June 12, 2018
Firms ignoring employee anxieties about workplace communications
UK companies are failing to support employees suffering with work-related performance anxiety, the business world’s equivalent to stage fright, despite it being a regular occurrence for many workers, according to new research. RADA Business, the commercial subsidiary of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art which provides communication skills training for corporate individuals, has published the report Beating Workplace Performance Anxiety, which surveyed 1000 workplaces. The report found that, on average, workers report feeling anxious at least once a week (five times per month). Despite this, few workplaces act effectively to counter incidents of workplace communications anxiety. Only 13 percent of people surveyed said that anxieties round communicating in the workplace are picked up and resolved by the management team.
Demand for commercial office space in central London has remained above the long-term average, with the amount of space under offer increasing, though the level of supply in the West End has continued to decline, according to the latest figures from Savills. Take-up in April reached 275,473 sq ft across 24 transactions, bringing take-up for the first four months of the year to 1.3m sq ft. The volume of transactions to complete over the month was the lowest for April in five years but overall year-to-date take-up still remained up on the long-term average for this period by 13 percent. 
Central London commercial offices under offers are at the highest point in the last 12 months and take-up is ahead of 2017 levels compared with this point last year, new data from CBRE has shown. Central London office take-up for April 2018 stood at 547,900 sq ft, largely driven by pre-letting activity. Office take-up for the year to the end April 2018 was 4 percent higher than the corresponding period in 2017, standing at 3.4m sq ft. Take-up was boosted by 139,600 sq ft of pre-letting activity. Over the last 12 months, the business services sector has represented the largest proportion of take-up at 32 percent, driven by a large number of deals to flexible office providers. Take-up in April was dominated by the creative industries sector, accounting for 44 percent of take-up. The banking and finance sector (26 percent) and the business services sector (21 percent) also represented notable proportions of take-up in April.
With companies holding ever greater amounts of data and facing heightened scrutiny through social media, employers need to consider the wider implications of their business decisions. This was the message of the President of the 
More than a quarter of managers (27 percent) in British companies would likely accept a salary cut to work for a company that has a clear purpose beyond profit a new report claims. A third (32 percent) would actually consider leaving their job if a greater purpose was unclear, while more than half (53 percent) would if their company’s values and purpose didn’t align with their own. The YouGov survey, commissioned by Danone UK, highlights the importance of having a defined company purpose that marries commercial success with social progress. The findings support a new report by not-for-profit think tank Tomorrow’s Company and Danone UK, that explores the importance of having a purpose beyond profit in helping companies to prosper in the face of workplace challenges created by an uncertain world. 
June 11, 2018
Coworking is breaking away from its cultural and geographical stereotypes
by Gary Chandler • Comment, Property, Technology, Workplace design
(more…)