Search Results for: employee experience

October 11, 2018

Latest technology would improve productivity of office workers

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

In spite of all the evidence and their own experiences, over half (55 percent) of office workers believe access to the latest workplace technology would make them more productive; 43 percent said this would make them feel more valued, while 38 percent said it would motivate them to work harder. This is according to research for the report, The Hidden Value of Workplace Technology, conducted on behalf of Econocom by survey consultant Censuswide. The research found that workplace tech is important not just for companies looking to retain existing staff, but also to recruit new members. (more…)

July 4, 2018

Podcast: The British new wave and the evolution of the workplace

by Mike Petrusky • Facilities management, Flexible working, Podcasts, Premium Content, Technology, Workplace design

In this podcast I talk to Mark Eltringham about British music, which leads to a discussion about bands from the early days of new wave in Liverpool, including Echo & The Bunnymen. The evolution of music serves as a metaphor which leads to a conversation about the history of the workplace where Mark shares his perspective on some of the founding thought leaders in our modern sector. I ask him about today’s places of work and Mark references a recent report from Chris Hood of AWA, Kate Lister of Global Workplace Analytics and Haworth while also sharing some research provided by Leesman Index. We talk about the blurring of the lines and need for collaboration across departments inside organizations, the relationship between facilities management and workplace as a whole, while also discussing the controversy in the UK about the future of the FM sector.

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June 22, 2018

Organisations are easily distracted from the task of creating a great workplace strategy

by Chris Hood • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Workplace design

Earlier this month The Once Alternative Workplace Strategies 2018 workplace study was published. This study is the only known longitudinal workplace study and it was recently resurfaced by a group of volunteers to maintain a comparative thread of data on the evolution of workplace thought and practice now going back many years. Unfortunately, the results of this global study demonstrate that a high percentage of companies still see once alternative and now modern workplace strategies as a real estate initiative and not the opportunity to reinvent their businesses in deeper and more transformational ways. Workplace innovation is a litmus test for management quality and leadership. This isn’t about real estate, it’s actually about people and business outcomes.

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June 12, 2018

Keeping people at the heart of the modern workplace

by Ryan Anderson • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

The modern workplace is undergoing significant change, and it’s no surprise that many of these changes are driven by the adoption of new technologies. However, unlike previous eras of technological change, most of the technologies being adopted by organizations today have the potential to offer more autonomy, choice and flexibility to their employees. This can cause disconnects (literally) with the built environment, but it’s also possible for those who design and manage work spaces to adopt a new mindset to stay in lockstep with technological change and to ensure the creation of positive workplace experiences.

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May 17, 2018

What exactly is driving the global workplace conversation?

by Andrew Mawson • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

There is a growing body of research and understanding on the impact that working environments, workplace habits and culture have on people and broader business performance. The very best workplaces in the world – some of which will be on show at Workplace Week in New York next month – are changing our expectations around the look, function and purpose of office space. These workplaces are designed much like ecosystems – every inch designed with the comfort, wellbeing and productivity of the people who occupy them in mind. The new world of ‘workplace management’ is about designing and delivering multi-faceted, minute-by-minute, multi-sensory experiences that create an emotional response. It is about designing workplace experiences to deliver a specific mission. It encompasses thinking about journeys and destinations, the fusion of space, information, and services – and how these reflect organisational personality, support human effectiveness, and lure in talent. But, as those in the industry will be all too aware, this hasn’t always been the case. So, what’s to thank for this fresh approach to workplace design and management?

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May 1, 2018

No surprises in new report on future workplace trends

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The latest Global Workplace Trends report from Sodexo focuses on the ‘workplace experience’ and how it affects levels of engagement, wellbeing and corporate performance. It’s an undemanding study that sets out seven trends covering familiar themes in a familiar way, even though the authors claim it offers ‘fresh insights’. As well as the idea of ‘experience’, it touches on ideas about the intersections of digital and physical space and the implications for people and organisations as well as the workplace professions. It uses the standard vocabulary, various buzzwords and the usual presuppositions to look at the impact of Millennials, AI, the sharing economy and so on. The visuals are the usual parade of smiling, diverse – but no unattractive, disabled and old – hipsters sharing screens and being creative in sun-dappled interiors. Sauce it with some virtue signals and it’s job done.

