Search Results for: change

The challenge for the office is to stay relevant

The challenge for the office is to stay relevant

by • Comment, Workplace design

The world is going through some painful changes at breakneck speed. As a result, the word unprecedented has reached number one spot on our ‘words to avoid’ list. What’s the big deal with unprecedented anyway? Our obsession with all things unprecedented taps into our fear of the unknown. But life itself is an unknown: Life is beta. Nothing is permanent. Every single day things happen that are unprecedented. Damn, said it again. (more…)

Is it time to get rid of all workplace policies and procedures?

Is it time to get rid of all workplace policies and procedures?

by • Comment, Workplace

workplace policiesAfter twenty-five years of telling employers that their first response to any workplace problem should be ‘draw up a policy’, it pains me to even suggest this; but what if we abolished all workplace policies and procedures? Yes, you heard me correctly – no policies for discipline and grievances, for handling sickness absence, menopause, mental health, flexible working, redundancies, emails, dress codes, discrimination etcetera. (more…)

Furloughed workers feel insecure about their future

Furloughed workers feel insecure about their future

by • Flexible working, News

New data looking into the attitudes of  6,273 employees, commissioned by Perkbox, claims the considerable impacts of the furlough scheme and the prospect of returning to work to wellbeing. The research claims that 61 percent of furloughed workers have concerns over their future job security, and a further 42 percent have concerns about the future of their company due to their employer’s participation in the scheme. This is despite almost half (45 percent) enjoying the time off and break from working that this time provided. (more…)

People increasingly confident about return to offices

People increasingly confident about return to offices

by • News, Wellbeing

Half (49 percent) of employed British adults feel positive about the prospect of returning to their place of work after lockdown, with less than one in five (18 percent) feeling negative, an Aviva study claims. The findings paint a relatively positive picture for businesses that have supported their people through lockdown, such as regularly communicating with workers and taking necessary steps to manage the risk of infection in the workplace. However, where businesses have not embraced risk management and prevention strategies, employees may decide not to return to work at all. (more…)

People plan to retain sustainable new habits after lockdown

People plan to retain sustainable new habits after lockdown

by • Environment, News

Britons are keen to continue with low-carbon lifestyle choices adopted during lockdown, according to research by Cardiff University and The University of Manchester. Two wide-ranging surveys conducted by the UK Centre for Climate and Social Transformation (CAST), which is coordinated by Cardiff University, suggested lockdown had upended people’s habits, from buying and travelling less, to reduced energy use and cutting down on food waste. (more…)

BCO releases lift and escalator guidance for reopening offices

BCO releases lift and escalator guidance for reopening offices

by • Facilities management, News

The British Council for Offices (BCO) has published new guidance for the safe use of escalators and lifts, as the country begins to return to the office. The safe use of lifts and escalators has been a priority for the industry, with 90 percent of decision-makers and influencers in the commercial office sector saying they were worried about their safe use. To help solve these headaches, the guidance emphasises the importance of social distancing and strict hygiene measures. (more…)

Casting a spell on the future of work and workplaces

Casting a spell on the future of work and workplaces

by • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

There was a time we used to talk with dismay about the Japanese phenomenon of intense social distancing known as hikikomori. We would consider with horror the isolation, lack of engagement with society, poor mental health and loneliness of the people who had almost completely withdrawn to their rooms. Those poor bastards locked up in enclosed spaces linked to the outside world only by screens. (more…)

The death of the office? Wait a minute

The death of the office? Wait a minute

by • Comment, Property, Workplace design

death of the officeI have observed with some disbelief the numerous articles that have heralded the “death of the office” and other click-bait driven headlines. It makes for a fun read but fails to really understand exactly what the office is for and how the modern workspace is actually used.  The best way to take a view of this is to understand why we will be desperate to return to the office and why organisations should be doing everything they can to ensure it does. (more…)

Rich, female and over- 45? It`s much more likely you thrived during lockdown

Rich, female and over- 45? It`s much more likely you thrived during lockdown

by • News, Wellbeing

The characteristics that meant you were most likely to thrive during the Covid-19 lockdown have been identified in new research by emlyon business school. The researchers, from emlyon business school’s Lifestyle Research Center, have studied people’s lifestyle, circumstances, and behaviour during the Covid-19 lockdown period, to examine how it has impacted their mental and physical wellbeing. The data comes from a survey of over 1000 respondents, split evenly across France and the UK, gathered near the end of the lockdown period in May. (more…)

UK faces urgent AI skills gap, Microsoft report claims

UK faces urgent AI skills gap, Microsoft report claims

by • AI, News, Technology

The UK is facing an AI skills gap that could leave companies struggling to compete with rivals from across the world, a new Microsoft report claims.  The research, entitled AI Skills in the UK, also found that businesses in this country use less AI than firms overseas, and when they do it tends to be less advanced. UK organisations are also less likely to be classed as “AI pros” compared to the global average (15 percent versus 23 percent), and the UK has a higher failure rate of AI than the global average (measured by the number of projects generating no commercial value – 29 percent versus 19 percent). (more…)

UK businesses lead the way on lockdown wellbeing

UK businesses lead the way on lockdown wellbeing

by • News, Wellbeing

Business leaders around the world have focused on protecting their employees in their immediate COVID-19 response, with UK CEOs leading the pack on mental wellbeing support. Some 93 percent of UK CEOs (92 percent globally) prioritised protecting employee health and safety over everything else. However, UK CEOs were found to have been significantly more focused on their employees’ mental wellbeing than their global counterparts, with 90 percent providing wellbeing support and initiatives, compared with 61 percent of CEOs globally. (more…)

Freelancer income fell by a quarter during lockdown

Freelancer income fell by a quarter during lockdown

by • News

In the second quarter of 2020, freelancers’ average income dropped by 25 percent, according to the latest freelancer Confidence Index by IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed). According to IPSE, the drop in income was driven by a record fall in the average number of weeks freelancers worked this quarter. Between March and June, the average freelancer went 5.5 weeks out of 13 without work. Combined with a 3 percent fall in freelancers’ average day rates, this led to average quarterly earnings declining by 25 percent from £20,821 in Q1 2020 to £15,709 in Q2 2020. (more…)

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