January 7, 2021
Search Results for: office
January 4, 2021
Supporting change during the pandemic with Simplicity Smart Lockers
by Kimberley Hutchinson • Company news, Furniture
The way in which we work has changed in a way no one would have ever predicted as a result of last year’s pandemic. Consequently, many businesses have chosen to adopt to an agile working practise. This coupled with the rapid evolution of the hybrid workplace has allowed more employees than ever the flexibility to work from home, many people however still crave that interaction with colleagues, and the ‘corridor conversations’ that cannot be replicated via Zoom and can only happen with workplace collaboration. (more…)
December 18, 2020
The shape of things to come for the world and the workplace
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design
Originally published in March, right at the start of all this. Makes me wonder how far we’ve come in nine months. In Dorian Lynskey’s The Ministry of Truth, a “biography” of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the author describes how Orwell’s book was the end point of an obsession with utopian (and ultimately dystopian) fiction that characterised the first half of the Twentieth Century, and reflected the competing political, social and economic ideologies of the era. (more…)
December 18, 2020
Working from home stresses have had the greatest impact on women
by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing
A review of research in organisational and workplace psychology conducted by an international team of academics claims that working from home has been more disruptive for women than men. The review paper, entitled COVID-19 and the Workplace: Implications, Issues, and Insights for Future Research and Action and originally published in American Psychologist, features urgent insight from UCL School of Management Professor, Sunny Lee into the sex- and gender-related implications of changes in work practices that have taken place over the course of 2020. (more…)
December 17, 2020
Organisations weigh up options to make workplace fit for the future
by Neil Franklin • News, Property
Avison Young, realestateworks and HLM Architects have launched a new report that assesses the impact of this year’s pandemic on workplace and corporate real estate strategies in the longer-term. Over 100 private and public sector companies were asked about their evolving approach to working culture, office design and portfolio strategies in the context of multiple forces of change, including greater resilience, the decarbonisation agenda, personalisation, remote working and the integration of the physical and virtual workspaces. (more…)
December 15, 2020
The majority of employees admit to boozing while working from home
by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives
To say that 2020 has been a tough year is an understatement, and it appears that there has been an increase in the amount of alcohol being consumed whilst working from home since the pandemic began, according to Health and Safety software company Protecting.co.uk. (more…)
December 12, 2020
Listening in on an enormous conversation about the workplace
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design
One of the best tricks Clive James ever pulled was finding acceptance as a public intellectual in the UK. It’s not easy in a country in which it is possible to be too clever by half or even too clever for your own good. Stephen Fry continues to pull it off as does Mary Beard, but it’s a hell of a thing to achieve. In the UK it seems to rely on straddling at least two worlds. (more…)
December 11, 2020
Firms should be aware of the legal implications of employee monitoring
by James Castro-Edwards • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace
Employee monitoring is an emotive topic. Businesses may wish to monitor their staff for a variety of reasons. For instance, they may wish to prevent the unauthorised disclosure of confidential or sensitive information, or detect attempts to steal valuable intellectual property. In the current conditions, dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses have opted to use automated means to monitor staff productivity. However, from an employee’s perspective, the use of monitoring software may be intrusive if not distressing. Further, if it has been implemented without regard to data protection law, it is potentially illegal. (more…)
December 10, 2020
Employers should explain their monitoring policies to workers
by Chioma Iwunze • Comment, Workplace
The number of companies monitoring their employees is growing. According to a Gartner survey, more than 22 percent of employees use employee movement data, while 17 percent of them are monitoring computer usage. With companies choosing to monitor employees, privacy laws are also catching up, and thus there is a need for explaining employee monitoring to prospective hires. Employee monitoring is defined as the use of monitoring devices and methods by companies to learn about their employees’ workplace behaviours and performance. (more…)
December 10, 2020
Remote working blocks path to success for mid-size businesses
by Jayne Smith • Business, Flexible working, News
Productivity, morale and the ability to serve customers are being hamstrung by technology issues at European mid-size businesses, accordingly to research commissioned by Ricoh Europe. The research explores the remote working experience of 632 European office workers during the Coronavirus pandemic, at firms with between 250 and 999 employees. It claims that these companies are failing to adapt to the challenges of remote working, setting them up poorly for future success. (more…)
December 10, 2020
Almost half of employees would like less work stress in 2021
by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives
Statistics released from payroll and HR company PayFit claim that almost nine in ten UK workers are unsatisfied with their jobs. With employees working longer hours, increased pressure and limited opportunities for pay increases in 2021, the research indicates that overall employee wellbeing remains an ongoing challenge for HR leaders – whilst wellbeing trends are evolving. (more…)





Organisations face a crisis of trust this year if they continue to make workplace decisions in the dark, according to employee experience platform, 













January 5, 2021
We shouldn’t become village idiots in our new ways of life
by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Comment, Flexible working, Technology