Search Results for: change

Employers welcome multi-generational workforce but worry about increased risk of conflict

Employers welcome multi-generational workforce but worry about increased risk of conflict

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

Employers welcome multi-generational workforce but worry about increased risk of conflictImproved living standards, deflating pension pots and legal protection against age discrimination have all helped to nudge up the retirement age. The result is that for the first time since the Industrial Revolution five generations of employees are now working side by side. According to a new survey, two thirds of organisations (66 per cent) say that an age diverse workforce helped the company to have a more comprehensive skillset and knowledge base and more than seven in ten (71 per cent) felt that a multi-generational workforce brought contrasting views to their organisation. However, in the YouGov survey of middle market businesses commissioned by RSM, four in ten companies (41 per cent) said that a multi-generational workforce also increased the risk of conflict in the workplace. (more…)

A storm brewing around the workplace and facilities management

A storm brewing around the workplace and facilities management

by • Comment, Facilities management, News, Workplace design

In Shakespeare’s plays, the sky often goes dark and a storm starts to brew as a prelude to tragedy or violence creating a sense of foreboding. And so it was at today’s BIFM AGM in the lead-up to the special resolution to change the name of the institute from the British Institute of Facilities Management to the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management. After a fire alarm test appositely kicked off the event, sun poured through the windows and ceiling panes of the Friends Meeting House in Manchester as BIFM chairman Steve Roots gave an update on the institute’s performance in 2017 and plans for 2018. As he introduced the format for the three ordinary resolutions, the sun dipped behind a cloud and the room was plunged into gloom causing murmurs of nervous laughter among the 80-strong audience. (more…)

Why a Google office simply does not work for everybody

Why a Google office simply does not work for everybody 0

by • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace design

The open plan office versus closed debate rages on, and rather than running out of steam in the face of all of the evidence and reasoned argument put forward one one side or the other by many industry thought-leaders, it seems to have nine lives. Those grand and ground-breaking  new offices occupied by the world’s tech giants seem to be particularly popular examples of why highly open and transparent workplaces do, or don’t work, especially those headline-grabbing offices created around the world by Google. This public debate has led to some very interesting and insightful discussions in various forums (to which I have contributed), inspiring me to synthesise the key themes into four reasons why a Google office is not necessarily the right type of office for your organisation. Many thanks in particular are due to David Rostie and Kay Sargent for their valuable online contributions to the debates which inspired this article.

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Over a third of staff say employers fail to invest in next-generation workplace technology

Over a third of staff say employers fail to invest in next-generation workplace technology

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Over a third of staff say employers fail to invest in next-generation workplace technologyThe majority of employees are disappointed with their company’s lack of investment in technology, and despite the fact three quarters (76 percent) want to request flexible working – almost half still don’t have the option of working more flexibly, a new report from a technology company claims. According to the survey by technology company Ingram Micro Cloud UK, in collaboration with technology company Microsoft, despite the fact that Millennials and Centennials are often thought to be the driving force behind changing workplace practices – and are often derided in popular discourse for having unreasonable and unrealistic expectations – the calls for change are coming from all segments of the workforce. However, 85 percent of Millennials admit to procuring their own workplace technologies such as instant messaging, Skype, file hosting and sharing tools (all available from Ingram Micro Cloud) that aren’t supported or provided by their employer, which raises major security issues, acco.

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Why you should definitely stand in meetings (and not care what others think about it)

Why you should definitely stand in meetings (and not care what others think about it)

by • Features, Wellbeing

People who stand in meetings may enjoy a number of health benefits, but it can also make them feel self-conscious, anxious about how others perceive them, and disengaged from the meeting. These findings, taken from our recent study, suggest that efforts to encourage office workers to sit less and move more must acknowledge the realities of the workplace that conspire to keep people chained to their seats. Sitting has been linked to adverse health outcomes, including increased risk of obesity, heart disease, some cancers, and poorer mental health. While some evidence suggests that the harms of sitting can be offset by at least one daily hour of moderate physical activity, this seems an unrealistic target. (more…)

Call for action within the built environment to help meet sustainable development goals

Call for action within the built environment to help meet sustainable development goals

by • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Call for action within the built environment to help meet sustainable development goalsBuilt environment organisations are calling for urgent action on issues such as consumption, innovation and infrastructure to prevent the UK slipping behind other nations on poverty, equality and the environment as a new report released today (3 July 2018) highlights the UK’s inadequate performance against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those for the built environment. The report, Measuring up, from the UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development (UKSSD), is the first comprehensive assessment of the UK’s performance against all 17 SDGs and highlights a significant danger that quality of life in the UK will worsen if action is not taken. Just some of the findings of the report include; that the UK is performing well (green) on only 24 percent of its targets; no industry, innovation and infrastructure targets have achieved a ‘good’ performance rating, with gaps in policy coverage and inadequate or deteriorating performance and large scale, sustained investment in replacing ageing infrastructure and creating additional resilient and low carbon infrastructure of all kinds is required.

