Search Results for: human resources

UK cyber threat intensifies within both the private and public sector

UK cyber threat intensifies within both the private and public sector

by • Facilities management, News, Public Sector, Technology, Workplace

The UK’s cyber threat environment is intensifying, with over three quarters (88 percent) of organisations reporting they’d experienced a cyber breach in the last 12 months. The UK Threat Report from Carbon Black also claims attacks are growing in volume and the average number of breaches has increased. The average number of breaches per organisation over the past year was 3.67 and 87 percent of organisations saw an increase in attack volumes. In addition, 89 percent of organisations say attacks have become more sophisticated.

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The wider debate about workplaces gives facilities managers a chance to crack the code

The wider debate about workplaces gives facilities managers a chance to crack the code

by • Comment, Facilities management

The most vocal debate that has followed the BIFM’s change of identity to the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management remains that focused on the issue of taxonomy. We are being asked to consider, as part of a sometimes bad mannered debate, whether facilities management is part of the workplace ecosystem or vice versa and which profession – typically designated as IT, HR and FM – is best placed to become the apex beast in this particular jungle.  (more…)

Get ready for the next wave of technological innovation, or get left behind

Get ready for the next wave of technological innovation, or get left behind

by • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Technology

devil takes the hindmost facilities managementThe natural world is a story of constant change and evolution. Animals, plants, insects and micro-organisms exist in an ecosystem, adapting to relentless changes in their environment, influenced by habitat, climate and their cohabitors. They respond to change faster than the human world, because they are not tied by the same restraints and conventions. They are interdependent and reliant on each other, competitors and cohabitors for mutual advantage. As humans move into what has been called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there is much we can learn from nature, particularly within the workplace environment. The transformation of an organisation’s real estate, facilities management, IT and HR functions into a workplace ecosystem, as proposed by the Stoddart Review, has been discussed for some time.

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UK leading the way in digital transformation strategy

UK leading the way in digital transformation strategy

by • News, Technology

IT consultancy Infosys has released new research, the Infosys Digital Radar 2019, which it claims reveals the digital transformation maturity of businesses around the world in 2018, and what it takes to navigate the next stage of their journey. Its main claim is that to become digitally advanced, organisations need to run multiple digital initiatives at scale at the same time. It suggests that organisations in the UK are now significantly ahead of the global average when it comes to their digital transformation, including countries like the United States and Germany.

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How the way we interact with technology is changing the way we think

by • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

workplaceWe are all familiar with the emoticon, the little symbol we use to strengthen whatever it is we really mean or would like to convey in a text, chat, message or email. The symbols have become more important as these forms of communication have supplanted some forms of face to face contact. Researchers have now learned that our brains no longer treat emoticons as a form of punctuation, but have started to respond to it as if it were a real face. A study published in the journal Social Neuroscience found that the part of the brain that is activated when we look at real faces is now triggered by smileys too. It’s yet another example of how our brains are adapting to the changing demands placed on them by technology, a subject that not only has profound implications for the way we relate to technology but also the way we work and the ways we design and manage our surroundings and especially how we maintain focus and interact with our colleagues.

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Your relationship with your boss may be playing a role in your stress levels

Your relationship with your boss may be playing a role in your stress levels

by • Comment, Wellbeing

Everybody knows how horrible it is to be stressed out at work. Sadly, across the world, employees are being subjected to increasing work demands and, as a result, work stress is on the rise. As we try to understand the root of the problem, we often end up blaming our boss. But is that really fair? Our new study, published in The Leadership Quarterly, suggests that your relationship with your boss does influence how you respond to stress.

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Employers struggle to understand what motivates people in new generation of megacities

Employers struggle to understand what motivates people in new generation of megacities

by • Cities, News, Workplace

Mercer has published the results of an extensive study that examines the needs of workers in the world’s fastest-growing cities across four key factors – human, health, money and work. The study provides insight into the motivations of workers against the backdrop of fierce competition for their talent. The study, People first: driving growth in emerging megacities (registration required), is based on a survey of 7,200 workers and 577 employers in 15 current and future megacities across seven countries, namely Brazil, China, India, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco and Nigeria. As defined by the United Nations, these 15 cities will have a combined population of 150 million people by 2030 and share strong, projected GDP.

