Search Results for: employees

March 25, 2014

Employers welcome an age-diverse workforce, but need to be prepared

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A recent report by the UKCES that predicted that the workplace of the future will see four generations of employees working side by side is being welcomed, rather than feared by employers, but they need to begin planning for the future now, or risk a skills shortage and being at a competitive disadvantage. The revelation that by 2030 four-generation or “4G” workplaces – will become increasingly common as people delay retiring, even into their 80s, prompted UKCES Commissioner Toby Peyton-Jones to ask whether this emerging multi-generational workplace would spell stress and culture clashes or create positive tension leading to innovation. Now a new study, Managing an age-diverse workforce, from the CIPD, shows that employers and employees see clear benefits from an increasingly age diverse workforce but need to do more to take full advantage. (more…)

March 21, 2014

Why work should be a key focus in improving our happiness

by Jessica Pryce-Jones • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

The iOpener Institute for People & Performance is an official partner of the UN International Day of Happiness, which took place this week. Here, iOpener’s Joint CEOs Jessica Pryce-Jones & Julia Lindsay explain why work should be a key focus of improving happiness. The UN International Day of Happiness is designed to recognize that ‘progress’ is about increasing human happiness and wellbeing as well as growing the economy. The UN’s focus this year is on ‘reclaiming happiness’. The origins of the day lie in the July 2011 UN General Assembly resolution which recognized happiness as a fundamental human goal. In April 2012 the first ever UN conference on Happiness took place. On the back of this, they designated 20th March as an annual worldwide focus on celebrating and growing happiness. (more…)

March 19, 2014

Employers say improved morale has helped reduce staff absences

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A third (34%) of UK employers have seen their absence rates improve over the last 12 months and almost two thirds think this is due to improved morale in the workplace. The new research, from trade body Group Risk Development (GRiD), echoes that of recent ONS Labour Market statistics which showed that UK sick days were down by 47 million since 1993. The employers polled also revealed they have better measures in place to reduce absence and improve attendance; with more than two in five employers (44%) using return-to-work interviews, 36 per cent having flexible working initiatives and 26 per cent having disciplinary procedures in place for unacceptable absence. Employers are also feeling more confident about working with fit notes, with 40 per cent saying they feel they can work with the advice given. (more…)

March 18, 2014

What the UK regional divide can teach us about the way we design offices

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

In the BBC documentary Mind the Gap, Evan Davis asks why London has an economy that is larger than and different to those of other UK cities, but also getting bigger and more differentiated. One of the main reasons he finds for this is something called agglomeration; the more skilled people you can put within physical reach of each other in an environment, the more productive and economically successful that environment will become.The problem for the UK is that not only is London of a different magnitude to its other cities, it does not comply with something called Zipf’s Law which states that in a typical country the largest city will be around twice the size of the second largest, around three times the size of the next largest and four times the size of the fourth largest and so on. It shouldn’t be taken too literally but it does illustrate the important economic principle of agglomeration and explains why there is such a widening divide in the UK economy.

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March 17, 2014

The latest issue of Insight is now available to view online

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Newsletter, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Insight newsletter, available to view online; Workplace Insight confirms a partnership agreement with Europe’s largest commercial interior design event, Clerkenwell Design Week [pictured]; evidence that employees who use treadmill workstations as they work not only receive physical benefits but also are more productive; and research finds that our brains are adapting to the changing demands placed on them by technology. Simon Heath presents part two of his field guide to workplace terminology and Demitri Maldonado explains why FM has to embrace its softer side, focus on people skills and develop them to ensure success. We also present a gallery of stunning images showcasing Google’s new offices in Kuala Lumpur. To automatically receive our weekly newsletter, simply add your email address to the box on the home page.

March 17, 2014

The engaged employee remains as elusive as ever, claims global Deloitte report

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Knowledge, Technology, Workplace

To describe the truly engaged employee as elusive would be something of an understatement. It seems as if the more firms strive to engage with the people who work for them, the less engaged they become, like somebody responding to the gifts and attention of a needy and increasingly creepy lover. A new study from Deloitte frames the paradox. The Global Human Capital Trends survey of 2,500 organisations from around the world found that as they pursue policies to engage employees, they also exhibit a startling inability to do so. Regardless of what they try, they struggle to attract and retain the right people and are all too dispiritingly aware of their ability to create a compelling and engaging brand. The findings back up those of a worldwide Gallup report published last October which found just one in eight employees feel committed to their jobs and able to make a positive contribution.

