June 11, 2021

Best British offices crowned at BCO Awards

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Property, Workplace design

Taunton’s UK Hydrographic Office Headquarters was named ‘Best of the Best’ at the British Council for Offices’ (BCO) National Awards, and also took home the ‘Corporate Workplace’ award. The office was joined by six other award winners recognised as leading examples of excellence in the office space. This ‘roll of honour’ includes two buildings in London: The Brunel Building on Canalside Walk, and 160 Old Street, a refurbished office space in the “Silicon Roundabout” district. More →

May 27, 2021

Workers report worse mental health following pandemic

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

St John Ambulance is to launch a new workplace mental health qualification as eight out of 10 (81 percent) workers say their mental health is worse or more variable as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. More →

May 20, 2021

Flexible and hybrid working policies undervalued by UK Gen Zers

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working culture

Only 3.7 percent of UK Gen Zers value flexible and hybrid working policies as most important to them in their future company, claims a poll of over 4000 UK Gen Zers from Yubo. Despite the current discussion regarding maintaining flexible working from home policies as the UK restrictions begin to ease, Gen Zers do not value this as highly as other aspects of work. More →

May 18, 2021

New artificial intelligence regulations have important implications for the workplace

by Jose Alberto Rodriguez Ruiz • Comment, Technology, Workplace

The European Commission recently announced its proposal for the regulation of artificial intelligence, looking to ban “unacceptable” uses of artificial intelligence. Up until now, the challenges for businesses getting AI ‘wrong’ were bad press, reputation damage, loss of trust and market share, and most importantly for sensitive applications, harm to individuals. But with these new rules, two new consequences are arising: plain interdiction of certain AI systems, and GDPR-like fines. More →

April 27, 2021

UK businesses prepare to shed suppliers that do not live up to their social values

by Jayne Smith • Business, News

UK business leaders are increasingly turning their backs on suppliers who fail to align with their social values, according to new research by Sodexo. The survey highlights the effect the pandemic has had on procurement decisions, with the majority of respondents agreeing that the events of the last year had made it more important to consider environmental and diversity policies when selecting suppliers. More →

March 31, 2021

Employee buy-in crucial to digital transformation success

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology

Facilities management businesses are failing to keep their workforce at the heart of their digital transformations, leading to employee dissatisfaction and hindering the success of digitalisation initiatives, claims new research by Nexer, in partnership with applied futurist Tom Cheesewright. More →

March 24, 2021

‘Now is The Time’ – Tackling the disability employment gap

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working culture

The CSJ Disability Commission has published “Now Is The Time”, its new report suggesting how the Prime Minister can keep his promise and deliver a truly transformative strategy to greatly improve the employment prospects of disabled people throughout the UK. More →

March 19, 2021

Graduates concerned about the pandemic’s negative career impact

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working culture

New research from graduate careers website Milkround claims almost two-thirds (62 percent) of graduates are concerned that the pandemic will negatively impact their future career development prospects, a sentiment which is shared by 55 percent of HR decision makers. More →

March 18, 2021

Toxic workplace culture costing UK economy £20.2 billion per year

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working culture

The cost of poor company culture is a staggering £20.2 billion per year, according to research from HR software provider Breathe. The report ‘The Culture Economy 2021’, claims that almost a third (27 percent) of SME employees quit their job due to poor workplace culture, an increase of 6 percent from last year (21 percent). More →

March 15, 2021

Serfs up for the self-employed and gig economy workers (and the middle class)

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Working culture

One of the most significant consequences of the 2008 economic crash was a remarkable shift in the nature of employment. The recession led to a surge in the number of people categorised as self-employed. The numbers have been increasing ever since, albeit at a lower rate. By the end of 2019, the number of self-employed people in the UK exceeded five million people for the first time. Fifteen percent of the workforce. More →

March 11, 2021

BCO offers new guidance on indoor air quality

by Neil Franklin • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing

A new BCO research paper, Thoughts on ventilation design and operation post COVID-19, has called for UK offices to ensure they have adequate ventilation ahead of the return to work. The paper highlights that while most offices that follow good practice guidelines do benefit from indoor air quality, there are also many examples of poorly ventilated offices that fall short of the best practice guidelines set out in the BCO’s 2019 Guide to Specification. Poorly ventilated indoor spaces have been linked to COVID-19 super spreader events and the paper states that ventilation in these offices must be “addressed urgently.” More →

March 5, 2021

Half of employers don’t have a financial wellbeing policy

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Wellbeing

Despite the financial hardship wrought by COVID-19, half of employers (49 percent) don’t have a financial wellbeing policy. This is according to the latest Reward Management Survey from the CIPD (which 420 employers responded to). More →