March 10, 2023

Online personal brands are the key to job success say ‘Gen Z’

New research claims to reveal how people who belong to ‘Generation Z’ perceive online ‘personal brands’ as a crucial tool to gain more advantage in job markets. The study, led by the University of East Anglia in collaboration with the University of Greenwich, claims to demonstrate the importance of authentically building online personal branding strategies and tactics to bridge the gap between Gen Z ‘s desired and perceived images on social media when job seeking. (more…)

March 9, 2023

Progress depends on heterodox thought and difficult questions

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Between the 9th and 13th Centuries, the world’s intellectual centre and the source of much of its progress, discovery and achievement was Baghdad. This was the Muslim Golden Age and at its core was the House of Wisdom, established by the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. At one point, this library housed the largest collection of books on Earth and drew the greatest minds in the world to share ideas, innovate and explore ancient sources of science and wisdom from Greek and Persian texts. Muslim, Jewish, Christian and atheist scholars worked together to advance human understanding until a slow decline culminated with a later Caliph declaring that its diversity of thought should bow to a literal interpretation of the Quran and Hadith.

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March 6, 2023

Routes to Greater Sustainability event brings office furniture sector together to talk climate change

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Environment, Furniture

An inaugural conference that gave insight into how the UK furnishing industry is mitigating climate change proved an outstanding success. The Routes to Greater Sustainability Industry Day was organised by The Furniture Makers’ Company in association with the British Furniture Confederation (BFC) and took place on Thursday 16 February at Furniture Makers’ Hall, London.

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March 3, 2023

Artificial intelligence could mean we all do more work, not less

by Barbara Ribeiro • Comment, Technology

There’s a common perception that artificial intelligence will help streamline our work. There are even fears that it could wipe out the need for some jobs altogether. But in a study of science laboratories I carried out with three colleagues at the University of Manchester, the introduction of automated processes that aim to simplify work — and free people’s time — can also make that work more complex, generating new tasks that many workers might perceive as mundane. (more…)

February 9, 2023

Firms struggle to get a grip on people data despite workplace challenges

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Workplace

A new CIPD survey of business leaders claims there is a significant mismatch between the scale of the challenge that workplace issues currently pose to businesses and how often workforce issues and people data are discussed by senior leaders. In response, the CIPD is warning that organisations are unlikely to perform well in the long term unless decisions taken at a board and executive management level are informed by an in-depth and evidence-based understanding of the value and risk their workforce poses. (more…)

February 6, 2023

New book aims to build connections in the building briefing process

by Freddie Steele • Architecture, Company news

Mies van der Rohe once said: “An architect of ability should be able to tell a client what he wants. Most of the time a client never knows what he wants.” Not many clients will agree with these patronising words—nor, for that matter, will many architects. Yet, there is some truth in Mies’s statement in the sense that construction clients often have difficulty expressing what they want. To help solve this conundrum in a new era, Juriaan van Meel and Kjersti Bjørkeng Størdal have published their new book Construction briefing: a practical guide. (more…)

February 2, 2023

Do you walk or talk people centric change for success?

by Jennifer Bryan • Comment, JB, Workplace

In previous articles, I shared that there is a McKinsey report that states that 75 percent of the organisations that were listed at the time on the S&P would no longer exist by 2025 – they would either merge, be bought out or go bankrupt. This all means that organisations have to change and adapt or die. That is now less than 2 years away, so some organisations are now gone, some are struggling and some have adapted. With that said, organisations can no longer afford to get change wrong – they have to get it right and right now. And one way of doing this is to focus on people centric change. (more…)

January 27, 2023

New lighting guide updated to embrace era of hybrid working

by Jayne Smith • Facilities management, Lighting, News, Workplace design

The Society of Light and Lighting has launched the latest Lighting Guide 07 (LG7): Offices [paywall for non CIBSE members]. There have been considerable developments since the previous edition, published in 2015. The new guide considers hybrid working, addressing uncertainty around how office space will be used in the future. With increased hybrid working and the use of portable devices, people are spending less time at their desks and in the office. This revision of Lighting Guide 7 now includes home office lighting advice. (more…)

January 25, 2023

Half of tech workers bracing themselves for layoffs, but fears may be unfounded

by Jayne Smith • News, Workplace

Tech workers are pre-empting layoffs in 2023 and taking steps to protect their careers, according to a new poll from CWJobs. The survey – carried out among 2,000 UK tech workers – revealed more than half (53 percent) are pre-emptively applying for new jobs in case of redundancies at their firm. The research suggests that London tech workers feel at most risk, with nearly two thirds (63 percent) pre-emptively applying for a new job in case of layoffs – the highest out of any region. Young people are also more likely to make sure they have a Plan B in place, with 62 percent of 18-24-year-old tech workers actively applying for new jobs in case they are laid off, compared to 24 percent of those aged 55+. (more…)

January 20, 2023

AI presents us with a chance to rediscover what it means to be human

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology

Like a lot of people right now, I am struggling to get my head around where we are going with AI. Look around and you’ll see the breathless excitement at the sheer amazingness of it all. And examples of its limitations, how it screws up, how military grade AI can be fooled by somebody hiding in a box, and its sense of humour failure. All of this is demonstrably, paradoxically true. (more…)

January 17, 2023

A workplace for entrepreneurial mindsets to thrive should be your goal

by John Mullins • Business, Comment

These days it seems like everyone is looking to become more entrepreneurial. It’s a word that’s often used by big companies on the hunt for innovative thinkers and new ways of doing things. But sadly, the workplace doesn’t always work for those with entrepreneurial minds. It is too rigid, too hierarchical, too conventional. Entrepreneurs, by nature, are rule-breakers, always looking for new opportunities and fresh ideas that could change the world. From my research, they differ from other businesspeople in some fundamental ways – six ways, to be exact. (more…)

January 17, 2023

Herman Miller extends use of ocean-bound plastic with Sayl chair

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Furniture

Herman Miller is continuing to increase the use of ocean-bound plastic within the modern furniture maker’s portfolio. The Sayl Chair, designed by esteemed Swiss Designer Yves Béhar will now include up to 1.36 kg (3 pounds) of mismanaged plastic waste found near waterways. This change builds upon the momentum created by the introduction of ocean-plastic in the iconic Aeron Chair in 2021 and will divert 95 metric tons*, the equivalent of approximately 9.6 million plastic water bottles, from the ocean annually. (more…)