Search Results for: business

Hybrid working gives managers the chance to excel

Hybrid working gives managers the chance to excel

hybrid workingThe past year will go down in history as one of dramatic change. One of the most notable upheavals was the almost overnight transition to full-time remote working for millions of ‘non-essential’ employees. With England now in its third national lockdown, many of us will likely not be going back to our offices until April 2021, over a year since we left them. Even when people are able to return to our old workplaces, just 12 percent of employees want to do so full-time, according to Future Forum. This leaves no doubt that, when we are finally able to leave the pandemic behind us, hybrid working (partially from home and partially in the office) will remain. More →

Furlough scheme should be extended ahead of the Budget, says CIPD

Furlough scheme should be extended ahead of the Budget, says CIPD

furloughWith six weeks still to go until the Chancellor’s Budget, the CIPD is urging the Government to act early to extend the furlough scheme to protect jobs, support incomes and enhance skills development. Its calls are outlined in a report called The Future of Furlough – Recommendations for now and for any future wage subsidy. In order to support smaller firms who don’t pay an apprenticeship levy, the CIPD is also recommending the creation of a furlough scheme training fund of up to £100 million, which would be funded from levy-paying firms’ expired levy funds that would otherwise go to HM Treasury. The CIPD estimates that this could pay for training or outplacement skills development support for nearly 160,000 workers in small firms. More →

First platinum certified smart building awarded to EDGE Olympic Amsterdam

First platinum certified smart building awarded to EDGE Olympic Amsterdam

Smart Building Certification, the organisation behind the smart accreditation, awarded its first platinum building. The founders of Smart Building Certification handed the first official platinum certification over to Coen van Oostrom, Founder and CEO of EDGE. More →

Improving air quality is key to making people feel safer

Improving air quality is key to making people feel safer

air qualityImproving air quality in the fight against COVID-19 could give businesses the edge over their competitors and attract more customers, according to a top UK university scientist. Writing in a new report for facilities services provider phs Group, Cambridge University Professor Paul Linden highlights the growing evidence for the airborne transmission of coronavirus and that tackling indoor air quality must be at the forefront of creating COVID-safe environments. More →

Pandemic has improved employee engagement levels say employers

Pandemic has improved employee engagement levels say employers

employee engagementEmployee engagement levels may have actually improved during the COVID-19 pandemic, claims a recent survey undertaken by intermediary Howden Employee Benefits & Wellbeing. More →

Salary tops employee priority list as UK workers focus on self-preservation

Salary tops employee priority list as UK workers focus on self-preservation

salaryAs businesses attempt to stay afloat amid the fluctuating circumstances in the UK, research claims that UK employees are increasingly placing salary packages as the most important factor when it comes to career management. The research by SD Worx, examined what employees in Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom consider important in the context of their work. More →

Staff in small companies need less employer support than those in larger firms

Staff in small companies need less employer support than those in larger firms

supportAccording to a recent Kaspersky survey, people who work in companies with fewer than 50 employees, on average, need less employer support when working remotely, compared to staff in larger businesses. Emotional or psychological support is an exception. More →

2021 presents the tech sector with once in a generation opportunities

2021 presents the tech sector with once in a generation opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic left businesses in an unprecedented position of having to rapidly adapt workplace practices and implement new processes at a moment’s notice. Of course, those companies that were already accustomed to home office set-ups and flexible hours were in a much better place to adapt to these changing circumstances. However, not all businesses were prepared for the sudden change to work routines. More →

The UK’s digital divide is closing considerably slower than official targets

The UK’s digital divide is closing considerably slower than official targets

digital divideNew data analysis by web design and development agency Rouge Media, claims the digital divide in the UK is closing considerably slower than official targets. In the Government’s 2014 “Digital Inclusion Strategy”, the target was set to reduce the number of people offline by 25 percent every 2 years. And by the end of 2020, everyone who can be digitally capable, will be. More →

Mace achieves net zero carbon

Mace achieves net zero carbon

Mace has announced that it has achieved its ambition to be a net zero carbon business in 2020. Following the statement in January 2020 that the company had committed to the ambitious target, the executive board has confirmed that after driving down its carbon emissions as far as possible across its developments and operations it has offset the remaining emissions. More →

Workspace Show in London opens its doors for first time this year

Workspace Show in London opens its doors for first time this year

Workspace Show is an exciting addition to the global design events calendar, launching on 21 January this year, with the inaugural edition taking place from 4-5 November 2021 at London’s Business Design Centre, at the heart of the UK’s commercial interiors community. With a theme of ‘re-designing tomorrow’s commercial interiors together’ the show aims to unite architects, designers, developers, contractors, facilities managers, procurement managers and more in one place to explore and share the latest industry thinking from product launches to a comprehensive talks program to networking opportunities aplenty. More →

Burnt out workers need to regain some balance

Burnt out workers need to regain some balance

The pandemic and months of Zoom calls and remote work have begun to wear on us, so much so that in a recent survey from Blind – the anonymous workplace community app – 68 percent of respondents said that they are experiencing more feelings of  being burnt out now, than they were before the pandemic began. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 29 percent of the respondents said their relationship with their direct boss was now worse than it had been before they began working remotely. And it’s not just top-down relationships at work that have deteriorated. More →