Search Results for: business

February 18, 2019

Organisations are overwhelmed by innovation, claims report

Companies are being overwhelmed by innovation projects, fewer than half of which even make it to market. That is according to a new report from Oracle, based on a poll of more than 5,000 decision makers from 24 countries. Despite what the report claims is a clear link between growth and innovation, organisations are being held back by poor processes and a lack of focus. The report suggests that innovation barriers are particularly pronounced amongst big companies, as well as companies experiencing higher growth rates.

February 17, 2019

Landlords must respond in new ways to the changing world of work

by Ben Gillam • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

Hammocks, remote working, hot-desking. Contrary to common belief, these aren’t the only conversations landlords are having with designers on how to approach their workspaces for today’s tenants. Rising property values, the growth of flexible offices and political uncertainty have forced landlords to change the way they market their properties to respond to the demands of occupiers. And with no sign of London’s commercial office marketplace calming in the near future, the need for landlords to remain flexible and create channels of communication with their tenants, remains strong. More →

February 17, 2019

More than 600 people quit work to look after older and disabled relatives every day

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

New research by Carers UK claims that 2.6 million have quit their job to care for a loved one who is older, disabled or seriously ill, with nearly half a million (468,000) leaving their job in the last two years alone – more than 600 people a day. This is a 12 per cent increase since Carers UK and YouGov polled the public in 2013. The findings also show that more people are caring than previously thought, with almost 5 million workers now juggling their paid job with caring – a dramatic rise compared with Census 2011 figures of 3 million.

February 17, 2019

Personal and social factors impact return to work after ill-health

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Support from managers and colleagues, as well as a positive attitude, are most likely to enable a more long-term return to work for employees after a sickness absence, according to a new review of research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA). The review evaluated the impact of personal and social factors on sustainable return to work after ill-health due to musculoskeletal disorders, such as joint and back pain, and common mental health conditions, for example stress, depression or anxiety.

February 15, 2019

Amazon drops plans for HQ, judging others in the open plan, why people would rather electrocute themselves than sit and think and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features

Why is it so hard to design a decent office space? demands this article in Quartz. It’s a fair enough question but probably the wrong one. It’s perfectly possible to design a decent (or adequate) office with a pen, paper and bag of presuppositions and many people have done exactly that. The real question is why it is so hard to design a good or excellent office.

February 15, 2019

A sense of belonging is crucial factor for employee engagement

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

A sense of belonging is just as important an employee retention tool as good pay and benefits, a new academic paper has found. In his paper Creating a committed workforce: Using social exchange and social identity to enhance psychological attachment within an ever-changing workplace, Dr Ali Fenwick of Nyenrode Business Universiteit, Breukelen, the Netherlands., argues that identifying with the team, leader, brand and organisation is paramount to workplace commitment as well as work performance. More →

February 15, 2019

Rise in number of employers that prioritise reduction of gender pay gap

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

New research commissioned by the Government Equalities Office (GEO) has found that more companies are prioritising reducing their gender pay gap since the legislation was introduced in 2017. The research found that 69 percent of employers now view closing the gender pay gap as a high or medium priority, an increase of 8 percent on last year. With 10,000 companies reporting their pay gaps last year, the new research also showed that 67 percent of companies are having discussions at board-level to find ways of closing the gap. The GEO published the results as it announced two new pieces of guidance, providing step by step advice for employers which helps them to identify potential causes of the gender pay gap in their organisation and develop an effective action plan to tackle it.

February 14, 2019

Digital transformation requires more than just new technology

by Arnab Banerjee • Comment, Technology

Digital transformation has been a priority for businesses for many years, primarily to benefit from the opportunities presented by a mix of digital technologies and their impact across all aspects of society. Customer-facing functions such as sales, marketing and procurement, in their quest for new revenue sources and information-powered ecosystems of value, have led the way on digital transformation, while HR has historically taken a back seat. But in order for the entire organisation undergoing transformation to work together holistically, HR needs to take the lead and embed a digital DNA within the organisation.

February 14, 2019

Traffic congestion cost UK drivers nearly £8 billion in 2018, study claims

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Inrix has published its annual Global Traffic Scorecard that claims to identify and rank congestion and mobility trends in more than 200 cities across 38 countries. In the UK, the 2018 Traffic Scorecard analysed congestion and the severity of it in the top 20 urban areas. It claims drivers lost an average of 178 hours a year due to congestion, costing them £7.9 billion in 2018, an average of £1,317 per driver. London (227 hours lost due to congestion) and Birmingham (165 hours) ranked as the two most congested cities in the overall impact of congestion ranking.

February 14, 2019

Belfast office sector has enjoyed its most successful year ever

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

The office sector in Belfast has enjoyed its most successful year on record, with 885,023 sq ft of take-up reported across 84 transactions, more than double that was achieved last year, according to CBRE’s Offices Marketview research. Notable office deals completed in 2018 include PwC’s move to Merchant Square, Northern Ireland Civil Service to 9 Lanyon Place, Allstate to Mays Meadow, TLT to River House and Baker McKenzie to City Quays 2. According to CBRE Northern Ireland Office the local office market’s record breaking year is an indicator of the resilience of the commercial property market as well as the wider Northern Ireland economy.

February 13, 2019

Organisational innovation being stymied by lack of senior support

by Sara Bean • AI, News, Technology, Workplace

A lack of senior stakeholder support is the greatest inhibitor of change, new research suggests as despite considerable enthusiasm to innovate, organisations are being thwarted by tight resources and strong internal resistance. The data commissioned by KCOM found that organisations are also limiting themselves by turning away the specialist skills and experience that could help them advance, through overly predictive procurement processes. They are however, eager to be more competitive, which is why organisations are making big investments in innovation projects. Almost half (43 percent) consider driving digital transformation to improve competitive advantage to be their top priority in the next year. A further 32 percent are allocating at least 20 percent of their IT budget to new projects. Both public and private sector organisations are also taking an increasingly people-centric approach to digital transformation. In the next year, 80 percent said they would incentivise staff retention through training, accreditation and career development to deliver on their innovation strategy. This is compared to 71 percent who said they would do so by investing in new technologies.

February 12, 2019

Lack of cohesion in many organisations on adoption of digital workplace

by Sara Bean • AI, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology

The majority of organisations (58 percent) do not have a have a clearly defined strategy in place when it comes to adopting and integrating digital workspace technology which suggests that implementing and making use of such technology is still being carried out in something of a haphazard manner. The findings of the research are summarised in SoftwareONE’s Building a Lean, Mean, Digital Machine report, which also claims that, despite the fact that almost all organisations (99 percent) employ some form of digital workspace technology, respondents have encountered a host of challenges when it comes to using them. These include higher security risks (cited by 47 percent) and a lack of employee knowledge in how best to use the solutions (45 percent). More →