June 29, 2020

Toyota GB awarded Biodiversity Benchmark from the Wildlife Trust

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Environment

Years of hard work transforming the grounds of Toyota GB’s headquarters in Burgh Heath into a wildlife haven have paid off as the company has been awarded the prestigious Biodiversity Benchmark by the Wildlife Trust. The Biodiversity Benchmark is designed to complement the ISO 14001 environment management system and is the only standard that certifies management of company grounds and landscapes for wildlife. Toyota went through a robust certification process over an 18 month period to put environment management and development processes in place and to prove that the grounds have been enhanced so that wildlife can thrive in a rich habitat. (more…)

June 24, 2020

The links between coffee, shared ideas and the office go back a long way

by Mark Barrell • Briefing, Premium Content, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The BBC recently published a piece on its website to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Ridley Scott’s movie Alien and what it could tell us about office design and the workplace (of whatever sort). One of the interesting points raised in the piece was how the depiction of the conditions on board the spaceship Nostromo did away with the gloss and swish of previous visions of the future, replaced by grime, exposed services and strictly utilitarian interiors. The environment was one of the characters, a trick Ridley Scott later repeated in Bladerunner. (more…)

June 24, 2020

The traditional commute to work may be a thing of the past

by Neil Franklin • News, Working lives

A majority of corporate real estate professionals (58 percent) in a recent survey say that the traditional nine to five, Monday to Friday work pattern is a thing of the past. The survey was conducted by CoreNet Global, the professional association for corporate real estate professionals – those who have responsibility for managing the real estate, including workplace configuration and locations, at large corporations globally. The survey was conducted among “end-users” only from May 27 – June 16. (more…)

June 23, 2020

Law firms plan overhaul of business structures in wake of pandemic

by Neil Franklin • News, Working culture

Around two thirds of legal firms plan to review their business structures and processes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and well over half are planning a major change in strategy. That’s according to a survey of more than 100 law firms of all sizes conducted by accountants and business advisors association MHA. The survey, carried out during lockdown, also claims that 85 percent of firms say the pandemic will have a ‘moderate’ or ‘major’ impact on fee income. Around 59 percent of firms say they will use the opportunity to change their business strategy with a focus on better IT, review of specialisms, and improving profitability. (more…)

June 19, 2020

We are in danger of reanimating some bad ideas about work

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Working culture

Did you hear the one about a Swiss court ruling that firms should pay to rent space in the homes of remote workers? It’s a hell of a thing, especially when so much has been made of the cost savings of a reduction in office space. It’s a notion that is extremely likely to be tested in other countries, so brace yourself. It also illustrates why so many of the narratives about working life after lockdown aren’t as straightforward as they might appear. (more…)

June 18, 2020

Positive employee experience expected to significantly dip as ‘a new burnout’ looms

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

Kincentric today announced the results of a survey representing over 130,000 employees across 100 companies globally. The findings suggest a strong positive employee experience, however, Kincentric believes these are artificially high due to the extraordinary circumstances and will likely erode within nine months, which is consistent with how most people process change or loss, claims Global Culture & Engagement Practice Leader, Ken Oehler.

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June 17, 2020

Research predicts decline in business travel post-lockdown

by George Eltringham • Flexible working, News

Environmental concerns and the changing work landscape could lead to a noticeable drop in both domestic and international business travel, as nearly half of UK workers (48 percent) are concerned about its negative environmental impact, according to new research from O2. (more…)

June 16, 2020

Virtual work has the potential to harm trust, social cohesion and knowledge sharing

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Trust, social cohesion and information sharing are the most potentially vulnerable to damage when people work virtually, according to a study of around 750 academic papers conducted on behalf of the Advanced Workplace Institute (AWI), a global workplace management body. As organisations rapidly embrace home working and virtual work in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the study warns that without active management to respond to changes in working, team dynamics are under risk with a knock on effect on both employee happiness and performance. (more…)

June 11, 2020

Safety and fear the biggest challenges to overcome in return to work

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

Over a third (36 percent) of UK businesses believe that implementing new health and safety measures in accordance with the Government’s recently published guidelines are the biggest challenge they face as lockdown eases and they attempt to return to the workplace, according to new research conducted by the UK law firm, Winckworth Sherwood. (more…)

June 11, 2020

Mental health in UK tech deteriorates in lockdown

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

The easing of lockdown restrictions and a return to offices is raising the stress levels of over a quarter of UK tech professionals (26 percent) at a time when over 1 in 3 (36 percent) report that their mental health has deteriorated during Covid-19, according to a new Harvey Nash Study. The relaxing of restrictions has left tech professionals worrying most about bringing Covid-19 back into the home, and the health risk of their daily commute. (more…)

June 9, 2020

A thank you for the bitter knowledge offered by the lockdown

by Adam Burtt-Jones • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

With all challenges come opportunities. Covid-19 will most likely be the single largest challenge and disrupter of a generation. It has the potential to create the greatest significant shift in working behaviours and standards of the past hundred years. Workspace consultants, enlightened clients, designers, researchers and commentators have been hammering the agile / home/ remote working drum for the past twenty years or more, waiting patiently for this kind of opportunity. (more…)

June 4, 2020

Right, said Fred. Here I am again

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology, Wellbeing

If there has been an underlying driver of workplace thinking over the past several decades, it has been a rejection of the principles of scientific management. These begat the idea of the office as a factory, subject to the same rigid times and places of work and the same culture of process, efficiency and productivity. This made a pantomime villain of its key figure Frederick Taylor. The worst adjective you could use to describe a working culture was Taylorist. (more…)