Search Results for: future of work

One in five employees are too scared to ask for flexible working rights

One in five employees are too scared to ask for flexible working rights 0

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Over one in five (21 percent) UK private sector employees – equivalent to 5.5m nationally – are too afraid to discuss flexible working with their boss because they think they will say no, Aviva’s Working Lives report claims. The findings come despite employees having the legal right to make a ‘statutory application’ to their employer to change their working pattern . Those aged 35-49 are the most likely to refrain from exercising this right despite the challenge some in this age group may face with juggling work and family life: nearly one in four (24 percent) shy away from starting a conversation for fear of rejection.

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BIFM calls for views on the scope and future of facilities management profession

BIFM calls for views on the scope and future of facilities management profession 0

by • Facilities management, News

As part of its ongoing commitment to the FM profession and its members BIFM has commissioned research by independent consultants 3edges, to explore how well equipped the facilities management profession is to support the future world of work. As part of the study, a survey has been issued direct to BIFM members this week, covering aspects about individuals and their roles, the FM profession, workplace and BIFM. All BIFM members are invited and encouraged to participate. It is hoped that the findings will inform BIFM’s future direction as a professional body, enabling the Institute to refine its offering to both its members and the FM profession.

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The changing world of people analytics and digital ethics in the workplace

The changing world of people analytics and digital ethics in the workplace 0

by • Flexible working, Podcasts, Premium Content, Technology

This year’s Think FM conference at the Science Museum may prove to be a watershed moment for the global facilities management and workplace sectors, as its focus was on connectivity, data and the Internet of Things. The event’s keynote speaker was Ben Waber, one of the world’s leading thinkers on the ways in which this unprecedentedly connected era relates to people and the workplace. Ben is the president and CEO of people analytics firm Humanyze, an alumnus of MIT and a visiting scientist at MIT Media Lab.

I was fortunate to be able to sit down with him recently to discuss the characteristics of this new age of connectivity and the changing nature of digital ethics and ask him whether the future of HR, IT and FM is at the mercy of people data analytics, amongst other things. This is becoming a common theme for the Workplace Matters podcast as we see a more widespread realisation that the workplace is no longer a merely physical entity and our attention shifts to people and how they interact with each other and the places they work. Subscribe and listen to this and all episodes on Acast or iTunes, on any mobile device.

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Ian Ellison is one of the UK’s foremost commentators on workplace and facilities management issues. He is a Partner of consultancy 3edges (@_3edges) and the host and creator of the Workplace Matters podcast (@wpmpodcast). Prior to that he was a lecturer at Sheffield Hallam the University and had a ten-year career in operational FM in both in-house and outsourced roles. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future episodes – contact him @ianellison or at www.3edges.co.uk.

Study suggests ways staff could work fewer hours while raising productivity

Study suggests ways staff could work fewer hours while raising productivity 0

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Employers can implement simple changes to reduce fatigue while raising worker productivity, a new academic study suggests. Research published by Manel Baucells from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business offers some useful insights for today’s workforce in overcoming fatigue while at the same time raising productivity. The paper “It is time to get some rest”, co-authored with Lin Zhao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, looks at how workers’ efforts can be best distributed throughout the day. The study’s implications affect not only our health and quality of life, but business and the economy too. “The bottom line is, when it comes to rest and managing fatigue, the incentives of companies and workers are perfectly aligned: Reducing fatigue increases productivity, lowers the cost of providing effort, increasing work satisfaction, lowering turnover and absenteeism, and ultimately increasing profits,” said Baucell. “Google seems to have learned this lesson and makes the work environment pleasant, promoting fun distractions, while at the same time encouraging long work hours.”

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KI helps to create agile, flexible workspace at Paramount Pictures’ UK HQ

KI helps to create agile, flexible workspace at Paramount Pictures’ UK HQ 0

by • Company news, Furniture, Insight promotion

KI has helped film production giant Paramount Pictures create an agile, flexible new workspace at their stunning new UK headquarters. Drenched in natural light, the offices offer staff and visitors views over the adjacent green space and lake, as well as sweeping views across London. Spread across two floors at Chiswick Park, the offices also accommodate the team of Paramount subsidiary United International Pictures. Working alongside office furniture supplier Rapid Office, Paramount Pictures selected KI’s UK designed and manufactured workstations, tables, storage, workwalls and breakout screening, enhanced by a palette of 12 colours from Camira’s Lucia fabric range. The vibrant combination of blues, purples, greens and beige have been used to differentiate departments.

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Report sets out costliest cities for mobile workforce of multinationals

Report sets out costliest cities for mobile workforce of multinationals 0

by • News

In a rapidly changing world, mobility has become a core component of companies’ global talent strategy and as a result, multinational organisations are carefully assessing the cost of packages for their international mobile workforce, claims a new report which sets out the costs of living in the world’s major cities. Mercer’s 23rd annual Cost of Living Survey finds that factors like instability of housing markets and inflation for goods and services contribute to the overall cost of doing business in today’s global environment. Mercer’s 2017 Cost of Living Survey finds Asian and European cities – particularly Hong Kong (2), Tokyo (3), Zurich (4), and Singapore (5) – top the list of most expensive cities for expatriates. The costliest city, driven by cost of goods and security, is Luanda (1), the capital of Angola. Other cities appearing in the top 10 of Mercer’s costliest cities for expatriates are Seoul (6), Geneva (7), Shanghai (8), New York City (9), and Bern (10). The world’s least expensive cities for expatriates, according to Mercer’s survey, are Tunis (209), Bishkek (208), and Skopje (206).

