Search Results for: flex

April 1, 2016

HS2 & Fourth Industrial Revolution + Digital natives + FM outsourcing rise ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Technology, Workplace

In the latest Insight Newsletter; Richard Morris questions why the UK still persists with the 9-5 mantra; Sara Bean argues HR must treat people like humans, not resources; Mark Eltringham says the construction of the HS2 high speed rail line ignores the fact that technology is fast negating its very existence and wonders why the woefully anachronistic and dated Display Screen Equipment regulations are still in use. News that the outsourcing of real estate and facilities management has hit record levels; flexible working is the key to Hong Kong’s record number of startups; firms are betting on millennials to plug their digital knowledge gaps and worklife balance is a major draw for US workers. Download our Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, on how the boundless office can be freed from the shackles of time and place and access the latest issue of Work&Place. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

March 30, 2016

Isn’t it time that UK businesses thought more like the Scandinavians? ⁰

by Richard Morris • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace

The clocks went forward on 27^th March meaning darker mornings and lighter evenings – at least for a time. But the standard working day doesn’t reflect such changes, with commuters setting out in darkness to make a fixed 9am start. The changing of the clocks raises interesting questions about the UK work model. Why does UK business persist with the 9-5? We know that commuting in and out can be stressful and detrimental to productivity – not to mention expensive. So why do we continue to do it? Why is the UK’s workforce all boarding the same trains to arrive at the office at the same time? Today, the very notion of the 9am start to the working day should seem archaic. Sweden – often a forerunner of best practice when it comes to wellbeing – recently introduced a 6-hour working day in a bid to reduce sick leave and make staff happier. To date, there has been no hard analysis of results, but anecdotal evidence suggests a healthier, more engaged workforce.

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March 30, 2016

Career satisfaction and work-life balance are top employee draws ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Although a competitive salary, company perks and an exceptional office culture may seem enticing to the American workforce, a new study shows there are more important motivational factors. A survey conducted by Kelton Global for Cornerstone OnDemand reveals that career satisfaction and work-life balance are the top reasons American stay at their current jobs (38 percent combined), while nearly three in ten (29 percent) resign due to work overload and lack of healthy work-life balance. Employees said they’d make life-altering decisions and considerable sacrifices in order to find a sense of satisfaction, fulfillment and purpose in their careers. In fact, 89 percent of employees would consider making a lateral career move with no financial incentive for multiple reasons, including to start an entirely new career (41 percent) or take on a professional challenge (40 percent). Additionally, relocating to a different city, state or country is a desirable career move for 77 percent of employees. (more…)

March 24, 2016

Coworking spaces not just suited to start-ups with Millennial occupants ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace design

The rise in popularity of coworking spaces has been largely attributed to growing demand from creative and tech start-ups for shared workplaces that are cost-effective alternatives to traditional office leases. But there’s new evidence from the US that coworking spaces could also be eminently suitable even for larger occupiers, and especially in costly metro areas such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston. According to a new report from CBRE Group a number of misconceptions that have perhaps kept larger occupiers away from extensive use of coworking facilities do remain, including that this type of space is priced at a premium compared with traditional leases; that it is only utilized by entrepreneurs and small businesses; and that the users are exclusively post-college millennials. Yet CBRE’s report found that these assumptions are not accurate.

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March 23, 2016

Is discrimination of women with children the root cause of gender pay gap? ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

Two reports published this week support the argument that it is when women have children and require more flexible hours, that they really start to feel the sharp end of the gender pay gap. A report by a cross party group of MPs on the Women and Equalities Select Committee, reveals that supporting men and women to share childcare and other forms of unpaid caring more equally would be one of the most effective policy levers in reducing the gender pay gap. Without this support, many women are trapped in low paid, part-time work below their skill level. This contributes to pay disparities and the under-utilisation of women’s skills that costs the UK economy up to 2 percent GDP, around £36 billion. It also found that not enough is being done to support women returning to work if they have had time out of the labour market. Meanwhile a report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission says that three in four working mothers experience maternity discrimination.

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March 22, 2016

Technology firms will determine the future of real estate, claims report ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Property, Technology

The future of real estate will be shaped by the confluence of technological and physical infrastructure, the growth of flexible working, shrinking lease lengths, a shift in focus away from location and the changing expectations of occupiers. These are the key and perhaps unsurprising conclusions of a new report from KPMG. One of the most intriguing findings of the New Foundations report is that the widespread application of data analytics and the growing number of occupiers who will use office space as a service will lead to a greater degree of collaboration between property and technology firms to offer space to clients. Although property firms may still take the lead, the report suggests that ‘serviced office models are just the beginning of this trend and specialist companies will emerge to scale up and manage these income streams. These might be joint ventures between existing property owners and technology providers.’

