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Book Review: The Emergent Workplace

Book Review: The Emergent Workplace

by • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

Looking for patterns in the mash. © Columbia Pictures

Looking for patterns in the mash
© Columbia Pictures

It’s rather refreshing to see a book or report in which the word ‘Workplace’ in the title is prefaced by ‘Emergent’ rather than something misleading like ‘Tomorrow’s’ or ‘Future’. And so the authors Clark Sept and Paul Heath define their vision of the workplace presented in this slim but engaging book as a thing which is ‘in the process of becoming prominent’ to use the dictionary definition of the word emergent. By using this particular epithet, they are describing the consequences of the various forces that drive today’s workplace rather than lapsing into the fallacies most commonly associated with works of this kind; principally those of either assuming there is an evolution of all offices towards an ultimate model, or that already commonplace factors such as technology which frees us to work anywhere and at any time can in any way be associated with ‘the future’.

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Staff would “rather have the money” than endure an office Christmas party

by • News, Workplace

Office Christmas party

The annual office Christmas party is typically viewed as an annual treat that recognises and rewards employees – but for nearly half of the population the events are a chore more associated with drunkenness and often regrettable romantic liaisons than bonding or motivation. In a poll by serviced office provider Business Environment, one in five (20%) find Christmas parties a chore, while one in ten (13.7%) wish there would be no Christmas parties at all. Although roughly a third of people (31.6%) reported that Christmas parties helped them bond with their colleagues, and slightly more than a quarter (27.3%) reported the events make them feel rewarded for hard work, 62.2% of respondents “would rather have the money”.

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Good practice guide for employers on using social media as a vetting tool

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

Advice on social media vettingThe debate over the right to privacy of job applicants whose activities may be checked on social media websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, has led to some confusion over what is legally acceptable. Employers’ body the CIPD’s recent social media research revealed that two in five employers look at candidates’ online activity or profiles to inform recruitment decisions, but few inform applicants as a matter of course that this is being done. But just how aware are employers of the legalities around this kind of vetting? Managers have wide discretion within the law to decide whether or not to recruit a particular candidate, but to avoid risk of legal challenge they should be fully aware of the law on data protection and discrimination in employment. The CIPD has now published some useful guidance on what constitutes good practice. (more…)

More than half of UK’s increasingly disengaged workforce looking to switch jobs

by • News, Workplace

Jumping-shipStaff disengagement is already costing the UK economy dear, and is also one of the reasons why nearly half of all UK employees are currently looking to leave their current jobs over the next year, a contrast of two new surveys reveals. The first report, from private healthcare provider BUPA, found that disengaged and unhealthy staff  cost the UK economy around £6 billion each year. The second report from Investors in People (IIP) – a Government created business improvement agency – claims that just under half of all British employees (47 percent) are considering whether to move jobs during 2014. This represents some 14 million individuals so if you lend both reports credence, employers may have serious issues retaining their best employees as the jobs market picks up.

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Extended rights to flexible working could prove a logistical headache for employers

by • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

Extended rights to flexible working could prove a logistical headache for employers

A recent decision by the government could result in emptier offices on Fridays and Mondays as staff vie with each other to work from home. This is because from April 2014 onwards, employers will have to be prepared to consider flexible working requests from any employee, not just for employees who have children under the age of 17 or responsibilities as carers. One of the more challenging areas for employers is how to manage condensed hours requests and to keep enough staff covering core office hours, without affecting the business. This could result in employers having to juggle competing flexible working requests from employees who they may not be able to accommodate all at the same time. (more…)

Battle lines being drawn as wearable tech raises privacy and security fears

by • Comment, Facilities management, Legal news, Technology

Google Glass banWe are starting to see the first shots fired in the coming war about wearable technology. The most talked about early salvos related to the very recent and highly publicised case of a diner in a Seattle cafe who was ejected when it was discovered he was wearing and using Google Glass despite being asked not to and reminded of the restaurant owner’s policy regarding wearable tech. The ensuing media storm broke on social media first as it does these days, with the Google Glass owner arguing – perhaps unreasonably – they were his glasses and he should be allowed to do what he wanted with them , while the cafe owner argued –perhaps reasonably – that his other customers don’t want to have a meal out while wondering if they are being filmed or recorded by a complete stranger with the ability to upload it all instantaneously.

