May 11, 2020

Employee productivity proves remarkably resilient during pandemic

The surge in remote working coupled with the rapid adoption of communications and collaborative technology means many companies have seen no significant change in employee productivity, according to a new report from Willis Towers Watson. Organisations have responded to the rapid disruption caused by the dramatic spread of COVID-19 by finding innovative ways to help their workers cope with the impact of the pandemic, while at the same time preparing for an eventual return to the workplace for many employees, according to the survey of employers’. (more…)

May 5, 2020

From the archive: We shouldn’t rely on narrow ideas to define flexible working

by Luke Munro • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing

This piece was originally published five years ago. While we now read it with different eyes, what is interesting is how the ideas have stood up. Some better than others perhaps but a welcome reminder that the conversations we are now having about life after lockdown began some time ago. One of the particular and often unspoken issues that shadows in any debate about flexible working is what we mean by the term. We’ve been talking about new ways of working for a good quarter of a century now and what is generally understood about the practice has evolved considerably. The very idea was conceived at the birth of the new online era so is inextricably tied up with the Internet and new technology. (more…)

May 5, 2020

Three quarters of workers want the choice to work from home after lockdown

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Seventy-seven percent of the workforce say they want to continue to work from home, at least weekly, when the pandemic is over. That represents a 132 percent increase over those who did so before COVID-19. These and other findings from the Global Work-from-Home Experience Survey, which claims to be the largest post-COVID survey on the topic to date, will lead to profound changes in office space needs, workplace design, workforce policies and practices, and employer, employee, and environmental outcomes. (more…)

May 1, 2020

Organisations should seize this opportunity to look at their values

by James Morley • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Not since 911 has one event triggered such global impact and uncertainty across all businesses and industries. The unprecedented speed and scale of organisational change has challenged even the prepared leadership team. (more…)

April 29, 2020

We should be addressing the why of the return to work as much as the how

by Judy Gavan • Comment

As we anticipate a return to relative normality post lockdown (whenever that may be), workplace strategy is a hot topic. In considering how we respond to new challenges let’s make sure we keep sight of the big picture. We need to address immediate issues whilst exploiting new opportunities to reinforce and expedite our established strategic direction. Choice and flexibility are central to the wider business reform agenda and should remain our touchstones. (more…)

April 8, 2020

Finance leaders gear up for life after lockdown

by Stephen Norris • Comment, Property

As the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic becomes apparent, and the vast majority of workers are now remote working, CFOs are working closely with their real estate teams to re-assess workspace costs both now and in the future. (more…)

April 7, 2020

Firms with strong DNA tend to have a strong immune system

by Mieke Jacobs and Paul Zonneveld • Features

Mergers & acquisitions should always lead to a cultural identity shift. This can range from a complete reinvention of identity and purpose to just a slight shift that includes the new partner: its history, narrative and critical traits. (more…)

April 6, 2020

So what sort of homeworker are you?

by Sarah Booth • Comment, Flexible working

With a plethora of social media posts advising us how to work at home, vlogs of employees making the best of their dining room set up and webinars about the new world of work, It’s about time to introduce a little light-hearted non-science into the mix. (more…)

March 30, 2020

Home working initiative to tackle worldwide pandemic response

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) collaboration are to throw their weight behind an emergency initiative by Leesman, building a global pan-industry response group to the threat posed to the real estate and facilities management industries by Covid-19 and addressing the huge uptake in home working. (more…)

March 25, 2020

Loneliness has always been a workplace issue

by Nigel Oseland • Comment, Wellbeing, Working lives, Workplace design

Loneliness is increasingly recognised as a serious issue in modern society. In the UK, the Office of National Statistics reported that 5 percent of adults feel lonely ‘often’ or ‘always’, with further 16 percent of adults reporting feeling lonely ‘sometimes’, equivalent to approximately 9 million adults suffering from loneliness to some degree. (more…)

March 20, 2020

Freelancer groups call for emergency fund during Coronavirus crisis

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed), the Creative Industries Federation and other organisations representing freelancers have written an open letter calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson for a Temporary Income Protection Fund to support the self-employed during the Coronavirus crisis. (more…)

March 19, 2020

Will coronavirus mean the death of the office?

by Mark Eltringham • Comment

Betteridge’s law of headlines declares that “Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no”. And so I simultaneously ask and answer the question of whether the coronavirus pandemic will really lead to the death of the office. So it goes. Of course, I’m not the first person to raise the question over the last few weeks as the world adapts to the threat of the pandemic. But it’s worth reminding ourselves that the demise of the office has been predicted for at least a quarter of a century, although never in such circumstances. (more…)