Search Results for: employee experience

December 28, 2017

The most read workplace stories from the last twelve months

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Facilities management, Features, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

One of the greatest joys of online publishing is the opportunity it offers to reflect on the demonstrable preoccupations and interests of an informed audience. We can see what professionals see as the most important issues they face by what they read in the UK’s most widely read publication in its field. It’s especially heartening to see that those do not include the usual glib misdirections about Millennials, gimmicky office design, robots, open plan and ‘trends’ that have been more or less commonplace for years. We can leave those to others. Instead you have been seeking out stories that challenge the lazy mainstream narratives, reflect the reality of the endlessly shifting landscape of work, understand the challenges involved and retain a focus on the human beings at the centre of it all. So, here are the ten most read pieces from Workplace Insight published over the past 365 days. More →

December 18, 2017

Productivity plummets as majority of staff now concentrate on Christmas

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Productivity plummets from today as over half of staff prepare for Christmas Over half of the workforce (57 percent) of employees admit to officially downing tools today (Monday 18 December) as the festive period gets well and truly underway, claims new research by Peakon. The HR analytics firm’s survey of more than 2,000 people reveals that, as Christmas creeps ever closer, employees admit to a whole raft of distractions from their everyday work duties. Two in five people (42 percent) confess to clocking off to Christmas shop online, a third (35 percent) say they’re planning Christmas day and almost one in three (30 percent) are planning their Christmas break instead. One in six (16 percent) confess to indulging in the odd Christmas tipple on the job – with men twice as likely to take advantage of a festive drink than women (22 percent and 11 percent respectively). 17 percent of those surveyed leave work earlier than usual, and one in 10 (12 percent) take longer lunches. A small percentage (4 percent) confess to calling in sick. But offering staff more flexible hours for shopping and Christmas prep would help maintain performance.

December 12, 2017

Employer bias is undermining business innovation and potential says OU

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

Over a quarter of senior managers hire people just like them, and this bias is still rife in some organisations, according to new market research commissioned by The Open University. The study amongst business leaders and employees finds that three in 10 (29 percent) senior managers admit they hire people just like them, and warns employers may be overlooking candidates from different social and educational backgrounds, impacting access to talent, and hindering business innovation and performance as a result. Employers place significant importance on educational attainment (86 percent), cultural fit (77 percent), tastes and leisure pursuits (65 percent), and even social background (61 percent). Considering the typical social make up of managers, this raises concerns about diversity, a key driver of innovation, and hints at a glass ceiling for those from less privileged backgrounds, with the re-enforcement of the historical class system. The issue is prevalent in both recruitment and employment, with bias creating a ‘degree premium’, particularly at entry level.

December 11, 2017

Hong Kong replaces London as most expensive place in world in which to rent a workstation

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Workplace design

Hong Kong has replaced London’s West End as the most expensive office market in which to accommodate staff, according to new research from Cushman & Wakefield. The annual Office Space Across The World report surveys occupancy costs across 215 office markets in 58 countries worldwide. Using proprietary data, it ranks occupancy costs per workstation and workplace densities for newly developed or refurbished office space globally. Limited availability and strong demand from mainland Chinese corporations have pushed Hong Kong costs up 5.5 percent to $27,431. Escalating rents are driving a growing number of multinational corporations to decentralise to lower cost areas.

December 5, 2017

How do you really go about creating a great place to work?

by Jo Sutherland • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The topic of workplace wellbeing is becoming increasingly prevalent. And for good reason. In the UK, 45 million working days are lost due to stress, anxiety and depression and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Absence Management survey reveals that over two fifths of organisations have seen an increase in reported mental health problems over the last year. What’s more, a recent government report found that up to 300,000 people leave their jobs each year due to mental health-related issues. Last month, Symposium hosted the “Workplace Wellness & Stress Forum 2017”, back for its twelfth year, to help employers step up and tackle the greatest inhibitor of growth, innovation and creativity – stress. Medical professionals have their definition of “stress”, health and safety execs have theirs, and the academic community promulgate another. Forum host Neil Shah, chief de-stressing officer of The Stress Management Society, offered a definition that resonated with the entire audience: “where demand placed on an individual exceeds their resources”.

November 30, 2017

Tech faults and slow Internet speeds negatively impact productivity

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

Almost eleven working days are lost every year as a result of technology faults and failures a new report claims and complaints of slow Internet speeds compound the issue. A survey of 2,000 UK workers commissioned by IT provider Probrand.co.uk claims that 262 hours and 43 minutes are lost every year due to technology faults and failures, the equivalent to almost 11 working days each year. The majority of workers (76 percent) said that the technical faults they experienced directly impacted their productivity in work. More than half (54 percent) of workers said that most of the faults they endure are due to their computers crashing or running slowly. But the research also found that 48 percent of respondents blame poor internet speeds and connectivity problems for working hours lost. When faced with a technical issue, more than 1 in 3 (35 percent) workers would turn to a colleague first instead of an IT support provider, while 32 percent would search for solutions to technology related issues before contacting their technical support team.

