Search Results for: change

April 21, 2016

How and why Millennials are shaping the future of remote working ⁰

by Sara Sutton Fell • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Workplace, Workplace design

The future is here. Millennials, the youngest generation in the workforce, are now the majority generation at work. Their potential impact has been discussed for decades, but we’re finally seeing results, as this generation not only enters the workforce, but assumes management-level roles, makes their voices heard, and shifts how we approach work. But why does the Millennials attitude and approach to work have such an impact on how, when, where, and why we all work? And why should employers pay attention? It’s because this generation is shaping remote working. They’ve got sheer numbers behind them. In 2015, Millennials surpassed Generation X to become the largest generation in the American workforce. The vast majority of Millennials want flexible work options, especially the ability to work remotely. In survey after survey, Millennials, more than any generation previously, say that work-life balance and remote work is important to them.

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April 20, 2016

400 years on, the Bard continues to influence Britain’s workplaces ⁰

by Mark Farrar • Comment, Workplace

It has been well reported that Saturday (23rd April) marks the 400th anniversary of the death of one of Britain’s most famous literary geniuses, William Shakespeare. The reasons for his enduring popularity are clear, as the website Shakespeare Online points out, if you cannot find words to express how you feel about love or music or growing older, Shakespeare can speak for you. What is somewhat less known is that Shakespeare is credited with coining over 1700 words that are now in use in English, generally through changing nouns into verbs and verbs into adjectives, connecting existing words and, in some cases, coming up with wholly new creations. To mark the occasion, the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) has selected five words that the playwright brought into our language which are heard up and down businesses throughout the UK on a daily basis.

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April 20, 2016

Traditional performance management fails to match new digital workplace ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

Performance management plays a key role in helping organisations measure how effectively their employees are contributing to business objectives. Yet despite 94 percent of workforce leaders in a global survey believing performance management improves business performance, only 39 percent of them think their current practices help to achieve their organisation’s business objectives. This isn’t just the employers’ view, within the workforce, 89 percent of people believe their performance would significantly improve if changes were made. The main reason for this credibility gap is the impact digital technologies are having on the nature of both work and the workforce. In the Accenture Strategy report, Is Performance Management Performing? – 92 percent of respondents report that work is faster, more networked and collaborative, and demands ever-evolving skills. This means that organisations need to innovate to keep pace.

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April 18, 2016

Great strides made towards fourth industrial revolution, but more to come ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

Many countries and organisations are making significant strides in the development of the fourth industrial revolution, but there is much work still to do. Those are the conclusion of two new studies into the preparedness of firms and national economies with regards to the emerging digital economy. The Cisco Digital Readiness report surveyed technology decision makers in eight countries and eight industries, categorising them as either ‘forwards’ and ‘laggers’. According to the report, globally, the ‘forwards’ have an average score of 77. The UK’s score is 75 placing it largely at the forefront of developments. According to a second report from PwC, Industry 4.0: Building the Digital Enterprise, the digitisation of businesses is progressing well, but with a lot of scope for development. The survey of more than 2,000 global companies found that 33 per cent of firms rate their digitisation levels as high, but the value will hit 72 percent over the next five years.

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April 15, 2016

Employers’ and workers’ views on an engaging workplace differ widely ⁰

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

Business growth is radically redefining how employees are managed, especially as there is greater competition than ever to hire the best people from a much more demanding employee population. Yet employees report that a lack of development, outdated processes, and discontent with the role of their managers are causing them to feel dissatisfied according to Mercer’s 2016 Global Talent Trends Study, the first to take into account the perspective of both employers and employees. While 85 percent of organisations admit that their talent management programmes need an overhaul, 70 percent are confident about filling critical roles with internal candidates, 28 percent of employees say they plan to leave in the next 12 months even though they are satisfied with their current role. Managing these challenges requires support but only 4 percent of HR professionals feel that the HR function is viewed as a strategic business partner within their organisations.

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April 14, 2016

Londoners work less flexibly than elsewhere, despite longer commutes ⁰

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

Londoners are less likely to work flexibly than the rest of the UK, despite having much longer commuting times. This is according to the results of new research by the CIPD which found that many Londoners are travelling for the equivalent of at least one full working day in a ‘typical’ week. They spend an average of 47 minutes travelling to work each way compared to the national average of 31 minutes, and their average travel to work time increases to 56 minutes each way, if you consider a combination of both employees who live in London and those that commute into the capital from outside the M25. The data also reveals that flexible workers in London are more satisfied with their jobs, feel under less pressure and have better work-life balance than those who don’t work flexibly. In its policy programme, Opportunity through work: A manifesto for London, the CIPD is calling for a campaign to increase the uptake of flexible working in the Capital.