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The workplace experience will define how real estate enables business transformation

The workplace experience will define how real estate enables business transformation 0

by • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

JLL has today launched ‘Workplace powered by Human Experience’, a new global report series and accompanying tool, the ‘Human Experience model’, looking at how workplace experience can help businesses thrive in the new world of work. Findings of the report, which is part of JLL’s recently launched Future of Work research programme, are based on consultations with decision makers at 40 corporations around the world and the results of a separate, anonymous survey of more than 7,300 employees working for companies with more than 100 members of staff. The survey covered 12 countries and the respondents were aged between 18 and 65 years. Countries where employees were surveyed: Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US.

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Technology that creates a virtual office is biggest catalyst of change in the workplace

Technology that creates a virtual office is biggest catalyst of change in the workplace 0

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

Companies are increasingly using sophisticated technology offerings as a way to attract and retain talent, as faced with a competitive hiring environment, and rising occupancy costs they must create a user experience that makes employees more efficient and effective and the office the preferred place to work. This is according to CBRE Research’s latest Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs report (registration needed) which found – not uniquely – that technology is the biggest catalyst of change in the workplace today, as mobile devices, virtual networks, videoconferencing and cloud storage create a seamless transition from the physical workplace of the 20th century to the virtual workplace of the 21st century. This technology is also being used by occupiers to understand and manage their occupancy patterns in sophisticated ways and create an environment that maximises employee efficiency.

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What will the UK General Election mean for the workplace? Some experts respond

What will the UK General Election mean for the workplace? Some experts respond 0

by • Architecture, Comment, Flexible working, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

Any residual feelings of certainty that anybody in the UK may have had about the country’s future following last year’s Brexit vote, will have had them pretty much eradicated by last Thursday’s General Election result. However, we must try to make sense of things for society and the wider economy as well as specific facets of it, such as the world of work. The whole thing looks like the pig’s ear that it is, of course. Fortunately, as some experts have already argued, there are some reasons to see some positive outcomes, including a soft (or softer) Brexit and the chance of a more positive approach to workplace rights, now that the Government needs to maintain a broader consensus. The fear or hope that the UK would lighten its already soft touch approach to workplace legislation would seem at least to be less well founded.

 

 

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Coworking and the current French revolution in the workplace

Coworking and the current French revolution in the workplace 0

by • Case studies, Cities, Features, Flexible working, Workplace design

In France, we might have been the first to behead a King and hold a revolution, or to stand on barricades and die for ideals of justice and equality, but when it comes to change – especially in large organisations– we always seem to lag behind. You could blame it on a number of factors: a cultural bias towards tradition, the legacy of an interventionist and ever-present state, spawning bureaucratic models of large state-owned corporations, the everlasting grasp of the elites stifling innovation and the ability to “think outside the box”… Whatever this may be, the debate around remote working – a type of work organisation which allows employees to work regularly away from the office – in France has always been articulated around the preconception that France was behind. And that while its Anglo-Saxon or Nordic European neighbours displayed a boastful 30 percent of the working population as remote workers, France struggled to reach a meagre 9 to 10 percent in 2010.

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Sprinkling a little stardust on the workplace design debate

Sprinkling a little stardust on the workplace design debate

by • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design

The idea that extraterrestrial organisms have throughout time seeded the surface of the Earth is not the sole preserve of loonies, mystics, conspiracy theorists, the permanently stoned and various wishful thinkers. This idea of panspermia has some pretty high profile and serious adherents. Perhaps one of the most surprising was the renowned but controversial astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle; pillar of the scientific community for much of his life, atheist, Darwinist and the man who coined the term Big Bang, albeit as a way of disparaging it. Yet also a man who believed that the global 1918 flu pandemic, polio and HIV were each the result of micro-organisms that fell from the skies rather than developing here on Earth. The broader scientific community dismisses such thinking because it derives in part from either an incredulity at the processes involved – as was the case with Hoyle – or an ignorance of them.

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IBM’s retreat from flexible working. The world responds

IBM’s retreat from flexible working. The world responds 0

by • Comment, Flexible working

In February 2013, Yahoo set off a mighty global stink when it sent a memo telling staff to forget about working from home, Starbucks, wherever and return to its corporate embrace. The intention of recently installed CEO Marissa Mayer was to increase collaboration and productivity by getting everybody in the same space. There is some logic to this, except for one thing. As Andrea Hak wrote for us in her masterful post mortem of the whole debacle last year: “With this change Yahoo was trying to attack a symptom rather than the root of the problem. Pitting employees against each other in a stack ranking style system actually discourages collaboration. The experiences of companies that ditched this system have shown that employees are more likely to try and undermine the competition than work together.” So who in the tech sector would possibly make the same mistake again?  The answer is IBM.

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