Search Results for: colleagues

September 26, 2015

Visions of the future of work + Gen Y hype + flexible firms ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Flexible working, Furniture, Newsletter, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s issue; legend of the UK office furniture sector, John Fogarty reflects on his five decades of experience; Mark Eltringham argues the TMT sector no more fell from the heavens than Gen Y, and Charles Marks weighs up the pros and cons of the BREEAM environmental standard. The financial sector dominates the annual list of Top Employers for Working Families and we reveal there’s a tendency to drift into caricature when describing multigenerational working. Activity in Europe’s commercial property markets is at its highest level since 2007 and colleagues, not bosses can make people feel more engaged at work. Check out our video evidence which shows how some visions of the future of work can be remarkably prescient while others get it completely wrong. Visit our new events page, subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and weekly news here. And follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

September 18, 2015

Majority of workers go into the workplace when they should be off sick ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Debates around presenteeism tend to revolve around staff checking their emails while on holiday, but another potentially more destructive behaviour is that of the worker who reckons they’re so indispensable they insist on coming into the workplace when they’re ill. In a recent survey, 89 percent of workers said they had gone into work when they were not well, which is why it is hardly surprising that almost three quarters (71 percent) of employees have reported catching an illness from a sick colleague. According to the research by Canada Life, almost a third (32 percent) said their workload was too great for them to take time off for illness, and 80 percent would not take time off for stress-related illnesses. Employees were also worried about being perceived as lazy (13 percent), inconsiderate (10 percent) and weak (10 percent) if they took time off for a short-term illness.

(more…)

September 16, 2015

Many SMEs know how staff contribute to growth but still ignore their wellbeing ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

The owners and managers of British small businesses understand that employees are critical to their success but a surprisingly large proportion believe that their health and wellbeing is not something that should be a concern for the firm. That is the main claim of a new survey from healthcare provider Bupa. According to its study of 500 small business owners and directors, two thirds (63 percent) agree that employing the right people is critical to the growth of the business in its early stages. Yet, less than half (46 percent) believe employee health and wellbeing will play a key role in their future growth strategy. This is in spite of the fact that three quarters (76 percent) of SMEs who have had an employee take a long sickness absence reported a significant impact on the growth of their business. Meanwhile, nearly half (46 percent) believe even an early short-term absence would have had an adverse effect.

(more…)

September 12, 2015

Productivity myths + Gen Y shun London + Wellness & Work ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Wellbeing, Workplace

In this week’s issue; Mark Eltringham says when it comes to productivity, not everything at work is a motivator and lists five ways your colleagues might be driving you mad. Researchers say that green cities could result in global savings in the trillions; the allure of London for Generation Y appears to be fading; and business leaders in the Capital are concerned about retaining employees and improving the infrastructure. The number of people working excessive hours in the UK increases by 15 per cent since 2010; US workers admit that that when they need to get important work done, they avoid the office completely; and wellness policies are overlooking the effects of the workplace on health. Check out our new events page, subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and weekly news here., You can follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

September 3, 2015

Three quarters of US workers avoid the office to get important work done ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Three quarters (76 percent) of US workers surveyed by online job site FlexJobs say that when they need to get important work done, they avoid the office completely. Of over 2,600 respondents, 50 percent reported that their home is their location of choice to be most productive on important work-related projects. Another 12 percent said they would choose a coffee shop, coworking space, library, or other place besides the office. Fourteen percent would choose the office but only outside standard hours, leaving less than a quarter who prefer the actual office during regular working hours as a place to complete important work. The main reasons for fleeing the corporate embrace were to avoid interruptions from colleagues (cited by 76 percent), escape distractions (74 percent), evade office politics (71 percent), reduce the stress of commuting (68 percent) and work in more comfortable surroundings (65 percent).

(more…)

August 28, 2015

The reason offices will always be needed is tied up with human nature

by Nigel Sikora • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

People have a tendency to confuse what is possible with what will happen. This appears to be a particular issue when we consider the effects of new technology. Hence the enduring talk of the death of the office, which technology makes possible but which people make impossible. One of the key areas of research that describes this tension is the work of Tom Allen at MIT. Allen made his name in 1984 with the publication of a book called Managing the Flow of Technology which first popularised the Allen Curve, a graph of his research findings which shows a powerful negative correlation between physical distance and the frequency of communication between colleagues. So precisely can this be defined, that Allen found that 50 metres marks a cut-off point for the regular exchange of certain types of technical information.

