Search Results for: management

May 3, 2016

Pointless admin and inadequate technology cost UK £60 billion a year ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace

Inadequate and poorly performing technology coupled with the burden of pointless administrative tasks are having a major negative effect on the UK’s productivity, costing businesses around £60 billion a year. That is the conclusion of a new report from workforce management consultants Kronos. According to the report, The £60Bn Question: Is Employee Engagement the Driver of Business Success?, employees spend around 7 percent of their time on unnecessary admin and 82 percent struggle to complete their daily tasks. According to the line managers that took part in the survey, 77 percent claim that outdated technology is the biggest challenge they face and 72 percent believe that they are hampered by the need to carry out tasks that could be automated. Many respondents also cited a lack of engagement as an issue with 34 percent claiming rating their organisation enjoying high levels of engagement and 59 percent claiming their chief exec was more interested in the bottom line than employees.

April 29, 2016

9 in 10 UK office workers stressed by meeting room technology ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

Meeting room technology which does not work seamlessly is a hindrance for productivity, with 86 percent experiencing serious “meeting stress” when grappling with it during meetings, according to research from Vanson Bourne and Barco. Among the biggest challenges for UK employees were sharing content and screens, and finding the right cables to connect to devices. In trying to deal with problems, staff are wasting significant amounts of their valuable time: 60 percent try to fix problems themselves, 49 percent call support, 30 percent end up giving up. 15 percent even postpone meetings until technology problems can be fixed. The vast majority (90 percent) actually pre-prepare for failures: preparing handouts as alternatives to tech, coordinating with IT in advance, and 44 percent even do a tech rehearsal. As a result of struggling with technology in meeting rooms, a quarter of UK office workers have missed important deadlines, and some have even missed out on personal opportunities like promotions (7 percent).

April 28, 2016

UK, Germany, Switzerland and Poland lag Europe in flexible working ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace

A new report has verified the value of flexible working by showing a positive correlation between employee happiness and the adoption of flexible working practices. Yet, the research conducted by IDC and sponsored by Cornerstone OnDemand also reveals that flexible working practices have been taken up at different speeds across Europe, where the lowest flexible working maturity appears to be clustered in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the UK. Business managers and HR respondents stated a low level of flexible working adoption in Poland, the UK, Switzerland and Germany – surprising, given the competitive labour market in these regions. The Nordics, Spain, Benelux and Austria were perceived to be the most mature when it came to flexible working options. Among the respondents from Poland, less than 50 percent of those surveyed were allowed to work from home, while the figure for the Nordic countries was 87 percent.

April 27, 2016

The digital future of work is more about humans than machines, claims study ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Property, Technology

The claims that robots will render the human species redundant are largely exaggerated suggests a new report from Cognizant’s Centre for the Future of Work and the Economist Intelligence Unit. But we will have to find a new path and it may be one that emphasises human strengths and characteristics working alongside robots. The study of 420 managers in Europe and the US explores the future of the workplace in an increasingly automated world and suggest we will also see the emergence of new jobs involved in the design of augmented reality and avatars as well as a generally greater emphasis on robot-human partnerships in an increasingly digital world. The study claims, unsurprisingly, that the reliance on physical office space will recede, forcing businesses to employ intelligent workplaces which will monitor workers’ environment, needs and even moods.

April 25, 2016

Staff wellness programmes must target mental ill health and obesity ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Employers see mental health, obesity and high blood pressure as the areas most likely to impact on their employees’ wellbeing over the next few years. This is according to new research by AXA PPP healthcare, which found that three quarters of decision makers (75 per cent) agreed that employers should proactively support their employees to manage their health and wellbeing and why 77 per cent of employers said their company currently has a health and wellbeing strategy in place. The decision makers polled by the healthcare company are concerned that mental health (51 per cent), obesity/high body mass index (44 per cent) and high blood pressure (30 per cent) will be the biggest challenges to employee health over the next five years with the key to better health in the workplace in that period being improved ease of access (46 per cent) and increased availability (46 per cent) of preventive health services for employees.

April 21, 2016

Employees squander a month each year checking email outside of work ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

A study published today by enterprise service management firm Samanage, confirms that US employees are spending a significant amount of time checking email after hours. What is perhaps more surprising is the amount of time they spend on this. The report claims that a significant proportion of workers are spending far more time emailing outside the office than they do taking vacation. Among the 1,500 US adults surveyed in the Email Overload Survey, more than one in three (35.2 percent) check email at least one hour a day outside of work hours, totaling more than 30 days of extra work per year. Given the average US worker receives 10 days of vacation annually, employees are spending triple that amount of time emailing after work hours. It’s also clear that Americans have a hard time putting down their mobile device and stepping away from email as respondents reported checking their work email instead of sleeping or eating.

