November 11, 2019

Brexit uncertainty yet to affect UK jobs market

More news on the patchy effects of Brexit on the UK economy comes in the latest Labour Market Outlook from the CIPD. The report claims that Brexit uncertainty has yet to take its toll on employers’ hiring expectations, with both public and private sector employers expecting staff numbers to increase in the final quarter of 2019. There has been a surge of confidence among public sector employers on increasing both pay and staff numbers in the next quarter. Although still positive, private sector pay award expectations have decreased, narrowing the gap between the public and private sector. The forward-looking indicator surveyed 1,016 UK employers in September 2019 on their recruitment, redundancy and pay intentions. More →

November 11, 2019

Smart cities must develop in surprising ways to meet new challenges

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Technology

The new generation of smart cities should embrace new technologies and fresh approaches to combat their growing list of challenges, claims a new report from ABI Research. In its new whitepaper, 5 Ways Smart Cities Are Getting Smarter (registration), ABI suggests that digital twins and urban modeling, resilient cities, circular cities, micro-mobility, and smart spaces as the five new urban strategy shifts that will make smart cities smarter in the new ways they need. More →

November 8, 2019

Lack of leadership stifles workplace creativity

by Neil Franklin • News

The UK’s workforces are being creatively stifled because of high pressure and a lack of leadership skills, a new study claims. A study of 1,000 workplaces published in Thinking On Your Feet, a report by the commercial arm of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, RADA Business, has found that almost half (41 percent) of UK workplaces implement practises that have a detrimental effect on employee empowerment and their ability to think creatively. The study also reveals that 75 percent of workplaces lack the right environment to enable improvisation to thrive, leaving workers feeling unsupported and stressed. More →

November 8, 2019

Infosys opens new digital innovation centre in Duesseldorf

by Freddie Steele • Cities, Company news, Technology

Infosys has announced the opening of its new Digital Innovation Centre in D?sseldorf, Germany.The Centre has been created to help Infosys work more closely with its clients in the region in supporting their digital transformation journey, while focusing on next-generation business suites such as SAP HANA, as well as cloud based services, Internet of Things, 5G, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. More →

November 6, 2019

Open plan offices might improve performance of high status workers

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace design

Managers may believe their star performers don’t need monitoring when working on a team and may reason that leaving the most high status workers alone in their efforts frees up more time to work closely with other team members. But research coauthored by Sebastien Brion of IESE Business School and published in Management Science Journal claims that this may be a mistake and so counterproductive and that the performance of high status workers might improve with greater visibility including that offered by open plan offices. More →

November 5, 2019

HR leaders feel unprepared for the future of work

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

Only 9 percent of chief human resources officers (CHROs) agree that their organisation is prepared for the future of work, according to a new report from Gartner. The study ties in to Gartner Gartner ReimagineHR conference, which took place last week. It concludes that to address the needs of organisations and workers in the future, HR leaders must focus on five areas of work. It suggests that tackling the future of work should not mean looking at the various changing aspects of work, such as AI, the gig economy and the multigenerational workforce, in silos. Istead, HR leaders should focus on the big picture of what the future of work can and should look like in their organisation. More →

November 1, 2019

Corporate sanctioned mindfulness is no fix for stress

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

The use of mindfulness techniques in the corporate world could actually do more harm than good to employees, having little more than a ‘band aid’ or ‘quick fix’ effect, according to new research from Durham University Business School. More →

October 29, 2019

Workplace values matter more than career progression to young dads

by Han Son Lee • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

With recent research showing that over half of young dads (58 percent) are more actively involved in day to day parenting than ever before, it is increasingly important that employers put health and wellbeing and other workplace values at the heart of their offer to employees. In particular, they should be able to offer flexible working options in order to retain their best staff. Our research looking at the Millennial Dad at Work also highlighted starkly that some business sectors are more accommodating than others when it comes to flexible working. Perhaps surprisingly, the construction industry came out of the research very well with 48 percent requesting a change in working hours since becoming a father of which 78 percent of those were successful. The retail sector and the pharmaceutical industry also did well. More →

October 28, 2019

The key to wellbeing at work is focusing on the individual

by Jonathan Hindle • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

It gets more apparent as each day passes that the layout of an office can have a profound impact on wellbeing at work. While this knowledge is more widespread than it once was, it’s still common to see companies addressing the issue with simple box-ticking exercises rather than taking into consideration the actual wants and needs of employees.

October 25, 2019

How office design trends in different countries feed off each other

by Steve Elliott • Comment, Workplace design

The term Global Village has passed into general use to describe many of the phenomena we associate with the modern globalised world. But it actually dates back to 1962 when coined by Marshall McLuhan to describe an emerging, electronically contracted world in which cultures converge alongside political, business and legislative frameworks. These forces have been instrumental in bringing nations and organisations closer together and yet each nation continues to be shaped by little differences and residual cultures and conditions. More →

October 25, 2019

The push and pull of the workplace for parents

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

The experiences and attitudes of working parents are explored in two new reports which offer contrasting views on what happens to the careers and skills of mothers and fathers. The first from CWJobs uncovers the fears parents have of being left behind by technology while they take time away from their careers to care for children, while the second looks at the ways in which parenthood might improve people’s skills and ability to deal with complex roles. More →

October 24, 2019

Effects of diversity and inclusion training remain unclear

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

This week the CIPD and Westminster Business School launched their new report: Diversity management that works: an evidence based review. At a launch event at the EY offices in Canary Wharf, academics and people practitioners convened to discuss the reports findings. They also explored what it means for practice. The research maps out the current evidence on the types of diversity interventions in organisations. It analyses recent scientific evidence and exploring what works. This was then tested with practitioners and professionals who regularly work on diversity and inclusion (D&I) practices within organisations. More →