Search Results for: digital

November 30, 2018

How the way we interact with technology is changing the way we think

by Charles Marks • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

We are all familiar with the emoticon, the little symbol we use to strengthen whatever it is we really mean or would like to convey in a text, chat, message or email. The symbols have become more important as these forms of communication have supplanted some forms of face to face contact. Researchers have now learned that our brains no longer treat emoticons as a form of punctuation, but have started to respond to it as if it were a real face. A study published in the journal Social Neuroscience found that the part of the brain that is activated when we look at real faces is now triggered by smileys too. It’s yet another example of how our brains are adapting to the changing demands placed on them by technology, a subject that not only has profound implications for the way we relate to technology but also the way we work and the ways we design and manage our surroundings and especially how we maintain focus and interact with our colleagues.

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November 30, 2018

Business leaders are failing to drive disruptive technological change

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

One in three (34 percent) employees believe a robot would be better at decision making than their boss if it had access to the right business intelligence. This is according to the Advanced Trends Report 2018/19, which also reveals that there is no clear leader driving technology change across UK businesses. Just 35 percent of C-Suite/Managing Directors are said to be driving technology change, while 51 percent believe responsibility falls to IT, followed by finance (19 percent) and marketing (13 percent). It perhaps comes as no surprise, then, that 59 percent of employees think less than half of people in their organisation are ready to adopt new technology to change the way they work.

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November 30, 2018

Economy could achieve significant economic boost by addressing skills gaps in younger people

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

The UK could boost GDP by around £40 billion a year in the long run if it reduces the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) to match Germany, the best performing EU country. Despite making improvements in recent years, the UK only ranks 19th out of 35 countries across the OECD on a PwC index based on a range of indicators of youth employment, education and training. But this is slightly better than the UK’s ranking of 21st across the OECD on a similar PwC index for older workers released earlier this year. Across England NEET rates vary significantly, reflecting the disparity in educational attainment and job opportunities across the country. In 2017, the West Midlands had the highest NEET rate for 19-24 year olds at 16.7 percent, followed by the North East by 16.3 percent. Meanwhile the South East and South West have the lowest rates, both at 11.5 percent (see table below). (more…)

November 28, 2018

Line up of speakers announced for Workplace Trends: Research Spring Summit

by Maggie Procopi • Events, Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace design

The research-driven Workplace Trends Spring Summit returns for 2019. We have two sessions with invited guest speakers, our keynote and the after lunch debate. Following a recent Call for Abstracts and a blind peer review by our two moderators for the day, Nigel Oseland (Workplace Unlimited) and Mark Eltringham (Workplace Insight), the remaining sessions have now been filled with the highest ranked submissions.

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November 28, 2018

Generation Z are more motivated by job satisfaction than money

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Generation Z, the latest generation to enter the workforce, are more likely to be motivated by job satisfaction and working for social good than by money, a new report claims According to new research from Huawei, in partnership with Chris Brauer, Director of Innovation at Goldsmiths, University of London, based on responses from 2,000 18-25-year olds’ across the UK, also reveals that a new tribe of working professionals among Gen Z is emerging, the ‘New Working Order’. (more…)

November 23, 2018

Many of Europe’s small firms to reinvent businesses over next five years

by Neil Franklin • News

Europe’s small and medium sized businesses are fundamentally re-evaluating their market offerings as they aim to keep pace with consumers’ demands in the digital age. According to new research commissioned by Ricoh Europe (registration required), a quarter (24 percent) of the 3,300 business leaders surveyed from across 23 countries expect to sell entirely different products and services within the next five years.

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November 21, 2018

Go Home On Time Day highlights one of the least discussed workplace issues

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Today is National Go Home on Time Day (in Australia at least) and the 10th annual report by The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work published to coincide with it estimates that Australian employees will work 3.2 billion hours of unpaid overtime for their employers this year, worth an estimated $106 billion in wages. It’s refreshing to see a figure applied to this issue, because most of the stuff we get tends to highlight how much time employers are losing to the myriad of distractions, responsibilities, foibles, preferences, cock-ups and ailments that come with giving jobs to humans. An issue we satirise here. (more…)

November 15, 2018

Are you ready for the world of agile working we will experience in the 2020s?

by John Eary and Paul Allsopp • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

Some organisations believe they have ‘done’ Agile Working. They have increased the ratio of people to desks and achieved a saving in accommodation costs. They have provided flexible working arrangements across the organisation and have enabled their people to work at home for part of their working week. Staff surveys show employees are pleased with the opportunities and benefits this provides them. But organisations cannot afford to become comfortable or complacent, there are greater opportunities to grasp. As in any transformation initiative, Agile Working is more than a project it is a cultural journey involving continuing change to achieve continuous improvement. Agile Working is moving on.

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November 15, 2018

Two new studies set out business case for contemporary office design

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace design

A brace of new reports sets out to identify the challenges organisations set themselves by inhabiting dated offices and how modern office design principles could address them. According to the Meeting Expectations report, released by K2 Space, workplace productivity is being impeded as a direct result of dated office design. The second study from Saracen Interiors focuses more on the role of office design as a recruitment tool. The reports follow the recent publication of a major report on similar themes from Worktech Academy and Fourfront Group.

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November 14, 2018

Employee cybersecurity only getting worse as digitised workplace grows

by Sara Bean • AI, Facilities management, News, Technology

New research suggests as the supposed ‘technologically savvy’ millennials enter the workforce they are more likely than older workers to break the most basic of security rule, reusing passwords across different accounts. This is according to the results of the 10th Annual Market Pulse Survey from SailPoint Technologies Holdings, which finds that despite an increased focus on cybersecurity awareness in the workplace, employees’ poor cybersecurity habits are getting worse, which is compounded by the speed and complexity of the digital transformation. (more…)

November 13, 2018

Fostering creativity within organisations through space and culture

by Serena Borghero • Comment, Workplace design

In organisations around the world, hierarchical structures are breaking down, replaced by deeply interconnected, constantly shifting networks, linked by innovative technology. Meanwhile, huge leaps forward in artificial intelligence promise to fundamentally change the nature of work, either by enhancing or replacing human-beings. Research by McKinsey suggests that half of today’s work activities could be automated by 2055, with repetitive and process-based roles the first to go. For employees, this looks likely to mean a greater focus on creative skills, where humans retain an advantage. These skills are not restricted to being purely artistic, as creativity describes the process of problem-solving in a new way. The rise of creativity is also being driven by new generations entering the workplace with different demands and expectations than those before them.

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November 9, 2018

Gen Z are technologically literate but not actually robots, Dell study confirms

by Freddie Steele • News, Technology

Generation Z is entering the workforce, bringing with it a tech-first mentality that will propel businesses further into the digital era while potentially deepening the divide among five generations in the workplace. According to global research commissioned by Dell Technologies, post-millennials – those born after 1996 and known as Gen Z – have a deep, universal understanding of technology and its potential to transform how we work and live.