(more…)

August 27, 2015

Three quarters of employers fail to deal with employees’ anger issues ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The gunman in Virginia who shot dead two people at his former workplace is thankfully a rare example of someone whose anger at work boiled over into extreme violence. But the case demonstrates the pernicious effect anger and resentment can have in a work environment. While colleagues are expected to work cohesively together to achieve mutual goals and targets, unfortunately this isn’t always the case, and there are often seething resentments building underneath the professional facade. A new study by Health Assured found that 86 percent of workers regularly vent their anger and frustration at a co-worker and three quarters (74 percent) of them claim that their manager regularly makes them angry by not leading the workforce effectively. A failure to manage such situations is borne out in the fact that 79 percent of employers admit to finding it difficult to deal with employees with anger management issues.

(more…)

August 26, 2015

Women in full time work earn 22 percent less than men, claims study ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Legal news, News, Workplace

Women managers are effectively working for free nearly two hours every day, according to a report into the gender pay gap from the Chartered Management Institute and Xpert HR. The report draws on a survey of 72,000 UK managers published which found that women working in full-time roles earn 22 percent less than men, which the authors claim means they are ‘unpaid’ for 1h 40m a day. According to the analysis of the data from the 2015 National Management Salary Survey, for men and women of all ages and in all professional roles the pay differential now stands at an average of £8,524, with men earning an average of £39,136 and women earning £30,612. In 2014, the gap stood at £9,069, or 23 percent. The difference rises to £14,943 for senior or director-level staff, with men earning an average of £138,699 compared to the average for women of £123,756.

(more…)

August 20, 2015

81 percent of women and over half of men experience sexism at work ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, News, Workplace

What’s the difference between office banter and comments which can make people feel uncomfortable at work? That’s the issue which has plagued the workplace for aeons, and the age of so-called political correctness has not made the situation any clearer. Legislation may be in place to protect staff from discrimination or victimisation, but as some well documented cases have demonstrated sexism is still rife in many white collar professions. But it’s worth noting that it’s not only women who can feel that a colleague has crossed the line. A new survey has found that well over three quarters of women (81 percent) have been victims of sexist jokes at work. However, men are not immune to feeling uncomfortable, as according to the survey by Peninsula, well over half of men (63 percent) feel uneasy when female colleagues make indecent remarks about their physical appearance.

(more…)

August 19, 2015

Home-workers are happier, healthier and more productive than ever ⁰

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

Home-workers are more productive, happier and more capable of attaining a healthy work/life balance than those who work in an office, claims a new survey. Around 84 percent of home-workers believe they are equally or more productive then their office-based colleagues; and over three quarters (77 percent) of the UK’s working population agree that working from home has a positive impact on productivity. The survey of 1,800 professionals from CV library found that 18 percent work from home, with a further 15 percent splitting their time between home and the office, and the data shows that flexible working hours contributes to increased productivity (28 percent and 26 percent respectively). Although well over half (66 percent) of home-workers believe they work longer hours, more than three quarters (83.2 percent) find it easier to manage a good work/life balance.

(more…)

August 17, 2015

What Edward T Hall (and Jerry Seinfeld) can teach us about stress and design

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design

Work-related stress is the biggest cause of working days lost in the UK. According to the HSE’s most recent statistics, around 11.3 million days were lost to it in 2013/14, the most significant cause of absenteeism. The reasons for this are clear in the minds of many: the demands made on us by employers are increasingly intolerable, our own time is being eroded by work, we spend too much time at work, we’re under excessive pressure to perform and as a result we’re all either knackered, unfulfilled, stressed, depressed or anxious. Or guzzling a noxious cocktail of all of them. But there is another factor that has come into play over the last few years. As workstation sizes have contracted in response to new technologies and new space planning models, people have been forced closer to their colleagues, meaning that not only has their time been eroded, so has their space.

(more…)

August 6, 2015

Three quarters of employees admit to taking work on holiday with them ⁰

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

More evidence if we needed it that people are reluctant to leave work behind, with the latest data from Peninsula revealing that 76 percent of employees admit to taking work on holiday with them. An even greater number make themselves available by email and phone, with 81 percent confessing to frequently responding to work emails and answering phone calls during their holiday. This apparently, does not lead to a happy holiday as nearly half (47 percent) admit that their partner is not best pleased that they have to deal with work issues whilst on annual leave. As we reported earlier this week, this form of presenteeism is a bad idea all round as it leads to over stressed staff who – far from relaxing and recharging, are basically on call throughout their so-called leave, and whether their bosses or colleagues are impressed or just irritated by their dedication is debatable.