April 17, 2019

Uncertain times demand a new approach to strategic people management

Is the management of people in organisations today really about growing the long-term value of an employers’ most important asset in an increasing uncertain and skills-short labour market? Or is it more to do with continuing to drive costs down and shareholder returns up; and meeting the bare minimum standards required by legislation? The Institute for Employment’s (IES) latest research, carried out in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), looks at the reality of people management and comes up with some generally positive findings and conclusions. More →

April 17, 2019

British workers putting in longest hours in the EU, TUC analysis finds

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

Workers in the UK are putting the longest hours in the EU, according to a new TUC analysis. Full-time employees in Britain worked an average of 42 hours a week in 2018, nearly two hours more than the EU average – equivalent to an extra two and a half weeks a year. Britain’s “long-hours culture” is not having a positive impact on productivity, says the TUC. In similar economies to ours, workers tend to be on average much more productive for each hour that they work. More →

April 16, 2019

UK architectural firm claims global sustainability first

by George Eltringham • Environment, News

UK-based Bennetts Associates is the first architecture practice in the world to achieve approved Science Based Targets and commit to the UN’s Climate Neutral Now campaign. This commitment builds on the practice’s track record of sustainability within the built environment by taking a leadership position on climate change.

Climate Neutral Now is an initiative launched by the UN Climate Change in 2015 to encourage and support all levels of society to take climate action to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century, as enshrined in the Paris Agreement. The scheme requires companies to measure and offset carbon footprints across three elements of the business. More →

April 15, 2019

New BSRIA guide to Soft Landings and Business-Focused Maintenance

by Marie Hillen • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace design

BSRIA has launched a new guide that aims to inform those involved in the design, construction and operation of a building about how an effective Business-Focused Maintenance (BFM) regime can be developed and achieved through the Soft Landings approach. The topic guide on Soft Landings and BFM is written as an ‘at a glance publication’ to give readers a glimpse of the subject and recommends further reading. More →

April 11, 2019

Are these the best countries for parental leave worldwide?

by Neil Franklin • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Following the TUC’s recent call for an overhaul of shared parental leave rights, a new interactive study created by Red Letter Days claims to display just how many babies are born every minute in 169 countries and what each has to offer its citizens when they become a parent, such as maternity and paternity leave as well as outlining the benefits of having both maternity and paternity leave in place. Estonia tops the list as one of the best countries for maternity leave, offering 62 weeks for new mums, while the United States remains at the bottom with zero weeks of guaranteed leave. More →

April 8, 2019

Navigating organisations through digital transformation

by Ian Tickle • Comment, Technology

It’s hard to escape the digital disruption that is reshaping not only the world we live in, but the fundamental way that businesses operate. Greater levels of data exchange and automation are creating new layers of innovation, shifting functional workflows to agile systems. And to prosper in this upheaval, leaders must look at how they can support their company’s ability to adapt and identify new opportunities to embrace these changes.

April 7, 2019

Businesses urged to pay suppliers on time or risk losing out on government contracts

by Mark Eltringham • News

More than 10,000 businesses have been warned by the government that they must pay their suppliers on time or face being prevented from winning further government contracts. Officials from the Cabinet Office have written to the businesses – which include all the government’s current strategic suppliers – to remind them of the new rules on prompt payment, which come into force this autumn. More →

April 5, 2019

The ladder of life, the death of work, the cane toad of property and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features

We start with a question. Why hasn’t the gig economy killed traditional work?, asks Greg Rosalsky and goes on to explain what many people have now realised. The answer, as Greg points out, is that the gig economy doesn’t replace traditional work, never has, and the rise of casual work of this kind has primarily been a way for people to deal with a volatile labour market and shrinking real incomes. Offer them the choice of a decent monthly income, benefits and a contract and most of them will take you up on it.

April 3, 2019

London, Paris and Stockholm lead ranks of European coworking hotspots

by Neil Franklin • Coworking, News, Property

London, Paris and Stockholm are among the major cities featured in a new research report from Cushman & Wakefield (registration) into the coworking and flexible office sectors, which pinpoints future demand and the next likely growth hotspots across Europe. According to the report, coworking’s rapid expansion in recent years has quickly disrupted global office markets. The report charts the current state of the sector, the emergence of flexible working space across continental Europe and where future growth will occur. More →

April 1, 2019

Against metrics: how measuring performance by numbers backfires

by Jerry Z Muller • Features, Workplace

More and more companies, government agencies, educational institutions and philanthropic organisations are today in the grip of a new phenomenon. I’ve termed it ‘metric fixation’. The key components of metric fixation are the belief that it is possible – and desirable – to replace professional judgment (acquired through personal experience and talent) with numerical indicators of comparative performance based upon standardised data (metrics); and that the best way to motivate people within these organisations is by attaching rewards and penalties to their measured performance. More →

March 28, 2019

Millions more people say they would like to work as freelancers

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

The so-called gig economy is likely to increase dramatically over the next few years, new research suggests. Along with over 8 million people who currently work on a freelance basis, over 5 million more say they would like to go freelance. The data collated by Direct Line for Business claims that 5.3 million people (10 per cent) dream of becoming their own boss in the future, by embracing a career as a freelancer. This is in addition to the 8.6 million (16 per cent) who currently freelance and are either full time self-employed or carry out contract work alongside their main jobs.

March 22, 2019

The future of work will be defined by four models, claims RSA

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

The RSA’s Future Work Centre has released research that models four ‘futures of work’ by 2035 – and claims to show how out of touch politicians are with changes in the workplace. The report, published in partnership with Arup, claims to avoid the usual sensationalism around topics such as automation, the Internet of Things, surveillance, gig work and AI to establish what workers can expect in the workplace in the near future. The report applies morphological analysis to generate its four models of work.