Search Results for: environment

Schools aren’t doing enough to prepare children for collaborative working life

Schools aren’t doing enough to prepare children for collaborative working life

by • Flexible working, News

schools and working lifeNew research from the organisers of UC EXPO claims that just 44 percent of British people believe that the current school curriculum does enough to provide students with the collaboration skills they need for modern working life. According to the study of 2,000 respondents carried out in February of this year, 70 percent of the UK workforce already believes that collaboration is very important in the work environment. But just over half (51 percent) either never collaborated or collaborated infrequently in school, and 37 percent stated that collaboration wasn’t an important focus of their education.

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Women working in construction sector three times more likely to miss out on promotion

Women working in construction sector three times more likely to miss out on promotion

by • Architecture, Facilities management, Legal news, News, Property, Workplace

Women working in construction sector three times more likely to miss out on promotion

The built environment still has some way to go to achieve gender parity a new report suggests, as women in construction are paid up to 45 percent less than men and are three times more likely to miss out on promotion than men due to perceived gender discrimination. According to the survey by Randstad of more than 5,500 construction workers and 540 employers across all job functions and levels – 75 percent of those passed over for a more senior role were women compared to 25 percent men. The findings  suggests women in the industry typically are not being given the same opportunities to progress as their male counterparts even though almost every respondent (93 percent) said having a female manager either wouldn’t affect their way of working or would in fact have a positive impact. (more…)

UK women still feel held back by motherhood and flexible work penalty

UK women still feel held back by motherhood and flexible work penalty

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Four in ten (44 percent) women in the UK feel nervous about the impact starting a family might have on their career and 48 percent of new mothers felt overlooked for promotions and special projects upon their return to work. This is according to a new PwC report, launched to mark International Women’s Day, which surveyed over 3,600 professional women (293 in the UK) across different sectors to find out about their career development experiences and aspirations. The report claims that UK women still perceive a motherhood and flexibility penalty in the workplace. Over a third (36 percent) surveyed say they feel that taking advantage of work life balance and flexibility programmes has negative career consequences. The report – Time to talk: what has to change for women at work – claims that women are confident, ambitious and ready for what’s next, but many don’t trust what their employers are telling them about career development and promotion.

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New working styles are risking the health and wellbeing of people, claims report

New working styles are risking the health and wellbeing of people, claims report

by • AI, Flexible working, News, Technology, Wellbeing

A new report from the British Safety Council and consultancy Robertson Cooper, explores what it claims is the probable impact of new working practices and technology on people’s physical and mental wellbeing, and what employers, unions and legislators should do to address them. The report, Future risk: Impact of Work on Health, Safety and Wellbeing, argues that the safety, health and wellbeing of older workers will become more important and new risks will arise related to the adoption of artificial intelligence and automation.

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Google is the gold standard employer in UK tech sector but small brands can still compete

Google is the gold standard employer in UK tech sector but small brands can still compete

by • Company news, Facilities management, News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Google 'gold standard' in tech sector but smaller brands can still compete, suggests reportGoogle has been named the Ideal Employer among tech professionals in the 2018 Dice UK Ideal Employer Report. While market leaders including Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Facebook and IBM are placed highly, the report suggests that smaller tech brands can also attract the top talent through benefits including yoga, in-house cafeterias and more. For many technology professionals, Google is the gold standard employer, with a perfect mix of competitive salary, perks, benefits and interesting work, something smaller companies can learn from. The survey of 464 tech professionals found that simple office upgrades including yoga, colourful furniture and other positive innovative cultural perks can help smaller companies attract the best talent, even if smaller in size. Good work/life balances, open communications and manageable working hours also ranked highly.  (more…)

How to reboot an activity based working project that has ground to a halt

How to reboot an activity based working project that has ground to a halt

by • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

We moved and then nothing happened, is one of the typical problems while evaluating the ups and downs of an activity based working (ABW) journey. The key to success is to kick off and re-start a change that has stopped. A second problem is that the layout of the office not quite meets up to expectations and needs, and a third is that too few feel engagement. It doesn’t necessary work badly, but something itches. What and how to do then? Clearly showing to those in charge what is not working or not has been carried out as it was meant, and showing the arisen consequences due to that, is one of the things that must be done to enable a re-start. But that will not be enough. (more…)

About time we simply accepted that coworking and flexible working are the new normal

About time we simply accepted that coworking and flexible working are the new normal

by • Comment, Coworking, Flexible working, Workplace design

Ask someone to list innovative companies which have become notable disruptors in their market and they invariably respond with two names – Uber and Airbnb. That is because both brands are positioned squarely and successfully at the retail consumer: for people who use a taxi or take an occasional short break in a foreign city, they have become the automatic default options. But there is another equally successful business targeting the corporate space, aimed particularly at small businesses and millennial tech start-ups: WeWork. Just like Uber and Airbnb, it is less than a decade old. In that time, WeWork’s ambition of being the world’s leading coworking company has been realised. Championing itself as a disruption revolutionary, it has succeeded more prosaically by ‘creating environments that increase productivity, innovation, and collaboration,’ according to its website. WeWork’s model involves renting office space cheaply via long-term lease contracts. Small units are then re-rented at higher rates to start up companies which are happy to pay a premium because they need very little space.

