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Distinctive yet simply designed: meet KI-nk

Distinctive yet simply designed: meet KI-nk

Named for its distinctive kinked leg bracket, KI’s new product, ‘KI-nk’, is the perfect addition to your office space. It’s available as part of a table system or as a bench and desk collection. The KI-nk Table System is available in a range of sizes and 3 different shapes – circular, square, and rectangular – so it’s easier to choose the right style for the area you want to fit out, whether that’s a meeting room, a breakout space, executive office, reception, or a café area. Worktops can be specified with either a square or chamfered edge. (more…)

Gossiping at work really is bad for your career

Gossiping at work really is bad for your career

Gossiping at work can have serious negative impacts on your career, according to new research by Durham University Business School and NEOMA Business School. Not only are gossipers frowned upon by other work colleagues, they also become socially excluded in the company, and can experience negative career-related impacts as a consequence of their storytelling. (more…)

How employers should navigate the ICO’s guidance on monitoring workers

How employers should navigate the ICO’s guidance on monitoring workers

As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, so does the prevalence of firms monitoring workers and the sophistication of the tools available to employers to monitor their staff's activitiesAs technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, so does the prevalence of firms monitoring workers and the sophistication of the tools available to employers to monitor their staff’s activities. Hand in hand with the increasing prevalence of workplace monitoring tools are concerns that their excessive use may infringe workers’ data protection and privacy rights. Employers must take heed of recent ICO guidance to ensure they do not fall foul of the law in pursuit of the hoped for benefits of workplace monitoring, such as boosting productivity and profit. (more…)

A bit of alien thinking on coffee and some other BS

A bit of alien thinking on coffee and some other BS

I’ve sometimes highlighted how our perceptions of the workplace are subject to an apex fallacy. The daily consumption of narratives about campuses, tech palaces and ‘cool’ design can obscure the fact that most people don’t experience this stuff in their daily lives. They work in adequate or possibly nice offices. Some in shabby offices or horrible offices. Many travel into work at the same time each day and sit with roughly the same people and do roughly the same things. They may work from home more frequently now, but they have a routine there too. Most will work in a mundane or nice home that mirrors the mundane office that awaits at the other end of the commute. (more…)

Two thirds of employees unaware of new flexible working rights

Two thirds of employees unaware of new flexible working rights

Two-thirds of employees are not aware of new flexible working rights that give them a right to request flex work from day one of their jobA new survey from Acas claims that over two-thirds of employees (70 percent) are not aware of new flexible working rights that mean they will have a right to request flexible working from their employer from day one of their job next year. All employees who have worked for their employer for 26 weeks or more currently have the right to ask if they can work flexibly. A new change in the law will make this a right that applies from the first day of employment. (more…)

Big firms don’t really want you to contact them

Big firms don’t really want you to contact them

Some of Britain’s most famous and successful companies make it hard for customers to get in touch, according to a new studySome of Britain’s most famous and successful companies make it hard for customers to get in touch, according to a new study of FTSE 250 companies, by Moneypenny, with 89 percent of the companies having no phone contact number on their website home page. While some of the FTSE 250 companies did feature a phone number elsewhere on their website, 33 percent of them make it extremely difficult to find a contact number on their website and have no phone number on their respective home pages. It took the Moneypenny researchers six or seven clicks to find one elsewhere on their websites. (more…)

Ten years of Insight and a few things I think I know (one of our most read pieces this year)

Ten years of Insight and a few things I think I know (one of our most read pieces this year)

This website started in late 2012 as a way for me to explore both a new media format and a new way of thinking about work and workplaces. I’d already been active in various roles in the workplace, design and facilities sector for twenty odd years, but needed a new challenge. And this was it. I was going for a ride with an idea to see where it went. (more…)

Curtail zero hour contracts and give workers guaranteed work hours, say researchers

Curtail zero hour contracts and give workers guaranteed work hours, say researchers

the increase of zero hours contracts over the last 20 years has created significant risk for workersAn evidence review led by the University of Warwick has concluded that the increase of zero hours contracts over the last 20 years has created significant risk for workers. They found that unreliable work can result in a sudden loss of hours and earnings, and an inability to access legal advice for unfair or potentially unlawful employment practices. Along with colleagues from the ReWAGE expert advisory group, academics at the Institute of Employment Research at the University of Warwick examined the legal and workplace practices associated with zero hour contracts, along with data covering flexibility, pay insecurity, workers ability to assert their rights and workers health and wellbeing. (more…)

Harmonising architecture and illumination for energy efficient lighting and aesthetic brilliance

Harmonising architecture and illumination for energy efficient lighting and aesthetic brilliance

Zumtobel and its sister brand Thorn, both lighting brands of the Zumtobel Group collaborated with 5plus architects, MZA consultants, Ardmac main contractor, Emtec sub-contractor, and Rexel wholesaler to implement an energy-efficient lighting scheme at the iconic 100 Barbirolli SquareZumtobel and its sister brand Thorn, both lighting brands of the Zumtobel Group collaborated with 5plus architects, MZA consultants, Ardmac main contractor, Emtec sub-contractor, and Rexel wholesaler to implement an energy-efficient lighting scheme at the iconic 100 Barbirolli Square in Manchester. The Group’s innovative lighting solutions successfully met the brief, providing a warm and inviting atmosphere throughout the building. (more…)

The final word on… workplace trends

The final word on… workplace trends

You would not believe the number of firms that ask us to publish a list of workplace trends each week. Or maybe you wouldYou would not believe the number of firms that ask us to publish a list of workplace trends each week. Or maybe you would, given the number that have appeared – and are appearing -elsewhere. Each firm perhaps convinced they are saying something original, unique or interesting, or maybe simply convinced they stand out in some way, while pushing the same timid, stale narratives about the workplace. They will proliferate over the next month or so at the turn of another year. (more…)

People seconded from other roles come up with the best ideas

People seconded from other roles come up with the best ideas

Seconded employees - employees temporarily assigned to a different role, organisation, or department - choose more innovative ideas and influence permanent staff to do the sameSeconded employees – employees temporarily assigned to a different role, organisation, or department – develop more innovative ideas and influence permanent staff to do the same, according to new research from ESMT Berlin and published in the Strategic Management Journal. Despite the motivation to select new ideas, individuals and organisations often still reject or overlook them. These ideas can be difficult to understand, risky, and challenging as their inherent uncertainty makes it harder to predict reception and usage. (more…)

Studio Alliance announces new market-leading German member apoprojekt

Studio Alliance announces new market-leading German member apoprojekt

German market leader in workplace design and fit-out, apoprojekt, has been warmly welcomed as the latest member of Studio Alliance, a formal consortium of European workplace expertsGerman market leader in workplace design and fit-out, apoprojekt, has been warmly welcomed as the latest member of Studio Alliance, a formal consortium of European workplace experts. Established in November 2020, Studio Alliance was created in response to the growing pace of globalisation. It offers clients a unique blend of local market insights alongside a wealth of experience, having executed projects in over 5,000 buildings across 34 countries. (more…)