Search Results for: management

May 17, 2022

Despite low productivity, UK firms still don’t look for ways to improve on past performance

Despite the UK’s persistent low productivity, less than a fifth of business owners are actively looking back at projects to identify areas for improvement. A large proportion of business owners (65 per cent) and senior managers (82 per cent) have increased their use of project-based methods on everyday tasks, such as introducing measures to identify and manage risk. Despite this, many are still failing to assign enough dedicated project managers to the work. New research from the Association for Project Management (APM) claims that only 35 per cent of senior managers who participated in the survey regularly assign dedicated project managers to tasks, and only a quarter for business owners. More →

May 11, 2022

Facilities managers: you never noticed us because we did such a great job

by Simon Heath • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

Getting all hot under the collar about brushed chrome door furniture is an understandable but classic displacement activity when much of your work is messy, unglamorous and even occasionally dangerous. You work alongside designers and architects and look longingly at their apparent casual trendiness and clean lines, marvelling at the quality of the beech from sustainably managed European forestries (kiln dried to 10-12 per cent moisture content) with which they have specified the side tables in reception. Achingly cool and effortless in a way you feel you’ll never be.

May 11, 2022

The truth about motivation, engagement and the employment of motivated idiots

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

The current obsession with engagement and motivation is evident every time you read the business media these days. This is understandable in many ways, not least because it seems true that firms and employees are often working in an atmosphere of mistrust. But one thing that is often noticeable when a profession such as HR gets itself into a debate of this nature is the gap that can exist between practitioners and everybody else offering a view. So while academics can talk about definitions and suppliers seek to apply their solutions to the issue, it is often down to those who work at the sharp end to dish up the truth, however unpalatable or cynical that can seem to be. More →

May 11, 2022

Job dissatisfaction is rife among senior executives – and hybrid working doesn’t help

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Widespread job dissatisfaction means a large proportion of senior executives from top US companies plan to leave their organisations in the next two years, according to a new report from KellyOCG. According to the 2022 KellyOCG Global Workforce Report – Re:work – there’s a significant disconnect between employees’ expectations and the support employers provide. Through a survey of C-suite leaders, board members, department heads, directors, and managers in 12 countries, including the United States and Canada, the report claims that 78 percent of US executives and 52 percent of Canadian executives, compared to 72 percent of leaders globally, aim to leave their jobs by 2024. More →

May 9, 2022

Human resources professionals should focus on boardroom partnerships

by Jeanette Wheeler • Comment, Workplace

The future of Human Resources remains a hotly debated topic, with conversations often focusing on whether the term is still accurate and how internal and external changes often put HR in a state of flux. As working models shift and new post-pandemic challenges emerge, the focus should be on what skills today’s HR leaders need to support the business and ensure its continuity and success in an evolving landscape. This includes embracing imminent changes to the HR strategy to develop additional skills and capabilities whilst ensuring compliance with new regulations, overcoming staff shortages and meeting heightened candidate expectations. More →

May 5, 2022

Retrofit is essential for the UK’s stock of poor performing commercial property

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has published a guide that calls on businesses to retrofit the country’s poorly performing stock of commercial buildings. From 2025, every commercial building in the UK will require an energy performance certificate (EPC) which rates its energy efficiency from grade A to G. The Government is seeking to strengthen these standards and has proposed that all commercial properties being let have a minimum EPC rating of at least ‘B’ by 2030 and is considering a possible interim requirement of level ‘C’ by 2027. Buildings which fail to meet these new standards would require owners and landlords of commercial buildings to upgrade their stock. More →

May 3, 2022

Get ready for the artificial intelligence revolution

by Reece Akhtar • AI, Comment, Workplace

Behind every successful business strategy is a talented and motivated workforce that is ready to apply itself and achieve great things. A leader may have a flawless strategy, but if they cannot staff their teams with the most talented individuals, their vision will stay just that. A vision. Unfortunately, the tools organizations use to identify and recruit the best talent have not changed much over the last few decades: resumés, interviews, and reference checks continue to be the predominant methods for evaluating potential. Sadly, many studies demonstrate that these methods are unpredictive, biased, and are inefficient. The good news is that innovations in artificial intelligence offer exciting tools that improve the recruitment process for both organizations and candidates. More →

May 2, 2022

Five new companies join Urban Land Institute net zero carbon goal

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News

The Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance announced today that five more of its real estate members have aligned to ULI Greenprint’s net zero carbon operations goal. These real estate leaders join the 25 ULI Greenprint members that have already adopted this goal to reduce the carbon emissions of their collective portfolio under operational control to net zero by the year 2050. More →

May 2, 2022

British Council for Offices honours the North’s best workplaces at annual Regional Awards

by Neil Franklin • News, Property, Workplace design

Six workplaces across the North of England and Northern Ireland have been recognised at the annual British Council for Offices (BCO) Regional Awards today. The Northern BCO Awards dinner returned in-person to the Kimpton Clocktower in Manchester, recognising the North’s highest quality developments and setting the standard for excellence in the office sector across the UK. More →

April 26, 2022

Two thirds would take a pay cut in exchange for a four day week

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A poll of 2,000 people published in the new edition of the State of Hybrid Work study from Owl Labs claims that flexibility is now key to retaining top talent in 2022 and beyond. 65 percent of British employees would rather be paid less in exchange for a four day week and over a third (37 percent) would choose to decline a job if flexible hours are not offered. The report claims that offering greater flexibility will prove key to preventing employees from driving the ‘Great Resignation’ – with nearly one in three (31 percent) employees changing jobs in the past two years and a quarter (25 percent) of employees actively seeking a new opportunity in 2022. More →

April 25, 2022

What Jacob Rees Mogg really got wrong about working from the office

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Property

One of the challenges of taking part in The Great Work Conversation is swerving alignments with the wrong people. It’s easy enough to call out the crusty, passive aggressive notes apparently left by Lord Bufton Tufton on the desks of civil service drones. But it’s equally easy to find yourself tarred with the same brush if you dare to suggest not everybody is about to cocoon themselves in a bedroom forever or swap all they have for a life trundling from place to place in a dormobile, exchanging work for tokens. More →

April 22, 2022

New episodes of Workplace Geeks land

by Freddie Steele • Flexible working, News, Podcasts, Premium Content

Two new episodes of Workplace Geeks have now joined the already impressive roster of the first season. In episode 5 – The other 90 percent: ‘A Toolkit for Living in a New Building’ – Chris and Ian explore a novel approach to the ‘post-occupancy evaluation’ (or POE) of new workplaces with Dr Harriet Shortt, Associate Professor in Organisation Studies at UWE Bristol. Harriet and her collaborators (including Stride Treglown and ISG) used a participatory visual technique featuring smartphone photographs to explore the lived experiences of staff, students and visitors using their brand new £55m Bristol Business School building. All participants were invited to respond with images and accompanying comments to two simple questions: How do you feel about the building and how are you using the building? More →