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Productivity, retention and employee wellbeing improve when there is workplace trust

Productivity, retention and employee wellbeing improve when there is workplace trust

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Quarter of employees have left their jobs because of a lack of trust

Being in a reliable work environment increases retention, productivity and employee wellbeing, while also promoting a better business culture, finds new research from Bupa. An examination of workplace trust and the impact on employee wellbeing reveals that over half (53 per cent) of employees considered it to be a major factor in whether they stayed or left a company. The research found that nearly a quarter of UK employees (24 per cent) have left their company due to issues around trust. Although trust is not a tangible workplace benefits, such as salary and bonuses, it is an essential variable in promoting harmony and productivity within an organisation and the study suggests how important it is within the workplace, and also the contribution it makes to the wellbeing of employees and the overall performance of a company. The study also asked employees how trust compares to other company benefits. Nearly two thirds (62 per cent) believe that trust is more important than a gym membership or company mobile, while over half value it more than a free canteen (56 per cent) and company car (55 per cent).

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Report identifies hundred greenest cities in the world (and not one is in the UK)

Report identifies hundred greenest cities in the world (and not one is in the UK)

by • Cities, Environment, News

A new report claims that there are now over 100 greenest cities worldwide who derive at least 70 percent of their electricity from renewable sources. The report from CDP claims that 40 of these now generate all of their energy in this way, including Basel and Reykjavik. No UK cities appear on the list although over 80 UK towns and cities have committed themselves to run on 100 percent clean energy by 2050, according to local government campaign group UK100.

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The very idea of good work in a gig economy remains a distant ideal

The very idea of good work in a gig economy remains a distant ideal

by • Comment, Flexible working

Don Lane’s employment contract for his work as a courier described him as an “independent contractor”. This meant he was neither an “employee” nor a “worker”, so not entitled to legal rights such as protection against dismissal, paid holidays, or statutory sick pay. The 53-year-old also suffered from diabetes, and had previously been fined £150 by the delivery firm he worked for for missing work to attend a hospital appointment. He died in January 2018 after working through the Christmas season despite his illness. The following month, the British government revealed its response to an earlier official report on modern working practices and the gig economy. That report, by Matthew Taylor, contained 53 recommendations to improve the working environment, or achieve the report’s title, namely ‘good work’.

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Workplace health and wellbeing initiatives do not go far enough say staff

Workplace health and wellbeing initiatives do not go far enough say staff

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

Workplace health and wellbeing initiatives don't go far enough say employeesEmployers’ efforts in the US to improve staff health and wellbeing are falling short of employees’ expectations, claims a new report. Nearly two-thirds of employees (65 percent) in a report from Willis Towers Watson agree that managing their health is a top priority, but while the majority of employers (56 percent) believe their wellbeing programmes have encouraged employees to live a healthier lifestyle, only 32 percent of employees agree. Eighty-seven percent of employers who participated in the 22nd annual Best Practices in Health Care Employer Survey say increasing employee engagement in health and well-being is a top priority and the research warns that employees in poor health are twice as likely to be disengaged at work and take almost three times as many days off as employees who are in very good health. Employers can improve health behaviour through designing the workplace environment to make it easier for employees to stay fit, eat well, breathe fresh air and address stress adds the report.

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Commercial office market take-up in Birmingham has exceeded one million sq ft

Commercial office market take-up in Birmingham has exceeded one million sq ft

by • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property, Public Sector

Three Snowhill in BirminghamCity centre take up reached 1,005,000 sq ft in Birmingham last year, 51 percent above the 10-year average of 666,000 sq ft which marked a record year, according to Savills Research. Growth was driven in part by the Government Property Unit (GPU) deal, as public services accounted for 27 percent of take-up in the city centre last year, including the 237,000 sq ft pre-let at Arena Central. Birmingham’s boom was also boasted by take-up from serviced office providers that reached 208,000 sq ft during 2017, the highest level on record and this accounted for 21 percent of the total take-up, more than any other regional city. There now remains a shortage of Prime Grade A space in Birmingham city centre following a number of large lettings. Prime Grade A space now stands at only 169,000 sq ft, enough for only six months of take-up at average levels. Major construction project, Three Snowhill won’t complete until the second quarter of next year, when it will deliver 420,000 sq ft of much needed Grade A office space on its completion. Until then, competition among occupiers will further intensify for Grade A space.

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