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Smart spaces and the other top technology trends for 2019

Smart spaces and the other top technology trends for 2019

by • News, Technology, Workplace design

Technology researcher Gartner has highlighted the top strategic technology trends it believes organisations should be aware of in 2019. Gartner defines a strategic technology trend as one with ‘substantial disruptive potential that is beginning to break out of an emerging state into broader impact and use, or which are rapidly growing trends with a high degree of volatility reaching tipping points over the next five years’. One of the interesting points to note is the inclusion of the physical workplace yet again, as we highlighted in our recent feature on the trends shaping office design.

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How the media oversold standing desks as a fix for inactivity at work

by • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Sitting is so culturally ingrained at work, at the wheel, in front of the TV and at the movies, it takes a great effort to imagine doing these things standing up, let alone pedalling as you work at a bike desk. So, when the world’s first specific guidelines on sitting and moving at work were published, they generated headlines such as: Abandon your chair for four hours to stay healthy, office workers are told and: Stand up at your desk for two hours a day, new guidelines say. But what many media reports did not mention was the guidelines were based on limited evidence. They were also co-authored by someone with commercial links to standing desks (desks you raise and lower to work at standing or sitting), a link not declared when the guidelines were first published in a journal. Media reports also overplayed the dangers of sitting at work, incorrectly saying it wiped out the benefits of exercise. Our new study reveals the nature of this media coverage and its role in overselling standing desks as a solution to inactivity at work.

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CIB sets out a roadmap for the creation of intelligent and responsive buildings

CIB sets out a roadmap for the creation of intelligent and responsive buildings

by • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Property, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) has published a free roadmap written by members of the W098 Commission and CIBSE Intelligent Buildings Group, which presents collective ideas for the creation of intelligent and responsive buildings for current needs and the future. Intelligent buildings present a number of challenges, according to the authors. They must be responsive to people’s needs including their health and wellbeing; be sustainable in the use of resources as well as incorporating the most useful parts of the evolving technologies.

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More UK workers ready to change jobs as confidence in economy grows

More UK workers ready to change jobs as confidence in economy grows

by • News, Workplace

Increased confidence in economy means more UK workers prepared to change jobsUK workers are feeling more confident about the state of the economy but it’s making them less inclined to stay in their current jobs, a new survey claims. According to the latest Global Talent Monitor report for the second quarter of this year, from Gartner 18.8 percent of UK employees indicated a very low intent to stay in their current role, the second highest after India (40 percent), and higher than the global average of nearly 12 percent. This is the first time since Brexit that workers reported having an optimistic outlook on the job market, and their own career growth. Nearly 40 percent of UK employees reported somewhat high to high confidence in the economy. When it comes to their personal prospects, employee perceptions have risen steadily over the last year and have increased nearly 4 percent. In fact, job opportunity perceptions in the UK are nearly 1.5 points higher than the global average. However, despite their intentions to move on from their current role, UK employees are still putting in a strong effort in their current roles, with nearly 13 percent of employees reporting a high willingness to go above and beyond in their role, and an additional 43.8 percent leaning towards high.

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Extending reporting requirements may help close gender pay gap say MPs

Extending reporting requirements may help close gender pay gap say MPs

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

Extend reporting requirements to help close gender pay gap say MPs

Employers should be required to publish a narrative and action plan under Gender Pay Gap reporting requirements, the inquiry on executive pay and the gender-pay gap by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee has recommended today. It has found that the requirements to publish data which came into force in April this year represents a ‘small but welcome step towards ensuring that women can make their fullest possible contribution in the workplace and to the economy’, but it calls for the Government to be more ambitious. Detailed statistics should be provided to aid analysis and organisations should explain what they are doing to tackle their gender pay gaps. Under the new rules employers would have to provide some narrative reporting alongside their gender pay statistics, with an action plan setting out how pay gaps are being and will be addressed, including objectives and targets. Subsequent reports would include progress against this action plan, including targets set. (more…)

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