July 28, 2022

MPs call for Menopause Ambassador role to help women in the workplace

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Lack of support from employers for women with symptoms of the menopause is pushing ‘highly skilled and experienced’ women out of work, claims a new report from the cross-party House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee. The authors call on the Government to act, amending the Equality Act to introduce menopause as a protected characteristic, and to include a duty for employers to provide reasonable adjustments for menopausal employees. The MPs also urge the Government to remove dual prescription charges for oestrogen and progesterone as part of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) nationwide, replacing it with a single charge for all women.

(more…)

July 28, 2022

KI furniture helps Crunch Digital reimagine Swansea HQ for hybrid working

by Mark Eltringham • Company news

As part of their ‘return to the office’ following the COVID-19 pandemic, Crunch Digital, a digital media specialist that focuses on SEO, pay-per-click-social media, programmatic, technical, and creative services, wanted to create a new office space that promoted both safety and collaboration. The office design, carried out in partnership with Ministry of Furniture and KI furniture also needed to reflect the ethos and culture of the company and cater to a young and innovative workforce. (more…)

July 25, 2022

Have we arrived at a point of equilibrium in the great workplace conversation?

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Perhaps the greatest irony of the tedious home v office debate is that the absolutists on both sides rely on many of the same fallacies. They tend to build their arguments around a simplistic view of the office and remote work that has little basis in reality. Unsurprisingly, when they do get their way, reality often bites them in the arse. (more…)

July 20, 2022

Enduring problems holding back success of UK government property strategy

by Neil Franklin • News, Property, Public Sector

Longstanding problems such as poor data pose major risks to the successful delivery of the UK Government’s property strategy, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). Central government property, valued at £158 billion, is one of government’s largest assets. It includes offices, hospitals, academy schools, jobcentres, courts, prisons and museums. The Office of Government Property (OGP) sets the strategic direction for the management of government property. The Cabinet Office has categorised properties into 12 portfolios (such as health, defence and school portfolios), 10 of which are led by a single department or arm’s-length body. The Government Property Agency (GPA) sets and implements a property strategy for the government’s office and warehouse portfolios. (more…)

July 8, 2022

Four day week should be about people, not productivity

by Mick Jordan • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

You may well have seen the announcement that more than 3,300 workers at 70 UK companies, ranging from a chippy and a distillery to leading financial institutions, have started working a four day week, with no loss of pay, in what is described as ‘the world’s biggest trial of the new working pattern’. The pilot – which will run for six months – is being organised by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with the think tank, Autonomy, and researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College. (more…)

July 6, 2022

Hybrid working can help graduates succeed

by Lindsey Rowe • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

The pandemic has transformed how we think about and approach the workplace, with the majority of employees having alternated between remote and hybrid working over the last two years. While this experience has been almost universal, many have found this transition challenging – even for the established professionals used to adapting to change. But what does this mean for those about to enter the workplace for the first time? (more…)

June 29, 2022

Hard up workers look to second jobs, side hustles and help from current employers

by Jayne Smith • News, Workplace

Nine in ten UK employees have, or would be interested in a second job, as the COVID-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis sees hard up workers keen to increase incomes and turn hobbies into enterprises according to a poll in Benenden Health’s ‘Workforce of the Future’ report. It claims that almost one in three employees in the UK currently have a second occupation (29 percent), with half of these taking up their additional role during the pandemic. Meanwhile, another survey, from Culture Amp claims that six out of ten employees in the UK believe that their employers should help with the rising cost of living. (more…)

June 23, 2022

BCO Conference challenges the office sector to up its game

by Jo Sutherland • Features, Property

Regarded as one of the property sector’s leading events, the BCO Annual Conference saw key players from all parts of the office industry flock to Manchester – the vibrant, modern cosmopolitan powerhouse that is celebrated around the world for being the UK’s most competitive, economically productive, liveable and vibrant region. In her keynote, Joanne Roney, chief executive of Manchester City Council, said that the most demanding, challenging and important priority is climate change, closely followed by making a positive difference to the lives of the people who live and work in the city. (more…)

June 21, 2022

RICS review promises greater focus on public interest

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Lord Michael Bichard has published the Bichard RICS Review into the Institution’s Purpose, Governance and Strategy, which RICS Governing Council commissioned last December. The review was a key recommendation of Alison Levitt QC’s critical report into historic issues at RICS, which was published last September. RICS Governing Council said it ‘strongly endorses’ the report and recommendations, which were informed by a global stakeholder consultation process, and will now commence work on their practical implementation. Lord Bichard states in his report that the future success of the organisation “will require nothing less than a transformation of the Institution carried out at pace” and described the need for change as “urgent” and “unarguable”. (more…)

June 20, 2022

People working from home feel less sense of belonging to work culture

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Almost half of workers feel working from home has diminished their feeling of ‘belonging’ to an organisation, according to the Employee Job Satisfaction Report [registration] from recruitment firm Morgan Phillips. According to the poll, UK workers feel they are treated well by their employer (58 percent quite well and 27 percent very well), but half are still considering changing their jobs, with 17 percent looking for a change in 2022. (more…)

June 13, 2022

One in five people have started a ‘side hustle’ in the last two years

by Jayne Smith • News, Workplace

One in five (19 percent) adults in the UK have started a ‘side hustle’ since March 2020 and, almost one in six (16 percent) claim to earn upwards of £1,000 a month from their new venture, according to new research from Aviva. Just under two thirds (63 percent) of those who started a side hustle since March 2020, the equivalent of 6.49 million people, are still active in them today. 37 percent have returned to their day jobs being their main source of income now that lockdowns are over and normality has ensued. (more…)

June 9, 2022

How I learned to stop worrying and embrace uncertainty

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

One of the ways I have found to inoculate myself against the hyperbolic certitude of the world’s futurologists is to watch YouTube clips of an old TV show called Rab C Nesbitt and observe the automated captioning as it struggles to cope with Glaswegians. And sometimes gives it up as a bad job. Works with Limmy’s Show too. Try it for yourself at the bottom. Includes bad language. A meringue? (more…)