Search Results for: workplace

December 18, 2015

Demotivating factor in pay gap between boardroom and workforce ⁰

The upward momentum of chief executive pay and reward in the UK’s largest organisations has reached a crisis point. It does not clearly correlate to personal performance or business outcomes and this is having a significant impact on the motivation levels of the wider workforce, according to new research from the CIPD. The view from below: What employees really think about their CEO’s pay packet; found that seven in ten (71 percent) employees believe CEO pay in the UK is ‘too’ or ‘far too’ high and six in ten (59 percent) employees say the high level of CEO pay in the UK demotivates them at work. A second CIPD report, The power and pitfalls of executive reward: A behavioural perspective, goes on to explore some of the factors that have contributed to FTSE 100 CEO pay increasing to 183 times that of the average employee, compared to 47 times in 1998.

December 17, 2015

Redevelopment confirmed for one of Leeds’ most prominent office buildings ⁰

by Sara Bean • Company news, News, Property

Network Rail has agreed a 150-year lease to enable redevelopment of one of Leeds’ largest and most prominent office buildings which sits above Leeds train station. The extension of the ground lease at Bruntwood’s City House in Leeds will facilitate the redevelopment of the 12-storey office building. Bruntwood obtained planning permission earlier this year to undertake an extensive refurbishment of the vacant 121,000 sq ft office building which will feature a roof garden, business lounge and meeting space. Co-working and small suites will be introduced to cater for smaller start-up businesses whilst wings of up to 4,900 sq ft and full floors of 9,630 sq ft will be available for established companies seeking more space. As owners of the freehold Network Rail has worked closely with Bruntwood over the last 12 months to bring forward plans to redevelop the property – with the revenue generated from the lease being reinvested back into the railway.

December 17, 2015

Worldwide BIM market to reach US$11.54 billion by 2022, claims report ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Property

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research Building Information Modelling (BIM) Market – Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2015 – 2022, the global BIM market was worth US$2.76 bn in 2014 and is expected to reach US$11.54 bn by 2022, expanding at a CAGR of 19.1 percent from 2015 to 2022. North America was the largest market for BIM in 2014. Growth in this region is expected to be driven by increases in construction activities and the penetration of cloud-based services for BIM software. BIM is a tool used to visualize the design of buildings in 3D. BIM also helps in attaining estimates of various other factors, such as cost implementation, time requirement, labour requirement, raw material provision, and other key prerequisites in the construction industry. Management of the entire construction lifecycle can be simulated by BIM.

December 16, 2015

How planning can help people detach from work in the evening ⁰

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

We all know from personal experience just how difficult it can be to switch off from work. New research published in the Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology suggests that the best mechanisms to cope with round the clock working include planning how to resolve incomplete work tasks. The study, conducted by Dr Brandon Smit of Ball State University suggests that the root of the problem is uncompleted tasks, especially for certain personality types. It used a questionnaire to gauge the working patterns of 103 employees pursuing 1,127 goals. It found they had more difficulty detaching from tasks that had been left uncompleted, especially when these were important. However, one group were encouraged to create plans by writing down where, when, and how they would complete these tasks. Dr Smit found they detached themselves from work more effectively than employees who did not create plans.

December 16, 2015

OECD report calls on governments to do more to close the productivity gap ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace design

The world that we see emerging is increasingly defined by a series of gaps. One of the growing distinctions between haves and have-nots in the global economy is identified in a new report from the OECD, which suggests that there is a technological and closely related productivity gap between the world’s most productive businesses and economies and everybody else. The authors of the study claim that workplace productivity is now both the key driver of economic growth and also the best way of addressing the most important challenges facing businesses and economies in the 21st Century including the environment, income disparities and changing demographics. They suggest that the productivity gap needs to be closed up with a range of policies that incentivise both firms and economies to better use the technology they have available, invest more in R&D, adopt new business models and innovate more effectively.

December 16, 2015

Lack of childcare common reason for staff absences in small businesses ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

A new survey has found that a lack of childcare is a common reason for employee absence amongst SME employers, many of whom remain none the wiser as their absent member of staff prefers to ring in sick. The survey of 500 UK SME employees conducted by digital group risk insurer Ellipse, found that 22 percent have had to take a day off to look after their sick child, even when they are well themselves. It comes as the top reason for UK employees calling in sick with a further 6 per cent admitting to taking a day off to care for an elderly relative. With 24 per cent of employees believing that their employer doesn’t know about every sick day they’d taken, this suggests that employers are likely to be missing absence traits. This hypothesis is supported by a separate Ellipse survey of 250 SME managers, where 32 percent of employers admitted they don’t have a good enough process for recording absence.

