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Mandatory reporting of ethnicity pay gap could be ‘counterproductive’ if not done right

Mandatory reporting of ethnicity pay gap could be ‘counterproductive’ if not done right

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

Reporting ethnicity pay levels could be ‘counterproductive’ if not done right

There is a ‘significant risk’ that the reporting ethnicity pay levels could be ‘counterproductive’ unless key differences between it and gender pay are recognised, said the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) in its response to the UK Government’s consultation on ethnicity pay reporting. Although the IES supports the government’s proposals to introduce mandatory reporting of ethnicity pay gap information, it suggests that cultural and practical barriers to collecting and reporting ethnicity data are greater than for gender pay. More time and greater government support are therefore needed to prepare for these changes. The consultation response voices specific concerns that measures to increase the recruitment of under-represented groups, for example through apprenticeships or paid internships, could serve to widen pay gaps initially. This could inadvertently discourage employers from taking positive action to improve their ethnic diversity. Reporting arrangements therefore need to also take account of changes in the levels of employment participation for different ethnic minority groups, as well as their pay.

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Corporations must harness prop tech to adapt to new ways of work

Corporations must harness prop tech to adapt to new ways of work

by • News, Technology

The world of work will continue to evolve in 2019, and corporations must find ways to adapt their office real estate. That is the conclusion of a new piece of research by flexible workplace provider Abintra. Published in a new report, the study highlights how corporations are struggling to manage office space efficiently as the trend towards agile and flexible working gathers momentum. The publication explores methods for responding through office space utilisation techniques, including the latest tech options.

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Good managers shown to play a crucial role in enhancing worker performance

Good managers shown to play a crucial role in enhancing worker performance

by • News, Workplace

Good managers play a crucial role in enhancing workers' performance

Employers make extensive investments in their employees; investing in hiring and retaining workers that match the firm’s needs. Now new research summarized by Kathryn Shaw, Stanford University, USA suggests that the hiring and training of good bosses may carry even more weight when it comes to workers’ performance. The study in the new IZA World of Labor Report shows a good boss can enhance the performance of their employees and can lower the quit rate. Good bosses have some universal traits: they coach and teach and offer insight into the strategy of the firm. According to Shaw economists are increasingly finding better data to measure the effects of bosses on workers’ performance, as well as the sources of these effects. A recent study of workers in a large firm that performs technology-based service (TBS) jobs found that the move from an average quality boss to one in the 90th percentile raised worker productivity by six units per hour, on a mean productivity of ten units per hour. Thus, when workers move from an average boss to a high-quality boss, productivity could rise by 50 percent. The study also showed that workers were more likely to quit when faced with bad bosses.

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Digital transformation and an uncharted future for workplace design in 2019

Digital transformation and an uncharted future for workplace design in 2019

by • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

In some way, humans have touched every single thing on this planet. We’re stepping into unknown territory. We’re changing everything. Think about that. Now, think about digital transformation. New technologies are changing how we interact with our environment, how we work, how we play and how we live. Tech tools are being more readily adopted as they get better and more accessible and, as a result our attitudes about them are changing. These are big ideas. And, they are rapidly changing our work and the domain of workplace design around the world. (more…)

Third of workers feel so undervalued by their managers they are planning to leave

Third of workers feel so undervalued by their managers they are planning to leave

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Third of workers feel so undervalued by managers they are ready to leave

Poor relationships with their managers and a lack of development opportunities are leading to more than a third of workers feeling dissatisfied in their current jobs, claims new research from The Institute of Leadership & Management. Around 1,400 members of The Institute of Leadership & Management completed a survey, which asked about their plans and aspirations for the New Year. The survey revealed that 34 percent are likely to change their job this year. Three quarters (74 percent) admitted the New Year leaves them feeling like they can achieve more in their careers, and because January also inspires self-reflection and a desire for change. (more…)

UK workers rank tenth in global happiness survey

UK workers rank tenth in global happiness survey

by • News, Wellbeing

The UK’s workplace happiness rating comes in at tenth in a new study published by Engaging Works. Austria, The Netherlands, United States and Germany are all above the UK in rating workplace happiness.  The UK’s average happiness score of 6.43 lags behind Austria’s 7.67. Engaging Works has surveyed over 10,000 employees globally with the workplace happiness survey.  Its’ founder, Lord Mark Price, is calling for the Government to face up to the UK’s poor productivity levels and understand the importance of getting the UK’s workforce more engaged and happier.

