Search Results for: business

November 3, 2017

UK remains the most attractive country for employers and employees

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace

UK remains the most attractive country for employers and employees Despite recent figures indicating that work productivity is down in Britain, the UK remains a highly attractive country for employers and employees based on a combination of talent, location, quality of life and cost, according to the latest edition of Colliers International’s European Cities of Influence report. The analysis of 50 major European economic cities for employers saw London retain its top position, with all other UK cities in the analysis featuring in the top 20 (Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow).The report finds that quality of life factors are important to accelerate business and attract talent with the research revealing that the nature of workplace strategy is evolving so rapidly that keeping up — let alone staying ahead of the curve — can be a challenge. Employers are now focused on creating a workplace that can attract and retain talent by incorporating co-working and collaborative facilities, flexible working options and ingraining a healthy mindset. With the onus on keeping employees happy and productive, the design and utilization of the workplace is helping to accelerate business productivity more than ever before.

(more…)

November 3, 2017

Growing need for a flexible workplace creates fresh challenges for employers

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace, Workplace design

Many businesses are misaligned with their people, with nearly half of employees not understanding their company’s strategic objectives, according to new research published by The Ludic Group, which claims that the changing nature of workforces and the growing need for a flexible workplace are creating fresh challenges for communication, collaboration and engagement. The research suggests that the impact of technology is causing digital chaos, with businesses struggling to get the communications balance right. With the number of channels and tools increasing almost half of people (44 percent) want to hear more from employers. Perhaps surprisingly, one in five (20 percent) individuals said that their firm has not used any tools or techniques to communicate with them. This lack of communication results in people being disconnected from the business strategy, with only half of individuals (50 percent) reported fully aligned with their company’s objectives and 44 percent not knowing or understanding what these are. Alongside this, people increasingly want to design their own working experience and expect more flexibility from their employers.

(more…)

November 1, 2017

Edinburgh named best city in the UK for coworking

by Mark Eltringham • Coworking, News, Property

Edinburgh has been named as the UK’s leading city for coworking , according to a study from MoneySuperMarket. The firm analysed 18 cities across the UK against key factors, such as the cost per workstation, business insurance and the number of office spaces available, to see which cities are deemed the most desirable places to co-work. The research found Edinburgh to be the best city for coworking spaces, due to its competitive coworking prices, broadband speeds and low number of insurance claims. Brighton and Hove on the other hand ranked last, due to the limited and costly desk space. Although London has the highest number of coworking spaces, the high costs of working in London ensured it finished near the bottom of the list based on the criteria used in the study.

(more…)

October 31, 2017

Boundary-less workplaces must offer contextual, personalised workspaces

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

The future workplace will replace familiar, rigid hierarchies and departments with small, collaborative networks of teams and the lines between individual organisations and ecosystems will blur as companies increasingly cast their net wider to innovate. This is one of the predictions made in a Fujitsu-commissioned whitepaper ‘Workplace 2025’ which argues that businesses must rethink social and technology strategies to plan for the future workplace – or risk being left behind. To appeal to future employees with the right skills, the whitepaper, which was produced by European research firm Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) advises that businesses must ensure they are moving towards an environment that provides contextual, personalised workspaces aligned to the individual needs of users. At the same time, they should plan to encourage enhanced peer collaboration by implementing technologies such as augmented reality. The Workplace 2025 report foresees that today’s organisational structures will become more agile, adapting to constantly-changing economic conditions, competitive landscapes and customer demands.

(more…)

October 31, 2017

Over a third of workers have left a job because of the stress it caused them

by Sara Bean • Events, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

New research released to mark International Stress Awareness Day tomorrow (Wednesday 1st November) has revealed that more than one third (36 percent) of the working population have left a job because of the stress it caused them, according to research conducted by Citation. It claims that women are almost 10 percent more likely to leave because of stress than men, and those aged between 25 to 34-years old were most likely to struggle with workplace stress. Worryingly, more than half (53 percent) of employees feel too afraid to show signs of stress at work. More than a quarter (27 percent) think it’ll make them look weak, one in five (18 percent) worry it will affect their career and the remaining 7 percent feel uncomfortable approaching their manager with the problem. Those aged between 18 to 24-years old were most likely to fear for their career and worry about looking weak. Employees between 45 and 54 were notably more likely to feel at unease approaching their manager.

(more…)

October 27, 2017

Review into workplace mental health calls for change in culture and legislation

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

The independent review into workplace mental health, commissioned by the Prime Minister in January and led by Dennis Stevenson and Paul Farmer, has published its report, Thriving at Work. The review looks at how employers can better support all employees including those with poor mental health or wellbeing remain in and thrive at work. The study found that 300,000 people with a long-term mental health problem lose their jobs each year and that poor mental health costs employers up to £42 billion a year, with an annual cost to the UK economy of up to £99 billion.
The statistics from the Department of Work and Pensions reveal that 300,000 people with a long term mental health problem lose their jobs each year. Analysis by Deloitte, commissioned by the reviewers, also reveals a demonstrable cost to employers, and quantifies for the first time how investing in supporting mental health at work is good for business and productivity. Poor mental health costs the UK economy between £74 billion and £99 billion a year. Deloitte’s analysis shows that the cost to employers is between £33 billion and £42 billion of this number. Evaluations of workplace interventions show a return to business of between £1.50 and £9 for every £1 invested.

