Search Results for: workplace

Good working relationships and less stress are key to workplace happiness

Good working relationships and less stress are key to workplace happiness 0

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Less stress and better workplace relationships are the reason why the happiest regions to work in the UK are Yorkshire and the Humber; while uninteresting work is the reason why employees in Scotland and the South are the most unhappy. Research into workplace happiness by Happiness Works on behalf of Robert Half UK claims that 77 percent of employees in Yorkshire and the Humber are the happiest employees in Britain, well above the national average of 63 percent. Those questioned find their work more interesting (74 percent), get on with their team (88 percent), have good friends in the office (72 percent) and suffer less stress (38 percent). Britain’s most unsatisfied employees are those working in Scotland and the South of England, with 17 percent of employees saying they are unhappy at work and one in six expressing their work is not interesting. Over a quarter of those in South (27 percent) don’t have good friends in the office or don’t get on with their teams and one in seven (14 percent) in Scotland feel the same. However, employees in Scotland (63 percent) and the South (65 percent) do believe they have a good work-life balance.

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Workplace reforms become a key element in the election debate

Workplace reforms become a key element in the election debate 0

by • Flexible working, Legal news, News

The workplace has become one of the key battlegrounds in the UK general election debate, as the main political parties seek to court mainstream opinion and with the imminent publication of the Taylor Review into the gig economy. The Labour Party will today announce in its manifesto a commitment to provide 30 hours of free childcare for all two to four-year-olds, covering 1.3 million children. Yesterday, the Conservatives announced that employees will be offered the right to take up to a year off work to care for family members with illness or disability as well as commitments to introducing statutory child bereavement leave and the right to request time off work for training. There are also expected to be other announcements into the workings of the gig economy with new rules to extend maternity and sickness pay to workers who are currently classed as self-employed.

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Three workplace managers walk into a bar … and the rest is no joke

Three workplace managers walk into a bar … and the rest is no joke 0

by • Facilities management, Features, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

This is a long tale, but a worthwhile one to tell, and something that many of you will relate to, especially if you have anything to do with workplace design or management. Three managers walk into a bar. This is always a good place to start. They each have gender-neutral names, so I’ll leave you to work out whether they may be male or female. Not that it even matters in this context. Frankie gets there first. “Hi. Large glass of wine please. What do you have?” The bartender pauses, then replies: “We have … red … or … um … white. Um … oh, and fizzy and pink”. Frankie thinks for a moment, dismisses the idea of a cocktail or a short, then orders a beer. It’s a corporate training centre after all. What would you expect in a place like this? An extensive wine list?

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From footprint to footfall: how the experiential workplace is set to take over the world

From footprint to footfall: how the experiential workplace is set to take over the world 1

by • Briefing, Facilities management, Premium Content, Property, Workplace design

collaborative_main_dof_v5From the archive. This piece was originally published in 2016. The culture within which we work determines how effective, successful, fulfilled and well we are in both our professional and personal lives. The organisations for which we work – on whatever basis that might be – the physical surroundings they create, and the other places in which we choose to work are now woven into the fabric of our lives as never before. The technological immersion that allows us to work in new ways also means that each day becomes a series of experiences. Because we are free to work wherever and whenever we choose, we are increasingly able to determine the nature of those experiences. For those who design and manage offices this represents both a great opportunity and an unprecedented series of challenges.

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Organisations out of step with workers in the digital workplace era

Organisations out of step with workers in the digital workplace era 0

by • News, Technology, Workplace design

digital workplaceAlthough we now struggle to imagine living in a world without smartphones and the Internet, organisations appear to be slightly out of step with the digital era, according to a new study of their behaviour by Oxford Economics and Citrix. The research, published in a report called Building the Digital Workplace, measured progress toward digital work at organisations around the world. It found that there is a pressing need for organisations to develop a coherent digital strategy especially with regard to work. Although all the common concerns remain about security, costs and skills remain, the report suggests that firms need to do more to reap the benefits of a digital workplace. It cites the example of firms who have done most to develop a digital workplace strategy and the positive outcomes they have enjoyed.

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Presenteeism can have as negative an impact on the workplace as absenteeism

Presenteeism can have as negative an impact on the workplace as absenteeism 0

by • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Employees coming into work when sick are contributing to a rising trend of ‘presenteeism’ across the UK, with more than half (52 percent) of UK workers admitting to going to work when their performance is negatively affected by work-related health issues, a new survey claims. A third (34 percent) of workers have even considered moving jobs due to the negative impact of their work environment on their health – the highest percentage across Europe. The report from Fellowes, published to coincide with World Day for Safety and Health at Work, argues when a worker is present but not able to perform their function properly, it compromises their productivity. With most employees continuing to work at sub-par levels rather than taking days off to recover, this also prolongs the effect of illness. Subsequently, businesses are experiencing a detrimental knock-on impact on the quality and volume of work produced, with a further impact on overall business performance.

