Search Results for: london

September 28, 2015

More people are working from home, but they can end up feeling lonely ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace

More and more British workers are working remotely, from home and other locations, but they are growing increasingly disconnected from their colleagues. Those are the findings of two studies into new ways of working conducted independently by Plantronics and Regus. According to the Plantronics survey of 2,500 staff, flexible working was given another boost over this Summer in response to the (intermittent) good weather and industrial action by London public transport staff. During August, more than half (55 percent) of the workforce chose to work from home or remotely more convenient to them, the audio communications firm’s study found. On the flipside, the survey of 4,000 workers by serviced office provider Regus claims that almost two-thirds of employees who work from home miss mixing with colleagues and can feel lonely as a result.

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September 25, 2015

Nearly half of UK workers complain of wasted time in office meetings ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

If you’ve sat through meetings where half the participants pay more attention to their phone than the people in the room you’re not alone. A recent YouGov study commissioned by arvato UK found an ‘always on’ culture and raft of distractions at people’s fingertips mean an average 33 percent of workers confess to checking personal emails, social media or sending personal SMS messages during meetings. An astounding six percent of workers find it such a struggle to stay focused they even take naps during meetings. And despite new technology causing a distraction, old technology also plays a role in meeting efficiency, with almost half of workers (45 percent) experiencing delays and interruptions due to IT issues. A lack of discipline and poor adherence to best practice processes is another challenge, with 43 percent of UK employees regularly experiencing meetings that start late or overrun.

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September 23, 2015

Commission welcomes appointment of new diversity champions ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Public Sector, Workplace

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has welcomed the announcement of four new Whitehall diversity champions to help the Civil Service become more representative of modern Britain. In a National Audit Office report earlier this year, the NAO said that although Whitehall had made some progress on promoting diversity, it needed to place greater emphasis on departments’ valuing and maximising the contribution of every member of their staff. The report by the watchdog also concluded that the Cabinet Office was not using the data it holds on staff to manage workforce changes and hold departments to account. The new advisers, who include Paralympic swimming hero Chris Holmes, Director of Paralympic Integration for London 2012, will work to challenge policies and advise ministers and Civil Service leaders on increasing the numbers of people in the workforce from under-represented groups.

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September 22, 2015

John Fogarty reflects on a career in office furniture spanning five decades ⁰

by John Fogarty • Comment, Furniture, Workplace design

I was lucky to enter the office furniture industry in 1971, at the beginning of a decade shaped by the explosive advent of new office technology. What had gone before would not have looked that different to anyone who’d worked a corporate office in the 1890s: serried ranks of desks occupied by clerical staff bashing away on manual typewriters and comptometers (calculating machines). Although electric typewriters had been around for most of the century, decades of global conflict had constrained their development. The first major advance came with the launch of the IBM Selectric golf-ball in 1961. Although a beautiful object – I recall this being the first item associated in my mind with the term ‘product design’ by a named designer (Eliot Noyes) – it remained expensive and rare until the price reductions driven by the multi-licensing in 1972 of the Diablo daisy-wheel print head.

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September 22, 2015

Top employers for working families praised for flexible approach ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

The financial sector is well represented in this year’s annual list of Top Employers for Working Families as announced by charity Working Families. American Express, Barclays Bank, Citibank, Deloitte and Lloyds all made the list, while just two public sector organisations Ministry of Justice and Southdown Housing Association were in the top ten. Employers with up to 250 employees that reached the Small Employer’s Benchmark – ranged from law firm Sacker & Partners LLP to Bristol Students’ Union. To enter the awards, which are sponsored by Computershare, organisations must complete a benchmark survey which examines in detail their flexible and family friendly working policies and practices. As flexible working becomes embedded in more organisations, Working Families is calling on employers to ‘adopt a ‘flexible by default’ approach, to continue the rise in flexible working and help everyone to achieve a work life balance that works for them.’

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September 21, 2015

New study highlights the key roles of real estate at UK’s top law firms ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Case studies, Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace design

The UK’s top law firms are spending more on their real estate and allocating more space to staff, following years of reductions. Those are two of the key findings of a new report from The Lawyer magazine and property consultants JLL. Around half of the UK’s Top 200 law firms shared detailed data with the study, which also incorporates publicly available information on transactions. The study also takes into account the links between real estate strategy and broader strategic, management and human resources issues. While the report says the amount of space dedicated to each lawyer has risen by 7 percent over the last two years and the costs of owning real estate have also risen markedly, it also describes how many firms are now actively using flexible working to reduce real estate costs.The report concludes with a speculative look at future trends, including the uptake of coworking space.

