August 6, 2020

Managing occupancy will be essential in the new era of work

by Rodrigue Zbinden • Company news, Technology

As COVID-19 infection rates reach lower levels and businesses open their doors once more, HR and facilities teams across many industries and sectors are preparing for a physical return to the workplace. With a duty to ensure the health, safety and general wellbeing of staff and visitors, there are many factors to consider, such as how to promote safe social distancing and increased cleaning regimes, while still focussing on business productivity. The roles of HR and FM will be critical in setting safe protocols if further self-isolation and lockdown measures are to be avoided. More →

August 4, 2020

Boardroom heroes needed to transform working cultures

by Alex Fleming • Comment, Flexible working

Even as the UK starts to open back up following the COVID-19 enforced lockdown, there are still many unanswered questions about how almost every aspect of our lives will be impacted. What is certain though, is that we will continue to see a paradigm shift take place across all areas of the workplace. Employers must ensure they have the right measures and policies in place to deal with the transformations that have taken place across the UK’s labour market throughout the lockdown period. This is crucial, as only those who have a strong workplace culture will succeed in the post-pandemic world. More →

August 4, 2020

People struggle with home working environments and solitude

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

People are productive at home and want to retain flexible working after lockdown, but struggle with sub-optimal working environments and a lack of interaction with colleagues. That is the main finding from a survey by property technology company, Equiem. The firm has published the results of its most comprehensive global office occupier survey to date, providing landlords and tenants alike with valuable insights into occupier sentiment amid the COVID-19 pandemic. More →

July 28, 2020

Containing office costs in the post-lockdown era

by Guy Brett • Comment, Property

As companies transition back to the office and set out on the road to economic recovery, business leaders are focussed on developing resilient and sustainable strategies. Faced with a new business environment, companies are looking for opportunities to contain office costs, both in the short-term and in the future. Some who have been immune from cost pressures in the past are looking to contain if not reduce costs for the first time. And, after a forced trial of remote working, many are viewing their property portfolio in a new light and questioning whether they are paying for more space than they need. More →

July 22, 2020

Don’t be a commute Canute, Boris

by Andrew Mawson • Comment, Flexible working

So, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told the British people to get back to work by Christmas. This means that millions would be renewing their season tickets, getting up in darkness to dress up for work, crowding onto those trains, buses and tubes while swaddled in facemasks and battling their way into the office (which for the time being will be a pretty dull experience with social distancing). More →

July 22, 2020

Londoners` demand for a healthier commute is redefining the office market

by Freddie Steele • News, Property

New statistics released by workspace provider The Argyll Club suggest that the main concern for London’s businesses post lockdown is whether employees can get to and from work safely. Also, in an encouraging sign for the City’s office market, 50 percent of businesses are already making enquiries into larger office space.

July 20, 2020

People returning to the office fear shared spaces while looking forward to meeting colleagues

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Mindspace has published the results of a new survey of over 1,000 members across the firm’s sites in the UK, the US, Europe and Israel, revealing the anxieties, intentions and changing habits of many employees in the Western world as they begin returning to the office for the first time since they went into lockdown earlier in the year. Unsurprisingly many of the issues focus on sharing space with other people, especially in building amenities and shared spaces as well as on public transport. At the same time, the things people have missed most about office life are also about the spaces and times they share with other people. More →

July 16, 2020

We need to include disabled people in our conversations about diversity

by Toby Mildon • Comment, Working lives

This sounds really obvious but when organisations talk about diversity and inclusion they often forget to include disability. They talk about the importance of women in leadership and the gender pay gap, the need to include people from an ethnic minority background especially following the Black Lives Matter movement. And June just gone was dedicated to LGBT+ Pride month. More →

July 13, 2020

The economic challenges of the post lockdown world become clearer

by Jayne Smith • Briefing, Features, Premium Content, Property

There are so many unknowns about the ways in which the Covid-19 pandemic will shape our world in the coming months and years but what it has highlighted are the strengths and weaknesses in the global and UK economy and their implications for the commercial property sector. In its latest white paper, property consultancy and chartered surveyors Bruceshaw examines the macro and micro economic challenges that will shape the property sector for many years to come. More →

July 7, 2020

London tops rank of smartest cities in the world

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News

London has once again been declared the smartest city in the world, according to the seventh edition of the IESE Cities in Motion Index 2020. New York takes the second spot, followed by Paris. The top 10 list is rounded out by Tokyo, Reykjavik, Copenhagen, Berlin, Amsterdam, Singapore and Hong Kong. More →

July 3, 2020

Watch where you sit: new workplace setups could hit productivity

by Geoffroy de Lestrange • Comment, Wellbeing

Slowly, it seems we are seeing a gradual return to some sort of normality. Shops are opening up as well as restaurants and pubs and many of us are now also heading back into the office. But these aren’t the offices as we once knew them. Workspace layouts and seating plans are being completely overhauled to bring in new social distancing and safety measures. Beyond just the physical changes this incurs, this could also have a wider impact on how we work – and businesses need to be prepared and ready for that too. More →

July 2, 2020

Leaders need to develop a high care quotient for the new challenges they face

by Chris Parke • Comment, Wellbeing, Working lives

Everything has taken a hit in 2020. Nothing has gone unscathed or unchanged – and the same goes for leadership. From boardrooms to living rooms, meeting rooms to spare rooms, leadership has moved away from face-to-face interactions to digital communications. Meanwhile, forward-thinking initiatives, spurred on by continuing diversity imbalances and widening gender pay gaps, have been put on hold. Following government guidance, only half of businesses published their 2018-19 gender pay gap report – which could reportedly push gender equality back a whole generation. We are risking losing sight of what’s important to us – and unless we’re intentional about how we make systemic, much-needed organisational changes, they’re not going to happen if we only focus on more ‘critical’ things, or keeping the lights on. More →