Search Results for: commercial

January 25, 2017

Just one in five UK workers still take the traditional lunch hour ⁰

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

Only one in five workers in the UK still take the traditional lunch hour break; a stark contrast to France, which sees the lunch hour as a key part of the working day, a new survey by commercial property agency Savoystewart.co.uk claims. Digital marketers take the shortest breaks, taking a meagre average of 14-minutes, followed by recruiters and those in telesales. At the opposite end of the spectrum are media & communication professionals, who take almost their whole hour at 55 minutes. Some of the reasons cited for the shorter break were to please the boss, too much work to do, other colleagues don’t take lunch, there’s nowhere to go or one hour is too long. Half of those polled work right through their lunch break, 30 percent will take under 30 minutes off, 52 percent admit to eating over their desk most days and 27 percent deliberately take a shorter break to please their boss. Yet UK legislation actually allows for a 1 hour interrupted 20-minute rest break after working 6 hours+, and those who are under 18 are entitled to 30 minutes if working above 4.5 hours. Some work contracts may even allow for additional breaks alongside lunch, like tea breaks.

January 24, 2017

The impact of technology on corporate real estate: A Panglossian future? ⁰

by Antony Slumbers • Features, Property, Technology, Workplace design

Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman introduced the concept of Loss Aversion in 1984, highlighting people’s tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Most studies suggest that losses are twice as powerful, psychologically, as gains. Lose £100 and we will feel a remorse that easily outweighs winning £100. In a similar fashion we find it very hard to see future positives when confronted with short term loses. We understand easily what we have lost but cannot imagine what there is to be gained. Furthermore, as Frederic Bastiat wrote in an 1850 paper, “That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen”, man has a tendency to “pursue a small present good, which will be followed by a great evil to come, rather than a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil”. Put these together and it is no wonder that, by and large, the future of work, corporate real estate and the workplace is so widely misunderstood.

January 18, 2017

Lost generation of Millennials stranded between eras of wealth and vocation, claims study ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News

The much talked about generation of Gen Y Millennials are stranded between the more fortunate era of Gen X wealth and the coming era of vocation focussed Gen Z. That is the key finding of a new survey from recruitment agency Randstad which claims that the members of Gen Y are not just burdened with student debt and struggling to get on the property ladder, but are now under threat from an arguably more vocational and commercially-minded Generation Z. The survey of 4,000 respondents claims that nearly four in ten (38 percent) Gen Y Millennials feel their education has left them unprepared for the modern world of work. But just under a third (32 percent) of respondents from Generation Z — the ‘digital natives’ born from 1996 onwards — feel the same way. The survey also revealed that the very youngest professionals from Generation Z are displaying higher leadership ambitions, with 84 percent saying they are shooting to be top dog in the workplace. This compares to 79 percent of Millennials.

January 17, 2017

The truth about artificial intelligence and the hype of job losses ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

Much of the current focus of the debate about the impact of artificial intelligence has been on how the ‘rise of the robots’ will spend the end for many job roles. Yet that mischaracterises the true effects according to a new report from Infosys, released today, to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos. The report, Amplifying Human Potential: Towards Purposeful Artificial Intelligence, concludes that the implementation of AI doesn’t necessarily mean job losses. In fact, 80 percent of businesses adopting AI which have replaced, or plan to replace, workers with technology, will be far more likely to retain, retrain and upskill those employees impacted. The study also claims that the adoption of AI will mean a number of other important benefits for organisations including a predicted 39 percent revenue rise by 2020 as a result of the implementation.

January 12, 2017

UK Green Building Council announces launch of first Innovation Lab ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

The UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) has announced the launch of its first Innovation Lab, which it claims offers ‘a radical new approach to innovation in the built environment’. The Lead Partners for the programme are: Canary Wharf Group, Land Securities and Marks & Spencer. The Innovation Lab aims to identify and address what it calls the systemic challenges facing businesses within the sector, and co-create innovative and highly sustainable solutions.

Head of Leadership and Innovation at UK-GBC, Cat Hirst, said: “Research and Development levels across our industry are painfully low; the UK currently only spends £43m on construction R&D. The risks to a single company of investing in developing a solution for such a high-cost industry is often seen as prohibitive. But we desperately need to find ways of working together to achieve radical change if we are to challenge business as usual and transition to a sustainable way of working.

“At UK-GBC we’re seeking to catalyse this change by using our unique position to convene our member organisations to work together to address the issues our industry faces. We want to ensure there is the time, space, and structure for open innovation to occur for the built environment.

“The Innovation Lab is not just about finding one solution to one problem, it’s about fostering a more open and collaborative approach to problem solving as an industry. We need to build the capacity of our industry to innovate and find the right approach to being creative and collaborative within a commercial setting.”

The Innovation Lab began last month with a workshop to identify the ‘breakthrough challenge’ which will form the focus of a 9-month programme of work. In order to arrive at the challenge, the UK Green Building Council is working with the Lead Partners and thought leaders from the wider UK-GBC membership to explore future trends for the built environment as well as key environmental and social challenges, and pain points for business. The initial workshop highlighted key industry challenges around climate change resilience, resource use, shifting demographics, technological advancement and health and wellbeing.

Over the coming weeks, the breakthrough challenge will be refined in consultation with the Lead Partners. The next workshop will be on 1 February, where Innovation Lab participants will begin to respond to this challenge by mapping existing innovations and, where a gap is identified, generating new innovative solutions to solve the challenge.