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January 29, 2018

Financial companies learning to better utilise office space to attract right talent

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

Financial services organisations are reducing the amount of commercial office space they require as they adopt more flexible work styles. This is according to a new report from HOK’s US team, The New Financial Workplace, an investigation into the threats and challenges facing the financial services industry, with a special focus on how new technologies like cryptocurrency, biometrics and blockchain are disrupting the sector. Financial services companies are being challenged by the emerging fintech industry, says the report, which is projected to grow to $8 billion in 2018. These traditional companies must adopt the cultures and workplace design practices of the technology industry to stay ahead.

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January 4, 2018

Hard working females under 35 most likely to join January job exodus

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

It probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that in the annual January ‘job exodus’, junior employees under the age of 35 years are most likely to leave their current roles, according to new research. However the Qualtrics Employee Pulse – a quarterly survey of more than 4,000 workers – shows that employees that pose the greatest flight risk are most likely to be female, think about work outside of contracted hours, and regularly checking emails on weekends. Of most use to employers, utilising its Experience Management Platform, Qualtrics has identified the top three drivers that will help encourage employees to stay in their jobs in the long-term. These are supporting a work-life balance, allowing employees to try out new tasks and skills in their existing role and ensuring managers are proactive in helping to solve problems or concerns in the workplace.

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November 17, 2017

Seven stories about people, places and technology we’ve been reading this week

by Mark Eltringham • AI, Features, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

How to navigate beyond sustainability buzzwords

The communist party offices around the world

Hawking’s fear that AI may replace humans altogether

Tech giants are transforming Sydney’s business district

How AI will transform the employee experience

Promotion improves men’s job satisfaction but not women’s

Why we value physical objects over digital

November 6, 2017

Time to address the missed opportunities and wasted resources of the modern workplace

by Chris Moriarty • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Rapidly changing work and workplaces. Productivity languishing below optimum levels. Staff engagement well below where it should be. Ongoing recruitment and retention challenges. All this has been building over the last couple of years; it would appear that organisations have never had it so tough. There have been plenty of tough times before, of course, but we have been witnessing something of a ‘perfect storm’ in recent months, where a whole range of issues and developments, as well as advancements and opportunities, have come together to push these challenges up the management agenda. But there are things we can do to make the workplace a better experience for everybody.

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October 26, 2017

Workplace design continues to lag behind the needs of modern working life

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

Companies around the world waste potentially billions of dollars on under-utilised office spaces that are unfit for purpose and do not reflect the needs of modern workers, a recent benchmark study of over 100 workplaces claims. The study, Optimaze Workplace Review, from Finland based workplace analyst Rapal Oy took place during 2016, aggregates space utilisation data collected from 15 countries. The 330 observational space utilisation studies involved more than 6,600 walk-throughs of 111 buildings and 53,600 work spaces around the world to explore the working practices and environments of more than 23,000 people. It also includes a dataset of around 354 million observations of workstation use in total. The report’s main conclusion is that leadership teams are increasingly placing workplace management issues higher on their agendas, aware of the need to align spaces with new working cultures.

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October 20, 2017

Office ping pong tables a waste of money as solution to low productivity

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

Over half (55 percent) of UK employees are productive for less than 30 hours per week yet UK employers plough money into quirky benefits that a majority of employees see as a distraction a new report claims. New research from Sage. ‘Why your workforce isn’t working’ found that while many companies invest in quirky benefits to keep staff happy, their employees aren’t impressed. Only 9 percent believe company outings are a valuable benefit, and even fewer were favourable on office games such as ping-pong – with only 6 percent saying they value it as part of the work experience. In fact, in some cases people felt these were doing more harm than good: with over half (55 percent) saying that they are distracting and decrease productivity. Commissioned by Sage People, the study spoke to 3,500 global workers to uncover what people really want from their employers. The UK findings show the disconnect between the benefits employers provide and what employees want.

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