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Remote access to the workplace may be doing staff more harm than good

Remote access to the workplace may be doing staff more harm than good 0

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

Remote access to the workplace may be doing more harm than good

Employees are divided on whether remote access to the workplace is really a positive or negative development, with almost a third of UK workers (32 percent) feeling that having remote access to the workplace means they can’t switch off in their personal time. According to the latest CIPD/Halogen Employee Outlook report, two-fifths of UK workers (40 percent) admit to actively checking their work mobile or emails at least five times a day outside of working hours. Nearly a fifth (18 percent) feel as though they are under surveillance with remote access to work, and 17 percent say it makes them feel anxious or even impacts their quality of sleep. However, almost a third (30 percent) of employees say they feel empowered by having remote access to the workplace, showing a divide in opinion. Indeed, more than half of employees (53 percent) say it helps them to work flexibly and more than a third (37 percent) say it makes them more productive.

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Best workplaces in London honoured by British Council for Offices

Best workplaces in London honoured by British Council for Offices 0

by • Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace design

The British Council for Offices has announced the six winners of regional property awards for London and the South East of England. The winning entries, announced at a lunch at the Park Lane Hilton were Sky Central (main image), 8 Finsbury Circus, The Estée Lauder Companies, 20 Eastbourne Terrace, 67-71 Beak Street and Sea Containers House by BDG architecture + design. The prestigious BCO awards programme claims to recognise ‘the highest quality developments and sets the standard for excellence in the regional and national office sector.’ The winner of the Best Commercial Workplace was 8 Finsbury Circus while Sky Central took home the prize in the Best Corporate Workplace Category.

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Study confirms effect of workplace autonomy on wellbeing and job satisfaction

Study confirms effect of workplace autonomy on wellbeing and job satisfaction 0

by • Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Wellbeing

New research into workplace culture has found that employees with higher levels of autonomy in their work reported positive effects on their overall wellbeing and higher levels of job satisfaction. Researchers at the University of Birmingham Business School examined changes in reported well-being relative to levels of autonomy using two separate years of data for 20,000 employees from the Understanding Society survey. The research, published in the journal Work and Occupations, found that levels of autonomy differed considerably between occupations and by gender. Those working in management reported the highest levels of autonomy in their work, with 90 percent reporting ‘some’ or ‘a lot’ of autonomy in the workplace. The finding backs up research from Cass Business School, the German Institute for Economic Research, Abraham Maslow and elsewhere.

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Over half of employers report increase in workplace stress and mental ill health

Over half of employers report increase in workplace stress and mental ill health 0

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

More than half (55 percent) of employers have reported an increase in the level of stress and mental health related illnesses at work, according to the annual Benefits and Trends Survey from Aon. The survey claims that while 72 percent of employers believed they had a key role in influencing employee health in 2015, this decreased to 67 percent in 2016. The survey did find that employers have tactics to support health and wellbeing – branded wellness programmes (21 percent) and flexible working (20 percent) being the most popular – but these may be disconnected to what employees and the business actually need. Not surprisingly then, 58 percent would like a better understanding of the impacts of health risks, while 72 percent now use some form of data to drive health and wellbeing strategy. The most popular sources were absence data (57 percent) and employee engagement surveys (45 percent). In addition, the number of employers that have considered managing a known health risk is on the increase – rising to 48 percent from 25 percent in the last two years (42 percent in 2015).

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More needs to be done to boost happiness in the workplace, claims study 0

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

A new report from Office Genie claims to identify the factors that affect the happiness British staff in the workplace. While the average level of workplace happiness for British employees sits at 3.63/5, the study of 2,000 staff claims to have found some serious causes for concern. Junior staff were the least happy in the workforce: they rank at 3.40 on the happiness scale – comparatively, business owners rank at 4.20 – a significant 25 percent higher. Of further concern, according to the report, was the fact employees with mental health issues feel unsupported in the workplace: Over half (51 percent) of such respondents believe their place of work offers inadequate levels of support. Amongst this demographic the most called-for support method is wellness initiatives, with 45 percent of people with mental health issues saying they would be beneficial – well above the overall average.

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Flexible working is not a magic bullet for workplace ills

Flexible working is not a magic bullet for workplace ills 0

by • Comment, Flexible working

magic-bulletAccording to Oxford Dictionaries the word of the year for 2016 is post-truth. This is a slippery little adjective because while some things are pretty much objectively true, the use of post-truth in many contexts is merely a way of shutting down opinion. It’s especially pernicious when it comes to ideas and philosophy because it assumes that the person using it knows what the truth is, yet the world’s sharpest minds can’t always agree on that As the great Ambrose Bierce defied truth in his caustic Devil’s Dictionary: ‘Discovery of truth is the sole purpose of philosophy, which is the most ancient occupation of the human mind and has a fair prospect of existing with increasing activity to the end of time’. And there’s a good reason why in the Bible Pilate’s question ‘What is truth?’ is met with silence.

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