Search Results for: technology

May 16, 2019

Working from home and the future of work. How quaint ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Property, Technology

In 1962, a professor of communication studies called Everett Rogers came up with the principle we call diffusion of innovation. It’s a familiar enough notion, widely taught and works by plotting the adoption of new ideas and products over time as a bell curve, before categorising groups of people along its length as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. It’s a principle bound up with human capital theory and so its influence has endured for over 50 years, albeit in a form compressed by our accelerated proliferation of ideas. It may be useful, but it lacks a third dimension in the modern era. That is, a way of describing the numbers of people who are in one category but think they are in another.

May 16, 2019

Employers need to better understand flexible working

by Marie Hillen • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Employers need to better understand the needs of younger candidates, particularly that of flexible working, says Gartner, after its latest Global Labor Market Survey claims that a rise in Gen Z candidate’s regrets is leading to high turnover, low engagement and low productivity. According to the survey, 40 percent of Gen Z respondents reported that they would not repeat their decision to accept the job offer they had accepted and only 51 percent said they could see themselves having a long career at their organisation. More than one-third of candidates who regret their decision intend to leave their position within 12 months.

May 15, 2019

Increase in number of FTSE 100 CEOs from tech backgrounds

by Marie Hillen • Legal news, News, Technology, Workplace

Digital disruption has led to a rise in the number of FTSE 100 CEOs with a background in technology, but age, education and gender diversity remain stagnant, claim the results of the annual Robert Half FTSE 100 CEO Tracker. It shows that the proportion of FTSE 100 CEOs with a background in technology has increased by 27 percent in the last year, with 14 percent of CEOs now having a background in the sector. More →

May 13, 2019

People and employers have different perceptions of tech

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

Employers and employees are at odds over how technology will impact productivity and worker satisfaction, according to a 2019 Talent Trends report Get ahead of the rising expectations of talent (registration) published by Randstad Sourceright. Based on a survey of global human capital leaders, board level executives and working professionals, the report claims that 81 percent of employers are excited about the opportunities artificial intelligence (AI) will present, while working professionals are more sceptical about the tech. Nearly half (44 percent) are concerned about losing their jobs. More →

May 9, 2019

Property investors cool on issue of climate change

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, News, Property

According to a RICS global survey of Commercial and Construction market professionals, in the UK, 47 percent of respondents reported that climate change risks are not important or irrelevant for investors. In addition, while 25 percent reported that there is more interest in energy efficient buildings than two years ago, 37 percent noted that investment into energy efficient buildings was limited to niche investors. The study concludes that it still appears that other considerations take precedence in the UK for investors, and the UK is lagging behind China and Hong Kong in this area, where 41 percent reported that energy efficient buildings are increasingly seen as an attractive form of investment. The issue of responsible investment, will be being discussed on the 13 and 14 May at the RICS World Built Environment Forum, Summit in New York. More →

May 8, 2019

Some of the great ways progressive firms are increasing productivity in the workplace

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Productivity in the office is a big thing, as the more productive employees are, the more successful the business will be as a result. While most people go through peaks and troughs of productivity during their working life, it’s important for employers to give it their all when it comes to trying to keep the workforce as productive as possible. Therefore, many have come up with ways to make this happen.

May 8, 2019

The dark side of wearables and wellbeing

by Freddie Steele • Features, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

While the use of wearables, Internet of Things (IoT) devices that are worn or inserted as implants, in smart building applications will give people completely new ways of interacting with their surroundings, their potential could be tempered by an increased risk to privacy due to the type and quantity of data being collected. The good news is that, combined with automated building controls, occupants will be able to control and automate their own ‘personal’ environment as well as improve their wellbeing. More →

May 8, 2019

Workers tend to choose job happiness over pay

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

Wrike has published a report From Positivity to Productivity: Exposing the Truth Behind Workplace Happiness (registration), which claims to offer new insights on what makes employees happy in a rapidly changing, digital workplace. The report sets out to challenge what it says are common myths about levels of happiness at work. The happiest employees – those that identify as being “elated” with their job – report diversity is above average in their workplace and say “doing meaningful work” is the most critical factor in their happiness, ranking even higher than compensation. More →

May 7, 2019

Hiring the best people is bad for creativity

by Scott E Page • Comment, Workplace

While in graduate school in mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I took a logic course from David Griffeath. The class was fun. Griffeath brought a playfulness and openness to problems related to creativity and other issues. Much to my delight, about a decade later, I ran into him at a conference on traffic models. During a presentation on computational models of traffic jams, his hand went up. I wondered what Griffeath – a mathematical logician – would have to say about traffic jams. He did not disappoint. Without even a hint of excitement in his voice, he said: ‘If you are modelling a traffic jam, you should just keep track of the non-cars.’

May 2, 2019

UK should phase out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, claims government report

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, News

The UK can end its contribution to global warming within 30 years by setting an ambitious new target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has said in a report today. But the habits of people and organisations will have to change dramatically. Ten years after the Climate Change Act became law, now is the right moment to set a more ambitious goal. Achieving a ‘net-zero’ target by the middle of the century is in line with the UK’s commitment under the Paris Agreement; the pact which the UK and the rest of the world signed in 2015 to curb dramatically the polluting gases that cause climate change. More →

May 2, 2019

Vast majority of accountants think there’s been a cultural shift in the profession

by George Eltringham • News, Workplace

Sage has released its annual Practice of Now research report, which claims that there is a shifting cultural landscape in the accounting sector driven by evolving client demands and the marketplace. Of the 3,000 accountants surveyed worldwide, 90 percent believe there has been a cultural shift in accountancy as it enters the next decade. This shift is driving significant changes in hiring practices, business services and attitudes toward emerging technologies across the globe. More →

May 1, 2019

“First ever” dedicated UK India tech hub opens at Royal Albert Dock London

by Neil Franklin • News, Property, Technology

A newly delivered building at Royal Albert Dock (RAD) in London has been launched as the UK India Tech Hub to provide a designated space for technology firms from India and the UK. It is claimed to be the first venture capital fund that has partnered with a business district to create a tech hub anywhere the world. Under the partnership agreement, developer ABP London and investors Pontaq will provide technology firms with work space while Pontaq’s tech fund will be invested in tech start-ups to assist them to develop and expand. India High Commissioner, Ruchi Ghanashyam, and Under Secretary of State at the Department for International Trade, Graham Stuart MP, along with Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz, witnessed the signing of an agreement between Royal Albert Dock developer ABP London and the venture capital firm Pontaq. More →