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September 21, 2015

Five essential office design trends to look for in the near future ⁰

by Tom Brialey • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Workplace design

Since the early Twentieth Century, business leaders have been experimenting with office design in an attempt to improve productivity. From the sea of forward-facing desks imagined by Frederick Taylor, to the infamous cubicle of the late 1960s, to today’s open-plan office, each innovation has said something about our changing relationship to work. In a Gensler survey with more than 2,000 participants, 90 percent of respondents indicated that better workplace design and layout result in better overall performance. The greatest developments of recent times have emerged from the tech giants of Silicon Valley, where businesses have blended playfulness, company culture and the collaborative benefits of open layouts to craft unique and engaging spaces. So where are we headed? Here are five major trends that are likely to have a lasting impact on the way we work.

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September 17, 2015

Growth of on demand economy is transforming work and workplaces ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

Some of the key characteristics of the workplace of the near future are starting to crystallise pretty rapidly. In many ways, employees are aware of this to a greater extent than employers, legislators and politicians. For example, this week and over recent weeks Uber has been arguing in courts around the world that its drivers are not employees but are in fact self-employed. This is the shape of things to come. In the UK, around a fifth of the workforce is already freelance or self-employed, something which politicians like to misinterpret as small business, possibly because it makes them look better because they associate it with entrepreneurialism and the prospects of these firms employing other people. The idea this is simply not the case is supported by a new report from software provider Intuit which claims that just 13 percent of British workers think they will be in traditional employment in 2025.

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September 15, 2015

Rapid growth in the number of offices converted to residential use ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Knowledge, News, Property

The 2013 introduction of new laws which allow greater scope for the conversion of UK offices to residential use is now beginning to have a major impact on the commercial property market, according to a new report from the British Council for Offices (BCO). According to the study, which focuses in particular detail on London and Bristol, more than 6 million sq. ft. of office space was converted to residential use last year following the launch of Permitted Development Right (PDR). This is likely to increase dramatically over the next few years, especially in the capital. A report published last year by Lambert Smith Hampton claimed that there had been a huge leap in applications following the introduction of the new laws and the BCO study confirms the existence of pent up demand from the number of approved schemes yet to be implemented.

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September 11, 2015

New analysis claims to reveal resurgence of long hours culture ⁰

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The Government is being urged to reassess its plans to request an opt-out from the EU Working Time Directive, when it seeks to renegotiate the terms of the UK’s membership of the EU. The Directive stipulates a 48 hour working week, which the Government has argued is stifling competitiveness and flexibility. According to research by the TUC, the number of people working excessive hours has risen by 15 per cent since 2010, following more than a decade of decline in long hours working, with the number of employees working more than 48 hours per week reaching 3,417,000 – up by 453,000 since 2010. The union says many people are working unpaid overtime and at least a million report that they want to cut their excessive hours. The return of the long hours culture makes people feel pressured to ‘opt-out’ from the 48 hour limit as a condition of employment as currently, individual opt-outs are allowed by law.

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September 10, 2015

Rental growth continues across UK’s core commercial property markets ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, News, Property

The recent growth in prime headline office rents has continued across the UK’s regional commercial property markets with an average increase of 4.3 percent across the UK’s ‘Core 8’ markets in the 12 months to June 2015, according to a report from property consultants JLL. The Core 8 cities are the UK’s largest metropolitan economies and are a distinct group from the Government’s definition of core cities. In the JLL study they comprise Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds (above), Manchester, London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Reflecting the solid outlook for demand and tight supply of new space, the report claims that headline rents are expected to continue on an upward curve with average growth of 2.9 percent per year in the Core 8 region over the period. One of the key drivers for rent growth remains a mismatch between demand and supply. (more…)

September 10, 2015

Cycling to work better for motivation than bus, car, rail or tube ⁰

by Sara Bean • Cities, Environment, Facilities management, News, Wellbeing

The naming and shaming of Britain’s most overcrowded trains in a new report from the Department of Transport highlights the uncomfortable journey many workers have to endure every day. This is why a significant number of commuters long to be cyclists, according to recent research from Aviva, which found more than half of those who cycle to work said they arrive refreshed after their commute. Just 1 in 10 car and bus users claimed the same thing and that figure dropped to 1 in 20 for train and tube passengers. Almost a quarter of cyclists (24 percent) also reported feeling motivated after their typical commute, scoring higher than any other common form of commuting, including walking. This is double the proportion of bus passengers (12 percent) who claimed that their commute improved their motivation levels, and triple the proportion of drivers (8 percent) and four times the proportion of train and tube users (6 percent).