June 13, 2019

Digital transformation plans ignoring role of HR

HR must enhance its reputation amongst senior management teams and business leaders if it is to take a leading role in driving the success of digital transformation projects, claims a new report from MHR. The poll of 250 business leaders at organisations with more than 1000 employees claims that just 5 percent of respondents felt the HR department should be the people to lead or manage a digital transformation project. The full results of the survey are explored in MHR’s report ‘Businesses are not ready to transform (but they don’t know that)… which was launched at the Festival of Work in London this week. (more…)

June 12, 2019

Working lives dominated by stress and overwork

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Over-work, stress and poor work-life balance are undermining attempts to improve the quality of working lives in the UK, new research from the CIPD claims. Over 5,000 people were surveyed for the UK Working Lives Survey, an annual assessment of job quality across seven different categories including pay and benefits, contracts and employment terms, and voice and representation. (more…)

June 12, 2019

Women and older workers drive record employment

by Marie Hillen • News, Workplace

The number of people in employment in the UK increased by 32,000 to a record high of 32.75 million in the three months to April 2019, according to the latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). This was driven by women whose numbers increased by 60,000 on the quarter to a record high of 15.46 million.

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June 12, 2019

Lack of flexible working risks talent exodus

by George Eltringham • Flexible working, News

New results from Wildgoose’s Flexible Working survey suggests that a significant number of UK employees are seeking out flexible working to better juggle life both in and out of work, without compromising productivity. The latest findings follow on from the organisation’s other successful insights surveys exploring diversity & inclusion and mental health in the workplace. (more…)

June 12, 2019

People can hit career dead end in their fifties

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

With a rising retirement age and the prediction that by 2020, a third of UK workers will be aged 50 or over, new research from job board Totaljobs and recruitment firm Robert Walters found that many workers in their 50s find their career options and development opportunities are extremely limited.

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June 11, 2019

Moving the wellbeing debate beyond a fixation on stress

by Matt Weston • Comment, Wellbeing

The world of work is evolving. Geopolitical change, digitalisation of the workplace and increased regulation are just some of the changes that businesses and their employees have to navigate. This disruption can feed into employee stress levels, impacting their happiness at work. Maintaining good mental health in the workplace is vital for employee wellbeing – it’s a key factor in employee retention and in turn, business success. However, it has been reported that between 2017 and 2018, 15.4 million working days were lost to work-related stress.

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June 11, 2019

Over half of US workers offered flexible Fridays

by Marie Hillen • Flexible working, News, Workplace

This summer, over half (55 percent) of US employers will offer employees the option to leave work early on Fridays or take the entire day off. The new survey by Gartner claims that so-called flexible Fridays are an example of the sort of perks organisations are offering to gain competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top talent in a labour market which features record low unemployment levels.

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June 10, 2019

Coworking disrupts office design ⁰

by Paul Goodchild • Comment, Coworking, Facilities management, Flexible working, Workplace design

In his book How Buildings Learn, the author Stewart Brand outlines the process whereby buildings evolve over time to meet the changing needs of their occupants. He describes each building as consisting of six layers, each of which functions on a different timescale. These range from the site itself which has a life cycle measured in centuries, through to the building (decades), interior fit out (years), technology (months), to stuff (days). The effectiveness of a design will depend on how well it resolves the tensions that exist between these layers of the building, and this is one of the benefits of coworking that isn’t discussed enough.

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June 7, 2019

London workers more attracted to job than socialising

by Marie Hillen • Cities, Flexible working, News, Workplace

Socialising and drinking opportunities are some of the least enjoyable things about working in London, as loving their job and a chance to grow personally is more of an incentive for those who work in the Capital, a new report suggests. The survey of 1,000 London workers by Flexioffices, claims that 75 percent of employees in the city enjoy going to work for the personal development opportunities, training and the job itself. Flexible hours are becoming an increasingly enticing aspect of a job, with 21 percent of London workers liking their workplace because of the flexible hours available.

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June 7, 2019

Flexible working held back by poor data

by Neil Franklin • News

Many managers still rely on gut feelings and inadequate or flawed data to make important but potentially poor decisions about real estate and flexible working. That is the main conclusion of a new piece of research by flexible workplace specialist Abintra. Published in a new report, the study highlights how corporations are struggling to manage office space efficiently as the trend towards agile and flexible working gathers momentum.

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June 6, 2019

In defence of open plan office design

by Elizabeth Mixson • Features, Workplace design

Noisy, distracting, toxic and disastrous. These are just a few words that have been used to describe open plan office layouts. Though the open office layout model was originally conceived to promote collaboration, innovation and stronger workplace relationship, if recent press is to be believed, it’s had the opposite effect at many companies. (more…)

June 6, 2019

Flexible working may not enhance productivity

by Marie Hillen • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace

The majority of office employees (84 percent) believe good relationships with colleagues boost their quality of work, yet nearly three quarters (70 percent) admit to not knowing the people they work with very well, claims a new survey from Nespresso Professional. The study suggests that changing office environments and flexible working practices are not improving employees’ relationships with co-workers, or their creativity and output. (more…)