September 17, 2024
Menopause is one of those things that until a few years ago, most of the population hadn’t heard of. Even if they had, it certainly wasn’t a workplace issue. Which is interesting as half the population will have one in some form. More specifically more than one in every ten people in our workforce is currently menopausal. (more…)
September 17, 2024
The final report from the two-year Commission on the Future of Employment Support claims that the UK needs ‘once-in-a-generation reform’ to boost growth and improve living standards in the face of a huge contraction in the country’s labour force. The report suggests that the UK is one of the few developed nations where employment has fallen post-pandemic. The UK has dropped from having the eighth-highest employment rate globally to fifteenth. Had the original position been maintained, the economy would be £25 billion larger annually, with public finances £16 billion better off. (more…)
September 12, 2024
facilities managmentWorkplaces need to be maintained and managed in a more agile and responsive way if they are to serve the needs of hybrid working and the so-called return to the office, according to new research from Colliers. Colliers Global Occupier Services’ new report Adaptive Facilities Management – a new vision in agility reveals traditional facilities management (FM) models, where services are delivered at fixed frequencies and costs, are no longer fit for purpose, due to occupancy levels at many workplaces remaining in flux. (more…)
September 11, 2024
JLL’s latest Future of Work Survey claims to reveal new opportunities for the commercial property sector as two-thirds of business leaders expect their CRE budget to rise between now and 2030. Despite challenges in the commercial real estate sector and bumpy economic conditions, global business leaders are optimistic about the future, with two-thirds (65 percent) expecting their CRE budgets to increase by 2030, according to the poll. This survey sets out to explore the evolving nature of work, assessing the key priorities, challenges, and strategies for more than 2,300 business and CRE decision-makers. (more…)
September 10, 2024
I was chatting to somebody last week about the person in the US who died, alone and ignored at a desk, unnoticed for over four days. Their instinctive and understandable response was to ask whether the story was apocryphal. Sadly, not. Sixty-year-old Denise Prudhomme had clocked into work at the Arizona office of Wells Fargo at 7 am on Friday, August the 16th. Her death some time that day went unnoticed until the following Tuesday afternoon, when a colleague discovered her body slumped over her desk in a cubicle. (more…)
September 9, 2024
The working environment profoundly affects how we feel at work. But can the right office furniture and layout also boost creativity, efficiency and collaboration? AJ Products, a leading furniture solutions provider and workplace wellbeing specialist, decided to find out. They collaborated with University Academy 92, a higher education institution co-founded by the Class of ’92 and Lancaster University, to test their Active Office concept. (more…)
September 6, 2024
There’s a lot to be said for not being slaves to the clock and the screen. Ironically, the way we measure time has its roots in a famous instance of daydreaming. The story goes that in 1583 a young student at the University of Pisa called Galileo Galilei was daydreaming in the pews while his fellow students were dutifully reciting their prayers. He noticed that one of the altar lamps was swaying back and forth and even as its energy dissipated, the arc of each swing slowed so that each took the same amount of time as the last, measured against his own pulse. (more…)
September 5, 2024
A new poll from Unmind claims claims that there is a significant discrepancy between how UK managers believe they’re performing and the experience of those being managed by them, with over two-thirds (67 percent) UK workers having left or considered leaving their job because of a bad manager. The survey of 3,005 office workers (1,500 managers and 1,505 employees) suggests that, while 83 percent of managers say they’ve had formal training in people management, only 63 percent of their direct reports don’t believe it. Two fifths (40 percent) UK workers say they don’t believe their manager has had sufficient training or the right skills to perform their role. (more…)
August 28, 2024
The modern workplace is witnessing a significant shift in the dynamics of workplace exits, largely driven by younger generations—especially those born after 1997, known as Gen Z. It’s not just in the places we might expect. For example, in Japan, a country with a reputation for long tenures and employee/employer loyalty, resignation agencies such as Momuri offer services that allow individuals to quit their jobs remotely. Even where moving jobs is relatively rare, this “resignation-as-a-service” has sprung up as a result of discontent within the workforce. This phenomenon, particularly pronounced among younger demographics, is challenging traditional notions of loyalty in the face of workplace dissatisfaction. (more…)
August 22, 2024
Leaders should foster a culture of positive, constructive challenge, which can help mitigate risks and improve decision making, according to experts at Imperial College Business School. In a new white paper, researchers from Imperial’s Centre for Responsible Leadership analysed the strategies that leaders can implement to successfully elicit challenge from their teams. The paper contains key lessons and evidence-based recommendations for leaders to encourage challenge, that can be applied to a wide range of organisations. (more…)
August 14, 2024
The traditional post-work drink may be falling from favour as a shift in attitudes and working culture means people increasingly prefer daytime social gatherings, a new poll claims. Employers are being encouraged to move away from pub outings as a means of socialising, instead fostering “inclusive and healthy workplace cultures” that cater to employees who don’t drink alcohol or work remotely. As four different generations now share the workplace, new expectations around employee health and wellbeing are emerging, according to the survey commissioned by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD). (more…)
September 18, 2024
You get what you give at the CoreNet Global Summit 2024 in Berlin
by Jo Sutherland • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Wellbeing