Search Results for: people management

March 29, 2016

Workers spend large parts of each day doing nothing or wasting their time ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Wellbeing

If it ever seems that you spend a large chunk of your average working day either doing nothing or wasting it on pointless nonsense, then don’t worry about it because that is all perfectly normal. You may already know that just by looking around you, but two new surveys highlight just how much time people consider unproductive each day. The Global Attitudes to Work survey from Qualtrics polled 6,250 employees in 14 countries and found that UK workers believe that 36 percent of the time they spend at work is unproductive. This puts the UK towards the bottom of the international pile when it comes to perceptions of their productivity, a fact perhaps explained by another survey from Workfront which suggest that many Brits are unnecessarily disorganised and spend inordinate amounts of time dealing with non work related emails, looking for lost files and then simply replicating them after fruitless searches.

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 15, 2016

US businesses wasting $1.8 trillion annually on mundane tasks ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

A new report from enterprise software firm Samanage, claims that US businesses are wasting up to $1.8 trillion annually on repetitive and mundane tasks that could easily be automated, leaving people free to carry out more productive and creative work. The Samanage State of Workplace Survey, polled around 3,000 US working adults and claims that workers spend an average of 520 hours a year – more than one full day’s work each week – on repetitive services and tasks that could be easily automated, such as, password reset requests, contract reviews and approvals, office supply requests and performing other simple administrative tasks. In addition to lost time and money, the survey also claims employees are skirting organisational IT policy. Outdated technology is holding employees in the modern workforce back from driving process efficiency and identifying ways to make their work life better.

March 15, 2016

Many firms only hold on to paper documents for their signatures ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Furniture, News, Workplace design

While many people find it convenient to use paper as a medium for note taking and idea generation, the only reason many firms hold on to paper documents is to preserve the signatures on them. That is the key finding of a new survey from knowledge management trade association AIIM. The study found that 56 percent of executives retain signed contracts and order forms and 31 percent agree their paper documents are around only for the signatures. Consumption of paper remains high in many firms, but less and less of it is actually retained. The research is published ahead of new regulations which come into force in the EU later this year which are designed to standardise and codify the practice of retaining e-signatures on business critical documents. However, AIIM remains sceptical that the eIDAS regulations which come into force this Summer will quickly create a standard trust based form of e-signature.

March 9, 2016

The nine workplace trends every organisation must learn to address ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

The latest company to set out its vision of workplace trends is food services provider Sodexo. The company’s 2016 Workplace Trends Report suggests there are nine key areas that managers should address, each linked by the common theme of striking the right balance between the organisation’s commercial objectives and the needs of its stakeholders. The report is a detailed meta-analysis based on primary research, client feedback and research from academics, trade associations and FM providers. The report covers the most talked about themes in workplace design and management including wellness, work-life balance, diversity, green building and workforce engagement. The authors acknowledge the challenge firms face in striking the balance between these complex and conflicting demands and call for an ‘holistic’ approach to resolve them (which may suggest they have as much of an idea about the right answers as anybody else).

March 4, 2016

Technology in the office failing to keep pace with the digital revolution ⁰

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

Despite, or possibly because of the development of sophisticated digital handheld devices, a majority (85 percent) of UK office workers believe they would be able to perform their duties more efficiently if their workplace was equipped with better technology. In fact, 16 percent said that the technology they use at home is far superior to that provided by their employer. The research, conducted by webexpenses, found that over a quarter (28 percent) of respondents felt client relationships and sales could also benefit from a boost in technology at their organisation. When asked about what aspects of their job could be improved by better technology, 41 percent said that the management of teams and internal communications could be greatly enhanced. The workers also said that poor temperature controls (21 percent) a lack of space available in the office (20 percent), and their company’s reliance on arduous paper based processes (14 percent) were other sources of frustration.

February 29, 2016

Report sets out challenges for rapidly changing Australian workplace ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

When it comes to innovation in workplace design and management, there are few countries in the world quite so forward thinking as Australia right now. Even so, Australia’s workers, firms and legislators remain under-prepared for the rapidly changing world of work, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), a Government funded research agency. Many of the trends outlined in the report will be familiar to readers of Insight. Over the next twenty years, it claims that around half (44 percent) of all jobs will be subject to computerisation and automation. Over the same period, it suggests that the majority of people will become active in the gig economy, many of them based in shared coworking spaces. The report also suggests that while Generation Z will be faced with the highest degree of change, an ageing population presents its own challenges.