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March 14, 2014

Research finds the treadmill desk improves wellness and productivity

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Workplace

Despite employers offering staff access to a gym to help promote wellness, actually getting people to use the fitness facilities is another matter. The answer could be to bring the fitness equipment directly to their office; as new research shows that employees who use treadmill workstations as they work not only receive physical benefits but also are more productive. According to a recently published study by researchers from The University of Texas at Arlington, the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota, sedentary employees from a non-profit financial service company who had their current cubicles and offices outfitted with treadmill desks were found to burn an average of 74 more calories per day than they did before they received the treadmill workstation. They were also found to be more productive. (more…)

March 13, 2014

Over three quarters of staff say employers play equal role in their health & wellbeing

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

Nearly 80 per cent of UK workers believe responsibility for managing staff health and wellbeing should be shared between both employer and employee. The ‘Employee View – Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace’ survey, conducted by health insurance provider Westfield Health, found the majority (79%) of respondents felt there should be an even balance between them and their employer when it came to taking care of their wellbeing. Nearly three-quarters (74%) also said knowing their employer cares about their health would make them more likely to be satisfied, loyal and motivated at work. And almost a third (30%) asked for better communication in the workplace about the types of wellbeing programmes on offer to them. (more…)

March 10, 2014

International Women’s Day: odds still stacked against women in the workforce

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

The 110^th International Woman’s Day took place this weekend, and, aside from highlighting the continuing struggles of women across the world, comes research that reveals how in this country, the odds are still stacked against women at work. More than four in 10 (42%) women aged between 18-34 said they have personally faced a gender barrier, followed by 34 per cent of those aged between 35-54 and 26 per cent of women aged 55 and over. Of those women who have experienced inequality at work, over a third (35%) say they believe male colleagues at the same level earn more than they do. Thirty one per cent indicate they are assigned work that is below their level and are therefore unable to demonstrate their abilities, while almost one in five (19%) say that junior colleagues don’t take instructions from them, but will do from male colleagues of equal seniority. (more…)

March 10, 2014

The workplace of the future is one founded on uncertainty

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

We now know for a fact that the good people at the UK Commission for Employment and Skills take heed of what they read on Workplace Insight. After Simon Heath recently eviscerated the idea of the year 2020 as a useful marker for the ‘future’, a new report from the UKCES draws its line in the sand a bit further on in 2030. It means they can’t have a ‘2020 Vision’ and for that we should be very thankful. Yet the report still falls into the same traps that are always liable to ensnare any prognosis about the workplace of the future, notably that some of the things of which they talk have happened or are happening already. Then there’s the whole messy business of deciding what will emerge from the chaos; a bit like predicting the flavour of the soup you are making when a hundred other cooks are secretly adding their own ingredients.

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March 7, 2014

Large and small firms demand greater transparency in government procurement

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, Facilities management

The whole thorny issue of public sector procurement is never far from the news, but this week gained new prominence as one contractor walked out on a £1 billion contract because it felt the Ministry of Justice hadn’t grasped the idea of intellectual property amongst other things, while the Confederation of British Industry raised the stakes overall by claiming that a culture of secrecy in government purchasing continues to foster mistrust and waste taxpayers’ money. The CBI goes so far as to claim that even the most high profile botched contracts over recent years have not deterred the government from its move to inculcate a culture of opacity rather than transparency when procuring goods and services. It called on the Government to move to open book contracts so that all parties are aware of contract terms and margins.

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March 5, 2014

Innovate or die? Why facilities management must embrace change to survive

by Demitri Maldonado • Comment, Facilities management

According to recent reports on workplace, facilities management and corporate real estate, the support services sector needs to change. Some even say it needs to innovate or die. That might be a little harsh, but the current model that the majority of FM service providers work to and that their clients take for granted is tired and has not kept pace with the evolving business environment. Zurich Insurance’s report of late 2012 into CRE & FM said the sector was at a cross roads; in 2013 Jones Lang LaSalle said something similar and picked out five global trends to which CRE and FM had to respond. IFMA & CBRE have taken a similar line, but are more specific – namely FM had to embrace its softer side, focus on people skills and develop them to ensure success. (more…)