Search Results for: environment

Fear of change is putting British companies at risk, Microsoft report claims

by • Flexible working, News, Technology

A fear of change among staff is putting British companies at risk, according to new research that looks at how businesses are preparing for a technology-led future. A significant number of workers from across the UK admitted to anxiety and concerns over job security when their firms introduced technology to help them in their roles. Just under half (49 percent) of the people surveyed by Microsoft, Goldsmiths, University of London and YouGov said they feared the change that comes with digital transformation. Sixty-one percent said they felt anxious when bosses brought in new technology, while 59 percent were worried about the impact the automation of tasks would have on their job.

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The contribution of personality to the performance of agile workers

by • Features, Flexible working

The introduction of agile working into organisations has typically focussed on the workstyles of different job roles, but has tended to treat the jobholders within these groups in the same way. The successful introduction of new ways of working clearly relies on the willingness of the people occupying the job roles to embrace new ways of working; yet there has been little investigation of the needs of agile workers with different personality types beyond looking at the needs of extroverts and introverts. These studies have tended to focus on the workplace; for example, the Cushman Wakefield Workplace Programme briefing paper examines how organisations can accommodate the needs of extroverts and introverts working together in the workplace. However, using OCEAN personality profiles, Nigel Oseland found that different personality types have different preferences, which in turn are likely to affect their performance at work.

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Workplace wellbeing is focus of new report from British Psychological Society

by • News, Wellbeing

A new report from the British Psychological Society, Psychology at Work: Improving Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace examines issues around work, health, and disability and recommends ways that policy makers and employers can tackle poor employment practices using interventions that work with human behaviour, not against it. The report has been launched today, Tuesday 14th November, at the BPS All-Parliamentary Group for Psychology’s (APPG) ‘Healthy Workplaces’ event hosted by Dr Lisa Cameron MP in the Houses of Parliament. Psychology at Work: Improving Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace’ was co-authored by Dr Ashley Weinberg, CPsychol AFBPsS, and Nancy Doyle CPsychol AFBPsS.

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New quarterly report highlights latest UK cities trends

by • Cities, News, Public Sector, Technology

A new quarterly report that claims to analyse the latest trends taking place in cities across the UK has been published by Future Cities Catapult, the Government-backed centre of expertise in urban innovation, the City Innovation Brief (automatic download) summarises key developments and changes from cities across the UK, identifying where money is being invested and what future opportunities might look like within the advanced urban services sector.

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Cities in developed world are less confident in their digital ecosystems

by • Cities, News, Technology

According to a new study from The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), business leaders in 45 cities around the world are relatively confident that they can find the support they need for their digital transformation efforts. Many city environments come up short, however, particularly in the supply of digital talent. The study claims that firms in Bangalore, San Francisco and Mumbai display the greatest degree of confidence while executives in developed world cities are some of the least confident, including those in Berlin, Tokyo and Yokohama. The study also claims that half of businesses (48 percent) have considered relocating operations to a city with a more favourable environment.

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Germany overtakes the UK as preferred place to invest in commercial real estate

by • Facilities management, News, Property

 

One in three commercial real estate investors say Germany is their preferred region to invest in, the first time that Germany has been chosen as the number one region for investment ahead of the UK in the annual BrickVest commercial property investment barometer (‘the Barometer’) Germany was selected by 33 percent compared to the 27 percent who choose the UK, which saw a drop from 33 percent to 31 percent in the last quarter and from 32 percent in the same Barometer 12 months ago. Nearly one in five (17 percent) selected the US, which represents a slight increase from 12 months ago (16 percent), while France was selected by 15 percent, the same as Q3 last year.