April 21, 2016

How and why Millennials are shaping the future of remote working ⁰

by Sara Sutton Fell • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Workplace, Workplace design

The future is here. Millennials, the youngest generation in the workforce, are now the majority generation at work. Their potential impact has been discussed for decades, but we’re finally seeing results, as this generation not only enters the workforce, but assumes management-level roles, makes their voices heard, and shifts how we approach work. But why does the Millennials attitude and approach to work have such an impact on how, when, where, and why we all work? And why should employers pay attention? It’s because this generation is shaping remote working. They’ve got sheer numbers behind them. In 2015, Millennials surpassed Generation X to become the largest generation in the American workforce. The vast majority of Millennials want flexible work options, especially the ability to work remotely. In survey after survey, Millennials, more than any generation previously, say that work-life balance and remote work is important to them.

April 19, 2016

‘Only’ a third of employees take part in corporate wellbeing programmes ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Although the vast majority of employers (89 percent) say that the wellbeing of employees is important to them, participation in corporate mandated health programmes remains ‘low’ with only 38 percent of employees worldwide participating in any wellbeing activity or health-related management programmes in the last year, according to research from insurers Willis Towers Watson. In addition, 41 percent of European employers say they lack the budget and resources to deliver an effective programme. The research claims that the top five health related issues of most concern in Europe are stress (74 percent), sedentary lifestyles (45 percent), presenteeism (33 percent), obesity (32 percent) and nutrition (31 percent). In response to these issues, organisations have initiated a range of programmes, the most common of which are onsite vaccinations (62 percent), diet and exercise (61 percent), health risk assessments (58 percent) and biometric screening (53 percent).

April 17, 2016

How can commuting to your choice of office affect staff productivity? ⁰

by Darren Bilsborough • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Property

To say that I am obsessive about the subject of productivity in the workplace is an understatement. It is integral to much of the subject matter I write about, including the core theme contained in my book Don’t Worry About The Rent. Whilst undertaking research, it was important for me to get to the bottom of the decision making processes that many businesses go through when choosing office space. I was well aware of the predisposition for the commercial real estate industry to ask questions around size, cost and location, but I was particularly interested in what other issues might rise to the surface and become “top of mind” for management to consider around office choice. Predictably, I found that tenant surveys, including those undertaken by Colliers International confirmed that the two major issues management would consider were size and cost. The next biggest issue however was a surprise and it related to concerns around commuting.

April 15, 2016

Employers’ and workers’ views on an engaging workplace differ widely ⁰

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

Business growth is radically redefining how employees are managed, especially as there is greater competition than ever to hire the best people from a much more demanding employee population. Yet employees report that a lack of development, outdated processes, and discontent with the role of their managers are causing them to feel dissatisfied according to Mercer’s 2016 Global Talent Trends Study, the first to take into account the perspective of both employers and employees. While 85 percent of organisations admit that their talent management programmes need an overhaul, 70 percent are confident about filling critical roles with internal candidates, 28 percent of employees say they plan to leave in the next 12 months even though they are satisfied with their current role. Managing these challenges requires support but only 4 percent of HR professionals feel that the HR function is viewed as a strategic business partner within their organisations.

April 13, 2016

IFMA and RICS join forces to establish a “global FM community” ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

While the debate over the fate of FM bodies; from the role of the BIFM to the demise of its trade associations the Facilities Management Association, (FMA) and its successor the Building Futures Group (BFG), rolls on; the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have gone ahead and organized their own “landmark” collaboration agreement. This aims to leverage both organizations’ existing resources in education, research, conferences and events, and external relations. IFMA and RICS also vow to work together to align credentials and qualifications to shape a single FM career path with “demonstrable professional status which is recognized and respected globally”. Another shot across the bow of the BIFM is that RICS professionals who have qualified in FM will automatically receive IFMA member benefits. In turn, IFMA members and credential holders will be able to attain RICS professional qualification and benefit from RICS’ international standards and global professional network.

April 13, 2016

Competitive workplaces hold women back in their careers ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Wellbeing, Workplace

Women take competition with other women at work too seriously and it could be damaging their careers, new research from UCL School of Management claims. Assistant Professor Sun Young Lee found that women experience competition with same-gender co-workers more negatively than men do because female peer culture values harmony and equality, and competition is at odds with the norm of female relationships. On the other hand, hierarchical ranking and competition is natural in male peer culture, so men’s work relationships do not suffer from competing with male colleagues. But competition with female co-workers taxes women’s work relationships. Women may struggle to interact with female co-workers, becoming overly cutthroat and mean, which can restrict their career progression. The findings suggest that, for organizations with a majority of female employees, competitive practices may not be the best way to organise work.