October 13, 2022

The success of hybrid working hinges on creating a great workplace experience

by Lee Rubin • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace

Recent statistics underline the extent to which hybrid working is now a permanent fixture of US business life. A recent report suggests that 74 percent of US companies are using or plan to implement a permanent hybrid working model, whilst 44 percent of US employees prefer a hybrid work model, compared to 51 percent of employers. 55 percent of employees want to work remotely at least three days a week and 59 percent of employees are more likely to choose an employer that offers remote work opportunities over one that doesn’t. More →

October 13, 2022

Transparency and collaboration key to real estate decarbonisation

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has warned of a ‘carbon bubble’ in the pricing of European real estate and urged the industry to work together to preserve values across the sector as it aims to meet the decarbonisation targets set in the Paris Agreement. To support a more collaborative approach, at the inaugural ULI C Change Summit, the institute has published its Transition Risk Assessment Consultation Guidelines as part of its C Change programme. These guidelines set out a standardised method for assessing the costs of decarbonising buildings and disclosing between owners, investors, potential buyers, and valuers the main transition risks and impact on values. More →

October 10, 2022

Leading UK employers call for flexible working recruitment by default

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

A joint letter from 21 leading employers – including several in the FTSE 100 – is calling on employers across the UK to advertise all vacant roles with flexible options by default. The full text is: More →

October 7, 2022

Third of firms expect the four-day week to become a reality ‘for most’ in the next ten years

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

A third of respondent organisations (34 percent) to a CIPD poll think the four-day week will become a reality in the UK for most workers within the next ten years. However, only a small minority of firms have moved towards the four-day week to date by reducing hours without reducing pay for their employees, or plan to do this over the next three years. One in ten (10 percent) organisations report they have reduced working hours without reducing pay for the whole or a significant part of their workforce over the last five years, although of these, under half of employers (42 percent) did so as a result of the furlough scheme. More →

October 5, 2022

Gallery: British Council for Offices announces winners of national awards

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Workplace design, Works Magazine

Sunderland City Hall was celebrated as ‘Best of the Best’ at the British Council for Offices’ (BCO) National Awards at the Grosvenor House hotel in London last night, also taking home the ‘Corporate Workplace’ award. The office was joined by six other award winners recognised as leading examples of excellence in office space across the UK. The BCO’s National Awards programme claims to recognises top quality office design and functionality and says it sets the standard for excellence across the office sector. More →

October 5, 2022

Cancer Support UK introduces new course to support employees affected by cancer

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

If a work colleague told you they had cancer how would you respond? This scenario is fast becoming a reality, as by 2030 it is estimated that 1.5million people of working age will be living with cancer. The impact that a cancer diagnosis can have on an individual’s mental health is significant, yet 85 percent of employees with a cancer diagnosis want to carry on working. Knowing how to conduct a difficult conversation about cancer, and support those with cancer in the workplace, is at the heart of a new training programme – the Cancer Support Ambassador course – introduced by wellbeing experts Cancer Support UK. More →

October 4, 2022

One in four pregnant women reluctant to share news with employers

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

More than one in four (26 percent) pregnant women feel reluctant to share their pregnancy news due to fear of the stigma they may face from colleagues and managers, according to a new poll from Culture Shift. This jumped to almost half (46 percent) for those who had been in employment for less than six months when they fell pregnant. The survey conducted among mothers who worked while pregnant reveals more than one in five (21 percent) know someone who has faced maternity discrimination at work, while one in eight (12 percent) have experienced it themselves. More than one in ten (11 percent) say it was their manager who discriminated against them. More →

October 4, 2022

Reliance on hero leaders holds back progress on the environment

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

Reliance on a wise ‘guru’ leader or ‘hero CEO’ endangers progress in tackling the environmental crisis by shifting responsibility, according to a new report from CEMS. Instead, all leaders need to adopt a corporate culture of ‘collective’ responsibility, empowering all employees to make decisions with a generational outlook if real change is to take place. The new report – Leading for the Future of Our Planet – builds on findings from a CEMS survey of 4,206 professionals across 75 countries revealing that the environment is the single greatest concern facing modern-day business leaders, overtaking technological advancement. More →

September 30, 2022

There is no F in work

by James Woudhuysen • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Neil Usher is an energetic, wiry critic of workplaces and offices. Long ago – in 2018, actually – his proposal that the good office is composed of 12 simple elements, beginning with daylight, was also energetic and wiry. Here he widens out from the delicious nitty-gritties of temperature control and lighting in The Elemental Workplace to the wider phenomenon of work. As the title already suggests, the style is laden with expletives: there are no fewer than 25 mentions of the word ‘crap’. He is withering, too, about the ‘easiest fat-arsed squatting duck of targets, the hapless office, with its rituals and theatrics’. On top of a fresh, Elemental-style bow to the nostrum of inclusion, there is a critique of management fads, but also reference made to (white male) privilege, plus, in a lofty manner, ‘our essentially Stone Age cognitive wiring’.

September 27, 2022

Skills shortages won’t be solved by offering people more money

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

As businesses across the country face rising costs, new research from the CIPD and Omni warns that using pay to attract talent simply isn’t enough to tackle on-going skills shortages. While an increasing number of organisations (54 percent) are inflating pay to retain talent, this approach is not sustainable for most employers in the face of rising costs. To tackle the skills shortage, organisations need to highlight other components of good working practices when recruiting, such as offering flexible working and promoting career development opportunities. For instance, the latest Resourcing and Talent Planning survey shows that 68 percent of employers that offer hybrid/ remote working say it has allowed their organisation to attract and retain more talent. More →

September 23, 2022

The Great Workplace Debate continues to improve (mostly)

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The great bandwagon of bullshit that is the home v office debate looks set to trundle into a third year. What is increasingly obvious is that it is the mainstream media that is holding the reins and refusing to release them. Here’s a BBC story from this week that doesn’t exactly mischaracterise the Microsoft report on which it is based, but does place the emphasis where it doesn’t need to be. The binary headline doesn’t help, of course, except to launder the idea and drive a needless wave of social media chatter. More →

September 23, 2022

TOG and Fora complete merger to create new flexible workspace giant

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Property

Following approval from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), TOG and Fora are proud to announce the completion of their merger, bringing together two highly complementary businesses with similar cultures and portfolios of high-quality, design-led workspaces. The merged business (the ‘Group’) will operate under a parent company called The Office Group with both the TOG and Fora brands retained until a full brand review is completed. The Group has plans to create the premier flexible workspace group in London and other key European cities and is well positioned to draw on the expertise and scale of both companies. More →