February 1, 2021
Woven Image brings a renewed sense of connectivity to the workplace with its new collection, Dimensional Connections. By combining three-dimensional textures with the soothing tones of ochre and cinnamon a renewed positive energy is brought into the workplace, whether that be in a home office or in a collaborative corporate environment. Dimensional Connections incorporates Gem the newest addition to the embossed panel series. More →
January 29, 2021
While workers in the UK have been working from home, if they can, for almost a year, a third say they miss commuting, claims research from recruiter Randstad UK. The HR services company asked workers, having worked remotely for almost a year due to the pandemic, how they viewed commuting and physical meetings in retrospect. More →
January 28, 2021
The EU Parliament has announced that it would like to protect what it calls employees’ fundamental rights to disconnect from work which includes restricting the way employers might contact staff outside their contracted working hours. Although the right to disconnect is not defined by EU law, the Parliament has called upon the Commission to come up with a law allowing employees to disconnect from work during non-work hours without consequences and setting minimum standards for remote work. More →
January 28, 2021
A new generation of long-term homeworkers created by COVID-19 is at risk physically and mentally through inadequate employer support, claims research by EIZO. Employees are already feeling the negative effects of a home environment, often ill-equipped for the working day and EIZO warns there may be a rise in ‘Homeworking LOSERS’, or ‘Laptops On Sofas and Employment Rights Shelved’. More →
January 27, 2021
Recently lighting control firm Prolojik assembled an expert panel to talk about learning and working during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. The roundtable (online of course) involved participants from various fields related to the built environment including those involved in developing, designing and tech reflected on their own experiences over the last several months. While industry issues raised during the session included what productivity really means and how to measure it, what infrastructure needs to be in place to enable people to return to their place of work or education and why a joined-up approach to wellness is an indisputably necessary strand of building management. More →
January 27, 2021
A new report of over 1,000 small business owners and decision makers by Hitachi Capital Business Finance claims that extrovert-run businesses are more likely to be growing in the current environment, and more likely to have plans to win more business in 2021. More →
January 26, 2021
Workplace design is – or should be – inextricably linked to both an organisation’s identity and its culture. The issue of workplace culture, and why it might succeed or fail, has become a matter of a great deal of study as the basis for work has moved on from the scientific management theories of the early to mid-20th Century. This aped the hierarchies, structures and forms of factories. It once prevailed but even now its vestiges remain, often in spite of the decades of research and a changing world of work that show us better ways of getting things done. More →
January 26, 2021
Expenses app, ExpenseOnDemand, has published new data which claims to highlight how businesses in different sectors are planning office returns in 2021. The majority of businesses across many sectors have stated offices will reopen this year at some point. More →
January 26, 2021
The Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) has published its first guidance document designed specifically to address the key lighting tasks required of facilities managers. Lighting is absolutely critical to providing a safe and productive working environment and much of the management required to procure, maintain and optimise lighting systems falls to facilities managers. More →
January 26, 2021
New research from Fellowes Brands claims to reveal the ‘alarming’ impact enforced remote work is having on the mental wellbeing and physical health of the nation. Over a third (35 percent) of UK workers admit feeling stressed or anxious, lonely and isolated (32 percent) and tired or lacking in energy (38 percent), while working from home during lockdown. The study is based on a survey of 1,000 UK office workers who had worked from home for at least four months. More →
January 25, 2021
Companies are searching for ways to reinvent the office and give employees reasons to return to their workplace and a new report by JLL says the focus must be on the workforce. The report, Reimagine: the new future of work to shape a better world predicts that the future of work will involve companies prioritising the health, wellness and mental well-being of employees. More →
January 21, 2021
Hybrid working gives managers the chance to excel
by Paul Jewitt-Harris • Comment, Flexible working