March 21, 2019

Performance-based pay linked to employee mental-health problems, study suggests

In what its authors claim is the first big-data study combining objective medical and compensation records with demographics, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and Aarhus University in Denmark discovered once a company switches to a pay-for-performance process, the number of employees using anxiety and depression medication increased by 5.7 percent over an existing base rate of 5.2 percent. More →

March 21, 2019

Government publishes strategy for future mobility in UK cities

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News

The UK government has published its Future of mobility: urban strategy, which sets out its approach to working with innovators, companies, local authorities and other stakeholders to develop benefits of new urban mobility technologies. Alongside publication of the strategy, it has also launched a £90 million competition for cities to deliver Future of Mobility Zones, which follows £60 million awarded to 10 cities across the UK via the Transforming Cities Fund. It aims to support local leaders and industry to trial new mobility services, modes and models through the creation of up to four future mobility zones. More →

March 21, 2019

Digital workplace pioneered by medium sized businesses, study claims

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

Medium-sized businesses now account for over 60 percent of US jobs, and are investing fast in technology. However, with digital now a priority for businesses of all sizes, they must ensure they have the necessary skills and security management in place to handle the change, or risk falling behind competitors according to a new report from Aruba. More →

March 20, 2019

Feeling appreciated and the quality of workplace both key to employee happiness

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

The quality of the workplace has a powerful effect on the levels of happiness of staff, with nearly half of respondents (49 percent) to a recent survey stating that having a great office environment is important to their happiness at work, but according to the figures, only a quarter (25 percent) say a good workplace environment is a current positive about their work. The survey from Peldon Rose also found that less than half (45 percent) of employees actually feel appreciated at work and only two-thirds (67 percent) report feeling happy. Yet the majority of workers (80 percent) who took part, believe that feeling appreciated is most important to their happiness at work – ahead of salary (58 percent) and feeling trusted (55 percent).

March 18, 2019

Pressing self-destruct, a final solution to workplace noise, a broken psychological contract and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features

I’ve never really wanted to go to MIPIM. I’m suspicious of it all for a number of reasons I won’t go into although you might reasonably guess what they are. So, I enjoyed this piece from Polly Plunket-Checkemian about her own misgivings. I understand that the testosterone level has been dialled down recently, but like Polly I’d like to see a re-examination of its format and intent, especially given that the real estate sector is having to rethink where it fits into the new era of work and meets the challenge of coworking.

March 18, 2019

Artificial Intelligence is transforming the workforce as we know it

by Dennis Spaeth • AI, Comment, Technology

It may seem like an inevitable fact of administrative positions that anyone who fills them will be subjected to a never-ending litany of repetitive tasks. Employees in these jobs often don’t receive work that engages their brains or peaks their interests. Rather than flexing their critical thinking skills, these workers are resigned to completing the necessary, yet boring, administrative tasks.

March 18, 2019

Government report shows increase in number of workers balancing care commitments

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

A new official report has highlighted the increasing number of people who are having to balance caring for family members with their own working commitments. Catherine Foot, the Director of Evidence for the Centre for Ageing Better, responded to these statistics by calling for legislation to promote flexible working among older workers. Published by the Office for National Statistics, the report has found that one in four older female workers, and one in eight older male workers, have care responsibilities.

March 17, 2019

Area completes refurbishment of Birmingham offices for Mills & Reeve

by Freddie Steele • Case studies, Company news, Workplace design

Workplace design and fit-out specialist Area, has completed a 30-week refurbishment of the Colmore Row, Birmingham offices for Mills & Reeve, one of the UK’s top law firms. With six floors in constant operation and located in a prime area of Birmingham’s business district access was tight, timescales tighter and work had to be undertaken without disruption to the day-to-day running of a major law firm. The design concept reflects the Mills & Reeve brand but is tailored to the Birmingham location, embracing the history of the area and the architectural features of the building.

March 15, 2019

Great Big Workplace Adjustments survey needs your input

by Mark Eltringham • News

A leading not-for-profit business and disability organisation is asking employees and managers to share their experiences of requesting and arranging workplace adjustments via an anonymous online survey. Business Disability Forum wants to use ‘The Great Big Adjustments Survey’ to create a clear and up-to-date picture of what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to making and managing adjustments. The membership organisation will use the findings to develop what it hopes will be one of the most informed pieces of research on the topic, ever created. More →

March 14, 2019

The negative entropy of workplace design and management

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design

Immediately after the Workplace Trends Summit in London last October, Ian Ellison of 3edges and I retired to a side room to record an interview for a podcast over a glass of red wine. The main objective was to try to piece together a coherent summary of what we’d seen that day. Ian assures me the podcast (his are invariably excellent) will appear very soon, but I thought it would be worth exploring a theory I formed and rambled on about in our conversation ahead of the next Summit set to take place next week.

March 14, 2019

Mobile working is a recipe for business success

by Sally Elliott • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

Today, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing the face of work as we know it: introducing AI and automation to the workplace and creating a drastic shift in the skills required by organisations today. As automation increasingly frees employees up from the repetitive, process work that can so often dominate their day-to-day, organisations are instead looking to employees to showcase their critical thinking and creativity. Indeed, McKinsey’s Skill Shift confirms that by 2030 the demand for higher cognitive skills, such as creativity, critical thinking and decision making will grow by 14 percent in Europe.

March 13, 2019

Companies that adopt agile working enjoy improved financial performance, claims report

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Companies that embrace agile working and and a generally more flexible and responsive way of working enjoy a financial and operational competitive advantage over their rivals, according to new research from PA Consulting. Two thirds of the respondents said that their business model is at risk of fundamentally becoming outdated, with agile considered a key method for transitioning to a future-proof strategy. While agile is typically regarded by many as a method geared at streamlining operations, PA Consulting’s research suggests the approach could take things a step further. The consultancy conducted an international study among 500 executives of large companies across a range of sectors, asking them how they view agile working and what they see as the key factors for successful adoption. More →