Search Results for: career

April 21, 2016

How and why Millennials are shaping the future of remote working ⁰

by Sara Sutton Fell • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Workplace, Workplace design

The future is here. Millennials, the youngest generation in the workforce, are now the majority generation at work. Their potential impact has been discussed for decades, but we’re finally seeing results, as this generation not only enters the workforce, but assumes management-level roles, makes their voices heard, and shifts how we approach work. But why does the Millennials attitude and approach to work have such an impact on how, when, where, and why we all work? And why should employers pay attention? It’s because this generation is shaping remote working. They’ve got sheer numbers behind them. In 2015, Millennials surpassed Generation X to become the largest generation in the American workforce. The vast majority of Millennials want flexible work options, especially the ability to work remotely. In survey after survey, Millennials, more than any generation previously, say that work-life balance and remote work is important to them.

April 20, 2016

400 years on, the Bard continues to influence Britain’s workplaces ⁰

by Mark Farrar • Comment, Workplace

It has been well reported that Saturday (23rd April) marks the 400th anniversary of the death of one of Britain’s most famous literary geniuses, William Shakespeare. The reasons for his enduring popularity are clear, as the website Shakespeare Online points out, if you cannot find words to express how you feel about love or music or growing older, Shakespeare can speak for you. What is somewhat less known is that Shakespeare is credited with coining over 1700 words that are now in use in English, generally through changing nouns into verbs and verbs into adjectives, connecting existing words and, in some cases, coming up with wholly new creations. To mark the occasion, the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) has selected five words that the playwright brought into our language which are heard up and down businesses throughout the UK on a daily basis.

April 19, 2016

Four in ten UK workers don’t feel they’re good enough for their job ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Impostor syndrome – a fear of not deserving your job, is said to haunt even the most successful people. But according to new research, a lack of effective training is leading more and more ordinary workers to fear they’re not up to their job. According to the new study from the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), around four in ten UK workers don’t feel they measure up to the demands of their chosen profession. Sixty-seven percent admitted they were ‘out of their depth’ in their work situation, while 40 percent expressed fears they would be exposed at some point for not being that good at aspects of their job. Half of those who took part in the survey even went as far as to declare they felt they ‘chanced their luck’ on aspects of their job. A staggering 75 percent went as far as to admit they were ‘lucky’ to secure their job given the competitive nature of the current employment market and the quality of other candidates.

April 18, 2016

Workplace Trends talk + Productivity + Flexible working in London ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Furniture, Newsletter, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Newsletter Mark Eltringham with the Hitchhikers guide to the workplace – his talk at the Workplace Trends Conference; Darren Bilsborough’s concerns around commuting and productivity; and Paul Goodchild suggests that as office continues to evolve so too do the materials used within it. Why work friendships can contribute to a lack of creative diversity in the office; women could be damaging their careers by taking competition too seriously; and stress and sitting are draining productivity in the UK. The development of the fourth industrial revolution; the CIPD on increasing the uptake of flexible working in the Capital and IFMA and RICS work together to help shape a single FM career path. Download our Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, on how the boundless office can be freed from the shackles of time and place and access the latest issue of Work&Place. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

April 15, 2016

Employers’ and workers’ views on an engaging workplace differ widely ⁰

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

Business growth is radically redefining how employees are managed, especially as there is greater competition than ever to hire the best people from a much more demanding employee population. Yet employees report that a lack of development, outdated processes, and discontent with the role of their managers are causing them to feel dissatisfied according to Mercer’s 2016 Global Talent Trends Study, the first to take into account the perspective of both employers and employees. While 85 percent of organisations admit that their talent management programmes need an overhaul, 70 percent are confident about filling critical roles with internal candidates, 28 percent of employees say they plan to leave in the next 12 months even though they are satisfied with their current role. Managing these challenges requires support but only 4 percent of HR professionals feel that the HR function is viewed as a strategic business partner within their organisations.

April 13, 2016

IFMA and RICS join forces to establish a “global FM community” ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

While the debate over the fate of FM bodies; from the role of the BIFM to the demise of its trade associations the Facilities Management Association, (FMA) and its successor the Building Futures Group (BFG), rolls on; the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have gone ahead and organized their own “landmark” collaboration agreement. This aims to leverage both organizations’ existing resources in education, research, conferences and events, and external relations. IFMA and RICS also vow to work together to align credentials and qualifications to shape a single FM career path with “demonstrable professional status which is recognized and respected globally”. Another shot across the bow of the BIFM is that RICS professionals who have qualified in FM will automatically receive IFMA member benefits. In turn, IFMA members and credential holders will be able to attain RICS professional qualification and benefit from RICS’ international standards and global professional network.

