Search Results for: workplace

New UK Green Building Council Chief Executive lists challenges ahead

by • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

New chief executive of UK-GBC spells out challenges aheadJulie Hirigoyen, the former UK Head of Sustainability for property consultants JLL takes over today as the new Chief Executive of the UK Green Building Council. Hirigoyen was previously Managing Director and founding partner of Upstream, a leading sustainability strategy consultancy, acquired by JLL in 2007. She said of her new role today: “Buildings and cities are at the heart of what we need to change if we are to achieve sustainable development. There’s been a huge increase in the importance of this agenda, since when I first started out, we were knocking on closed doors. But we must not kid ourselves – we are only at the early stages of the journey. We are still exceeding the limits of the planet, there are still very few genuinely net positive buildings or companies out there, and we are not achieving sustainability as a scientific concept yet – there is much more to do.”

“Toxic” employees create stressed co-workers, with over half more likely to quit

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Toxic employees can make over half of co-workers more likely to quit finds reportMembers of staff who have a negative influence on those around them, and create a poisonous atmosphere in the office, do not affect the overall productivity of their colleagues, but are more likely to make them want to leave. “Toxic employees” make their teammates 54 percent more likely to quit and cost employers up to three times more in hiring fees, finds “Toxic Employees in the Workplace” a new US-based report by Cornerstone. The indirect costs of toxic employees, as measured by the toll they take on co-workers, can have a far greater overall impact and create an even larger financial burden on the business than the direct costs of an employee’s misbehaviour. While these individuals have a negligible effect on the performance of their co-workers, the research suggests they have a stronger influence on stress and burnout than on day-to-day task completion.

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New masterplan submitted for £5bn East London development

by • Cities, News, Property, Technology

East London masterplanDevelopers have submitted a revised masterplan for the £5 billion Greenwich Peninsula mixed use development in East London. The new plans not only increase the number of homes on site but also include a greater focus on digital arts and media studios as well as more high rise buildings in keeping with London’s current predilection for tall buildings and emphasising the shift in London’s centre of gravity eastwards. The original plan, created by Farrell & Partners and dating back to 2004 are described as outdated by developers Knight Dragon, who have submitted the new mixed use plan for around 15,000 dwellings, 59,000 sq.m. of hotel, retail and recreational space and 60,000 sq.m. of office space as well as a design district, space for healthcare buildings, educational facilities, transport hubs, visitor attractions, parking, cycling paths, community facilities and parks.

UK labour productivity continues to flatline in spite of upturn

by • Knowledge, News, Workplace

flatline_8205UK labour productivity continues to flatline in spite of the recent economic upturn, according to a new report from the Office for National Statistics. Overall productivity as measured by output per hour fell by 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared with the previous quarter. In 2014 as a whole, labour productivity was little changed from 2013, and slightly lower than in 2007, prior to the economic downturn. As ever, the devil is in the detail. There were notable increases in productivity in both manufacturing and construction but the modest gains in service industries obscure the fact that there is a great deal of variation across sectors and also the fact that any gains reflect a greater number of hours worked rather than an increase in the overall number of people employed or their underlying productivity.

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CIBSE launches updated guide to environmental building design

by • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

environmental building designThe Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has published the latest edition of Guide A: Environmental Design which the organisation claims is ‘the premier technical reference source for designers and installers of building services, especially low energy and sustainable buildings’. As well as updates to legislation and new research, the edition includes a completely new chapter which identifies specific requirements for achieving quality in environmental building design: adopting a holistic approach as well as a system to assure the quality of design calculations and decisions. The other chapters deal with a specific aspect of design including criteria such as comfort and ambient weather and methods of calculation for performance, heating and ventilation systems, methods for thermal comfort evaluation, energy demand and so on.

Flexible working and recognition linked to happiness at work

by • Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Workplace

happiness at workThe eternal quest for happiness is the subject of two new reports which conclude that if you want to feel more satisfied with your working life, it’s important to feel as if you are in control of it. New research from Professor Andy Charlwood at Loughborough University claims that government and employer policies that give people greater flexibility to choose the hours they work helps to foster their wellbeing and that overworked people are less satisfied with their lives and experience lower levels of psychological wellbeing overall. A second, less scientific study commissioned by US software provider InLoox claims that one of the most important determinants of happiness at work is an ability to work unsupervised or not to report to anybody at all so, if you must have a job, make sure you’re in charge.

