Search Results for: change

From the archive: The role of workplace design in employee engagement

From the archive: The role of workplace design in employee engagement 0

by • Features, Wellbeing, Work&Place, Workplace design

A new report certainly raises the question of what more can be done, including in terms of workplace design, to boost engagement levels amongst these employees

Originally published six years ago, this feature is currently the most read story ever on the website with around 50,000 readers. A global study by my own firm Steelcase has found that one-third of workers across 17 of the world’s most important economies are actually disengaged. The findings make worrying reading for employers around the world, as engagement is so demonstrably linked to business critical outcomes such as employee retention, productivity and even profits. It certainly raises the question of what more can be done, including in terms of workplace design, to boost engagement levels amongst these employees. (more…)

Half of work related illness is down to stress, depression or anxiety

Half of work related illness is down to stress, depression or anxiety

by • News, Wellbeing

1.8 million workers reported they were suffering from work-related ill health in 2022/23, with approximately half of the cases down to stress, depression or anxietyNearly two million workers in Great Britain reported suffering from work-related ill health in 2022/23, according the latest annual statistical report from the UK’s Health and Safety Executive. The statistics reveal that 1.8 million workers reported they were suffering from work-related ill health in 2022/23, with approximately half of the cases down to stress, depression or anxiety. In the recent years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of self-reported work-related ill health had been broadly flat, but the current rate is higher than 2018/19. (more…)

Business leaders who screw up struggle to own up and learn from their mistakes

Business leaders who screw up struggle to own up and learn from their mistakes

by • Business, News

Leaders making mistakes can be costly not only to the organisation, but also to their own job security, which makes it difficult for them to admit when there’s been an error. However, new research from emlyon business school shows that there are some techniques CEOs can use to frame these mistakes, in order to ensure they keep their jobs, but also make changes in their organisation. When there is this clear trade-off between admitting a mistake and potentially losing power and control in the organisation, it is important that CEOs use their language effectively to create a safe space for themselves in the organisation – but how can they do so? (more…)

Oscillate wildly between the death of the office and the death of hybrid working

Oscillate wildly between the death of the office and the death of hybrid working

by • Comment, Flexible working

The media's twisting between the death of the office and the death of hybrid working shows we've reached a point of equilibriumIt’s March 2020, very early days of lockdowns and the first catastrophising headlines appear. Is this the death of the office? Is this the death of handshakes? Is this the death of the open plan? I dismissed them at the time in this piece from March the 19th, citing Betteridge’s Law which states: “any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with the word no”. (more…)

Manchester is now a major draw for office design firms

Manchester is now a major draw for office design firms

by • Cities, Features, Workplace design

Way before the lockdown rewired the whole events scene in cities around the world, I was given a task by an old, now departed, friend. He wanted to explore the possibility of creating something like Clerkenwell Design Week in Manchester. The obvious problem was that, for some of its historic parallels, Manchester isn’t Clerkenwell and it certainly isn’t London. What it particularly lacked for this type of event was a hothouse of office design showrooms sharing space with a youthful community of architects and designers. The ecosystem for such an event didn’t really exist in the same way. (more…)

Arper launches first sustainability report

Arper launches first sustainability report

by • Company news

Arper, global design brand that envisions products for the way we live, publishes its first Sustainability Report, which serves as a comprehensive overview of the company’s sustainability effortsArper, global design brand that envisions products for the way we live, publishes its first Sustainability Report, which serves as a comprehensive overview of the company’s sustainability efforts for the year 2022, outlining their commitment to responsible business practices.? The report summarizes Arper’s commitment towards people and the Planet and highlights the company’s continuous search for sustainable innovation processes and the implementation of responsible business practices. (more…)

People spending more time in offices in search of social interaction

People spending more time in offices in search of social interaction

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Office workers now spend more time in the office, with the average creeping up to three and a half days per week compared to three days in 2022, according to a new report from international law firm, Gowling WLG. The report, titled Strategic moves: why the office is now a business-critical decision [registration], surveyed senior representatives responsible for making office lease decisions in companies, and a selection of office workers. It identifies that a more permanent approach to office usage is now emerging, as the shadow of the pandemic recedes, as well as demonstrating the changing metrics being applied by occupiers to decisions relating to premises requirements and the more complex environment for landlord asset management. (more…)

‘Return-to-office’ rates vary widely across Europe

‘Return-to-office’ rates vary widely across Europe

by • Flexible working, News

New data demonstrates varying approaches to the so-called return to office across Europe, with France and Belgium leading, spending an average of 3.5 days working from the officeA new survey from JLL, Is hybrid really working? [registration] claims that the majority of international organisations (87 percent) are encouraging employees to work from the office at least some of the time. In fact, only 20 percent of employees who can work remotely all of the time or one-two days in the office now do so, down from 39 percent a year ago. However, the data demonstrates varying approaches to the so-called return to office across Europe, with France and Belgium leading, spending an average of 3.5 days working from the office. Germany, Netherlands, Spain and the UK are however lagging behind with an average of 2.5 days working from the office. (more…)

Firms make lots of noise about social mobility but don’t always act on it

Firms make lots of noise about social mobility but don’t always act on it

by • News, Workplace

Social mobility: UK employers disproportionately focused on outreach to working-class candidates rather than recruiting and retaining them A new report on social mobility, conducted by the charity Making The Leap, claims that only a third of employers (35 percent) took any action on the retention and inclusion of job candidates from less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds (LSEB) candidates this year. This is down from 53 percent in 2022, showing a significant decline in prioritising a key element of social mobility, and significantly lower than those that say they are focussed on recruiting candidates. (more…)

Republished: The brain-dead megaphone of work

Republished: The brain-dead megaphone of work

by • Comment, Working lives

There is nothing new about any of this. And yet it’s all new. I’ve spent months talking to people who really know their stuff about work and workplaces and underlying nearly all of those conversations is the following paradox. They know about flexible working, the under-utilisation of space, the twenty minute neighbourhood, the work ecosystem, universal basic income, the digital workspace, the office as club, all the rest of it. Heard it all before, often many times, over many years. Some of them have been living it too, and yet… (more…)

Want people to spend more time in the office? Give them a little piece of home

Want people to spend more time in the office? Give them a little piece of home

by • Comment, Workplace design

For many people, a large portion of the day is spent at the workplace. In fact, the average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime. The Covid-19 pandemic saw the typical ‘workplace’ setting change for many people, after businesses around the globe were forced to adjust to a ‘work-from-home’ model. Now, three years later, we are starting to see more employees return to the office, with large corporations including JPMorgan, Chase, Apple and Google all announcing plans to bring their workers back to base. (more…)

The challenge for fit-out firms is to deliver best value despite supply chain challenges

The challenge for fit-out firms is to deliver best value despite supply chain challenges

by • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Workplace design

Whilst industry supply and demand dynamics may have found a level of equilibrium since the pandemic, geopolitical tensions, economic disruptions, and an unstable domestic policy environment continue to have an impact on the office fit-out marketThe past year has been a challenging one for London’s commercial fit-out market. Whilst industry supply and demand dynamics may have found a level of equilibrium since the pandemic, geopolitical tensions, economic disruptions, and an unstable domestic policy environment continue to have an impact. In tandem with this, the commercial fit-out market is adapting to changing needs; from accommodating hybrid working models to growing demands for sustainability and reuse, the workplaces of today are ever changing. (more…)

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