Search Results for: environments

We are still overlooking the importance of air quality

We are still overlooking the importance of air quality

The impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on commercial buildings was immediate – offices emptied overnight as people made the sudden shift to home working. Several months later, and although restrictions are being lifted, an unease about the possibility of localised lockdowns and an uncertainty about the potential health implications of being indoors with larger groups, means fewer people than expected are choosing to go back to office-based working. Something that might help reassure them that the office is a safe place is knowing that the air they’ll be breathing is clean. (more…)

Ditching the 9 to 5 has enlightening implications for the design of offices

Ditching the 9 to 5 has enlightening implications for the design of offices

What can we learn from 2020? Maybe one of the most important lessons is that we had got to accustomed to functioning, working and thinking like machines rather than humans? The deadly Covid-19 virus reminded all of us that the mortal human can never relax and believe all is ‘’OK’’. (more…)

New strategy tackles the post-COVID climate emergency

New strategy tackles the post-COVID climate emergency

COVIDSupported by its Green Building Councils and their members, the WorldGBC (World Green Building Council) network has launched Sustainable Buildings for Everyone, Everywhere — a new strategy to accelerate and mainstream the transformation of built environments around the world. Based on climate science and the Global Goals of Sustainable Development (SDGs), the strategy tackles global warming, health and wellbeing and resource impacts to deliver quality infrastructure — a critical need for our planet, communities and economies in the context of the COVID pandemic.
(more…)

There is more to lighting a space than meets the eye

There is more to lighting a space than meets the eye

The best lighting design is the one you don’t notice. Coco Chanel once said: “dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.” It’s the same with lighting. If you notice the light sources, and you can feel annoyed by them, then the design just doesn’t work. Essentially, there’s more to lighting than first meets the eye. (more…)

Workers largely trust their employers to create a safe workplace

Workers largely trust their employers to create a safe workplace

safe workplace returnThree quarters of UK employees (74 percent) trust their employer to create a physically safe workplace and generally healthy work environment and the vast majority (92 percent) of employees are at least “a little” comfortable with contact tracing led by their employer for the purpose of organisational safety. This is according to a new survey Kronos Incorporated of 3,903 employees across 10 countries. (more…)

Managing occupancy will be essential in the new era of work

Managing occupancy will be essential in the new era of work

As COVID-19 infection rates reach lower levels and businesses open their doors once more, HR and facilities teams across many industries and sectors are preparing for a physical return to the workplace. With a duty to ensure the health, safety and general wellbeing of staff and visitors, there are many factors to consider, such as how to promote safe social distancing and increased cleaning regimes, while still focussing on business productivity. The roles of HR and FM will be critical in setting safe protocols if further self-isolation and lockdown measures are to be avoided. (more…)

Boardroom heroes needed to transform working cultures

Boardroom heroes needed to transform working cultures

Even as the UK starts to open back up following the COVID-19 enforced lockdown, there are still many unanswered questions about how almost every aspect of our lives will be impacted. What is certain though, is that we will continue to see a paradigm shift take place across all areas of the workplace. Employers must ensure they have the right measures and policies in place to deal with the transformations that have taken place across the UK’s labour market throughout the lockdown period. This is crucial, as only those who have a strong workplace culture will succeed in the post-pandemic world. (more…)

Working from home experience proves value of workplace counselling

Working from home experience proves value of workplace counselling

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to an upsurge of workplace stresses and concerns, with many employees experiencing significant changes to work and life. Finding the best forms of support for employees will be an essential concern for employers, especially as they begin to manage future workplace adjustments and the possible return to the office That is the main finding of a new report which looks at the effects of various interventions on people’s mental health during lockdown. (more…)

Remote work and office life go hand in hand in a flexible future

Remote work and office life go hand in hand in a flexible future

serviced offices and remote workThe COVID-19 pandemic changed numerous aspects of how we live and work and led to a massive remote work experiment. A JLL survey of more than 3,000 employees working in multi-national companies across the globe claims that 71 percent of people have  worked from home during the pandemic, and that 58 percent missed the office and 44 percent missed human interaction and socialising with colleagues. The largest cohort who missed the office was the under 35s, or millennials, with 65 percent citing poor home-office environments and missing support from their managers.

(more…)

Flexible models of work will shift focus from place to purpose

Flexible models of work will shift focus from place to purpose

A new report from Poly claims that there is a ‘granular shift’ in focus from place to purpose of work as businesses respond to the COVID-19 crisis, redesign their operations and reinvent the way they work. Out of city coworking spaces, ergonomic at-home work setups and virtual water cooler moments will define the new age of flexible working, the report claims. Drawing on experts in the future of work, workspace design and psychology, the Poly report, Hybrid Working: Creating the “next normal” in work practices, spaces and culture, sets out the path to what it refers to (tediously) as the “next normal,” where employees enjoy flexibility and choice, and businesses thrive through motivated, collaborative and productive teams. (more…)

Workplace design in a new age of reason

Workplace design in a new age of reason

Workplace design needs to recapture the principles of the enlightenmentThe enduring but changing struggle to improve the working conditions and performance of people through workplace design and management has more than a whiff of the Enlightenment of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries about it. The Enlightenment marked a new era in which the old superstitions and dogmas were to be overthrown by pure reason.

(more…)

Nearly all businesses are aware of disability issues, but more needs to be done

Nearly all businesses are aware of disability issues, but more needs to be done

A new study of 120 global brands shows how over 90 per cent of businesses now recognise the importance of disabled employees and customers. The study is the first to consider how businesses are serving the needs of disabled people at a global and local level and how to share best practice. (more…)