Search Results for: flexibility

April 4, 2018

Government announces details of new real estate agency

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Public Sector

The UK government has announced the creation of the Government Property Agency (GPA) which will aim to ‘improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Government Estate and generate benefits of between £1.4 billion and £2.4 billion over the next ten years’. GPA’s initial portfolio of 80 properties will grow to over 1,000 as it takes on increasing responsibility for managing the general purpose central government real estate portfolio. This is intended to manage the government’s property portfolio strategically in order to realise the benefits that departments cannot achieve on their own. The GPA will partner with government departments to find innovative property solutions, and provide expertise to enable them to deliver wider business change more efficiently. More broadly, the GPA will also be an enabler for the delivery of Civil Service transformation, regional growth and the government’s vision to strengthen the Union.

March 30, 2018

Agile working driving structural change in New Zealand commercial property

by Mark Eltringham • Coworking, Flexible working, News, Property

Technological developments and agile working methodologies are driving significant, structural changes in the requirements for commercial property in New Zealand, according to new research from CBRE. One of these structural shifts is the rise in agile working, which has profound implications for the way office space is used. Unassigned seating is just one aspect of a truly agile business. Activity based working, third party space, coworking and flexibility around the way office space is used and leased are other real estate parts of a wider transformation into an agile organisation.

March 30, 2018

CIPD to co-chair Government’s flexible working task force

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace

The CIPD has been invited to co-chair the UK Government’s new Flexible Working Task Force. The task force has been established by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy to promote wider understanding and implementation of inclusive flexible work and working practices, bringing together policy-makers, employer groups, Unions and employee representative groups, research groups and professional bodies. More →

March 26, 2018

Flexible working has a range of positive benefits for workers, a new report confirms

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Flexibility in where, when and how people work, including remote work, leads to an increase in innovation, as well as improvements in communication, creativity, productivity and engagement, according to a new study from the Flex+Strategy Group (FSG). This is among the key findings from a national probability telephone survey of 595 full-time employed US adults conducted for FSG by ORC International. The report claims that sixty percent of people who have flexible working options feel they’re “more productive and engaged.” Only 4 percent said they are less so, with 34 percent feeling their level of productivity and engagement is consistent. The results suggest major corporations including IBM may have gotten it wrong when they cited remote work as a barrier to innovation and collaboration and asked employees to re-locate back to company offices. The research also found a significant lack of training required for successful flexibility.

March 26, 2018

A growing number of employers are driving demand for independent professionals

by Adam Gates • Comment, Workplace

A new industrial revolution is underway, with almost every organisation on the frontline. Executive leaders, notably HR Directors, are grappling with what this means for the structure and design of their companies and the composition of their people. Changing business models, new technologies to access people, skills and capabilities, are common threads, with widespread implications for workplaces. With more people working remotely, flexi-time and on contract, designing workspaces, for instance, has become more challenging. Economic challenges impact every business and reduce appetite for investment, notably in permanent full-time staff. But scratch below the shared surface and every situation is different.

March 20, 2018

Enter the MIPIM bandwagon, towed by pink elephants

by Anna King • Comment, Property, Technology

The old adage “once you spot a bandwagon, it’s probably too late to jump on” was certainly true at this year’s MIPIM if only for the increase in journalists sent by the national press (allegedly) hoping to catch a glimpse of men behaving badly and weaving tales of excess. Whilst the message of #TimesUp was heard loud and clear in the property world after the recent expose at the Presidents Club, the reality is the hedonistic opulence actually came to an end in 2009 after the global crash. That was the year that the property market realised they needed to do things differently and it was the beginning of putting people first. But it takes time for thoughts to turn to actions and reality, and a number of senior women that I spoke to observed that what we are now seeing are results of change and a drive to continue that change.

March 20, 2018

Working fathers are being let down by workplace policies, claims Government report

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News

The Government’s Women and Equalities Committee has published its report on fathers in the workplace. Its main conclusion is that current policies supporting fathers in the workplace do not deliver what they promise, despite good intentions and this is particularly the case for less well-off fathers. It claims that the Government must reform workplace policies to ensure they meet the needs of the 21st century family and to better support working dads in caring for their children, say MPs. The report concludes that the right to request flexible working has not created the necessary cultural change and the Government itself admitted to the inquiry that its flagship shared parental leave scheme will not meet its objective for most fathers.