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Workers say finding people with the right skills is biggest issue this year

Workers say finding people with the right skills is biggest issue this year

by • News, Workplace

Workers say finding people with the right skills is biggest issue this yearOver half of workers (53 percent) believe that getting the right people with the right skills will be the biggest issue faced by their workplace in the year ahead. This is according to research published by Acas today, which commissioned YouGov to find out what UK employees identified as the most important workplace issues in the year ahead. The other two top issues identified were technological change (36 percent) and productivity (36 percent). Other issues identified by participants in the poll included fit and healthy staff (18 percent) and Equality and Fairness (17 percent).  Acas Chief Exec, Susan Clews, said: “Employees feel that getting workers with the right skills is a key concern in the year ahead. This could be attributed to uncertainty around our relationship with the EU at the moment or general concerns around skills shortages.

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Are open plan workspaces truly evil or is this just fake news?

Are open plan workspaces truly evil or is this just fake news?

by • Features, Workplace design

A recently published paper describing the results of an academic study by Ethan S. Bernstein and Stephen Turban[1], both of Harvard, has become another unwarranted casualty of the debate within our industry and in the mainstream media on ‘open plan’ offices versus anything else. The researchers conducted two controlled studies in different organisations before and after a workplace refurbishment from dedicated cubicles to dedicated open plan (benching) neighbourhoods, and concluded that face to face interaction reduced significantly, while email and other digital communications increased in the new environment.

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Cyber security fears as employees and ex staff able to access sensitive company data

Cyber security fears as employees and ex staff able to access sensitive company data

by • AI, News, Technology, Workplace

Cyber security fears as office workers given unfettered access to sensitive company dataHuge numbers of employees have or have had access to mission critical company systems which should be reserved only for staff that require it, claims a new study by CyberArk. Specifically, it found that almost half (48 percent) of employees have or have had access to sensitive financial documents; 46 percent to confidential HR information; nearly a third (29 percent) have or have had direct access to company bank account and over a third (37 percent) access to research and development plans or blueprints for new products/services. Credential theft remains the most common and effective route to a successful cyber-attack.

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How our body clocks affect our mental and physical performance

How our body clocks affect our mental and physical performance

by • Features, Wellbeing

Whether you’re a morning person or love burning the midnight oil, we’re all controlled by so-called body clocks. These body clocks (which regulate your circadian rhythms) are inside almost every cell in the body and control when we feel awake and tired during a 24-hour period. But as it turns out, our latest study found that our body clocks have a much bigger impact on us than we previously realised. In fact, our body clocks actually effect how well a person performs on both mental and physical tasks.

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Siemens new Swiss campus showcases workplace technology and use of BIM in construction

Siemens new Swiss campus showcases workplace technology and use of BIM in construction

by • Case studies, Company news, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace design

Siemens AG has officially opened its new campus in Zug, Switzerland. The Siemens Zug campus features a new office building with 1,000 work spaces and a newly constructed production building. The investment volume for new buildings, renovations and related measures amounts to CHF 250 million. The campus is the international headquarters of the Siemens Building Technologies (BT) Division, which has 29,000 employees. Construction of the office and production buildings began in May 2016 and was completed in July 2018. The Siemens Zug campus is one of the first new projects to use Building Information Modeling (BIM) for design and construction. The digital twin – a 3D model of the building, enhanced with technical information relevant for later operations – is the foundation for efficient, cost-optimised and forward-looking building management. (more…)

I’m a designer and I job share with an AI

I’m a designer and I job share with an AI

by • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

Thomas Edison is credited with the phrase “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration” and I believe there is no field where this applies more than architecture and design. So often people assume that interior design is such a fun, creative job – that it’s all about drawing, colours and furniture, something like being paid to colour in and shop – when today being a designer is just as much about people management, psychology, project management, documentation, checking codes and standards and managing contracts.  It’s also often about a culture that expects long hours and being always available to the job. “It’s not work when you are passionate about it?” is common. But what if instead we could all work less hours and job share with our computers?

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