January 11, 2017

Tech and media firms still believe human talent is the key to success ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

A new study from Colliers International claims that 62 percent of companies in the TMT sector are looking to expand their headcount. Despite advances in technology and artificial intelligence in the workplace, Colliers latest research suggests that over 62 percent of enterprises in the Tech, Media and Telecoms (TMT) sector are seeking to employ more staff to drive their company forward, demonstrating that the human factor still plays a critical role in business development. The report was conducted by global real estate firm Colliers International, based on a number of interviews. The study also claims that only 12.5 per cent of the firms which were interviewed were looking to contract their workforce. Interestingly, technology was viewed as the least important strategic resource by all but one company. Yet most businesses surveyed did expect big change and efficiency improvements through the introduction of new technology in the business and the workplace, especially the development of cloud-based systems.

January 10, 2017

A unity of opposites at Sky Central ⁰

by Neil Usher • Case studies, Facilities management, Features, Work&Place, Workplace design

It’s drummed into us from an early age that we can’t have it all, as a result we consider choices as being a binary either/or situation. The workplace design brief (where it’s actually undertaken, an entirely separate discussion) positions choices similarly – open or closed, focussed or collaborative, modern or traditional – the decision point existing along a sliding scale from one natural extreme to the other. Yet there is a way to consider workplace design as an attempt to achieve the “unity of opposites”, an idea proposed by the pre-Socratic aphoristic philosopher, Heraclitus, the original thinker on change. This holds that the existence of an idea is entirely dependent on the existence of its opposite, that one cannot exist without the other. The framework is considered here in its application to the recently completed Sky Central in Osterley (West London), a newly constructed 38,000m2 NIA activity-based workplace over three floors that is home to 3,500 of the total 7,500 people on the Campus. It may be considered as tool for aiding workplace brief development, or for understanding how a workplace has been conceived and functions.

January 10, 2017

Report calls for ‘workplace guardians’ to support employee wellbeing ⁰

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

Businesses need to shift their focus away from functional issues, such as cost per square metre, and towards the productivity boost that can be delivered through well-designed work spaces which engage employees and make them feel valued. This is according to a new study produced by Interserve, Designing and delivering effective workplace experiences – a practical guide, which argues employers should adopt teams of ‘workplace guardians’ to curate work spaces that support employee wellbeing and overall business performance. The report sets out a six-stage programme for businesses to create effective workplace experiences which it says should be led by a team of experienced workplace coordinators or ‘guardians’ – a process that sees workplaces shaped by employees, for employees. More →

January 6, 2017

Thirteen ways the physical environment shapes knowledge management

by Agustin Chevez and Laurie Aznavoorian • Facilities management, Premium Content, Work&Place, Workplace design

Knowledge management (including its creation, transference and storage) within an organisation is now widely considered to be one of the primary drivers of a business’s sustainability. Driven by changing demographics, businesses are recognising the ways in which valuable knowledge is lost when employees leave the organisation, including when they retire or are made redundant in response to changing economic conditions. Geyer, an Australian design practice, is just one organisation that has undertaken important research to understand the role of the physical environment in knowledge management.The aim of the research was to explore the kinds of environments and their attributes (if any) that could support the management of knowledge in an organisation. The research also aimed to expand the focus of existing knowledge management literature; from information technology to workplace design.

December 20, 2016

Demand for Bristol offices driven by TMT, professional and energy occupiers ⁰

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

A rise in the cost of renting commercial property in Bristol is being driven by increased demand from TMT, professional and energy occupiers looking for office space in the city, with take up levels of Bristol city centre offices predicted to reach 800,000 sq ft (74,322 sq m) in 2016. This is 50 percent above the five year average of 533,000 sq ft (49,517 sq m), according to Savills. This influx has resulted in a significant decrease in the supply of city centre Grade A stock, with levels currently at 117,116 sq ft (10,880 sq m). In order to cope with the demand landlords, particularly those with TMT tenants are refurbishing their offices, with the refurbishment/redevelopment pipeline at an estimated 300,000 sq ft (27,871 sq m). Savills notes that as a result of increased demand rental growth has been seen in both Grade A and B stock in Bristol. Refurbished office space is now reaching rents of £27 per sq ft (£291 per sq m) in Grade B stock, just below the headline rent of £28.50 per sq ft (£307 per sq m). It is predicted that in 2017 rents on Grade A space will reach and exceed £30 per sq ft (£323 per sq m).

December 19, 2016

UK digital divide narrows, but major problems remain for homes and offices ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

The UK’s patchy and frequently shoddy broadband network has held back the country for a long time. According to a new report from industry regulator Ofcom, however, there are signs of improvement with the number of UK domestic and commercial properties unable to get a decent broadband connection falling by one million over the past year. Even so, around 5 percent of offices and homes are unable to enjoy broadband speeds over 10 Mbit/s, the speed Ofcom claims is required to meet a typical household’s digital needs. The findings are part of Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2016 report – an in-depth look at the state of the UK’s telecoms and wireless networks. This year’s report shows good progress on the availability and take-up of communications services, which are crucial to people’s personal and working lives.

November 25, 2016

Workplace professionals should look to the consumer sector for boosting engagement ⁰

by Jeff Flanagan • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design

More and more businesses are recognising the power of the workplace experience to drive employee performance and engagement. Global brand Airbnb, for example, has now renamed its head of human resources as “chief employee experience officer.” This is good news for workplace design and management professionals. We are well placed to capitalise on this shift in business opinion, but if we want to make a tangible impact, we need to bring practical solutions to the table. First and foremost, these need to be backed up by research. There have been few studies specifically into what makes a healthy and productive work environment. However, there are a number of research projects that examine how a human being’s surroundings impact their mood and behaviour, and in particular how consumer environments shape customers’ perception of and engagement with a brand. As workplace professionals, we can learn a great deal from this consumer research and this is why workplace design and management teams should look towards consumer-facing industries for inspiration.