November 23, 2017

The workplace sector responds to the 2017 UK Autumn Budget

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, Features, Property, Technology

Yesterday, the Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the details of the UK government’s latest budget. While Brexit inevitably cast its shadow over the whole thing, there were a number of announcements relevant to the workplace, construction, tech and built environment sectors, many of which have been broadly welcomed by commentators, industry bodies and experts. Among the announcements in the budget were new plans for infrastructure and planning, skills and training, the environment, productivity, AI and regional development.

November 22, 2017

Address gender and economic barriers to tech revolution says BT

by Sara Bean • AI, News, Technology, Workplace

Young people from less privileged backgrounds and females face greater barriers to joining the tech revolution, a new report suggests. Tech know-how: The new way to get ahead for the next generation, from BT and Accenture could boost the next generation’s tech skills and help charge social mobility and economic growth. The study found individuals with higher levels of tech know-how earn more as their career progresses, with a ‘tech literacy wage premium’ of £10,000 per year. The implied salary increase if people develop their skills could add approximately £11 billion to UK GDP by 2022. However, young people whose parents have higher levels of education are 26 percent more likely to see themselves as ‘expert’ or ‘creative’ users of tech in the next five years; and those whose parents fall into the top two education levels expect to earn salaries that are 19 percent higher than the bottom two. The report also highlighted a stark gender divide as young men receive 46 percent more encouragement from parents and teachers to build their tech skills than their female counterparts, and are 17 percent more likely to report having had sufficient training at school.

November 22, 2017

Employers can Improve staff performance by balancing feedback says CIPD

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

Line managers can improve the performance of their teams by focussing on building their strengths, rather than trying to fix their weaknesses, claims new research published by the CIPD. ‘Strengths-based performance conversations’ aims to move managers away from a deficit-oriented method, which is focused on identifying and fixing the weaknesses of team members, analysing what has gone wrong and considering how that can be avoided in the future. The new study of performance management outcomes in the civil service shows that that employee performance can be improved by a simple training intervention focused on building strengths instead of fixing weaknesses. These results can be boosted by a more extensive intervention, which includes wider communication and changes to HR policy, as well as manager training.

November 19, 2017

Fresh advice on tackling sexual harassment at work published by Acas

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

In response to the proliferation of high profile cases of abuse over the past few weeks which has drawn attention to sexual harassment in a variety of settings – workplace experts Acas publishes fresh advice today (19th November) aimed at both employers and employees that outlines what kind of workplace behaviours could be considered sexual harassment and how to report it. Acas’ new advice includes examples of how sexual harassment can happen at work such as; written or verbal comments of a sexual nature such as remarks about a colleague’s appearance, questions about their sex life or offensive jokes; displaying pornographic or explicit images; sending or forwarding on emails that contains content of a sexual nature; unwanted physical contact and touching; and sexual assault. The advice states that organisations and businesses should be clear to workers about what sorts of behaviours are unacceptable and would be considered sexual harassment.

November 16, 2017

Fear of change is putting British companies at risk, Microsoft report claims

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

A fear of change among staff is putting British companies at risk, according to new research that looks at how businesses are preparing for a technology-led future. A significant number of workers from across the UK admitted to anxiety and concerns over job security when their firms introduced technology to help them in their roles. Just under half (49 percent) of the people surveyed by Microsoft, Goldsmiths, University of London and YouGov said they feared the change that comes with digital transformation. Sixty-one percent said they felt anxious when bosses brought in new technology, while 59 percent were worried about the impact the automation of tasks would have on their job.

November 15, 2017

Workplace wellbeing is focus of new report from British Psychological Society

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

A new report from the British Psychological Society, Psychology at Work: Improving Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace examines issues around work, health, and disability and recommends ways that policy makers and employers can tackle poor employment practices using interventions that work with human behaviour, not against it. The report has been launched today, Tuesday 14th November, at the BPS All-Parliamentary Group for Psychology’s (APPG) ‘Healthy Workplaces’ event hosted by Dr Lisa Cameron MP in the Houses of Parliament. Psychology at Work: Improving Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace’ was co-authored by Dr Ashley Weinberg, CPsychol AFBPsS, and Nancy Doyle CPsychol AFBPsS.