide a palm-size window to the world, enabling us to do almost anything at the touch of a button. Smart homes look after themselves, and virtual meetings mean that for many, time spent commuting is a thing of the past. So we should have more free time. Time which is now spent sleeping, relaxing or simply doing nothing – right? More →
July 28, 2023
A brief history of the future of work
by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Technology, Working culture
The past few years and our current predicaments should serves as a reminder of that tragic, unchangeable feature of the human condition, best expressed by Kierkegaard, that we are doomed to live our lives forwards but only understand them backwards. Retrospect is particularly important when we look back on sudden, large changes that knock us off our normal path. It’s important to remember this as we continue to grapple with the nature of the present and future of work in the wake of the pandemic. More →
July 20, 2023
Are you ready for the latest family friendly employment laws?
by Adrian Lewis • Comment, Workplace
It’s increasingly important for employers to have family-friendly employee benefits and policies to support recruitment and retention. These need to recognise the diverse needs and responsibilities of employees today and enable them to effectively balance their work and family life. Now to support employees and give them more protection in law three new ground-breaking employment laws will transform the employee benefit landscape. More →
June 21, 2023
Embrace the chaos: the office must find a new purpose, conference concludes
by Jo Sutherland • Comment, Flexible working, Property
What is the purpose of the office? That was the central question at this year’s British Council for Offices (BCO) conference which took place in Dublin. A big ask.
Nonetheless, the speakers and delegates that arrived in Dublin were up for the task. In the opening address, BCO senior VP & conference chair Despina Katsikakis promised delegates the conference would explore and untangle the intricate elements of the ecosystem that must seamlessly merge tech-led work, play and… well, survival. The focus of the two-day event (or three for those who like golf) was to devise strategies to design, build and manage vibrant and inspiring workplaces that foster the wellbeing and advancement of the individuals and communities they serve, all while promoting social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
As one would perhaps expect from a BCO conference, several speakers made a case for the office, including Davina Saint, director of the Irish National Assets Management Agency. Nobody relates naturally with screens or virtual protocols, she said, so we need to embrace the idea of social capital: “It makes organisations go around,” she said. “It’s the electricity in the machine. The shift to remote working has dented social capital. There’s less connection and more isolation. Productivity and innovation have also taken a dive.”
“I believe strongly in the office,” said Niall Gaffney, CEO of Ireland’s largest office landlord IPUT, during the developer’s panel. Fellow panellist Kevin Nowlan, senior advisor to Hibernia Real Estate Group, agreed: “Culture and life comes from people being and working together.” The workplace will play a key role in reinventing cities, they chimed in unison. Why? “Because the office is where the magic and inspiration happen,” Saint said. “It’s where the social heart of an organisation can beat.”
[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]As the audience were reminded throughout the conference, many people meet their partners at work[/perfectpullquote]
But it goes beyond business. As the audience were reminded throughout the conference, many people meet their partners at work. If marriages are born out of proximity rather than heaven, perhaps that means there will be fewer weddings, fewer children. That musing may well prompt a shrug in response but it’s worth noting there’s already a dwindling workforce. Yes, borders are clamping shut, but it may also be because people aren’t having children as often as they used to. Last year, the Financial Times, citing Office for National Statistics data, revealed that the “natural population of the UK will begin to decline by the middle of the decade, leaving the country dependent on migration to increase the working-age population”. But freedom of movement is not so free anymore. Dublin, we have a problem.
Stupid cupid
While it might not be up to workplace professionals to channel their inner cupids, you can bet your bottom dollar the population crisis will be on future BCO conference agendas. Until then, however, there’s a more relatable challenge in play. The industry needs to focus on the role of the office in a rapidly changing world. Bill Hughes, global head of real assets at Legal & General Investment Management, looked at the old and new definitions of an office. The traditional definition is “a room or set of rooms in which business, professional duties, clerical work are carried out”. Today, it’s where important face-to-face interactions and teamwork happens. It’s where culture is built. “It’s where knowledge transfer and learning through osmosis occurs,” Hughes said. “It’s about energy and having fun.”
[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The future of the world of work is an obsession for bosses[/perfectpullquote]
“The future of the world of work is an obsession for my bosses,” the BBC journalist Simon Jack said, during the ‘business of politics’ discussion. “Because it “affects the lives and livelihoods of our audience.” And that’s perhaps why there’s so much focus on the employee experience. Billions have been spent on the customer experience. Many of the speakers stressed that it’s time we do the same with the employee experience.
