Search Results for: manufacturing

From the archive: Flexible working may improve productivity, but does it diminish creativity?

From the archive: Flexible working may improve productivity, but does it diminish creativity?

by • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

flexible working and creativityOriginally published in December 2014. Homeworking seems to have become a bit of a hot topic this year, but one sentence published on the www.gov.uk website brought a cold sweat to the brows of many managers and employees across the United Kingdom. “From 30 June 2014, all employees have the legal right to request flexible working – not just parents and carers.” (more…)

GreenMe is the little cube working to create better buildings

GreenMe is the little cube working to create better buildings

by • Company news, Wellbeing

GreenMe better buildingsAn innovative little box that resembles a Rubik’s cube is making its way into corporate workspaces to assist facilities managers and HR teams gauge energy consumption and monitor the building’s efficiency, as well as track air quality, temperature and overall comfort of their physical surroundings. It’s all about better buildings. If individuals feel good in their workplace, they’re more likely to care about (and take care of) the buildings where they spend a large part of their days. And to ensure that the sample is truly representative, each individual can have a lightweight and portable GreenMe Comfort Meter on their own desk. (more…)

Progress for women in work back at 2017 levels due to COVID-19

Progress for women in work back at 2017 levels due to COVID-19

by • News, Working culture

progressProgress for women in work could be back at 2017 levels by the end of this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to analysis conducted for PwC’s annual Women in Work Index, which measures female economic empowerment across 33 OECD countries. (more…)

The link between wellbeing and green design is driving material innovation

The link between wellbeing and green design is driving material innovation

by • Comment, Environment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

wellbeing and green building designOne of the most interesting developments in the way we talk about the design of buildings in recent years is how the issue of wellbeing has found an overlap with environmental concerns. We know instinctively that these are natural partners. What is good for the environment almost always has a direct beneficial effect on people’s physical and mental health, as well as their productivity. (more…)

A new mindset on climate change is emerging from the pandemic

A new mindset on climate change is emerging from the pandemic

by • Comment, Environment

wellbeing and climate changeOf all the opportunities for positive change driven by the pandemic, the most important may be the least talked about. And that’s in spite of the fact that both workers and organisations as well as governments and other bodies around the world are aware and in favour of it and its consequences are most far reaching, affecting us all. It is, of course, the chance to do something significant about climate change and the environment. (more…)

Employees are bearing up, but nerves are frayed

Employees are bearing up, but nerves are frayed

by • News, Wellbeing

employeesAccording to new data from  Glint, despite the odds, employees were happier at work at the end of 2020 than they were at the end of 2019, but feelings of burnout remain worryingly high. Looking at aggregated data from 9 million employee-engagement survey responses from companies around the world, Glint’s latest analysis claims that employee happiness at work rose 5.4 percent in December 2020, compared to December 2019. (more…)

Four new companies join WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment

Four new companies join WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment

by • Environment, News

Net Zero CarbonWorldGBC has announced four new companies as signatories to its Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment (the Commitment), signalling global industry leadership to decarbonise the built environment and combat climate change. The Commitment now has a total of 132 signatories, with 98 businesses & organisations, 28 cities and six states & regions. The businesses and organisations signed up to the Commitment now account for over 5 million (tCO2e) of portfolio emissions. (more…)

We must seize the chance to go full circle on sustainable office design

We must seize the chance to go full circle on sustainable office design

by • Comment, Environment, JK

The circular economy is the ‘holy grail’. Few people would deny the ambition of keeping resources in use for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value from them, then recovering and regenerating products and materials at the end of each service life. Is this achievable within the furniture and furnishings sector? Many manufacturers and suppliers can justifiably boast impressive ‘green’ credentials, such as manufacturing techniques, the use of innovative and sustainable materials as well as recyclability of products. The production and supply of new furnishings doesn’t address, however, the short and longer term issues relating to sustainability. ‘Cradle to cradle’ is a great concept – but who is responsible? (more…)

Ten point green plan needs to be embraced by organisations

Ten point green plan needs to be embraced by organisations

by • Comment, Environment

The green plan and building designWe’ve been talking to our clients a lot over the last eighteen months, informing and educating them about when upcoming green legislation might come into force and what that will mean for the construction industry. So, it’s with interest that we saw the UK government unveil its ten point green plan in mid-November that reflected our predictions to date. The hope is that this route to a green industrial revolution will have a game-changing impact, similar to the positive effect on people and places the original industrial revolution had some 260 years earlier. (more…)

Philanthrocapitalism: a century-old concept for the modern age

Philanthrocapitalism: a century-old concept for the modern age

by • Comment, Wellbeing

philanthrocapitalismPhilanthrocapitalism is a term that’s only 15 years old. A modern concept for the modern age. Or is it? In the late 1800s, George Cadbury bought a plot of land five miles south of Birmingham to relocate his factory and expand his chocolate empire. But greater levels of chocolate production weren’t his only concern; he also built an entire village to accommodate the new factory’s workforce. The plan was for this village – called Bournville, which now shares its name with the brand’s famous dark chocolate – to “alleviate the evils of modern, more cramped living conditions”. Port Sunlight, built on the Wirral Peninsula by the Lever Brothers, whose manufacturing company is now part of Unilever, offers up a similar story. (more…)

Tech and finance firms opt to keep offices closed

Tech and finance firms opt to keep offices closed

by • Business, News, Working culture

officesExpenses app, ExpenseOnDemand, has published new data which claims to highlight how businesses in different sectors are planning office returns in 2021. The majority of businesses across many sectors have stated offices will reopen this year at some point. (more…)

Low paid workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic

Low paid workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic

by • News, Workplace

low paid workersNew analysis by the Institute for Employment Studies has found that low paid workers are more than twice as likely to have lost their jobs during the pandemic and are at far greater risk of being temporarily laid off or having their hours cut. The research, funded by Standard Life Foundation, concludes that in this current lockdown it is likely that around two thirds of low paid workers – or four million people – are either temporarily laid off or working fewer hours than normal. This would be double the rate of work disruption for staff who are not classified as low paid. (more…)

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