September 25, 2019

Firms shift to contingent work to stay agile, report claims

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Around a quarter of firms worldwide and mid-sized companies are shifting permanent roles to contingent work positions this year to remain agile, according to a report from Randstad Sourceright. The quarterly Talent Trends study (registration), based on responses from executives, HR managers and other professionals across 17 markets worldwide, claims that businesses are using gig and freelance workers to fill formerly permanent positions. More →

September 23, 2019

Growing number of organisations pledge to take action on climate change

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

As world leaders meet in New York for today’s UN Climate Action Summit, a group of 59 large multinationals including Swiss Re, Ikea, and L’Oréal have signed up to the UN Global Compact to pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The compact now has 87 corporations as signatories, including Astra Zeneca and Unilever who signed up earlier this year, with a combined market value of $2.3 trillion. As is the case with countries, there is still a way to go for more companies to take decisive action on climate change, however. More →

September 23, 2019

Work is creating mental health issues for two in five employees

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Although two in five (39 percent) UK workers experienced symptoms of poor mental health related to work in the last year, according to a report released by Business in the Community (BITC), in partnership with Mercer Marsh Benefits and BITC’s Wellbeing Leadership Team. The report also claims that most employers do not acknowledge or deal with the adverse impact work has on employees’ health. More →

September 19, 2019

Workers want firms to do more about air quality

by Neil Franklin • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Flexible working, sharing information about local clean air routes and incentivising active travel are just some of the ideas being put to businesses today as new research suggests employers need to do more to address the issue of air quality and pollution for staff both in the workplace and on their commute. More →

September 18, 2019

A fantastic workplace does not have to be innovative, just fantastic

by Neil Usher • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

A recent report from AWA, Global Workplace Analytics and Haworth identified that over half of those surveyed in 130 organisations work in assigned positions. What was more interesting – than the report was the positioning of the key findings – the message being that in many respects organisations were denying their people the full benefits of an agile (or activity-based – we’ll use agile here) workplace, the blunted old farts.

September 18, 2019

Automation will boost productivity, but risks leaving people behind

by Neil Franklin • AI, News, Workplace

Unless the Government steps up efforts to manage the transition to automation, many people and entire regions of the UK face being left behind and British businesses could find themselves becoming less competitive, says the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee in a report published today.
More →

September 18, 2019

More than half of female professionals have never negotiated a pay rise

by Neil Franklin • News

More than half of all female professionals – 57 percent – have never attempted to negotiate a pay rise, according to a new report from professional recruitment firm Robert Walters. Its findings suggest that men are 23 percent more likely to negotiate a pay rise across all stages of their career, even though the amount that negotiators pitch for is not far removed from their female counterparts. More →

September 17, 2019

The four day week problem, WeWork delays IPO, harbingers of doom and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Property, Technology, Workplace design

It’s interesting to watch what happens when politicians – even more so than normal people – are faced with evidence they don’t like. And it’s especially interesting when they asked for the evidence in the first place. You can pick your own examples but it was interesting to note Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell’s immediate and decidedly lukewarm response to his own report into the wisdom of introducing a 4 day week, which concluded that the idea is ‘not realistic or even desirable’. More →

September 13, 2019

Final line up for Workplace Week announced

by Jo Sutherland • Company news, Events

Marking its ninth consecutive year, Workplace Week London 2019 – brainchild of Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA) – will take place the week commencing 11 November 2019. 30 organisations, a third of which are debutants, have confirmed their support for the philanthropic week, which has so far raised over £100,000 for BBC Children in Need. More →

September 13, 2019

Recognition is a more powerful motivator than pay, survey concludes

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Data from Engaging Works claims that recognition is a more powerful motivator than pay for employees. The data also suggests that a third of people feel they aren’t trusted to make decisions and have a poor relationship with their line manager. More →

September 10, 2019

Are coworking spaces really all the same?

by Uri Bar-Joseph • Comment, Coworking, Technology, Workplace design

If you’ve ever shopped around for a coworking space, you’ve undoubtedly heard every shared workspace operator brag that its offices aren’t just a place to work – they’re all about community and culture. As Fast Company’s Ruth Reader put it, we’re just a “bunch of co-work startups saying the same things about how different [we] are.” She’s not entirely wrong, but (with all due respect) I think she’s missed the point about coworking.

September 10, 2019

Workers worldwide think they could outperform their own bosses

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Managers should seriously consider giving their employees the reins for a day to test new research that indicates seven out of 10 employees worldwide (69 percent) say they can do their boss’s job better, despite nearly the same number of workers (71 percent) grading their boss’s competence a B or better.

The Global State of Managers research comes from The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated and Future Workplace, which examined how nearly 3,000 employees in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Mexico, the U.K., and the U.S. would grade their manager’s effectiveness across five factors: communication, competence, empowerment, professional development, and support.