(more…)

October 27, 2017

HR Directors turning their attention to workplace design and experience

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace, Workplace design

The role of HR Directors is going to change in the future as they will increasingly become “curators” of the office, charged with generating the right atmosphere to inspire millennial workers, according to a study of 100 HR Directors by Unispace. The study claims found that there will be greater HR ownership of the physical workplace in the future as human resources becomes more focused on the employee “experience”. A key to future success will be ensuring workers are “engaged with the workplace” and enable them to collaborate in better ways and become more productive. A recurring theme identified during the interviews was a change to the overall decision-making process around physical space. Previously the remit of property and facilities management, it now includes HR representation as standard practice in large organisations. Bringing HR to the table enables the working environment to embody organisational values and contribute towards achieving strategic “people-led” business objectives, such as better staff retention and productivity.

(more…)

October 27, 2017

Prestige of a London office location continues to drive demand among SMEs

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

The London office market remains a buoyant market despite Brexit uncertainty, as many organisations see it as the most prestigious location for businesses of any size. In research conducted by London Executive Offices (LEO) 60 percent of entrepreneurs and business executives would choose London as their business location for allowing good access to customers; 57 percent say that start-ups have the best chance of success if located in London, and that they could achieve annual growth of 20 percent by being based in the capital. Over half of those surveyed strongly believe that a London office address creates a better perception of their business. LEO’s findings also demonstrate that certain London locations remain traditionally associated with particular sectors. Of those financial companies surveyed, 73 percent would choose established financial services hotspots Bank and Canary Wharf to base their start-up. Office space in the City remains an attractive proposition, evidenced by LEO’s recent launch at 1 King William Street at over 80 percent let.

(more…)

October 26, 2017

Three quarters of firms dissatisfied with quality of UK infrastructure

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property, Public Sector, Technology

Businesses are concerned about the pace of commitment to improving the UK’s infrastructure, and a record number of firms are dissatisfied with the state of infrastructure in their region. With the UK currently ranking 27^th in the world for the quality of its infrastructure, nearly all (96 percent) of businesses in the 2017 CBI/AECOM Infrastructure Survey see infrastructure as important (of which 55 percent view it as critical) to the Government’s agenda. From the Clean Growth Strategy and the £500 billion infrastructure pipeline to its decision to build a new runway at Heathrow and press ahead with the A303 tunnel, the Government has made clear its commitment to British infrastructure. However, only one in five firms is satisfied with the pace of delivery (20 percent) and almost three quarters (74 percent) doubt infrastructure will improve over this Parliament. This lack of confidence is attributed primarily to policy inconsistency (+94 percent of firms) & political risk (+86 percent). The digital sector is the exception, however, where 59 percent of firms are confident of improvements.

(more…)

October 26, 2017

Gender, race, age and sex bias still pervades UK working life

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Gender, race, age and sex bias still pervades UK working life

One in four (27 percent) women have been victims of sexism in the workplace and ageism, racism and homophobia continue to mar the working lives of minority groups claims new research. With high-profile reports of sexual harassment and assault in the entertainment industry dominating headlines, the Office Culture report, from Opinium Research, examined gender, race, age and sex biases that pervade modern UK working life and found that over 2.5 million women (20 percent) report being a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace, yet two thirds (67 percent) of women who have experienced this have not reported it to their company. Similarly, despite a perceived cultural improvement in race relations, only half (55 percent) of those subjected to racial discrimination have reported such incidents to somebody in their company. However, ageism is the least reported of all with almost three-quarters (72 percent) of incidents going unnoticed; of those that did report ageism, a quarter (25 percent) of cases were not acknowledged. Action taken on incidents of homophobia were also low; with over a third (43 percent) of cases not being dealt with after the acknowledgement.

(more…)

October 25, 2017

Frederick Taylor was a man of his time not a whipping boy for ours

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, News, Workplace, Workplace design

Everybody likes a pantomime villain, and for many commentators on management and office design, they don’t come more dastardly than Frederick W. Taylor. Not only do pictures of him betray him as wealthy, white and starched, his ideas and the language in which they are couched are totally out of step with the way we think now. So for anybody writing about enlightened contemporary management practices, it’s no wonder that it is almost customary to start with a rejection of Taylorism in general and his theory of scientific management in particular. The gist of Taylorism laid out in his 1911 book The Principles of Scientific Management is that work should be analysed to establish the most efficient way of doing it, the right person to do that work must be chosen and managers are there to make sure that it all goes to plan. As far as workers are concerned, what we now think of as Taylorism is best (and partly unfairly) summed up as:‘You’re not paid to think. Shut up and do your job.’

(more…)

October 25, 2017

Long commutes to work are as bad as a pay cut when it comes to happiness and wellbeing

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

A twenty minute increase in commuting time is as bad as a 19 per cent pay cut for job satisfaction, a study has found. The research by the University of the West of England found that every extra minute spent travelling to and from work reduces job and leisure time satisfaction, increases strain and worsens mental health. The researchers conclude that more people should be allowed to work from home or should choose a new way of getting there. According to the study, every extra minute spent travelling reduced job satisfaction, created extra strain, worsened mental health and increased people’s chances of quitting. The study, based on analysis of 26,000 workers in England, found that people travelling by bus were more likely to feel the “negative impacts of longer commute times” than users of other transport and that employees who cycled or walked were among the most satisfied as they used commuting time as part of their “health-enhancing lifestyle”.