Search Results for: innovation

Hybrid working must be at heart of plans for regeneration and growth, claims new report

Hybrid working must be at heart of plans for regeneration and growth, claims new report

hybrid workingA new report from think tank Demos and Legal & General calls on the UK Government to back policy change that supports growth of hybrid working and local offices to drive forward its plans for regeneration and economic growth. The report, Post Pandemic Places, claims that huge increases in home working, coupled with a desire for continued flexibility, could support significant increases in local spending. On the back of the findings, the report calls on the government to incentivise the establishment of more local offices and hybrid working initiatives. More →

Two-thirds of UK CEOs experience ‘decision paralysis’

Two-thirds of UK CEOs experience ‘decision paralysis’

decisionA report released by Peak, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) company, claims that two-thirds (67 percent) of CEOs and other C-suite executives in the UK have experienced ‘decision paralysis’, defined as an inability to make or decide on a solution or course of action usually caused by over-analysing or overthinking a situation. More →

The era of work personalisation is upon us

The era of work personalisation is upon us

work personalisationYou may have heard it said  that any idea repeated often enough develops some form of legitimacy. We’ve had plenty of reason to reflect on whether this notion is true or nor over the past year, especially as all-encompassing pronouncements about the future of work have proliferated and intensified. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that around 80 percent of people only read headlines. This can be a particular issue when you see a headline like The Death of the Office Desk is Upon Us above an article that suggests the death of the personal desk is upon us, when the reality is rather more about the personalisation of work. More →

Discover the Yorkshire-made product that helps boost workplace productivity

Discover the Yorkshire-made product that helps boost workplace productivity

With workplaces up and down the country now following new rules and regulations – and with online meetings also the order of the day – colleagues everywhere may be feeling demotivated. More →

We can design kindness into working life just as easily as unkindness

We can design kindness into working life just as easily as unkindness

kindnessIf I were to suggest that organisations were designing their processes, policies and relationships with unkindness at the core, you would probably reject it as an illogical proposition, it just doesn’t make business sense. It goes against the grain and against the values that are plastered on the walls of so many organisations. But as counterintuitive as it may seem, in my opinion, many organisations have done just that, designed unkindness into the things they do, albeit inadvertently. But if they can do that, they can also design kindness in too. More →

Half of freelancers planning to stop contracting in the UK after IR35 reforms

Half of freelancers planning to stop contracting in the UK after IR35 reforms

freelancers

Half (50 percent) of freelancers are planning to stop contracting in the UK after the changes to IR35 come into effect in April – unless they can get contracts unaffected by the changes – according to new research by IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed). Instead, they are planning to seek contracts abroad (24 percent), stop working altogether (12 percent), seek an employed role (17 percent) or retire within the next year (11 percent). More →

Workplace anthropology will help us make sense of the now and anticipate what’s next

Workplace anthropology will help us make sense of the now and anticipate what’s next

workplace anthropologyWe are scarcely nine months into the Covid-19 pandemic, after a long spring and harsh summer. Social distancing has led to remote working becoming widespread, leading to doubts regarding the office’s long-term relevance. However, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) argues in a recent report that the office’s traditional domain will expand, with new functions including fostering collaboration, facilitating company culture, and promoting human experience. Similarly, experts increasingly characterise the workplace as a hybrid ecosystem combining virtual and physical elements with geographically-dispersed campuses. More →

Herman Miller introduces its ‘most sustainable textile collection yet’

Herman Miller introduces its ‘most sustainable textile collection yet’

Design manufacturer Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR) announced the introduction of a new sustainable textile collection including fabric made from all recycled and ocean-bound plastic materials and an industry-leading 100 percent post-consumer biodegradable polyester. More →

Introducing SWELL by ‘The Collective – Editions’

Introducing SWELL by ‘The Collective – Editions’

Swell is a lightweight, acoustic wall cladding solution with a height of 2.7m offering a unique design solution without horizontal seams. More →

Working from home experience boosts demands for hybrid working

Working from home experience boosts demands for hybrid working

working from homeNew data from Steelcase claims to highlight what the UK workforce is enjoying most about working from home, and which elements of work are suffering without access to the physical office. Nearly all (97 percent) of respondents want to return to the physical office for some or most of the time when possible, but nearly a year of working differently has altered expectations of the office, and businesses need to make vital changes to reflect this. More →

Herman Miller named to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2021

Herman Miller named to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2021

Herman Miller (NASDAQ:MLHR) has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies (MIC) for 2021. The list honours businesses that have not only found a way to be resilient in the past year, but also turned those challenges into impact-making processes. More →

Why command and control doesn’t fit in the 2021 workplace

Why command and control doesn’t fit in the 2021 workplace

Until recently, the nature of business was widely predictable. Tried and tested operational methods enabled businesses to forward plan confidently based on what had worked before. Even before the cataclysmic events of the global pandemic,  the workplace landscape was shifting dramatically, with innovation, disruption, workforce and consumer expectations evolving at a pace. As we enter 2021, every business will need to rapidly adapt and evolve to survive and workforce agility will be a critical factor for that survival. More →