Search Results for: benefits

May 19, 2017

People who work from home more likely to sustain injuries than those based in offices ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Today is National Work from Home Day, held to promote the benefits of home working, which includes having more time to take exercise and eating more healthily; but new research suggests home workers might risk doing more harm than good if too little attention is paid to ergonomics. The data from Bupa found that over half of those who work from home (51 percent) have sustained injuries, aches and pains as a result of their working environment with the most common being backache and neck pain, which is 10 per cent more likely than those working in a ‘traditional’ workplace. Not having the right work set-up at home could be the cause, as one in four (25 percent) home-workers do not have a dedicated workspace at home, half (50 percent) of admit to hunching over while working and 40 per cent regularly work from their bed or sofa. All of these factors increase the risk of musculoskeletal injury, with the most common problems being backache (24 percent) and neck-ache (20 percent).

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May 18, 2017

Sickness causing germs at the office desk mainly due to poor personal hygiene ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The number of sick days taken by office workers could be reduced if companies implemented a better cleaning routine and staff improved their personal hygiene, finds a new academic study. The workplace is ranked as one of the unhealthiest places you’re likely to inhabit on a daily basis, says Dr Lisa Ackerley, hygiene expert and visiting professor at the University of Salford, whose study revealed that the main cause of germs at the desk and keyboard is poor personal hygiene, with nearly 50 percent of office workers responding to her survey admitting they do not wash their hands after going to the toilet. Your hands and the surfaces you touch, including your office chair are germ motorways, she warns. Crumbs and spills encourage the growth of bacteria that can lead to stomach bugs, coughs, flu and even food poisoning. Bacteria and viruses that people bring back from the toilet multiply on the hard work surfaces of the desk and chair and remain infectious for 24 hours. (more…)

May 17, 2017

Yes, facilities management press, your bum does look big in that ⁰

by Simon Heath • Comment, Facilities management

I suspect we’ve all got one of those friends. Needy. Constantly seeking validation. Of a new partner. Of a new outfit. Of their choices for all aspects of their life. If the industry media and chatterati are to be believed, facilities management is becoming just such a friend. Handwringing articles asking how FM can best demonstrate the value it brings. In actual fact, the sector seems to be in robust good health. It benefits whatever way the market moves. New buildings means new work. Fewer new buildings means more attention required on ageing stock. Fadism and bandwagon jumping mean there’s constant changes to be made. All grist to the mill of the hardworking facilities management professional at the coalface.

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May 17, 2017

UK employees three times more likely to work when ill than to pull a sickie ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Seven in ten UK employees – equivalent to 18 million nationally – have gone to work feeling unwell when they should have taken the day off, while less than a quarter (23 percent) say they have taken a day off work sick when they were not actually unwell, indicating that UK employees are three times more likely to go to work unwell than they are to ‘pull a sickie,’ a new report claims. The fourth edition of the Aviva Working Lives Report, which examines the attitudes and experiences of employers and employees on issues affecting the present and future of the UK workplace – also carries a wake-up call to businesses, as more than two in five (43 percent) employees feel their employer puts the results of the company ahead of their health and wellbeing as more than two in five (41 percent) say their work will pile up if they are off sick.

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May 17, 2017

Automation starting to generate productivity gains, but no major job losses yet ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

Business process automation is enabling companies to realise significant productivity gains in such areas as finance, accounting and HR, but it is not yet leading to broad job losses, according to a new study from tech research firm Information Services Group (ISG). Beyond automation’s impact on enterprises, the first ISG Automation Index report also claims that IT service providers are extensively introducing automation into their offerings, leading to dramatic improvements in productivity and service levels. This accelerated pace of change is prompting the vast majority of IT and business leaders to say that IT will be the business function most impacted by automation in the next two years.

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May 16, 2017

Built environment sectors ignoring the potential of smart cities and big data ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

There is little or no evidence of the built environment, real estate and construction sectors engaging directly with the smart city agenda, according to a new RICS Research Trust report by University of Reading academics. The research, which examined four case studies (Bristol, Milton Keynes, Amsterdam and Taipei) found that less than a quarter of UK cities had an smart city action plan. Of those that did, the main focus in the smart city case studies is on open data. As a result, city residents are not benefitting from a clear strategy for smart cities according to the report Smart Cities, Big Data and the Built Environment: What’s Required?