March 16, 2018

Equal Lives survey to look at ways men can better balance work and home life

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

The challenge to achieve gender equality at work isn’t made any easier by the attitudes of some employers. Although men increasingly want to be more present at home, currently fathers are twice as likely as mothers to have their requests for flexible working turned down. This means their work-life balance is increasingly a source of stress. For this reason a new survey is being launched to look at men’s roles at home and work with the hope that the results will support employers to help men take up more equal caring roles.The Equal Lives project, launched by Business in the Community in partnership with Santander UK, aims to highlight the issues men face when managing responsibilities at work and home and identify workplace practices and policies to help employers retain skilled male and female employees. The study is open to all men in work over 18, regardless of whether they have people who depend on them for their wellbeing. It is also open to women in work, but only those with care responsibilities.

March 14, 2018

Four UK cities ranked in Europe’s top ten most attractive locations for businesses and employees

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, News

London has been ranked as Europe’s most attractive city for businesses and employees for second year running according to Colliers International’s latest European Cities of Influence report, which reviews and ranks cities based on their occupier attractiveness, availability of talent, and quality of life factors alongside economic output and productivity; Paris, Madrid, Moscow and Birmingham making up the rest of the top five. The report claims that the UK remains a highly desirable destination for capital and occupiers, largely driven by its ‘magnetism as a centre of diverse high-quality service sector talent’, which is in turn is helping to drive economic output and productivity. Other UK cities which score in the top 10 include Birmingham (5th), Edinburgh (7th) and Manchester (10th).

March 13, 2018

Over half of younger managers prefer using digital communications to deal with staff

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

Online messaging is the most common way for millennial bosses to communicate with their direct reports, with over half (55 percent) preferring to use this digital method, followed by email at 28 percent, a new survey claims. Only 14 percent said their favoured way to communicate is in person, and 3 percent said via phone. As millennials (born 1981-1996) increasingly moving into management positions, the new Korn Ferry survey also found that when interviewing for management positions, millennials say that making an impact on organisational culture is most important to them, with salary being the least important. The survey also found that compared with Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, knowing what is coming next is critical for millennial bosses. Nearly three quarters (74 percent) said a clear advancement path (e.g. next two positions) is more important for millennial bosses, with 49 percent saying it is much more important.

March 12, 2018

Organisations need to create a ‘smart everywhere’ environment finds Smart Summit

by Sara Bean • Events, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace

Work is no longer a place but a set of activities which lead to a set of outcomes that could be delivered anywhere. Or as John Blackwell, Quora Consulting’s Managing Director succinctly described it at the first of the 2018 Quora Smartworking Summit’s held last week, organisations need to create a ‘smart everywhere’ environment. New digital platforms make far it easier for people to work in exactly the way they want. Research by Quora has revealed that there are 5 million people currently working in the UK gig economy or around 15.6 percent of the total workforce. More people are working post retirement age and want to work in a way that they can control, while there are increasing numbers who simply want more autonomy in their lives in the way that self-employment can offer. More →

March 8, 2018

UK women still feel held back by motherhood and flexible work penalty

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Four in ten (44 percent) women in the UK feel nervous about the impact starting a family might have on their career and 48 percent of new mothers felt overlooked for promotions and special projects upon their return to work. This is according to a new PwC report, launched to mark International Women’s Day, which surveyed over 3,600 professional women (293 in the UK) across different sectors to find out about their career development experiences and aspirations. The report claims that UK women still perceive a motherhood and flexibility penalty in the workplace. Over a third (36 percent) surveyed say they feel that taking advantage of work life balance and flexibility programmes has negative career consequences. The report – Time to talk: what has to change for women at work – claims that women are confident, ambitious and ready for what’s next, but many don’t trust what their employers are telling them about career development and promotion.