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UK firms may be lagging those of other nations in offering flexible working

UK firms may be lagging those of other nations in offering flexible working

by • Flexible working, News, Technology

The UK lags behind other nations in the shift to remote and flexible working, putting more emphasis on effective meetings to coordinate scattered teams, a new report, ‘The Modern Workplace 2018: People, Places & Technology’ by software company Condeco has found. The research claims that across the world workers are in the midst of a shift to flexible and remote working – spending more time working from home, on the move or from multiple locations. However, the UK is significantly behind in embracing these trends, which could negatively affect worker satisfaction as well as holding back firms who are competing for the best international staff.

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Investment in European corporate real estate takes a downward turn

Investment in European corporate real estate takes a downward turn

by • News, Property

Investment levels across European corporate real estate markets are currently on course to meet 2017 levels, after finishing last year on a high. Levels of investment in the first three months of 2018 was broadly in line with the long term average following one of the strongest final quarters recorded in the report from real estate consultancy Savills. Commercial investment totalled €46 billion across the survey area, down 8 percent compared to the same period last year but broadly in line with historic trends.

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Companies need to capitalise more on enthusiasm for data amongst the workforce

Companies need to capitalise more on enthusiasm for data amongst the workforce

by • AI, News, Technology, Workplace

Companies need to capitalise more on enthusiasm for data amongst the workforceA major global report has revealed a lack of confidence in data is limiting corporate success in the emerging era of robotics and automation. The global research launched by Qlik, has revealed an escalating skills gap preventing business decision-makers asking the right questions of data and machines. Despite McKinsey reporting that up to 800 million global workers will lose their jobs by 2030 as a result of automation and robotics, and Gartner hailing data literacy at the must-have skill in the workplace, most business decision-makers (76 percent) lack confidence in their ability to read, work, analyse and argue with data. The highest level of doubt in data skills can be found among European executives (83 percent), followed by those in APAC (80 percent) and the US (67 percent). According to the report, as organisations look to be data driven, those employees who can read, work, analyse and argue with data will be able to contribute more to their roles and organisations and employers need to capitalise on this enthusiasm to drive the programme for data literacy.

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Ten demonstrable truths about the workplace you may not know

Ten demonstrable truths about the workplace you may not know

by • Comment, Facilities management, Features, Workplace design

workplace designThe science of the workplace has gained a lot of interest over the last few years, highlighting recurring patterns of human behaviour as well as how organisational behaviour relates to office design. In theory, knowledge from this growing body of research could be used to inform design. In practice, this is rarely the case. A survey of 420 architects and designers highlighted a large gap between research and practice: while 80 percent of respondents agreed that more evidence was needed on the impact of design, 68 percent admitted they never reviewed literature and 71 percent said they never engaged in any sort of post-occupancy evaluation. Only 5 percent undertake a formal POE and just 1 percent do so in a rigorous fashion. Not a single practitioner reported a report on the occupied scheme, despite its importance in understanding the impact of a design.

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New era ahead for corporate real estate strategy, claims CBRE report

New era ahead for corporate real estate strategy, claims CBRE report

by • Facilities management, News, Property

The period to 2040 will bring profound and far-reaching changes to corporate real estate portfolios according to CBRE. The new report Portfolio 2040, claims to approach the issue from a portfolio perspective, examining how business, buildings and perhaps even cities themselves, might look in 20 years’ time. One of the key drivers for change is identified as pervasive availability, and creative use of very high-volume data and the growth of AI, enabling companies to adapt almost instantaneously to external change and offer increasingly personalised solutions. Rapid and fluid specialisation, either temporary or permanent, will characterise most businesses and real estate will need to reflect this by being increasingly flexible, multipurpose and rapidly adaptable.

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Location of workplace most important factor in attracting UK job seekers

Location of workplace most important factor in attracting UK job seekers

by • News, Workplace

The most attractive factor for UK job seekers when choosing a new employer is the location, claims the latest Global Talent Monitor report from Gartner. The report warns that employers are facing some challenges in retention as just 27.2 percent of UK employees in 1Q18 reported a high intention to stay with the organisation, down 5.5 percent from the same period last year. The UK had the fourth largest decrease after France, Singapore and Germany and those that are at the highest risk of leaving are those aged between 18-29 and 30-39 who have completed an MBA. The biggest attraction-drivers for UK job seekers are location (53.5 percent), vacation (43 percent), work-life balance (41.9 percent), camaraderie (41.4 percent) and produce or service quality (41.4 percent). (more…)

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