Search Results for: media

EU building data project to drive full decarbonisation in three European countries

EU building data project to drive full decarbonisation in three European countries

Czechia, Ireland and Spain will be the first countries to participate in a new initiative which aims to boost the availability of quality building climate data, a critical step towards full decarbonisation of the heavily emitting construction sectorCzechia, Ireland and Spain will be the first countries to participate in a new initiative which aims to boost the availability of quality building climate data, a critical step towards full decarbonisation of the heavily emitting construction sector, responsible for almost 40 percent of global carbon emissions. The INDICATE initiative will bring together governments, industry and academia to tackle one of the most common barriers to enacting policies which will ensure climate neutral construction: a lack of reliable and comprehensive emissions data for buildings. (more…)

Every workplace innovation contains the seeds of its opposite

Every workplace innovation contains the seeds of its opposite

workplace innovationThe announcement by Apple that it wanted its employees to work in an office for three days a week sparked the usual, tedious pile-on about how many days people should spend in a physical workplace each week. This included the columnist at Grazia who joins the tens of millions of people around the world who not only know where Apple is going wrong, but also how to run every other organisation in the world and what’s best for everybody who works for them. (more…)

The five ages of the office and the man who shaped the way we talk about them

The five ages of the office and the man who shaped the way we talk about them

Pioneering SAS office complex in StockholmThe office has passed through five ages. The ‘coffee houses’ of the 17th century, yielded to the ‘clerical factories’ of the 19th as machines revolutionised work. After the Second World War, the ‘corporate offices’ of global corporations and William Whyte’s Organization Man dominated the scene. Following the launch of IBM’s PC in the early-1980s, we saw the rise of ‘digital offices’ in the 1990s, complete with internet, email and social media. And for the past few years we have been moving inexorably towards the latest age: ‘network offices’. Each age was shorter than its predecessor: both the digital and network ages began less than a career span ago. (more…)

American employees spend 200 hours a year watching adult sites on their work computer

American employees spend 200 hours a year watching adult sites on their work computer

American employees are wasting hundreds of contracted work hours a year using their work equipment for personal tasks and activities, according to a new survey from ExpressVPN. The survey, conducted by the consumer privacy and security company, found that some people are spending only 33 percent of annual contracted hours on work tasks. With a steep rise in hybrid and home working in recent years, many companies have provided employees with work devices to use in the comfort of their own homes, including work laptops, desktops, phones, and microphones. (more…)

Online personal brands are the key to job success say ‘Gen Z’

Online personal brands are the key to job success say ‘Gen Z’

New research claims to reveal how people belonging to Gen Z perceive online ‘personal brands’ as a crucial tool to gain more advantage in job marketsNew research claims to reveal how people who belong to ‘Generation Z’ perceive online ‘personal brands’ as a crucial tool to gain more advantage in job markets. The study, led by the University of East Anglia in collaboration with the University of Greenwich, claims to demonstrate the importance of authentically building online personal branding strategies and tactics to bridge the gap between Gen Z ‘s desired and perceived images on social media when job seeking. (more…)

Progress depends on heterodox thought and difficult questions

Progress depends on heterodox thought and difficult questions

Between the 9th and 13th Centuries, the world’s intellectual centre and the source of much of its progress, discovery and achievement was Baghdad. This was the Muslim Golden Age and at its core was the House of Wisdom, established by the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. At one point, this library housed the largest collection of books on Earth and drew the greatest minds in the world to share ideas, innovate and explore ancient sources of science and wisdom from Greek and Persian texts. Muslim, Jewish, Christian and atheist scholars worked together to advance human understanding until a slow decline culminated with a later Caliph declaring that its diversity of thought should bow to a literal interpretation of the Quran and Hadith.

(more…)

More than one in three Americans fear artificial intelligence could take their jobs

More than one in three Americans fear artificial intelligence could take their jobs

A survey of 3,000 employees across the United States has shed light on the extent to which workers are concerned about the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on their job securityA survey of 3,000 employees across the United States has shed light on the extent to which workers are concerned about the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on their job security. The research, carried out by FreelanceWritingJobs.com, claims that just over 1 in 3 (35 percent) Americans are worried about the possibility of AI making their professions redundant. (more…)

Just call it ‘work’; Kate Lister in conversation with the Workplace Geeks

Just call it ‘work’; Kate Lister in conversation with the Workplace Geeks

In the latest episode of the Workplace Geeks podcast, one of the world’s leading experts on work and workplace, Kate Lister, focuses on a recent study in collaboration with Owl Labs, ‘State of Remote Work 2022’. The report, in its 6th year, provides a platform for a much broader conversation about hybrid and remote working (spoiler alert: terms which Kate hates by the way), Kate’s invitation to speak during the pandemic to United States Congress about home-working, and GWA’s long standing and freely available ROI and savings calculators. James returns following his blacksmithing course in the Peak District to a new discussion format – no more Pinder Ponder, get ready for the reflection section.

(more…)

The six skills managers will need for the future of work

The six skills managers will need for the future of work

When it comes to the future of work, we need new guidelines for building change-ready and vulnerable leadership.Conversations around how work and leadership will change in the coming years have inevitably been accelerated by the pandemic. Companies all over the world have been urged to seek new digital tools, solutions and methods for communicating, making decisions, and activating projects remotely. The companies that emerged most successfully from the Covid era were those that, despite all the uncertainty at the time, decided to adapt and view the pandemic as an opportunity for change rather than an obstacle. When it comes to the future of work, we need new guidelines for building change-ready and vulnerable leadership. (more…)

Artificial intelligence could mean we all do more work, not less

Artificial intelligence could mean we all do more work, not less

There’s a common perception that artificial intelligence (AI) will help streamline our work but is that really true?There’s a common perception that artificial intelligence will help streamline our work. There are even fears that it could wipe out the need for some jobs altogether. But in a study of science laboratories I carried out with three colleagues at the University of Manchester, the introduction of automated processes that aim to simplify work — and free people’s time — can also make that work more complex, generating new tasks that many workers might perceive as mundane. (more…)

Best of NeoCon 2023 awards submissions are now open 

Best of NeoCon 2023 awards submissions are now open 

The organisers of NeoCon have announced that the submissions portal for the 2023 edition of the Best of NeoCon competition is now open. A NeoCon tradition since 1990, the competition garners hundreds of product entries each year as exhibitors vie for one of the Best of NeoCon awards. Now in its 33rd year, the program will recognise the best new products in 56 categories spanning a range of verticals including workplace, healthcare, hospitality,  and education sectors. New for 2023, entries will be considered for a Business Impact Award, in addition to honours for Gold, Silver, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Best of Competition. (more…)

The rise of the pods shows how the workplace pendulum swings

The rise of the pods shows how the workplace pendulum swings

Workplace designers removed the walls. And the furniture industry is selling them back to us; now portable and demountable.Long before the office died (I read its obituary in several publications) there were hotly contested debates about open plan offices. That is of course before those debates were eclipsed by more current workplace rantings (ask the editor). Skimming through the open-plan office timeline, Herman Miller launched action office, L-shaped desks with screens became shared benches, and decades later tech brands rolled out efficient open-plan workspaces around the globe, with Facebook creating the biggest open-plan office of all time with 2,800 employees. Gulp. Open plan officer workers and workplace professionals moaned about acoustics, stress, and more recently, germs in large open workspaces. (more…)