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London workers take longer lunch breaks than staff in other regions

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

lunch breaksLondon’s workers take 25 percent longer for lunch break than their contemporaries elsewhere in the UK, according to Avanta’s London Worker Index. The report, based on a survey of 1,500 people in the capital, also found that some 24 percent of male workers report using their lunch break to take a nap, compared to just 14 percent of their female colleagues. In addition to napping, the survey found that 54 percent of London workers use their lunch break to go shopping, whilst a similar number (52 percent) run errands. More than a quarter (27 percent) visit the gym and over a third (28 percent) meet up with friends. However, not every Londoner is quite so lucky. Almost a quarter (23 percent) of Londoners skip lunch three or more times per week, and one in ten don’t take lunch breaks at all.

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Facebook moves into new California campus headquarters

by • Case studies, News, Technology, Workplace design

facebook1Facebook has moved into its much discussed new headquarters building and campus in Menlo Park, California. As is the way these days, the relocation to the Frank Gehry designed HQ was announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg on his own Facebook page and heralded by a number of images shared on social media by staff. Zuckerberg also shared an aerial view of the 22 acre location included its landscaped roof and has promised that more images and video will emerge ‘once we’re fully unpacked’. Controversially – maybe – the building features what is claimed to be the world’s largest open plan office space which will be home to many of the new building’s 2,800 inhabitants. In this regard, the design is resolutely mainstream as are the array of breakout spaces and cafes used to supplement the open plan and give people the chance to take some time away.

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New safety regulations to affect even routine building maintenance tasks

by • Facilities management, Legal news, Property

New safety regs to affect even routine maintenance jobsAny organisation which intends to contract for construction work could risk fines or imprisonment if they do not comply with new legal safety regulations covering site management. Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com  is warning that The Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) Regulations, which come into force on 6 April, will affect all construction work in the UK. The regulations give ‘clients’, meaning anyone for whom a project is carried out, a greater role. Once in force, the regulations will require commercial firms to appoint a principal designer and principal contractor whenever any work involves more than one contractor – even where the work involved is very limited and over quickly. The scope of ‘construction work’ under the regulations is wide, covering everything from major infrastructure projects to installing new showers.

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CBRE acquires facilities management business from Johnson Controls

by • Company news, Facilities management, Property

facilities managementProperty giant CBRE has reached an agreement to acquire the facilities management business of Johnson Controls for $1.47bn. The deal will see CBRE acquire the Global WorkPlace Solutions (GWS) FM arm of the business, allowing the new enterprise to manage nearly 5bn sq ft of commercial real estate worldwide consisting of 2.3bn sq ft in North and South America, 1.2bn sq ft in EMEA and 1.4 bn sq ft in Asia Pacific. GWS, currently employs around  16,000 people worldwide, and had a turnover of around $3.4bn in 2014.The deal also see the two firms enter into a ten year strategic relationship, with CBRE offering a range of real estate services with Johnson Controls offering HVAC equipment and a range of building automation systems and other products in return. Both firms will also share investment in research and development.

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SMEs provide the key to encouraging more women onto boards

by • Comment, Workplace, Workplace design

SMEs should encourage more women onto boardsResearch from the Government, released last week, found that women now accounted for 23.5 percent of FTSE100 board members, up from 12.5 per cent in 2011. The target is 25 per cent by the end of this year, meaning that another 17 women need to be appointed. However the research showed that small companies are less diverse at the top, with woman accounting for 18 percent of directors of FTSE250 boards. As Chairman of a company which employs 220 people, I believe that unleashing the potential of women in the business is an excellent way to grow and develop organisations. The female perspective is very powerful in every issue within a business. It adds enormous value to clients, can often save money by offering a different way of doing things and creates a better working environment.

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Time to move on from the anachronistic display screen equipment regulations

Time to move on from the anachronistic display screen equipment regulations

by • Comment, Legal news, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Not much of a guide to milking a Fresian

Not much of a guide to milking a Friesian

The European Display Screen Equipment Regulations were introduced in 1992 as a way of improving the posture and wellbeing of people working on computers in the office. That’s a long time ago. Too long, in fact. Here’s a list of thing that have happened since then – 1. The Internet. Actually, we can stop there. Any piece of workplace legislation that predates the Internet almost certainly won’t be fit for purpose, not least one that is based on how we should work with computers. Yet there it all is on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website. It’s all so hopelessly out of date, it’s like starting a farm using an Altamira cave painting as your guide. At the most straightforward level, you can take an image from one of the published guides such as this (below) and play a little game of spot the anachronism.

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