Search Results for: collaboration

March 28, 2019

Government lacks the know-how to help disabled people get into work

The Department for Work Pensions has limited evidence of what works when it comes to supporting disabled people to work, according to the National Audit Office (NAO) in a report published today. The number of disabled people in work has risen by 930,000 (31 percent) in the last five years, but this has not been matched by a reduction in the number of disabled people who are out of work. The NAO found that the government’s headline goal of getting one million more disabled people into work from 2017 to 2027 cannot be used to measure the success of its efforts. The Department itself recognises that this measure cannot be linked directly to any specific government policy or programme. Broader factors, such as more people who are already in work reporting a disability, and rising employment rates, have a significant effect on the measure. It therefore lacks a target for which it is willing to be held to account. (more…)

March 28, 2019

The rise of the digital workplace is transforming the physical office

by Giles Fuchs • Comment, Coworking, Workplace design

A recent survey by Gartner predicts that one in five workers will have an AI bot as their co-worker by 2022. It’s almost impossible to talk about the future of the workplace without mention of AI or robotics, and is therefore hardly surprising that there is a feeling of apprehension amongst workers. PwC’s 21st global CEO Survey in 2018 revealed that between 23 percent and 51 percent of respondents were “extremely concerned” about the speed of technological change, and indicated “anxiety about the impending promise and perils of AI.”

(more…)

March 22, 2019

UK gets new £5 million climate change research centre

by George Eltringham • Environment, News

Cardiff University has been selected as the main hub for a £5 million research centre to explore how we can live differently to achieve the rapid and far-reaching emissions cuts required to address climate change. A collaboration between Cardiff, Manchester, York and East Anglia Universities, and charity Climate Outreach, the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) will work closely with industry, local/national governments, and charities to tackle climate change. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. (more…)

March 14, 2019

The negative entropy of workplace design and management

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design

Immediately after the Workplace Trends Summit in London last October, Ian Ellison of 3edges and I retired to a side room to record an interview for a podcast over a glass of red wine. The main objective was to try to piece together a coherent summary of what we’d seen that day. Ian assures me the podcast (his are invariably excellent) will appear very soon, but I thought it would be worth exploring a theory I formed and rambled on about in our conversation ahead of the next Summit set to take place next week.

(more…)

March 14, 2019

Mobile working is a recipe for business success

by Sally Elliott • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

Today, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing the face of work as we know it: introducing AI and automation to the workplace and creating a drastic shift in the skills required by organisations today. As automation increasingly frees employees up from the repetitive, process work that can so often dominate their day-to-day, organisations are instead looking to employees to showcase their critical thinking and creativity. Indeed, McKinsey’s Skill Shift confirms that by 2030 the demand for higher cognitive skills, such as creativity, critical thinking and decision making will grow by 14 percent in Europe.

(more…)

March 13, 2019

Noisy workplaces regularly distract and stress out staff

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Over half (52 percent) of workers are interrupted by noise distractions more than five times in a working day, with 17 percent stating that they are interrupted by noise more than 10 times. This is according to the Noise and Wellbeing at Work 2019 survey conducted by The Remark Group, and supported by environmental psychologist and workplace strategist Dr Nigel Oseland, an honorary senior lecturer at UCL’s Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering. In the survey of 1,000 UK-based office workers, 65 percent reported that noise in the workplace impacted on their ability to complete work in an accurate and timely manner. (more…)

March 13, 2019

Companies that adopt agile working enjoy improved financial performance, claims report

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Companies that embrace agile working and and a generally more flexible and responsive way of working enjoy a financial and operational competitive advantage over their rivals, according to new research from PA Consulting. Two thirds of the respondents said that their business model is at risk of fundamentally becoming outdated, with agile considered a key method for transitioning to a future-proof strategy. While agile is typically regarded by many as a method geared at streamlining operations, PA Consulting’s research suggests the approach could take things a step further. The consultancy conducted an international study among 500 executives of large companies across a range of sectors, asking them how they view agile working and what they see as the key factors for successful adoption. (more…)

March 11, 2019

UK employers struggling with recruitment and retention of service workers

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Workplace

The recruitment and retention of manual and elementary service workers has become a significant challenge for UK employers, claims a new study. The research by Quinyx in collaboration with Development Economics and Censuswide, found that factors such as low pay and a lack of flexibility are key issue, resulting in nearly half (49 percent) of UK employers finding it difficult to recruit these workers, and the same percentage reporting challenges around retention. Issues with recruitment and retention were discovered to be most acute in industries such as hospitality, catering & leisure and retail. In addition, larger businesses (those with a workforce of 250 to 500) are more likely to face challenges compared to smaller-sized businesses. Regionally, businesses in London and the East of England are most likely to struggle to recruit workers into manual or elementary service roles. The findings come at a time when UK employers are expressing growing concern around access to manual and elementary service workers post-Brexit.

(more…)

March 8, 2019

Construction and property firms call on Government to set binding environmental targets

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

Twenty-three of the UK’s most influential built environment businesses have signed an open letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking for the Environment Bill to provide the foundation for economic growth that is restorative and regenerative by design. In the letter, which was coordinated by UK Green Building Council in collaboration with GreenerUK, the signatories highlight the depletion of nature in the UK and call for a strong response to the challenge this presents. They urge the Government to use the upcoming Environment Bill to set legally binding targets for the achievement of environmental objectives – including tackling biodiversity loss, improving water and air quality and cutting down resource use and waste. (more…)

March 5, 2019

Designing a better workforce: how workplace design can impact wellbeing

by Mary Lawrence • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

In a recent survey, 95 percent of office workers said their physical work environment is important for their wellbeing and mental health. However, half believe their current working environment does not have a positive effect on their mental health, wellbeing, mood and productivity. The issue of employee wellbeing has risen up business’ agendas in recent years, and, as part of the drive for better mental health support for workers, companies are looking at ways in which the physical workplace can improve the mental health of their employees.

(more…)

March 1, 2019

Radical new environmental approach is needed to fix the global system, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, News

Entire systems change and fewer ‘sticking-plaster’ solutions from world leaders are urgently needed to address global challenges, reveals a report from sustainability non-profit, Forum for the Future. The report calls for urgent collaboration between governments, businesses, NGOs and investors to avoid climate change disaster and secure the future of our society and economy. The Future of Sustainability 2019: Driving systems change in turbulent times reveals a ‘perfect storm’ of seven factors that are set to impact sustainability in the future – including climate migration, nationalism, plastics and biodiversity loss. (more…)

February 21, 2019

Vast majority of organisations still struggle with videoconferencing

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

The overwhelming majority of enterprises (90 per cent) report that they experience challenges when connecting to video conference calls. This is according to a new survey from StarLeaf, conducted by Vanson Bourne, which includes responses from 500 IT decision-makers and Line-of-Business leaders in the UK, France, Germany, and the US and from a broad spectrum of private sector enterprises (with over 1,000 employees) with the aim to understand attitudes towards the general use of video conferencing systems.