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May 11, 2017

Organisations out of step with workers in the digital workplace era ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace design

Although we now struggle to imagine living in a world without smartphones and the Internet, organisations appear to be slightly out of step with the digital era, according to a new study of their behaviour by Oxford Economics and Citrix. The research, published in a report called Building the Digital Workplace, measured progress toward digital work at organisations around the world. It found that there is a pressing need for organisations to develop a coherent digital strategy especially with regard to work. Although all the common concerns remain about security, costs and skills remain, the report suggests that firms need to do more to reap the benefits of a digital workplace. It cites the example of firms who have done most to develop a digital workplace strategy and the positive outcomes they have enjoyed.

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May 11, 2017

Three quarters of people expect to work beyond the age of 65, claims report ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

For all the talk about the growing number of Millennials at work, most of the interesting stuff about workplace demographics appears to be happening at the other end of the age scale. A record number of employees now expect to work past the official retirement age and many expect to work up to the age of 85, according to a new study by Canada Life. It claims that 73 percent of UK employees will work past the age of 65, up from 67 percent in 2016 and 61 percent in 2015. More than a third (37 percent) of these could be older than 70 before they retire and 10 percent expect to be at least the age of 85 when they retire, if they can retire at all. Younger workers are particularly likely to expect to work past the age of 65, rising to more than four in five (84 percent) of 25-34 year olds. Many expect to be unable to afford to retire but a growing number will continue to work because they want to.

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May 11, 2017

Wellbeing strategies more commonplace in UK, but employees aren’t benefitting ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

A new study from consultancy Barnett Waddingham based on the firm’s UK Workplace Wellbeing Index claims that despite wellbeing strategies becoming more common practice in UK companies, the benefits are not yet reaching employees. According to the report, nearly three quarters of firms who responded to the study claim they already have introduced a strategy or are in the process of implementing one. However, 60 percent of participating organisations report their employee wellbeing as between moderate and very low. According to the study organisations need to ask themselves if they are providing the benefits and interventions that are most effective for their employees. The research shows that the top five widely offered benefits (rated by effectiveness) are flexible working or home working, carer support, health assessments, line manager training and cancer screening. However, those most commonly utilised are flexible working, line manager training, carer support, home working and occupational health.

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May 10, 2017

The new normal arrives for the commercial property sector ⁰

by Gary Chandler • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Workplace design

Traditionally, the two principle vectors for change in the commercial property market have been lease lengths and space standards. Both have shrunk markedly over recent years, subject to the miniaturising effects of technological and cultural change. Even so, the effects of this contraction have taken place within an existing paradigm so have been easily understood, if not always acted upon.So it has been that major property organisations such as the British Council for Offices and CoreNet have been able to produce guides and reports based on well understood principles and without challenging the business models and assumptions of developers, landlords, workplace designers and occupiers. For most the challenges remained the same, not least how to resolve the sometimes conflicting timescales of people, place, property and technology that is the defining tension at the heart of office design and management.

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May 4, 2017

Brexit bonfire unnecessary as employers back the UK’s existing employment rights ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

UK employers do not believe a bonfire of employment law is necessary under Brexit, as negotiations over the country’s departure from the EU begin. According to new research by the CIPD and the employment law firm Lewis Silkin, employers back the UK’s existing employment rights framework with all twenty eight areas of employment law rated as necessary by a majority of employers. In the survey of more than 500 employers, organisations were asked whether they viewed more than twenty different aspects of employment law as necessary or not. The list included unfair dismissal laws, rated as necessary by 93 percent of businesses, as well as national minimum wage (87 percent), parental rights at work (82 percent), agency workers laws (75 percent) and the Working Time Regulations (74 percent). The research, which looked at a wide variety of employment laws and practices, also found more than half (52 percent) of employers go beyond the legal minimum requirements when implementing employment law.

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May 3, 2017

How the fourth industrial revolution might help to solve the challenges of mobility and migration ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

The already cack-handed Brexit negotiations and the ongoing saga of President Trump’s ‘wall’ have ensured that the issue of migration has stayed at the top of the political agenda so far this year. Yet, one potentially significant factor that has stayed out of the headlines so far is the potential for people to migrate digitally across nations and the globe. The World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Migration, in conjunction with Remote.co, has now published a report into the subject called Mobile Minds: An Alternative to Physical Migration in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The white paper claims to outline the benefits of, and challenges associated with, cross-border remote hiring. Led by Rajeeb Dey, Tolu Olubunmi, and Sara Sutton Fell, the goal of Mobile Minds is to explore the global impact of remote work as it relates to both the mobility of the twenty-first century workforce and workplace.