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Benefits of social media for employers are not being realised says CIPD

by • News, Technology, Workplace

Benefits of social media for business relationships and employee engagementResearch launched today at the CIPD’s Social Media in HR conference reveals social media is still a long way off from infiltrating the workplace to the extent it is used in our social lives. Three in four (76%) use social media in their personal lives, but just one in four (26%) use it for work purposes. Given the news this week that the attorney general is to publish guidance on Twitter to help prevent social media users from committing contempt of court, employers could be forgiven in being wary of the risks of social media. This is a mistake, as according to the research, ‘Social technology, social business?’ almost half (47%) of employees who use social media for work on a daily basis already see real benefits for their organisations. (more…)

Meeting the management challenges of caring for home workers

by • Flexible working, Workplace

Meeting the management challenges of caring for home workersFlexible working is on the rise. However, as reported today, while employers are happy to equip workers with the facilities required to work away from the office, there is a worrying level of unwillingness amongst many bosses in checking the safety and comfort of home workers. Employers have a duty of care to their home workers under health and safety legislation and the Working Time Regulations 1998. This means that care should be taken by employers to ensure that home workers operate in a safe and appropriate environment. This duty of care goes beyond supplying an ergonomic workstation. Managing home workers requires a varied set of management skills and best practice processes. (more…)

UK leads Western Europe in offering flexible working – and checking it’s safe

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

UK leads Western Europe in offering flexible working and checking it's safeThe inexorable rise of flexible working continues, particularly in the UK, where 64 per cent of the organizations questioned in a new poll said that they implemented flexible working more than a year ago. And despite the best efforts by some high-profile employers to roll back the trend, it is HR which is endorsing the adoption of flexible working, with 92 per cent responsible for its implementation within their organisations. Although, Germany (57%), the Netherlands (48%) and Belgium (38%) currently lag behind the UK, all the countries polled agreed that flexible working results in higher productivity, especially in England (85%). A surprising view however, was that it is the employees who are responsible for setting up their own workstation, with just UK staff likely to have any sort of ergonomic checks. (more…)

Case study: dPOP’s jaw-dropping new offices light the road ahead for Detroit

by • Case studies, Facilities management, Flooring, Furniture, Workplace design

P1020679If you think you know what’s going on in Detroit based on the stories of the city’s financial woes and pictures of some crumbling buildings, it is worth a visit to the offices of dPOP, the two month old design firm with origins in creating the award-winning office spaces for Quicken Loans and its family of companies.The design firm’s space in the basement of a long defunct Detroit bank embodies what being from the Motor City is all about — being tough, but talented; gritty yet glamorous; fun with a funky twist.They design like they don’t care what you think — and that might just be true. Their own offices and those they created for the 11,000 workers that were moved from divergent suburban sites to the center of Detroit are bold, bright and fun. Most of all fun. But the result is spectacular.

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The meaningful aspects of what we do give us the greatest rewards

by • Comment, Workplace

It is the meaningful aspects of what we do

Charles Handy recently explained to attendees at Worktech 13 London why money is not the main motivating factor for employees; while at the same event, Claudia Hamm-Barstow of Jones Lang LaSalle added that the dream workplace is “a place where the company adds value to the employee experience, people feel valued and welcomed, the organisation feels meaningful, the work is rewarding and importantly there are no stupid rules”. According to The Human Givens Institute neither of these statements should be at all surprising. But The Human Givens theory adds that we also need to be respected, to feel in control, to have self-esteem, privacy and community.  And, most crucially of all, we need to have purpose and meaning in our lives. (more…)

Rail fares and grind make London based staff yearn for flexible working, claims survey

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

London commutersPerhaps one of the least talked about factors driving the uptake of flexible working in the UK is the cost of getting into work. But a new survey commissioned by Citrix of 500 commuters in the capital claims that more than a fifth (22 percent) of London based employees are considering a job outside the city following the latest above-inflation increase in fares although the majority of the want-aways (79 percent) would stay in their current job if they could work from home at least once a week. Just under half (45 percent) would like their employer to offer flexible working, 58 percent feel they would be more productive if they didn’t have to commute, and 62 percent felt that flexible working would improve their quality of life. Ed: For those of us who already work outside London but get the occasional glimpse of the horror of commuting, those numbers are bafflingly low. 

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