April 7, 2016

The global tension between cost and talent in corporate real estate ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace

Concerns over the health of the global economy, workforce strategies and rising costs and pace of business are heavily influencing real estate decision-making for major corporations, a new survey by CBRE of global corporate real estate executives claims. More than 400 respondents from around the world participated in the survey. Nearly half (49 percent) cited economic uncertainty as their greatest challenge, while 43 percent identified it as cost escalation. Forty-eight percent projected a stable real estate footprint for this year. Seventy-nine percent stated that they are actively using space-efficiency initiatives to manage costs, combining ‘ground-up workplace strategies with top-down cost management initiatives’. Workplace strategies are also driven by initiatives that aim to improve collaborative working and enhance a firm’s pool of talent as well as address other workplace issues such as wellbeing and work life balance.

April 7, 2016

Dramatic rise predicted for the number of UK men working part-time ⁰

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

As we reported yesterday, just 1 percent of working men have availed themselves so far of the right to Shared Parental Leave (SPL) but it seems this doesn’t necessarily mean that men don’t want to adopt more flexible working patterns. A new report, Working Futures, published by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), projects that the number of part-time male workers is set to increase by 20 percent by 2024 – nearly three times more than the projected growth in part-time female workers (7 percent), and this growth is particularly significant for men in professional or management roles, where an increase of 25 percent is projected. This marks a substantial change in the working patterns of men in highly paid, highly skilled roles. Women by contrast are set to become more career focused – with a rise of 7 percent in the number of women working full-time, compared to just 3 percent for men.

April 6, 2016

Just one percent of men have taken-up UK’s shared parental leave right ⁰

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

One year on from its launch and it’s emerged that just 1 percent of men have so far taken up the opportunity of Shared Parental Leave (SPL) while over half (55 percent) of women say they wouldn’t want to share their maternity leave rights. The main reasons why men have chosen not to take up SPL are financial affordability, lack of awareness, and unwillingness from women to share their maternity leave. A combined survey of over 1,000 parents and 200 businesses (HR Directors) from My Family Care and the Women’s Business Council found that taking up SPL was very much dependent on a person’s individual circumstances, particularly on their financial situation and the paternity pay on offer from their employer. It found that 80 percent of both men and women agreed that a decision to share leave would be dependent on their finances and their employer’s enhancement of SPL. More →

April 1, 2016

Firms think they can hire Millennials as an alternative to digital skills training ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace

A large number of businesses in the UK aren’t investing enough in bridging their own digital skills gap and instead assuming that they can fix things and improve their productivity simply by employing younger ‘digital natives’ who just know all that sort of stuff anyway. That is the key finding of a new report from Barc ays, which claims that companies are knowingly starving themselves of funding for key digital skills training despite understanding how that impacts their productivity. The report claims that firms on average invest just £109 per employee on digital skills training and are planning to increase that by just 19 percent over the next five years. They do this despite the fact that nearly half (47 percent) concede new tech skills would improve productivity. Instead 40 percent assume they can buy in the skills they need in the form of Millennials because they don’t trust older workers to pick up digital skills as quickly, if at all.

March 24, 2016

Flexible working is a more important perk than nap time for employees ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Headline grabbing employee perks such as free catered lunches and massages; whether Google’s free nap times during the day or Netflix’s free unlimited holidays are all very well, but they are hardly the norm. Back in the real world, over half (61 percent) of people in the UK believe they don’t get near enough employee incentives at work. Yet, when losing and hiring employees is far more costly than keeping current employees happy and motivated – for instance, an Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) study revealed that 17 percent of employees claimed they were looking for a new career due to feeling under-appreciated in their place of work – it might be wise to find out what employees really want. Workplace services supplier Direct365 did just that and discovered that workers want perks that they can relate to and enjoy, and which cater towards and take into consideration their individual needs. Unsurprisingly, flexible working is at the top of the list.

March 21, 2016

Graduates value flexible work and innovative office spaces over pay ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Flexible working, News, Workplace, Workplace design

There’s been a lot of assumptions and predictions made about Millennials, and the upcoming generation of workers dubbed Gen Z. They’re alternately spoilt with a sense of entitlement or have a zeal for change and strong social conscience. So while there is a danger of stereotyping this diverse group, employers still need to work out the best way to attract and retain the most talented. Today’s graduates have enjoyed much higher quality university accommodation and facilities than previous generations, and the flexibility of the modern day campus is clearly influencing their work choices. Unlike the generation before them, recent graduates place double the importance on flexible work and work-life balance than they do on their earnings to chart their success. A Bright Network study of over 2,000 of the country’s top graduates also found that high priority was placed on a clear path for advancement over and above high earnings.