Search Results for: mental health

Green Building Council Awards recognise European environmental leadership

by • Environment, News, Property, Public Sector

Awards open for European Green leadership initiatives

The UK Green Building Council is accepting nominations for the first-ever European Regional Leadership Awards, part of the World Green Building Council Leadership Awards 2013, which recognise international best practice in city-level government policy for green building initiatives. The regional awards are for best practice in green building initiatives, projects, and policies that are supporting healthier and more sustainable communities within the European Region. “The awards promote leadership and inspire governments to replicate best practices in green building policy,” said the WorldGBC’s Chief Executive Officer, Jane Henley. “Buildings represent an unrivalled opportunity to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, and cities play an increasingly critical role in seizing this opportunity.”

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Daylight exposure has ‘remarkable’ effect on office workers’ health

by • Architecture, Facilities management, Lighting, News, Workplace, Workplace design

The architectural design of office environments should take into consideration how natural daylight exposure contributes to employee wellness say the authors of a new study which observes a strong relationship between workplace daylight exposure and office workers’ health. Compared to workers in offices without windows, those with windows in the workplace received 173 per cent more white light exposure during work hours and slept an average of 46 minutes more per night. Workers without windows reported poorer scores than their counterparts on quality of life measures related to physical problems and vitality, as well as poorer outcomes on measures of overall sleep quality, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction. (more…)

Employers missing employee health and productivity link

by • Knowledge, News, Workplace

Employers missing health & productivity link

Only a minority of employers understand the productivity benefits of their health and wellbeing initiatives, new research reveals. Towers Watson’s latest Health, Wellbeing and Productivity survey found that 66 per cent of employers thought the link between health and employee performance was a relatively limited part of their health and wellbeing programme, with the main drivers being the desire to be seen as a responsible employer and the need to focus on more preventative health measures to manage rising healthcare and disability costs. (more…)

American Institute of Architects opens design and health project

by • Architecture, News, Workplace design

Via Verde

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is working with the Clinton Global Initiative and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Advanced Urbanism (CAU) to examine the relationships between design, urbanism, and public health. The collaboration is part of the AIA’s Decade of Design Commitment to Action, which aims to make positive changes through design in the global urban environment. Alexander d’Hooghe, director of the MIT CAU explained: “We are investigating the scale of urban design, architecture, as well as planning, in relation to health today, whether related to obesity, or to climate change.” (more…)

Lack of innovation continues to hamper small business and startups

Lack of innovation continues to hamper small business and startups

by • Business, News

Small business innovation in the UK has fallen for the fourth consecutive year despite record levels of entrepreneurial ambition,Small business innovation in the UK has fallen for the fourth consecutive year despite record levels of entrepreneurial ambition, according to the latest State of Small Business Britain report from the Enterprise Research Centre. The annual study draws together findings from a range of business surveys and shows that 36 percent of working age adults are now starting, running or planning to launch a business. This is the highest level recorded since the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor began tracking activity in 1999. Early stage entrepreneurial activity has doubled since the early 2000s and has stabilised at around 12 percent. (more…)

Wellbeing overtakes financial security as top workforce concern, study claims

Wellbeing overtakes financial security as top workforce concern, study claims

by • News, Wellbeing

Wellbeing has overtaken financial security as the primary concern for UK employees, according to new research from MercerWellbeing has overtaken financial security as the primary concern for UK employees, according to new research from Mercer, reflecting a shift in workforce priorities after several years of economic and social disruption. The findings come from Mercer’s Inside Employees’ Minds: Building Confidence in a Changed World 2025 to 2026 report, based on responses from more than 4,000 UK workers. While financial pressures remain widespread, concerns around physical, mental and emotional health now dominate. The study found that 32 percent of employees report poor mental health, with higher prevalence among younger workers. (more…)

AI isn’t turning robots into humans, it’s turning humans into robots.

