Search Results for: big data

Three days in the office seems to be the ‘sweet spot’ for hybrid working

Three days in the office seems to be the ‘sweet spot’ for hybrid working

A new report provides analysis into the impact that remote and hybrid working are having on employee experience, culture and productivityA new survey concludes that three days a week in the office appears to be optimal for many people to optimise key aspects of workplace culture and performance. The report claims to provide empirical analysis into the impact that remote and hybrid working are having on employee experience, culture and productivity. The report commissioned by Ipsos Karian and Box is based on a survey of 1,400 full-time UK office workers. (more…)

Smart technology needs to start with people if it wants to get smarter

Smart technology needs to start with people if it wants to get smarter

A wood carving of a blank, slumped person sitting at a desk with a laptop to depict the dehumanization potential of smart technology“My engineering students had come to class with technology on their minds.” So says artist and design researcher Sara Hendren, author of What a Body Can Do: How we Meet the Built World. It’s a fascinating book in which she consciously pushes back against the prevailing narrative that so-called smart technology has a fix for every problem. As a professor teaching design for disability at Olin College of Engineering, Massachusetts, Hendren draws attention to the assumptions that drive normative behaviours to define what is a ‘problem’ in the first place. (more…)

Half of firms won’t meet 2030 decarbonisation target, report claims

Half of firms won’t meet 2030 decarbonisation target, report claims

Fewer than 50% of organizations expect to meet decarbonisation targets by 2030, study reveals A new report from Siemens Infrastructure claims that there is limited agreement amongst businesses on how best to progress towards a decarbonised and resource-efficient world and under half expect to meet their net zero targets based on current thinking. According to the Transition Monitor 2023: The Great Divide on The Path to Net Zero report, whilst more than half of those surveyed believe the infrastructure transition is accelerating in their region, a quarter of senior executives said that progress on decarbonisation is “too slow”, while 29 percent believe progress is “coordinated”, and 31 percent describe it as “on target”. (more…)

Why Wellworking decided to become the latest B Corporation

Why Wellworking decided to become the latest B Corporation

A Wellworking core principles is to work towards a sustainable and socially responsible future. B Corp Certification has provided us with a framework with which to approach thisPutting people and the planet above profits may not appear at first glance to be a recipe for financial success for a company like Wellworking, but becoming a Certified B Corporation company is proving good for business and something that the furniture industry can play a big role in. You may have seen the B Corp logo on a shop door or the back of a van and wondered what exactly it means. Well if I could sum that up after a certification process that has been rigorous, challenging and above all, rewarding, I would say that it’s about putting people and the planet first. (more…)

Award-winning WorkBold Podcast returns for a ninth season on space-as-a-service

Award-winning WorkBold Podcast returns for a ninth season on space-as-a-service

Caleb Parker’s award-winning #WorkBold Podcast returned for an industry-leading ninth season of talks about space as a serviceCaleb Parker’s award-winning #WorkBold Podcast returned for an industry-leading ninth season, which took the podcast to over 100,000 downloads (117,000 at the time of publishing this article) with an audience from 90+ countries. The only podcast dedicated to Space-as-a-Service (SPaaS), #WorkBold Podcast is in the top one percent of business podcasts globally. Its host, entrepreneur Caleb Parker, is the founder of Bold – a joint venture with NewFlex. (more…)

Best practice for maintaining an agile workforce through upskilling

Best practice for maintaining an agile workforce through upskilling

Workforces need to evolve now more than ever. A report from the World Economic Forum claims that around a quarter of jobs will shift in the next five years. Its ‘Future of Jobs Report for 2023’ notes that though an estimated 69 million new jobs will be created, another 83 million will be eliminated. A few factors contributing to creating and eliminating jobs are macro trends—such as a rise in sustainability efforts among businesses, the localisation of supply chains, high inflation, and slower economic growth. (more…)

Cost of living crisis incentivises people to work from home

Cost of living crisis incentivises people to work from home

A new report claims that rising numbers of the people in the UK are choosing to shop and work from home to make every penny countA new report claims that rising numbers of the people in the UK are choosing to shop and work from home to make every penny count as the cost-of-living crisis continues. These insights mark the launch of the second Virgin Media O2 Business Movers Index – a quarterly barometer that combines anonymised and aggregated UK movement data from O2 Motion, with national polling findings to reveal key trends relating to the behaviour of 2,000 British businesses and 1,000 UK consumers. Together, the data paints a picture of movement patterns and the trends behind them. The second quarter of this year reveals a more cash-conscious image of Britain as more of the UK public change their behaviours to cope with a tough economic backdrop. (more…)

Generations in the workplace: setting the record straight

Generations in the workplace: setting the record straight

A middle aged man and a younger male colleague sit in comfortable chairs having a conversation to illustrate a conversation between generations of workersIf there were an algorithm to create a word cloud in response to searches for ‘What millennials want in the workplace?’, you’d expect to see Google spew out terms such as ‘flexibility’, ‘meaning’, ‘fairness’, ‘equality’, ‘inclusivity’, ‘opportunity’, ‘connections’, ‘socialising’ and ‘experience’. Do the same with ‘Gen Z’ replacing ‘millennials’ and – guess what – you’ll see the exact same word cloud, although perhaps in a different colour and order so you don’t think it’s based on the same homogeneous assumptions about younger generations. (more…)

Workplace generations express different demands of their jobs

Workplace generations express different demands of their jobs

A report from interior design and fit-out business Claremont claims that firms are having to work increasingly hard to address the needs and priorities of different workplace generationsEven though people who belong to so-called Generation Z are often described as digital natives, it is actually ‘Baby Boomers’ who are most focussed on workplace technology, a new poll claims. The report from interior design and fit-out business Claremont claims that firms are having to work increasingly hard to address the needs and priorities of different workplace generations. It claims that Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964) want better technology in the office to help them be more productive. They also want more face-to-face collaboration and team spirit more than any other generation. (more…)

Urban design can make people less likely to use public spaces

Urban design can make people less likely to use public spaces

urban designUrban design campaigns are usually sold to local residents as a way to improve their daily lives. Design elements – from lighting systems to signs, benches, bollards, fountains and planters, and sometimes even surveillance equipment – are used to refurbish and embellish public spaces. Designers refer to these elements as “urban furniture”. And the projects they’re used in are usually aimed at increasing social interaction, heightening safety, improving accessibility and generally making life in the city better. (more…)

Half of traditional non-tech firms now consider themselves tech firms

Half of traditional non-tech firms now consider themselves tech firms

Nearly half (49 percent) of ‘traditional’ enterprises now consider themselves tech firms, and are adopting more ‘tech-like’ strategies, roles and tools to drive innovation and growth.The pandemic years forced traditional industries to digitise their operations at speed, but three years on, non-tech enterprises across the UK – from sectors including finance, advertising, manufacturing and more – are actively embracing the ‘tech mindset’ more than ever, according to a new report. The poll from Pendo [registration], claims that nearly half (49 percent) of ‘traditional’ enterprises now consider themselves tech firms, and are adopting more ‘tech-like’ strategies, roles and tools to drive innovation and growth. (more…)

Businesses need to take real action to create a more sustainable workplace

Businesses need to take real action to create a more sustainable workplace

What action is actually being taken, including in the creation of a sustainable workplace?For the last decade, if not longer, we’ve heard businesses saying they are focused on reducing their environmental impact. It’s been written in annual reports and immortalised in pledges shared with stakeholders, but the question still remains – what action is actually being taken, including in the creation of a sustainable workplace? (more…)