March 22, 2016

While politicians squabble, here’s what the Budget meant for the workplace ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Legal news, Workplace, Workplace design

Strange as it may seem now, there was a Budget last week. We’d planned to produce a report on it once the dust had settled but given that whatever dust had originally been kicked up has now been swept away by a political storm, it’s only now we feel able to offer some perspective a few days out. As ever these days, the budget touched on a number of aspects of the workplace, sometimes hitting the mark and sometimes suggesting politicians don’t yet understand how people work. There was the usual stuff about rates and commercial property but also plenty to digest about the freelance economy, productivity, new technology, flexible working legislation and the current, often faltering attempts to develop wealth and infrastructure as well as the 21st Century creative and digital economy in places other than London. There’s plenty to digest here and plenty of people have already had their say, so a chance to grab a coffee and take all or some of it in.

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March 22, 2016

Manchester refurbished office market thrives due to occupier demand ⁰

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace design

Approximately 625,000 sq ft (58,063 sq m) of office space in Manchester is set to be refurbished over the next two years as the market responds to continuing demand. According to Savills, Grade B has accounted for an average of 62 percent of the city’s annual take up over the last 10 years, and with Grade A supplies running low the proportion could be even higher in 2016. Despite growing demand for Grade A office space in Manchester over the last three years, annual take up has consistently been under pinned by larger Grade B occupiers seeking to balance high quality offices with value for money. Savills also reports that the TMT sector has taken more Grade B space in Manchester than any other sector over the last five years, with deals totalling 710,889 sq ft (66,042 sq m); a significant increase on the 294,631 sq ft (27,371 sq m) of secondary space let to TMT occupiers in the previous five years.

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March 19, 2016

The Insight newsletter for March 18 is available to view online ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

In this week’s Insight Newsletter; Mark Eltringham on the seven ways flexible working is chaining us more firmly to work and why there are more ways than one of providing recyclable office furniture. Google scales back its plans for its Californian campus; US businesses waste up to $1.8 trillion annually on mundane tasks; new guidance is published on delivering sustainable fit outs; and many organisations only hold on to paper-based document for their signature. Confirmation that companies that don’t offer their employees a convenient location and appealing workplace are more likely to lose them; Hong Kong and London are the world’s most expensive office locations and the unhealthy effects of commuting by car. Download our latest Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, on how the boundless office can be freed from the shackles of time and place and access the latest issue of Work&Place. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

March 18, 2016

Google submits revised plans for California headquarters ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Case studies, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

Google’s ambitious plans for a new headquarters complex in California have been dramatically scaled back after the original plans were rejected by the City of Mountain View authorities. The original project came into question last year when it was revealed that Google’s plans were seen as overly ambitious given that they were competing for available space with LinkedIn’s plans for an office on adjacent land. The new plans, created by Heatherwick Studio and Bjarke Ingels Group share many of the same objectives however, including an open design, extensive landscaping, a focus on both work and leisure facilities and a flexible and sustainable design. The new schematics present it essentially as Centre Parcs populated by hipsters. As one Insight contributor convincingly argued recently, this sort of design is impressive and ideal for Google but should not be taken as a blueprint for anybody else.

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March 17, 2016

Poor line management blamed for lack of career progression at work ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

A third (33 percent) of UK employees say their career progression to date has failed to meet their expectations, with four in ten (39 percent) blaming poor line management for stifling their ambitions. According to the latest Employee Outlook Survey: Focus on Skills and Careers from the CIPD, a lack of effective training programmes (34 percent) and negative office politics (34 percent) are also to blame. The survey of over 2,000 employees considered the key factors relating to employees’ upbringing, education and workplace that affect whether or not their career progression had met their expectations. It also found that over a quarter (26 percent) of those whose career has failed to live up to their expectations identified poor-quality career advice and guidance at school as a key factor to blame, with three in ten (29 percent) saying they are in the wrong career so cannot show their strengths or potential.

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March 16, 2016

Over half of workers are not getting enough sleep to do their job effectively ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace

Daylight saving time began in the US on Sunday and the clocks will ‘spring’ forward in the UK and Europe in less than a fortnight’s time (27 March). Although having more daylight is welcomed, losing even an hour’s sleep can be a jolt to the system. According to a new survey from CareerBuilder, over half of workers (58 percent) already feel they don’t get enough sleep, and 61 percent say lack of sleep has a negative impact on their work. Only 16 percent of workers say they actually reach the recommended goal of eight hours sleep, with the majority of workers (63 percent) logging an average of six to seven hours of sleep each night during the workweek, while 1 in 5 (21 percent) average five hours or less. But as much as insufficient sleep affects workers’ jobs, the reverse is true as well: 44 percent of workers say thinking about work keeps them up at night.