January 7, 2021
Search Results for: Working from home
January 4, 2021
Supporting change during the pandemic with Simplicity Smart Lockers
by Kimberley Hutchinson • Company news, Furniture
The way in which we work has changed in a way no one would have ever predicted as a result of last year’s pandemic. Consequently, many businesses have chosen to adopt to an agile working practise. This coupled with the rapid evolution of the hybrid workplace has allowed more employees than ever the flexibility to work from home, many people however still crave that interaction with colleagues, and the ‘corridor conversations’ that cannot be replicated via Zoom and can only happen with workplace collaboration. More →
December 18, 2020
Events of 2020 have proved the value of personal resilience
by Silja Litvin • Comment, Wellbeing
No-one could have predicted what 2020 would deliver. A pandemic, lockdown, moving the workplace into the home. We are in uncharted waters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines resilience as being able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. Resilience is an almost stoic quality, and a pandemic a time of crisis. It almost feels like they are a match made in heaven. But how does this affect organisations? What can be done? Is it really that important to build employees’ resilience? More →
December 17, 2020
Organisations weigh up options to make workplace fit for the future
by Neil Franklin • News, Property
Avison Young, realestateworks and HLM Architects have launched a new report that assesses the impact of this year’s pandemic on workplace and corporate real estate strategies in the longer-term. Over 100 private and public sector companies were asked about their evolving approach to working culture, office design and portfolio strategies in the context of multiple forces of change, including greater resilience, the decarbonisation agenda, personalisation, remote working and the integration of the physical and virtual workspaces. More →
December 16, 2020
People centric innovation will be key business priority in near future
by Jayne Smith • Business, News
The pandemic has shaken up business priorities and many predict that it will continue to have lasting influence on the future direction of organisations. It is predicted that innovation and more compassionate leadership will take centre stage, according to a new study by ‘Future Trends in Leadership & Management – shifting priorities’, from The Institute of Leadership & Management. More →
December 11, 2020
Firms should be aware of the legal implications of employee monitoring
by James Castro-Edwards • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace
Employee monitoring is an emotive topic. Businesses may wish to monitor their staff for a variety of reasons. For instance, they may wish to prevent the unauthorised disclosure of confidential or sensitive information, or detect attempts to steal valuable intellectual property. In the current conditions, dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses have opted to use automated means to monitor staff productivity. However, from an employee’s perspective, the use of monitoring software may be intrusive if not distressing. Further, if it has been implemented without regard to data protection law, it is potentially illegal. More →
December 10, 2020
Office taxonomy and an increasingly diverse workplace ecosystem
by Mark Eltringham • Features, Workplace design
From the archive. First published in October 2015. It is perhaps the most common misconception of evolutionary theory that all animals are somehow evolving towards some end point – meaning us. This notion is perhaps best summed up when a sceptic asks: “If we have evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?” The lesser of the two problems with this is its solipsistic assumption that humans are the pinnacles of life and that, if evolution were true, all species would eventually evolve into people. More →
December 9, 2020
Majority of employees struggling with ‘always on’ work culture
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Working culture
December 8, 2020
Plans for 2 million sq. ft of offices in South East England
by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Property
The Commercial Park Group, a partnership between Sir Robert McAlpine and the John Baker Group, has announced it will invest £200 million to kick-start developments of two million sq ft of new offices across locations in the south east of England. More →
December 4, 2020
Employee happiness and loyalty tested by furlough schemes
by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News
A newly commissioned survey of 1,000 people conducted by Censuswide on behalf of KnowBe4, claims that almost a third of respondents (28 percent) feel less loyal to their employer post-furlough. Of these individuals, 70 percent conceded to either not feeling supported by their employer, receiving little to no information or guidance prior to returning to work and/or did not receive regular communications from them. In fact, the actions employers take, or lack thereof, to ease the transition from furlough appears to play a significant role in employee sentiments upon their return to work. More →
December 2, 2020
Creative firms have most to lose from a loss of serendipity
by Gary Chandler • Comment, Workplace design
Most of the analysis about the effects of the 2020 pandemic on people’s working lives has tended to involve grand statements about new normals and the death of this or that, as if everybody wants the same things, has the same personal circumstances, works in the same ways, the same places and same sectors. More →
December 18, 2020
The shape of things to come for the world and the workplace
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design