According to the study, employees grade their managers high on competence but nearly fail them when it comes to work-life balance and job coaching. Overall, people feel managers are good at their jobs, with the majority of employees grading bosses an A or B for competence (71 percent) – the highest grade given – and work ethic (70 percent).

Bosses also received high marks (B or better) for their communication skills, people management skills, and ability to handle performance-related issues (all 67 percent). The older the employee, however, the more critical they are of their boss: Baby Boomers1 and Gen Xers grade managers more harshly with a C, D, or F for overall people management skills (37 percent and 38 percent, respectively). Worldwide, the employee-manager connection remains critically important: 70 percent of employees say their relationship with their manager is an extremely or very important factor when deciding to remain at their current job, with 22 percent agreeing it’s somewhat important. Millennial (79 percent) and Gen Z (73 percent) employees feel strongest about the importance of the manager relationship for retention compared with Gen X (66 percent) and Baby Boomer (62 percent) counterparts.

Other findings

Nearly seven out of 10 people think they can do their boss’s job more effectively.
While bosses worldwide are well regarded by their employees, these same employees think they could personally manage even more effectively, with younger Millennial (73 percent) and Gen Z (70 percent) employees most confident they could do better.
Based on grades given of a C, D, or F, at least one in three employees feel their manager could improve at modelling work-life balance (37 percent); their ability to coach for better job performance (37 percent); handling performance-related issues (33 percent); and communication (33 percent).
For overall people management skills, the majority of workers would “pass” their boss with an A (26 percent), B (37 percent), or C (25 percent); yet 4 percent of employees give a solid F for performance.
French, German, and U.K. managers graded worst for competence, while Indian and Mexican workers are happiest overall…with one big exception.
Indian employees are by far the most satisfied with their managers, with at least eight out of 10 grading managers an A or B in every category. Conversely, French, German, and U.K. workers are by far the most pessimistic about manager performance, as those countries ranked in the bottom three in every category surveyed
Most competent: India (87 percent); Australia (76 percent); Canada (75 percent); Mexico (75 percent); U.S. (71 percent); Germany (62 percent); U.K. (61 percent); and France (59 percent)
Best communicators: India (90 percent); Mexico (74 percent); Australia (68 percent); Canada (68 percent); U.S. (67 percent); Germany (59 percent); France (58 percent); and the U.K. (56 percent)
Hardest-working managers: India (81 percent); Australia (75 percent); U.S. (73 percent); Canada (72 percent); Mexico (70 percent); Germany (63 percent); U.K. (62 percent); and France (58 percent)
Best job coaches: India (83 percent); Mexico (70 percent); U.S. (64 percent); Australia (63 percent); Canada (61 percent); France (56 percent); Germany (55 percent); and the U.K. (51 percent)
Most adept at handling performance-related issues: India (86 percent); Mexico (73 percent); U.S. (70 percent); Australia (68 percent); Canada (66 percent); Germany (59 percent); U.K. (57 percent); and France (56 percent)
Role models for work-life balance: India (80 percent); Mexico (70 percent); Canada (65 percent); U.S. (65 percent); Australia (62 percent); France (55 percent); Germany (55 percent); and the U.K. (53 percent)

Differences by sector and nationality

Despite rating their managers No. 1 in all categories, 95 percent of Indian employees still say they could do their boss’s job better all of the time (47 percent) or some of the time (48 percent). This sentiment is followed by 87 percent of Mexican workers and 71 percent of French workers. Canada (61 percent) and U.S. (59 percent) workers feel the least confident that they could do their boss’s job better – yet it’s still more than half of all employees.

Managers in the technology industry are on top overall, scoring highest marks (A or B) in people management (81 percent), communication (75 percent), and modeling work-life balance (70 percent). Professional services managers (e.g. accountants, engineers, lawyers) rank second-best, with 70 percent of employees grading them a B or better for people management and communication. Employees in the technology (77 percent) and finance (70 percent) sectors say they have a strong or very strong relationship with their boss, followed by manufacturing (62 percent); education (61 percent); retail (61 percent); and professional services (61 percent).

There is room for managers to model better work-life balance in frontline industries – i.e. those who must be present to do their jobs – with 53 percent of employees in federal government, 42 percent in healthcare, and 42 percent in retail giving their boss a C or worse.

Regarding pure competence, managers are graded worst – C or lower – by public safety (44 percent); federal government (39 percent); transportation/distribution/logistics (35 percent); and healthcare (34 percent) employees. More than one in three employees give poor marks of a C or worse for their manager’s work ethic in federal government (37 percent); healthcare (34 percent); transportation/distribution/logistics (34 percent); and manufacturing (33 percent).

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