AI isn’t turning robots into humans, it’s turning humans into robots.

by • AI, Comment, Wellbeing

in amongst all the noise, I’m paying less attention to how AI is seemingly becoming more human, and more attention to how we are using AI to become robot-like.In all the conversations, debates and shouting matches about AI that continue to dominate the internet, there is much talk about the insidious danger of anthropomorphising AI. There is something chilling about the deliberate stumbles, inflections and hesitations that are put into AI communications, to try and convince people that they are talking to a sentient being. Explanations of AI deliberately use language such as ‘the model understands’ to make us believe that AI is developing a human level of learning, as that is more appealing than saying ‘the algorithm predictions are expanding’ (and neatly glosses over the increasing error rates and hallucinations). However, in amongst all the noise, I’m paying less attention to how AI is seemingly becoming more human, and more attention to how we are using AI to become robot-like. (more…)

Sleepless nights are taking a toll on UK workers

Sleepless nights are taking a toll on UK workers

by • News, Wellbeing

Widespread sleepless nights are undermining workplace performance across the UK according to findings of a survey released by the Mental Health FoundationWidespread sleepless nights are undermining workplace performance across the UK according to findings of a survey released by the Mental Health Foundation. The poll of 2000 UK adults aged 18+ found that the average person only gets three nights of good quality sleep per week.  This lack of meaningful rest has resulted in one in three UK workers (33 percent) admitting that poor sleep makes it harder to concentrate at work while more than one in five (22 percent) shared that tiredness has led them to make more mistakes than usual. One in eight respondents (13 percent) reported having fallen asleep at work. (more…)

Embedding AI into daily tasks can heighten stress and confuse people about their role

Embedding AI into daily tasks can heighten stress and confuse people about their role

by • AI, News

While AI is taking on work across the economy, it may also create new demands on the human workforce that employers must stay ahead of and respond to.While artificial intelligence is taking on work across the economy, it may also create new demands on the human workforce that employers must stay ahead of and respond to. Researchers from Microsoft and Imperial College London highlight in the Society of Occupational Medicine’s (SOM) journal Occupational Medicine  that AI tools will bring a multitude of benefits to the workplace. The technology is likely to make accessing workplace health support much easier for employees and managers, for example by automating and simplifying booking processes and appointments. (more…)

How leadership can drive positive changes in workplaces

How leadership can drive positive changes in workplaces

by • Company news, Workplace

Leadership has the power to reconnect people to their workplaces, rebuild trust, and create environments where employees feel motivated to contribute.The contemporary American professional landscape is at a turning point. While people are sticking with their employers, they feel more disconnected than ever. Gallup calls this the ‘Great Detachment’. (more…)

How business leaders can support disabled people in the workplace

How business leaders can support disabled people in the workplace

by • Company news

For differently abled people to perform optimally, business leaders must actively help them feel comfortable in the workplace. This requires an extensive support system.Disabilities are more common than we may realize, affecting the everyday lives of real people in heartbreaking ways. The CDC observes that over 28 percent of people in the US suffer from one or more physical disabilities. These could be related to cognition or mobility, vision, or hearing. Sometimes, a tragic accident may leave you in this condition. Or a genetic disorder, such as Tay-Sachs disease or cystic fibrosis, may flare up.  Whatever the cause, the result is generally the same. Prolonged physical and mental stress that complicates your personal and professional life in the workplace. (more…)

Flexible working continues to be the enduring theme of workplace conversations

Flexible working continues to be the enduring theme of workplace conversations

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Economic uncertainty and rapid technological change are reshaping expectations for both employers and employees, with flexible working continuing to be underlying themeEconomic uncertainty and rapid technological change are reshaping expectations for both employers and employees, with flexible working continuing to be underlying theme of most workplace conversations. According to the 2025 Global Workplace Report from WorkL based on feedback from more than half a million employees across over one hundred countries, there are also widening divides between generations, differing attitudes towards career ambition and a continued rise in anxiety linked to automation. (more…)

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