Search Results for: employee experience

February 8, 2019

Post digital era offers the chance to create personalised experiences at work

The enterprise is entering a new “post-digital” era, where success will be based on an organisation’s ability to master a set of new technologies that can deliver personalised realities and experiences for customers, employees and business partners, according to the Accenture Technology Vision 2019 annual report that sets out to predict the key technology trends that will redefine businesses over the next three years. More →

February 7, 2019

Employees think Internet of Things will be most important workplace technology trend

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

A team from Savills’ flexible office platform Workthere has predicted the top five tech trends we’re likely to see arriving into offices across the UK in 2019. Supporting the research, Workthere also completed a survey of 2,000 office workers to find out their views on the future of workplace technology as defined by the original study. The poll suggests that employees think that the Internet of Things will have the biggest impact on their day to day working lives followed by voice activated technologies and wireless charging.

February 7, 2019

Employee use of apps at work puts their organisation at risk of cyber-attack

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace

Workers continued use of unapproved apps in the office, including Instagram, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat, to communicate with colleagues as well as friends and family is putting their organisations at risk of cyber-attack, new research suggests. Four in ten employees (41 percent) admit to using Instagram for more than two hours each day, despite the app being banned in almost half of UK organisations. The majority of employees are well aware that certain apps are not approved for workplace use, but this hasn’t stopped them breaking the rules.

February 1, 2019

Employees call for more user-friendly workplace technology

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

A new report claims that because workplace technology is perceived as less intuitive and intelligent than consumer technology lags behind. The survey commissioned by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated conducted with UK-based Coleman Parkes Research, asked more than 2,800 hourly and salaried employees across a variety of industries in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, the UK and US to explore the impact existing and emerging technologies have on the employee experience.

December 3, 2018

The biggest challenge facing HR managers in 2019 will be employee engagement

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

An annual study commissioned by Cascade HR has revealed the topics most likely to keep Human Resources professionals awake at night in 2019. The 2019 HR Landscape Report report claims that employee engagement has topped the list for the second year running, with 40 percent of the 423 respondents believing it will be their biggest challenge over the next 12 months. Recruitment and retention were a close second and third (37 percent and 36 percent respectively), followed by absence management (29 percent) and wellbeing (22 percent). It appears similar themes have posed the biggest headaches as 2018 has unfolded too. When asked to reflect on their toughest encounters from the last year, HR directors, managers and executives ranked recruitment as the clear front runner (45 percent), followed by absence management (36 percent), with retention and GDPR compliance in joint third place (35 percent).

November 15, 2018

Are you ready for the world of agile working we will experience in the 2020s?

by John Eary and Paul Allsopp • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

Some organisations believe they have ‘done’ Agile Working. They have increased the ratio of people to desks and achieved a saving in accommodation costs. They have provided flexible working arrangements across the organisation and have enabled their people to work at home for part of their working week. Staff surveys show employees are pleased with the opportunities and benefits this provides them. But organisations cannot afford to become comfortable or complacent, there are greater opportunities to grasp. As in any transformation initiative, Agile Working is more than a project it is a cultural journey involving continuing change to achieve continuous improvement. Agile Working is moving on.

November 1, 2018

Organisations at risk of falling behind due to a lack of AI strategy, training and experience

by Mark Eltringham • AI, News, Technology

UK organisations risk falling behind oversees competition due to a lack of Artificial Intelligence strategy, according to a new report (registration required) published by Microsoft UK and Goldsmiths, University of London. In the face of significant disruption, the research reveals that 41 per cent of business leaders believe their current business model will cease to exist within the next 5 years. Despite big questions over the longevity of their business models, more than half (51 per cent) of business leaders surveyed revealed they do not have a relevant strategy in place to address these challenges. More →

September 11, 2018

Half of workers have experienced poor mental health in their current job

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

A new and major study into workplace wellbeing by the the charity Mind claims that poor mental health at work is widespread, with half (48 per cent) of all people surveyed saying they have experienced a mental health problem in their current job. The survey of more than 44,000 employees also revealed that only half of those who had experienced poor mental health had talked to their employer about it, suggesting that as many as one in four UK workers is struggling in silence. These findings are revealed as a new online Mental Health at Work ‘gateway’ is launched today by HRH the Duke of Cambridge. Mind, with support from The Royal Foundation, Heads Together and 11 other organisations, has created the UK-wide portal as a free resource for both employers and employees.

September 6, 2018

Firms need to distinguish between job and organisation when it comes to employee engagement

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Organisations need to distinguish between employee engagement with a job and engagement with the organisation if they are to improve the employee experience and their overall competitive advantage, a new research paper claims. Published by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES), the paper claims to highlight how traditional, one-dimensional views of engagement fail to make a distinction between job and organisational engagement, viewing employee engagement as a single concept. However, employees can be highly engaged with the organisation but have low levels of job engagement, or vice versa. The research paper, Bridging the gap: an evidence-based approach to employee engagement, suggests that this lack of understanding about what engagement really is and how it influences organisational success can lead to inefficient and ineffective strategies to improve employee engagement.

August 17, 2018

Employees reveal truth about company culture

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Organisations must do more to engage with their people and meet their personal expectations if they want a positive work culture, highlights a new research white paper by leading HR and payroll supplier, MHR. ‘Company Culture: Don’t Just Throw Money at The Issue’ explores the real experience of UK employees and their true thoughts about their employers. The paper, based on findings from a survey of 1174 UK employees by YouGov on behalf of MHR, reveals that 49% of employees believe the portrayed public image of the company they work for matches the actual experience of working there. The research shows that employees are generally happy with the culture at their workplace, with 70% of people agreeing their company’s ethos is well communicated to staff, and 61% saying they would feel comfortable speaking to their manager if they felt the company wasn’t delivering on its aims.

August 17, 2018

Majority of employees see digital data as way of being snooped on by their boss

by Sara Bean • AI, Facilities management, News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

As we recently reported, facilities management is more data driven than ever, with the use of data analytics being used to measure costs and performance. This is why the increasingly sophisticated ways in which workplaces can be monitored; from the footfall in the washrooms to the level of desk usage has been welcomed by employers, but a new survey suggests digital data gathering is making staff feel uneasy. A new report published today by the TUC looks at the phenomenon from the perspective of workers’ experiences and found that 6 in 10 workers fear that greater workplace surveillance through technology will fuel distrust. The study reveals that most UK workers (56 percent) believe they are currently monitored by their boss at work and worry that this ‘surveillance data’ will be used by bosses to set unfair targets, micromanage them and take away control and autonomy.

August 1, 2018

Treating employees as workplace consumers could help improve productivity

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace, Workplace design

Treat employees as workplace consumers to help improve productivity says report Employers need to recognise the workplace as integral to delivering a business’ commercial strategy, and treat employees as ‘workplace consumers’ – creating ‘frictionless’ experiences and environments that help them perform to their best ability. This is according to a report: ‘Optimising performance: defining, designing, maintaining and evolving workplace experiences’ from Interserve, undertaken in partnership with Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA). The two-year study into the science behind effective working environments argues there is a need to radically re-envisage workplaces to optimise team productivity and maximise the value of physical working environments. It sets out a series of critical steps for knowledge-based businesses to revolutionise the workplace – and thereby aid employee performance. The report argues that traditional silos, from IT and HR to facilities, need to be broken down to integrate the management of the workplace as part of a ‘one-team’ approach; doing so will ensure companies can deliver a streamlined workplace experience which supports employee productivity.