February 25, 2016

Gen X is the UK’s hardest working demographic group, claims report ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

Maybe it’s the mortgages, children and other responsibilities but a new study suggests that the UK’s hardest working demographic is Generation X. The survey of 2,500 employees from project management software firm Workfront found that over half (52.3 percent) of UK respondents said Generation X (roughly those aged between 34-54) as the hardest workers and almost 60 per cent (59.5 percent) claimed GenXers also had the strongest work ethic. Born between the early 1960’s and early 1980’s, Gen X was also claimed to be the most skilled (54.5 percent) followed by Baby Boomers, those approximately aged around 54–70-years-old, (27.1 percent). Millennials, those born between the 1980s to early 2000s, were identified as the most ‘tech-savvy’ (66.3 percent) but according to the survey it seems other skills are perceived as more valuable as only 18 percent of people surveyed said Millennials were the most skilled overall.

February 23, 2016

Belief in a corporate wellness narrative is more important than action ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The complexities of wellness at work are laid bare in a new report from the US based pressure group Global Wellness Institute. The most eye-catching conclusion from The Future of Wellness at Work study is that it’s not actual wellness programmes that do most to boost worker health and productivity, but whether employees identify that company as ‘caring’. The report claims that ‘unwellness’ now costs the US around $2.2 trillion each year, equivalent to 12 percent of GDP. The report is published alongside a white paper which lays out the findings from a survey of American employees. Unlocking the Power of Company Caring gauges how employees feel about their work culture and wellness programmes. The main finding of the two reports is that to understand what has the most powerful impact on employee wellness ‘you must look well beyond the wellness programme’ itself. Instead, the pivotal factor is whether an employee identifies their company as caring about their health and wellness.

February 18, 2016

What would happen if you didn’t turn up for work tomorrow? ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

You might assume that most people would like to think of themselves as more or less indispensable at work. And if they’re not already, would like to make themselves indispensable at some point. But what exactly would happen if you simply didn’t turn up for work tomorrow? It might be nothing, as the recent case of Joaquin Garcia proved. The Spanish civil servant hadn’t turned up to work for at least six years, according to reports from last year. His absence only came to light when his employer decided he was eligible for a long term service award. His case became something of a sensation in Spain, where he earned the moniker el funcionario fantasma – the phantom official. But his story isn’t a one off. In a grim news item from 2004, a Finnish tax inspector died at his desk and the fact went unnoticed for two days.

February 18, 2016

The UK public sector workplace is disempowered and can’t cope with change ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A new report claims that the typical public sector workplace in the UK is dysfunctional on a number of levels. That is not the conclusion of some right wing think tank, but instead comes from Civica’s Invigorating the Public Sector Revolution report, commissioned in partnership with Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE). Based on a survey of 276 senior and middle management staff, a mere 7 percent of respondents said that the public sector offered an empowering working culture and just 25 percent believe their management teams have the skills and attitudes to lead the organisation over the next ten years. Of particular concern was the ability of organisations to cope with change. Just under half (47 percent) of those surveyed believe their leadership team lacks the management skills needed for ‘a period of massive and accelerating change’.

February 5, 2016

What the commercial property market tells us about trends in office design ⁰

by Paul Goodchild • Comment, Property, Workplace design

It’s become commonplace in recent years for certain people to foresee the death of the office. The problem with this argument is that, in spite of its drawbacks, office life maintains an attraction for both employers and employees and there will always be an upper limit on how long people want to spend away from other people. Things are changing but the death of the office is a myth. As we’ve known for at least a quarter of a century, there is no absolute need for us to go to work at all. Theoretically we could just do away with offices completely if we wanted to. But as we have seen, the fact we have evolved technology to the point where we could forget about bricks and mortar, doesn’t necessarily mean we will. Not only are there practical reasons for offices to continue to exist, there are emotive ones too. If you want evidence of this, look no further than the records currently being set by the UK’s commercial property markets.