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April 12, 2016

Friendly workplaces are less innovative, claims new report ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Work friendships can contribute to a lack of creative diversity in the office, according to new research from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.‘Relational capital and individual exploration: Unravelling the influence of goal alignment and knowledge acquisition’, a paper that examines the double-edged sword of friendships between colleagues, has revealed that friendly workplaces discourage employees from challenging ‘group think’. The researchers examined 150 respondents within large R&D departments of three Fortune Global 500 firms, gauging whether their accounts of personal friendships affected individual creativity, in information obtained from their colleagues. Tom Mom, along with co-authors Pepijn van Neerijnen, Patrick Reinmoeller and Ernst Verwaal, demonstrate that by aligning themselves, employees become less likely to innovate away from the established and accepted ‘norm’.

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April 12, 2016

Women who feel valued at work will help close the gender pay gap ⁰

by Mark Bull • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace

There has been much debate around the gender pay gap but aside from any instances of obvious gender discrimination is the controversial fact that women appear to be more afraid of asking for a pay rise than men. According to a recent survey by Randstad 72 per cent of women are afraid even to ask for a raise for fear of jeopardising their existing position. This clearly shows there is work still to be done to encourage women to ‘lean in’. When people start questioning the value they bring to a company they are less likely to put themselves in the spotlight, or under scrutiny, by asking for a raise or a promotion, and the key to increasing confidence is by getting genuine feedback on work performance. If you know that your work is getting recognised by colleagues and you are being praised for it, then you are more likely to understand the value of the work you are doing, regardless of what industry you are in.

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April 7, 2016

Dramatic rise predicted for the number of UK men working part-time ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

As we reported yesterday, just 1 percent of working men have availed themselves so far of the right to Shared Parental Leave (SPL) but it seems this doesn’t necessarily mean that men don’t want to adopt more flexible working patterns. A new report, Working Futures, published by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), projects that the number of part-time male workers is set to increase by 20 percent by 2024 – nearly three times more than the projected growth in part-time female workers (7 percent), and this growth is particularly significant for men in professional or management roles, where an increase of 25 percent is projected. This marks a substantial change in the working patterns of men in highly paid, highly skilled roles. Women by contrast are set to become more career focused – with a rise of 7 percent in the number of women working full-time, compared to just 3 percent for men.

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April 6, 2016

Just one percent of men have taken-up UK’s shared parental leave right ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

One year on from its launch and it’s emerged that just 1 percent of men have so far taken up the opportunity of Shared Parental Leave (SPL) while over half (55 percent) of women say they wouldn’t want to share their maternity leave rights. The main reasons why men have chosen not to take up SPL are financial affordability, lack of awareness, and unwillingness from women to share their maternity leave. A combined survey of over 1,000 parents and 200 businesses (HR Directors) from My Family Care and the Women’s Business Council found that taking up SPL was very much dependent on a person’s individual circumstances, particularly on their financial situation and the paternity pay on offer from their employer. It found that 80 percent of both men and women agreed that a decision to share leave would be dependent on their finances and their employer’s enhancement of SPL. (more…)

April 6, 2016

Londoners unsure about the city’s proliferation of tall buildings ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Cities, News, Property

A new poll from Historic England claims that nearly half of Londoners (48 percent) think the now 430 tall buildings planned for the capital will have a negative impact on the skyline, compared to the 34 percent who think they will have a positive impact. The study also claims that more than half do not know how to make their voice heard. The figures were released as Loyd Grossman, Chairman of the Heritage Alliance, Sir Laurie Magnus, Chairman of Historic England and architect Sir Terry Farrell wrote an open letter calling for a clearer strategy on tall buildings for London. When asked which planning applications they would like to be consulted on, 60 percent believed people across the city should have a say if a tall building is proposed in a historically important place. But currently it is usually only those in surrounding areas who are consulted on proposals for buildings that may be so tall they affect views and settings for miles around.

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April 6, 2016

What Johan Cruyff can teach us about the contemporary workplace ⁰

by Andrew Brown • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

The Dutch (and to an extent, their north European neighbours in Scandinavia) are regarded as leaders in ideas on how to improve employee engagement, productivity, wellbeing and basically putting people ahead of the capital asset. It’s why people are heading off to Amsterdam this week for the Smart Workplace Design Summit. What you might not know is that this whole approach is deeply rooted in Dutch culture. There is a distinct Dutch way of doing things. FM World is planning to explore this in a forthcoming issue in May. In the article readers will hear from organisations like Veldhoen and their adherence to the concept of activity based working (ABW). Veldhoen has a philosophy about workplace and how to improve an organisations performance. It all hinges on ABW. They won’t bother working with you unless you buy into their way of doing things. This is very Dutch. And why not. It works: Veldhoen get results.