Search Results for: budget

July 6, 2017

Digital workplace accelerates blurring of lines between IT, HR and finance roles ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

To help ‘organisations thrive in a competitive digital marketplace’, Oracle and the MIT Technology Review have released a new study that highlights the importance of collaboration between finance and human resources (HR) teams with a unified cloud. The study, Finance and HR: The Cloud’s New Power Partnership, outlines how a ‘holistic view into finance and HR information’, delivered via cloud technology, empowers organisations to better manage continuous change in the workplace. Based on a global survey of 700 C-level executives and finance, HR, and IT managers, the study claims that a shared finance and HR cloud system is a critical component of successful transformation initiatives.

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July 6, 2017

Happiest workers more likely to be based in start-ups and to stay long term ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Employees in companies with nine members of staff or less are most likely to ‘love’ their jobs and are more likely to take personal pride from the companies’ achievements, and to stay there long term a new report suggests. Almost 1 in 3 (31 percent) of workers in businesses containing a maximum of nine members of staff said they “love” their jobs – according to a new survey of 1,220 workers, commissioned by the One4all Spotlight Awards, a free to enter awards scheme that rewards exceptional staff in the UK workforce. By comparision, those in companies with the largest workforces – more than 500 members of staff – were the least likely to love their jobs, with just 15 percent claiming this is the case. Workers in microbusinesses – those with 9 or fewer employees – were also the most likely to say they plan to stay with their current employer for the rest of their working lives, with 18 percent saying they feel this way. They were also the most likely to take a sense of personal pride in their company’s achievements (23 percent).

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July 5, 2017

Minimum wage should be extended to the self employed and gig economy ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News

The government should extend minimum wage legislation to protect some of the UK’s 4.8 million self employed workforce as part of its drive to tackle low pay and insecurity in the modern workforce, according to a new report published by the Resolution Foundation. The Minimum Required? – which forms part of the Resolution Foundation’s submission to the Taylor Review on modern employment practices – sets out a number of proposals to tackle endemic levels of low pay among the self-employed. Its new analysis claims that that while around in one in five employees are low-paid (earning less than two-thirds of typical weekly earnings), last year around half of the full-time self-employed workforce (49 percent) fell below this threshold, earning less than £310 a week.

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June 23, 2017

Neuroscience: the next great source of competitive advantage ⁰

by Beatriz Arantes • Facilities management, Features, Knowledge, Premium Content, Work&Place, Workplace design

The average worker is interrupted or distracted every three minutes and it takes them fully twenty-three minutes to return to a task after being interrupted. Office workers are overwhelmed by distractions, due mainly to a lack of understanding of how to manage attention. Distractions and the inability to focus negatively affects productivity, engagement, wellbeing and overall performance in organisations. We long to be more effective, but the harder we try, the more tired our brains become. Attention meltdowns are epidemic because workers do not understand what attention is, how to manage it or have access to the best places to support their tasks. In workplaces throughout the world scenarios of near constant distraction have become the norm, to such an extent that often people do not even feel compelled to comment on them and their consequences.

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June 22, 2017

Firms still paying lip service to digital transformation, but change may be coming ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace

Britain’s biggest businesses risk being disrupted by the pace of technological change because their senior leaders are paying lip service to the need for digital transformation, according to a study from tech startup AVADO. The study of senior managers responsible for the learning and development (L&D) of staff at Britain’s biggest firms with turnovers of over £100m found that the need for digital transformation is accepted, almost universally, among respondents. 86 percent say they have assessed the business risk of not taking action and 88 percent have taken steps to address this. Yet, despite 93 percent of L&D professionals saying a digital transformation strategy is in place, the report suggests critical top down buy-in is missing. Yet, a second report from recruiters Robert Half suggests that a growing number of firms in the key finance sector are now actively recruiting to improve their digital transformation strategy.

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June 22, 2017

KI helps to create agile, flexible workspace at Paramount Pictures’ UK HQ ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Company news, Furniture, Insight promotion

KI has helped film production giant Paramount Pictures create an agile, flexible new workspace at their stunning new UK headquarters. Drenched in natural light, the offices offer staff and visitors views over the adjacent green space and lake, as well as sweeping views across London. Spread across two floors at Chiswick Park, the offices also accommodate the team of Paramount subsidiary United International Pictures. Working alongside office furniture supplier Rapid Office, Paramount Pictures selected KI’s UK designed and manufactured workstations, tables, storage, workwalls and breakout screening, enhanced by a palette of 12 colours from Camira’s Lucia fabric range. The vibrant combination of blues, purples, greens and beige have been used to differentiate departments.