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

by • 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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Growing need for a flexible workplace creates fresh challenges for employers

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

Many businesses are misaligned with their people, with nearly half of employees not understanding their company’s strategic objectives, according to new research published by The Ludic Group, which claims that the changing nature of workforces and the growing need for a flexible workplace are creating fresh challenges for communication, collaboration and engagement. The research suggests that the impact of technology is causing digital chaos, with businesses struggling to get the communications balance right. With the number of channels and tools increasing almost half of people (44 percent) want to hear more from employers. Perhaps surprisingly, one in five (20 percent) individuals said that their firm has not used any tools or techniques to communicate with them. This lack of communication results in people being disconnected from the business strategy, with only half of individuals (50 percent) reported fully aligned with their company’s objectives and 44 percent not knowing or understanding what these are. Alongside this, people increasingly want to design their own working experience and expect more flexibility from their employers.

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Division of workplace hierarchy on impact of office design and flexible working

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

 

There is a divide in the importance placed on the office environment among different levels of the UK workforce, with new research suggesting C-Suite executives do not fully appreciate the factors that keep employees happiest at work and the impact that the office environment has on their employees’ productivity and wellbeing. According to the new research by Peldon Rose and are happier and work most productive in the office, 88 percent  of middle management and 84 percent of junior employees say they always or sometimes enjoy coming to work every day compared to 76 percent of C-Suite executives. In addition, junior and middle management employees are more inclined to work in the office, with 62 percent and 63 percent, respectively, saying they prefer to work in the office over at home (29 percent, 30 percent) compared to C-Suite who prefer to work at home (40 percent) rather than the office (24 percent). As a result, just a quarter of junior employees believe their office has a culture that allows them to work flexibly compared to nearly half of C-Suite.

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Boundary-less workplaces must offer contextual, personalised workspaces

Boundary-less workplaces must offer contextual, personalised workspaces

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

'Boundary-less' workplaces must offer contextual, personalised workspacesThe future workplace will replace familiar, rigid hierarchies and departments with small, collaborative networks of teams and the lines between individual organisations and ecosystems will blur as companies increasingly cast their net wider to innovate. This is one of the predictions made in a Fujitsu-commissioned whitepaper ‘Workplace 2025’ which argues that businesses must rethink social and technology strategies to plan for the future workplace – or risk being left behind. To appeal to future employees with the right skills, the whitepaper, which was produced by European research firm Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) advises that businesses must ensure they are moving towards an environment that provides contextual, personalised workspaces aligned to the individual needs of users. At the same time, they should plan to encourage enhanced peer collaboration by implementing technologies such as augmented reality. The Workplace 2025 report foresees that today’s organisational structures will become more agile, adapting to constantly-changing economic conditions, competitive landscapes and customer demands.

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Employees are investing their own time and money to remain competitive in the changing workplace

Employees are investing their own time and money to remain competitive in the changing workplace

by • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Capgemini and LinkedIn have published a new global report exploring the ‘digital talent gap’, which analyses the demand and supply of talent with specific digital skills and the availability of digital roles across multiple industries and countries. The report, The Digital Talent Gap—Are Companies Doing Enough? claims to reveal the concerns felt by employees when assessing their own digital skills and the lack of training resources currently available to them within their workplace. Highlights include the fact that nearly 50 percent of employees, rising to close to 60 percent for what the report calls digitally talented employees are investing their own money and additional time beyond office hours to develop digital skills on their own. Capgemini surveyed 753 employees and 501 executives at the director level or above, at large companies with reported revenue of more than $500 million for FY 2016 and more than 1,000 employees. The survey took place from June to July 2017, and covered nine countries – France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States and seven industry sectors.

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HR Directors turning their attention to workplace design and experience

HR Directors turning their attention to workplace design and experience

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace, Workplace design

The role of HR Directors is going to change in the future as they will increasingly become “curators” of the office, charged with generating the right atmosphere to inspire millennial workers, according to a study of 100 HR Directors by Unispace. The study claims found that there will be greater HR ownership of the physical workplace in the future as human resources becomes more focused on the employee “experience”. A key to future success will be ensuring workers are “engaged with the workplace” and enable them to collaborate in better ways and become more productive. A recurring theme identified during the interviews was a change to the overall decision-making process around physical space. Previously the remit of property and facilities management, it now includes HR representation as standard practice in large organisations. Bringing HR to the table enables the working environment to embody organisational values and contribute towards achieving strategic “people-led” business objectives, such as better staff retention and productivity.

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