Search Results for: Gen Z

The ups and downs of wearables for workplace health and wellbeing

by • AI, Comment, Technology

Businesses in the 21st century have tried just about everything to improve productivity. For a long time, Google and its ilk were seen as model workplaces, with their open offices and abundance of ball pits and bean bags. Then the consensus shifted, and the cubicle or workstation was seen as the paradigm for employee concentration. Now the focus has shifted to technology, and the field of ‘wearables’. Devices like the Fitbit, Google Glass and Apple Watch have come and gone with significant consumer buzz, but relatively low uptake. What failed to impress consumers, however, may yet have a place in business. For better or ill, it seems the companies we work for are increasingly obsessed with collecting our data.

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Returnship programmes offer parents route back into work, yet only 4 percent of employers offer them

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A totaljobs study of 2,600 jobseekers and nearly 100 employers claims that while a ‘returnship’ initiative can offer a valuable route back into the workforce for anyone taking a break in their career, their success is hindered by a lack of awareness, rather than a lack of interest. The study found that 85 percent of employers are not aware of returnship programmes despite the fact that two thirds of recruiters believe they would offer returnships if they were incentivised by the government and 72 percent of employees would consider a returnship programme if they’d taken a break from the workforce.

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A 300 year old idea explains some of the enduring appeal of the open plan

by • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

In the 18th Century the utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham came up with his idea of the Panopticon, a prison building with a central tower encircled by cells so that each person in the cells knew they could be watched at all times. Whether they were observed or not was actually immaterial. Bentham called it ‘a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind’ and while he focused on its use as a prison, he was also aware of the idea’s usefulness for schools, asylums and hospitals. Bentham got the original idea following a visit to Belarus to see his brother who was managing sites there and had used the idea of a circular building at the centre of an industrial compound to allow a small number of managers to oversee the activities of a large workforce. This is something of a precursor of the scientific management theories of Frederick Taylor that continue to influence the way we work and manage people.

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Employer bias is undermining business innovation and potential says OU

by • 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.

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

by • 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.

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Design sector contributes £209 billion to the economy but problems remain, claims Design Council

by • News, Workplace design

The Design Council has published a new report which sets out the value of the design industry to the UK and identifies a number of issues that need to be addressed to enhance its value. According to the Designing a Future Economy: Developing design skills for productivity and innovation, the sector contributes £209bn to the UK economy, almost double that of what the creative industries were previously thought to contribute. The report also claims that people working in the sector are significantly more productive than the UK average worker. However it also cautions that a skills gap costs the UK economy nearly £6 billion annually. The report was compiled using UK and US-based data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and O*Net, a US-based research company offering definitions and data on different jobs.

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Seven workplace stories that have caught our attention this week

by • Features, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

Microsoft’s blueprint for its new headquarters

How work changed to make us all passionate quitters

Workplaces send subconscious signals to people

Ten workplace meta-trends for 2018

Why are we convinced robots will take our jobs despite the evidence?

One in seven employers won’t hire a woman who might have children

The real risk of automation is boredom

Shifts in occupier behaviour and attitudes to real estate pave the way for a workplace revolution

by • News, Property, Technology

The rise of the flexible office is the result of dramatic changes in the way corporate occupiers approach their real estate decisions, and will open up opportunities for landlords able to adapt and respond to these shifts. These are some of the claims from The Flexible Revolution (registration required), a pan-European report from CBRE exploring the flexible office market. Over the past decade the global flexible office market has been growing at an average of 13 percent per annum. Growth rates in EMEA (excluding UK) and APAC have averaged around 20 percent per annum, while the more mature and larger markets of the UK and the USA have seen average growth of 10 percent per annum over the same period. Key European cities like Berlin, Paris and London have all seen strong year-on-year growth of 12 – 21 percent between 2016 and 2017, which is comparable with markets like New York and San Francisco, where the flexible office concept has existed for longer.

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What P T Barnum can teach us about the facilities management circus

by • Architecture, Comment, Facilities management, Workplace

Does any of this describe you? “You have a need for other people to like and admire you, yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable yet hidden strengths that you have yet to turn to your advantage. Self-controlled on the outside, you are slightly insecure inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you always make the right decision. You prefer a certain amount of change and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by limitations. You pride yourself as an independent thinker and do not accept the statements of others without satisfactory proof. But you also think it can be unwise to be too frank in revealing too much about yourself.” Does this sound familiar? Well it should because that is how most people see themselves.

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Flexible hours best way for employers to reduce staff stress Christmas lead up

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

 

Over 50 percent of respondents to a recent survey want their bosses to offer more flexible hours in the weeks leading up to Christmas to help them deal with the stress of the season, while a significant minority do not want to attend their office Christmas party and see little value in building friendships with colleagues from such events. These are the key findings from the latest survey conducted over the past month by Peldon Rose which claims that 54 percent of people feel stressed in the lead up to the holidays. Yet, while many employers off the typical well-intentioned holiday benefits, such as Christmas parties, office decorations, team outings and lunches, what employees really value are perks that have a direct impact on improving their workload and allowing them to work in a more relaxed manner at this very busy time of the year, such as more flexible hours, finishing early on agreed days and a dress down code.

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Over half of workers say they are more productive working from home than a chilly office

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Chilly offices mean that over half (57 percent) of office workers say they’d be more productive working from home when the weather gets colder. Their main reason is that too many workplaces (50 percent) do not handle weather complaints effectively. According to Office Genie’s survey of 1,105 British office workers, only 6 percent of employers encourage staff to work remotely in the colder weather. Bosses are also reluctant to let employees work flexibly instead of freeze, with only 16 percent of companies adopting flexible working patterns in the colder months. Even simple provisions such as supplying additional heaters are not in place in 70 percent of offices – failing to comply to the government’s Health and Safety Executive’s advice. Of the 1,105 office workers we surveyed, 50% said complaints about office temperatures aren’t dealt with effectively by management. And while HSE guidelines state workplaces shouldn’t dip below 16°C but when we asked workers their ideal office temperature, 20°C was the resounding answer.

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Commercial property sector disconnected from game changing new tech, claims report

by • News, Property, Technology

Executives in the commercial property sector have significant reservations about emerging disruptive technologies such as Big Data and predictive analytics, augmented and virtual reality, Blockchain and driverless vehicles, but see huge potential for process automation according to the Altus Group CRE Innovation Report (registration required). According to the report, which is based on a global survey carried out in September of 400 CRE executives at firms with assets under management of at least US $250 million representing a total of over US $2 trillion, a large majority of executives report their firms have benefited from technology investments made over the past two years. However, when presented with six rapidly emerging disruptive technologies, only a minority of respondents recognised them as having the potential for major disruptive impact.

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