December 16, 2015

Employers failing to exploit positive influence on employee health ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Three-quarters of UK employers believe they are responsible for positively influencing employee health, yet many do not appear to be doing much to ensure this happens. The annual Benefits and Trends Survey by Aon Employee Benefits found that 75 percent of businesses believe they are responsible for changing employee health and wellbeing behaviours, yet 72 percent still do not currently have a specific budget for it and 38 percent do not use any data or analytics to inform their strategy. It found that only 25 percent of employers have a branded health and wellness programme in place. More encouragingly though, a significant minority (14 percent) said that senior leadership acted as advocates of employee health, while 12 percent had location-based wellness champions. Perhaps because it doesn’t directly impact the bottom line, the most popular health and wellbeing tactic is a flexible approach to working, with 53 percent of employers saying this is offered.

December 15, 2015

Agile working is increasingly popular way to reduce London office costs ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property

Rent, rates and service charges for office space in established Greater London office locations such as Croydon, Brentford and Uxbridge are typically over 50 percent lower than the cost of equivalent space in Central London locations such as Victoria, Marylebone, St Paul’s, Liverpool Street and Canary Wharf, Carter Jonas’ latest research claims. Increases in rents and business rates costs over the last five years, and the erosion of the stock of office buildings in some areas of Central London, as a consequence of redevelopment to higher value residential uses is reducing tenant choice and these factors are leading some occupiers to adopt new strategies to reduce their property footprint. Agile working and hot-desking are becoming popular ways to reduce the amount of space required to accommodate an organisation’s business operations the Tenant Advisory and Research Teams at Carter Jonas have found.

December 15, 2015

Focus on women on boards masks other determinants of female leadership ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Legal news, News, Workplace

High profile initiatives such as Lord Davies’ report are doing their bit to increase gender composition, but according to the latest research, based on current “business as usual” trends, women are unlikely to comprise 30 percent of directorships in publicly held companies until 2027. This is despite the fact that the latest research of companies in the MSCI World Index with strong female leadership generated a Return on Equity of 10.1 percent per year versus 7.4 percent for those without. Although a direct causal link between women directors and better outcomes has yet to be established, many institutional investors are increasingly focused on the gender composition of company boards. Some studies show significant outperformance by companies with women on boards, though no one can show a direct link between the two. Focusing exclusively on the make-up of boards however, can mask other important dimensions of female leadership.

December 13, 2015

Best Places to Work + Make the most of each day + Strategic role of offices ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Furniture, Newsletter, Wellbeing

In this week’s newsletter; Mark Eltringham on the prescience of philosopher Seneca on a time and a place to work; and a report by Sara Bean finds the boardroom increasingly views office space as a strategic asset. Glassdoor announces the best places to work for 2016; researchers reveal the phenomenon of ‘inattentional deafness’; a new Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction is announced; and Gartner says we’ll be using three technical devices by 2018. Over 100 councils to join an office-sharing scheme; Gen Z will blur the boundaries between home and work, and too much focus on standing in the sit-stand debate. Download the new issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

December 11, 2015

Global salaries will rise to highest levels for three years in 2016 ⁰

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

Workers around the world will see real wage increases of 2.5 percent, the highest in three years in 2016, as pay increases combined with historically low inflation leave employees better off. The forecast issued by Korn Ferry Hay Group found that workers across Europe are set to see an average salary increase of 2.8 percent in 2016 and, with inflation at 0.5 percent, will see real wages rise by 2.3 percent. While salary rises will stay at 2.5 percent in the UK (the same as the last two years), low inflation means that real wages are to increase by 2.3 percent in 2016 – above the Western European average. In Asia, salaries are forecast to increase by 6.4 percent – with real wages expected to rise by 4.2 percent – the highest globally. In the United States, with low inflation (0.3 percent), employees will experience real income growth of 2.7 percent.

December 11, 2015

Concentrating on visual tasks can lead to temporary deafness ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

A new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience has found that when people concentrate more on visual tasks, they can go deaf momentarily. Based on brain scans from 13 volunteers, the researchers from UCL, the Wellcome Trust and Newcastle University concluded that the senses of hearing and vision share a limited neural resource. So, when people are focussed on a demanding visual task, the brain’s response to sound can be significantly reduced. Examination of people’s ability to detect sounds during the visual demanding task also showed a higher rate of failures to detect sounds, even though the sounds were clearly audible and people did detect them when the visual task was easy. Lead researcher Dr Maria Chait said the phenomenon of ‘inattentional deafness’, where we fail to notice sounds when concentrating on other things, confirms earlier research.