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Watch where you sit: new workplace setups could hit productivity

Watch where you sit: new workplace setups could hit productivity

Slowly, it seems we are seeing a gradual return to some sort of normality. Shops are opening up as well as restaurants and pubs and many of us are now also heading back into the office. But these aren’t the offices as we once knew them. Workspace layouts and seating plans are being completely overhauled to bring in new social distancing and safety measures. Beyond just the physical changes this incurs, this could also have a wider impact on how we work – and businesses need to be prepared and ready for that too. (more…)

Leaders need to develop a high care quotient for the new challenges they face

Leaders need to develop a high care quotient for the new challenges they face

Everything has taken a hit in 2020. Nothing has gone unscathed or unchanged – and the same goes for leadership. From boardrooms to living rooms, meeting rooms to spare rooms, leadership has moved away from face-to-face interactions to digital communications. Meanwhile, forward-thinking initiatives, spurred on by continuing diversity imbalances and widening gender pay gaps, have been put on hold. Following government guidance, only half of businesses published their 2018-19 gender pay gap report – which could reportedly push gender equality back a whole generation. We are risking losing sight of what’s important to us – and unless we’re intentional about how we make systemic, much-needed organisational changes, they’re not going to happen if we only focus on more ‘critical’ things, or keeping the lights on. (more…)

Younger workers careers suffer in lockdown, but are hopeful of better future

Younger workers careers suffer in lockdown, but are hopeful of better future

In the face of unprecedented health and economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘millennials’ and ‘Gen Zs’ express resolve and a vision to build a better future, a new Deloitte survey claims. The 2020 Deloitte Global Millennial Survey, now in its ninth year, suggests that both generations remain resilient in the face of adversity and are determined to drive positive change in their communities and around the world. (more…)

COVID anxiety changing commuter travel habits, according to research

COVID anxiety changing commuter travel habits, according to research

commutersAround 6 in 10 London commuters will change the way they travel when the return to work begins, research by Addison Lee claims, with COVID-19 safety concerns changing transport demand patterns. (more…)

Companies fail to consider employee needs during digital transformation

Companies fail to consider employee needs during digital transformation

digital transformationLenovo has published a new study which claims that organisations are placing business and shareholder goals above employee needs during their digital transformation. The research, conducted among 1,000 IT managers across EMEA, suggests that just 6 percent of IT managers consider users as their top priority when making technology investments. (more…)

Winners announced for 2020 KI Award from Royal College of Art and Imperial College

Winners announced for 2020 KI Award from Royal College of Art and Imperial College

The winners of the annual KI Award, now in its fifth year, were announced in the lead up to the upcoming digital graduation show. The awards and cash prizes are given to final year students selected from the RCA’s ‘Design Products’ and the RCA/Imperial College London’s ‘Innovation Design Engineering’ double masters course. The winning projects showed an outstanding approach to functionality, durability, sustainability and enhancement to user experience for our future working or learning experiences. A summary of each award winner is included below.  (more…)

Majority of businesses moving forward with international expansion

Majority of businesses moving forward with international expansion

international expansionNew research released by Globalization Partners and CFO Research, suggests that most businesses are undeterred by the impact of COVID-19 and are still moving forward with plans for new or expanded international operations. More than half of the respondents expressed interest in expanding or adding operations in the Asia-Pacific region. The findings also claim that 83 percent of respondents said they are looking into a remote, global workforce model as a solution to the changes brought about by COVID-19. (more…)

The links between coffee, shared ideas and the office go back a long way

The links between coffee, shared ideas and the office go back a long way

cafe culture in office design and the workplaceThe BBC recently published a piece on its website to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Ridley Scott’s movie Alien and what it could tell us about office design and the workplace (of whatever sort). One of the interesting points raised in the piece was how the depiction of the conditions on board the spaceship Nostromo did away with the gloss and swish of previous visions of the future, replaced by grime, exposed services and strictly utilitarian interiors. The environment was one of the characters, a trick Ridley Scott later repeated in Bladerunner. (more…)

Carers consider giving up work due to lack of employer support

Carers consider giving up work due to lack of employer support

carersNew research suggests that almost half (44 percent) of working carers in England and Wales, equivalent to around 1.6 million people, are struggling to cope with the pressures of balancing their work and caring responsibilities – and that a quarter (24 percent) have considered giving up their job entirely. These are the findings in a newly published report, titled “Supporting working carers: How employers and employees can benefit”, from the CIPD and The University of Sheffield. (more…)

Investment in talent will drive market share gains as economy rebounds

Investment in talent will drive market share gains as economy rebounds

talentOrganisations that favour agile working and make strategic investments in human capital during the coronavirus crisis will be best positioned to gain market share and overtake competitors, according to a new Talent Trends report released by Randstad Sourceright. (more…)

The key features of the post COVID-19 office you should consider

The key features of the post COVID-19 office you should consider

With millions of people now working from home or furloughed, they may be wondering when they will be asked to return to the office, perhaps imagining what their office will look like on their return and feeling a little anxious about going back to their work space. A TUC survey issued 27 April 2020 confirmed that 39 percent of workers returning to the office are concerned about safe distancing from their colleagues. (more…)

BBP and BSRIA publish new soft landings report for property owners

BBP and BSRIA publish new soft landings report for property owners

Better Buildings Partnership, together with BSRIA (Building Services Research and Information Association), has today published the joint report: Soft Landings: The Benefits to Commercial Property Owners. The commercial property sector is waking up to the fact that it needs to take responsibility on climate change and there is a broad recognition that a significant gap exists between the design expectations and operational performance of buildings. Part of taking climate action involves minimising this gap, the report’s authors claim. (more…)