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June 2, 2017

EU announces plans for free Europe wide WiFi network ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

The main institutions of the European Union have agreed a plan to offer free Wi-Fi connectivity to public spaces such as parks, squares, public buildings, and hospitals all over Europe. The European Parliament, Council and Commission have reached an agreement regarding the decision to fund the WiFi4EU project. The project will provide “every European village and every city with free wireless internet access around the main centres of public life by 2020”. A budget of €120 million has been allocated to pay for the setup and operating costs of the project. The EU expects between 6,000 and 8,000 regions will be offered the chance to take part. They will receive funding to buy, install and maintain the Wi-Fi for three years while cities and towns will have to use their own funds for internet services. WiFi will only be made available in areas where a similar free public or private Wi-Fi network is not currently available. Andrus Ansip, the vice president in charge of the Digital Single Market, praised the agreement between the Parliament, Council and Commission saying: “The Digital Single Market strategy aims to build a fully connected Europe where everyone has access to high-quality digital networks. The WiFi4EU initiative will improve connectivity in particular where access to the internet is limited. WiFi4EU is a welcome first step, but much more needs to be done to achieve high-speed connectivity across the whole EU territory – such as improving Europe-wide coordination of spectrum and stimulating investments in the high-capacity networks that Europe needs.”

May 23, 2017

Financial problems for over half of employees are affecting their work performance ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

One of the biggest concerns cited by many of those being polled on their views during the General Election campaign has been the high cost of living compared to wages. Now a new report claims that over half (55 percent) of employees are experiencing financial problems, which are affecting their behaviour, relationships and ability to perform at work. Although the nationwide study of the financial wellbeing of UK workers The DNA of Financial Wellbeing 2017 report, claims that nearly a third (32 percent) cite finance as their biggest concern; 66 percent of HR directors, think that financial worries are not of concern to their employees. The findings from Neyber, a financial wellbeing company, shows that 47 percent of workers are borrowing money to meet their basic financial needs, with 25 percent borrowing on a credit card, followed by 13 percent through a bank overdraft and 13 percent borrowing from friends and family. Meanwhile, an increase in so-called zero hour contracts means that nearly half (47 percent) of workers in the North and Midlands have an income fluctuation of more than 10 percent each month.

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May 18, 2017

A mixed forecast for the accountancy profession: Brexit highs and digital lows ⁰

by Mike James • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

The accountancy profession is facing an uncertain future in the traditional sense. The question of automation is on everyone’s minds, as are the complexities of Brexit. On the one hand, news from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) suggests accountants will be in high demand during the Brexit process, on the other, gloomy reports of job automation suggest accountants will be one of the professions hardest hit in Britain’s long-term future. The implications of Brexit are yet to be uncovered. Clearly, Brexit will be a complex process and businesses will undoubtedly require the strategic insight and rigour of the accountancy profession. We have accepted that exiting the EU will likely be a complicated drawn-out process. The effects on business will be bound up in complex trade deals, government policies and the ratification of EU laws affecting business in the UK.

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May 17, 2017

A nuanced approach to the design of the coworking office ⁰

by Ajay Chopra • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

The coworking segment of the real estate business is poised for exponential growth in the coming years, as the number of market players around the world today continues to increase. With humble beginnings in an economic recession, the shared workspace trend has captivated both the start-up entrepreneur and the remote corporate worker, alike. This success is due, in large part, to the fact that the coworking model provides an opportunity for a wealth of amenities that go far beyond the traditional office’s standard desk space. These shared, multi-functional facilities are carefully designed to be both vibrant and personable, with endless opportunities for community collaboration and innovation.

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May 5, 2017

Employee’s digital skills not being nurtured, despite growing need for data literacy ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

The majority of UK employees recognise the importance of data literacy to their career progression, but half have never been offered any relevant training. Statistics from a study of over 3,000 UK employees shows they understand the growing significance of data within their organisation, with almost all (94 percent) of those surveyed stateing that they consider data to be important for performing their role. Data skills were ranked as fourth in a list of the most important skills for their job – with only traditional, ‘soft’ skills such as ‘communication’, ‘organisation’ and ‘people management’ ranking higher. Yet the Censuswide survey, commissioned by Tableau revealed that despite four in five professionals (84 percent) believing data skills will be important for their career progression and a similar percentage (83 percent) using data on a weekly basis as part of their role, nearly half (49 percent) say their employer hasn’t offered them any kind of data analytics training.

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May 2, 2017

Immigration and skills will be key to success of next UK Government ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

The next Government must ensure the construction sector has enough skilled workers post-Brexit or its housing and infrastructure manifesto pledges will be redundant, says the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). The FMB has called on all major political parties to recognise the importance of migrant labour to the construction sector as part of its ‘Programme for Government’, that has been launched the day before Parliament is dissolved for the General Election. The organisation claims that the UK construction sector’s demand for skilled migrant workers from the EU and beyond cannot be overstated. It suggests that in London alone, there are more than 157,000 non-UK construction workers constituting almost half of the industry’s workforce in the capital. Pre-Brexit, 60 percent of small construction firms are already having trouble hiring key workers even before the Government unveils its intentions for the free movement of people.