In a session on the purpose of place, Andy McBain, head of future of workspace & design at NatWest, shared that the bank’s workplace strategy focuses on experience, events and an element of experimentation. But experience can’t be a fluffy add-on, he suggested. It must be measured and tracked if it’s to evolve and deliver ultimate impact. To that end, McBain’s team uses Audiem, an advanced employee feedback analytics tool, that allows heads of real estate not only to get the flagship quantitative scores that they need to track and manage performance but also dive deep into the qualitative data, helping them understand the drivers behind satisfaction at a granular level. “It’s allowing us to develop specific approaches we know directly addresses employee concerns because we can see what they’ve said about it and how it’s affecting them,” said McBain.
Vernon Blunt, head of global workplace operations at Ericsson, and Paul Casey, global real estate EMEA director at IBM, agreed that hybrid is here to stay, though the jury’s out when it comes to the effectiveness of mandates. While employee experience remains the focus, cost-cutting is coming to the fore because for the CFO must be kept as happy as the CPO. It’s a cost and experience juggling exercise. There also seems to be less focus on how to get people back to the office, but more energy going into how to self-organise around the busy days.
These occupiers want and demand more flexibility and shorter leases. Rob Harris of Ramidus Consulting urged that contract and service level agreements need to change to become more flexible, especially for SMEs who he called the “growth engine of the economy”. There’s also a recognition that there might be too much space. Avison Young’s Nick Axford highlighted that one third of office space could be re-used for community initiatives, but the infrastructure isn’t yet there to make this happen. Also calling for a systemic transition was Indy Johar, co-founder of Architecture 00. “Forget about building new workplaces, we need to build a new UK,” he said.
The conference delved into workplace design, management and communication principles that foster culture, health and wellness, and collaboration. During various sessions, speakers and attendees examined the strategies employed by occupiers in their quest to navigate the challenges of the present and forge a path towards a better future. We have a long way to go on that front, but the will is there.
May 12, 2023
Half of gig workers earn below the minimum wage
by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace
As the cost of living continues to spiral, a new report shows more than half of gig economy workers in the UK are paid below the minimum wage. The study, led by the University of Bristol, found 52 percent of gig workers doing jobs ranging from data entry to food delivery were earning below the minimum wage. On average respondents were earning £8.97 per hour – around 15 percent below the current UK minimum wage, which rose to £10.42 this month. More than three-quarters (76 percent) of survey respondents also experienced work-related insecurity and anxiety. More →
September 5, 2022
Hybrid working tax consultation announced by government adviser
by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), an independent advisor to the UK government, has launched a review looking for evidence of trends in relation to hybrid working. The review will also consider whether the tax and social security rules are flexible enough to cope, and what businesses, advisors and other bodies are experiencing as new ways of working become business as usual. The review will also consider the implications of any developments on cross border workers.
August 3, 2022
Office design goes to the movies
by Mark Eltringham • Features, Workplace design
Following our recent attempts to create a rudimentary playlist of songs that tell us something, or perhaps nothing, about office design, office life and office furniture, here’s another look at how the parochial world of the workplace can brush up against popular culture. It does this unnoticed for most people, I suppose, but not for those of us bound up in this world. We’re not the sort of people who can ignore the regular, brief glimpse of an Aeron chair’s ubiquitous mesh without a synapse of recognition sparking up. So, here is a brief rundown of nine movies that use office design to make a plot point or set up a character development.
June 14, 2022
Loneliness might hold back hybrid working productivity gains
by Gosia Bowling • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing
Loneliness is defined as the difficult emotion we experience when our need for meaningful social contact and relationships is not met, and it’s something we’ve all had experience of. Nearly half of the UK population have reported feeling lonely at times, with other research showing that 39 percent say their wellbeing was negatively impacted because they were lonely too. Why people feel lonely can be attributed to many reasons. Humans have a deep need for attention, warmth, and attachment to others. When such relationships end, or if someone finds themselves in an abusive or emotionally non-existent relationship, this can lead to elevated levels of loneliness. More →
January 26, 2016
The road to Bali and other destinations for the world’s remote workers 0
by Georgi Georgiev • Comment, Flexible working, Property, Technology
The number of people who work from home or travel as freelancers has grown rapidly in the last 25 years. In 1990, as a percentage of the US population only 5 percent fit this classification, today it is closer to 30 percent. From photojournalists to graphic designers, to computer programmers – an increasing number of people are leaving the traditional office behind. The underlying reason is not difficult to establish. People are taking advantage of the opportunities offered them by technology. It’s no coincidence that the number of people working remotely has risen in parallel with the growth of home computing and internet connections, and more recently mobile technology. While the majority of those that traditionally followed this path became self employed, today companies are beginning to hire people to key positions without actually needing them to work from the office. Remote work is no longer just a freelancer’s game.
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