Search Results for: budget

Office fit out and rent rises will hit occupiers worldwide this year

Office fit out and rent rises will hit occupiers worldwide this year

commercial property and office fit outOccupiers around the world are facing a 10 percent increase in office fit out costs with rental rises also squeezing budgets for those in EMEA, according to a new report from Savills. The firm’s Prime Office Costs (SPOC) analysis for Q3 2022 suggests that fit-out costs in key office markets around the world have continued to climb with inflation, rising an average of 10%, with increased rents in many markets also contributing to higher total net effective costs for office occupiers. Overall, the markets which have seen the largest increases in net effective costs (including fit-out costs, rents and other costs) over the quarter are largely clustered in the EMEA region, including Dublin (+7%), London City (+5%), Dubai (+3%), and Berlin (+3%). More →

The success of hybrid working hinges on creating a great workplace experience

The success of hybrid working hinges on creating a great workplace experience

A carved heart to suggest great workplace experience for hybrid workingRecent statistics underline the extent to which hybrid working is now a permanent fixture of US business life. A recent report suggests that 74 percent of US companies are using or plan to implement a permanent hybrid working model, whilst 44 percent of US employees prefer a hybrid work model, compared to 51 percent of employers. 55 percent of employees want to work remotely at least three days a week and 59 percent of employees are more likely to choose an employer that offers remote work opportunities over one that doesn’t. More →

There is no F in work

There is no F in work

Neil Usher is an energetic, wiry critic of workplaces and offices. Long ago – in 2018, actually – his proposal that the good office is composed of 12 simple elements, beginning with daylight, was also energetic and wiry. Here he widens out from the delicious nitty-gritties of temperature control and lighting in The Elemental Workplace to the wider phenomenon of work. As the title already suggests, the style is laden with expletives: there are no fewer than 25 mentions of the word ‘crap’. He is withering, too, about the ‘easiest fat-arsed squatting duck of targets, the hapless office, with its rituals and theatrics’. On top of a fresh, Elemental-style bow to the nostrum of inclusion, there is a critique of management fads, but also reference made to (white male) privilege, plus, in a lofty manner, ‘our essentially Stone Age cognitive wiring’.

More →

Lack of training in communication is setting up line managers to fail

Lack of training in communication is setting up line managers to fail

A new report from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ (CIPR) Inside Group claims that while the successful running of any organisation relies on effective line manager communication, and this is a high HR priority, designated line managers are ultimately being “set up to fail” through a lack of specific communications training. The report – ‘Effective line manager communications’ – surveyed line managers, HR professionals, and internal communicators, and it showed a clear mismatch between the expectations of line managers and the support provided. More →

BDG architecture + design and FUTURE Designs, showcase AERO313 at London Design Festival

BDG architecture + design and FUTURE Designs, showcase AERO313 at London Design Festival

future designsBDG architecture + design and FUTURE Designs will display the only AERO313 luminaire in the country, at Borough Yards, London Bridge, as part of this year’s London Design Festival which runs from 17-25 September 2022.  FUTURE Designs was appointed by BDG architecture + design in 2020 to create this innovative custom light fixture that is a centrepiece of the latest WPP campus project in Detroit, USA. Faced with transatlantic logistics and regulations, the sheer scale of the product, as well as a global pandemic, the team involved tackled unprecedented challenges in order to deliver this ground-breaking luminaire to practical completion for a client on time and to budget. More →

Two-thirds of European SMEs are unprepared for hybrid working

Two-thirds of European SMEs are unprepared for hybrid working

hybrid workingA new poll from Dynabook Europe claims that many European small and medium sized enterprises are still grappling with the challenges of hybrid working, with two-thirds (67 percent) yet to fully optimise their IT solutions for this. The study, commissioned by Dynabook in partnership with Walnut Unlimited, surveyed 1,202 IT decision-makers at SMEs across the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. More →

ESG: only a third of people think their workplace has a positive impact on society and the environment

ESG: only a third of people think their workplace has a positive impact on society and the environment

ESGAccording to a poll from YuLife and YouGov, just over a third (39 percent) of people think their place of work has some sort of positive impact on society and the planet. This is in spite of the many announcements from organisations about how ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) can boost employee engagement and help them stand out from their competitors. With many businesses having upped their ESG investment in recent years,  the new YuLife-YouGov report claims to shed light on what UK working adults want and expect from their workplaces, equipping businesses with vital insights into how to focus their ESG programmes most effectively. More →

Is change your friend or your enemy?

Is change your friend or your enemy?

changeIs change your friend or your enemy?  If you are a young person leaving home for the first time and are excited about the prospects of striking out on your own – change is most likely your friend.  But if you are the parent, watching your child leave the nest, and your close protection, then change could very possibly be your enemy. The same is true when it comes to introducing new ways of working in an organisation.  Some people will like the ‘old ways’ because they are familiar and comfortable – they are like second nature and hence don’t take any real thinking. Whereas for others, the ‘new way’ may be quite faster, easier or simply exciting because it is different. More →

Employers must do more to encourage active travel and cycling to work, says charity

Employers must do more to encourage active travel and cycling to work, says charity

cycling to workNew research carried out by YouGov on behalf of Cycling UK claims that 43 percent of young people (18-24-year-olds) are considering changing their method of travel to include more public transport and cycling to work due to expected increases in transport costs. The findings are published as the reduction in disposable income forces households to tighten budgets and workers are forking out a greater proportion of their income simply to get to work. More →

Only a quarter of remote workers feel connected to company culture

Only a quarter of remote workers feel connected to company culture

remote workersThree quarters of HR leaders feel that hybrid work challenges employees’ connection to organisational culture, according to a survey from Gartner. The poll of more than 200 HR leaders claims the most challenging aspect of setting their hybrid strategy is adjusting the current organisational culture to support a hybrid workforce. While 40 percent of HR leaders reported they have increased their culture budget since the beginning of the pandemic, the survey of more than 3,900 hybrid / remote workers in December 2021 suggests only one in four are connected to their organisation’s culture. More →

Climate neutral buildings roadmap for EU launched by Green Building Council

Climate neutral buildings roadmap for EU launched by Green Building Council

climate neutral buildingsThe World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) has launched a new policy plan for the European Union to accelerate progress on decarbonising buildings and construction, one of the most heavily emitting sectors in the world. Developed with the support of a coalition of over 35 leading industry bodies through WorldGBC’s flagship BuildingLife project, the EU Policy Roadmap claims to be the first of its kind in Europe to address the whole life carbon impact of the built environment with the aim of creating climate neutral buildings. More →

Despite low productivity, UK firms still don’t look for ways to improve on past performance

Despite low productivity, UK firms still don’t look for ways to improve on past performance

low productivity

Despite the UK’s persistent low productivity, less than a fifth of business owners are actively looking back at projects to identify areas for improvement. A large proportion of business owners (65 per cent) and senior managers (82 per cent) have increased their use of project-based methods on everyday tasks, such as introducing measures to identify and manage risk. Despite this, many are still failing to assign enough dedicated project managers to the work. New research from the Association for Project Management (APM)  claims that only 35 per cent of senior managers who participated in the survey regularly assign dedicated project managers to tasks, and only a quarter for business owners. More →