Search Results for: office

The loneliness of the long term flexible worker

The loneliness of the long term flexible worker

Flexible working arrangements are those whichallow employees to vary the amount, timing or location of their work and may include part-time working, mobile/home working, compressed hours or job-sharing – among others. Before the lockdown, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), more than half of all employees in the UK used at least one form of flexible working, while a study by Gallup in the US suggests as many as 43 percent of employees already worked flexibly. The practice has been found to have positive effects on job satisfaction, employee commitment, reducing work-family conflict – and for many is now an essential component of modern working life. More →

Cracking the issue of work after lockdown

Cracking the issue of work after lockdown

Take any issue in the modern era and you’ll find a noisy schism. The big-endians and little-endians yelling at each other about the right way to eat a boiled egg, right over the heads of the majority of people who wonder if they’d be better off just having some toast and a nice cup of tea. Not that the toast-eaters can say anything without being accused by both sides of the divide of belonging to the other. More →

Research claims two in five workers not offered flexible working

Research claims two in five workers not offered flexible working

flexible workingAccording to research conducted by conference call provider PowWowNow and Censuswide, 40 per cent of UK employees are still not offered flexible working as part of their company’s policies. More →

Companies fail to consider employee needs during digital transformation

Companies fail to consider employee needs during digital transformation

digital transformationLenovo has published a new study which claims that organisations are placing business and shareholder goals above employee needs during their digital transformation. The research, conducted among 1,000 IT managers across EMEA, suggests that just 6 percent of IT managers consider users as their top priority when making technology investments. More →

Toyota GB awarded Biodiversity Benchmark from the Wildlife Trust

Toyota GB awarded Biodiversity Benchmark from the Wildlife Trust

Years of hard work transforming the grounds of Toyota GB’s headquarters in Burgh Heath into a wildlife haven have paid off as the company has been awarded the prestigious Biodiversity Benchmark by the Wildlife Trust. The Biodiversity Benchmark is designed to complement the ISO 14001 environment management system and is the only standard that certifies management of company grounds and landscapes for wildlife.  Toyota went through a robust certification process over an 18 month period to put environment management and development processes in place and to prove that the grounds have been enhanced so that wildlife can thrive in a rich habitat. More →

Winners announced for 2020 KI Award from Royal College of Art and Imperial College

Winners announced for 2020 KI Award from Royal College of Art and Imperial College

The winners of the annual KI Award, now in its fifth year, were announced in the lead up to the upcoming digital graduation show. The awards and cash prizes are given to final year students selected from the RCA’s ‘Design Products’ and the RCA/Imperial College London’s ‘Innovation Design Engineering’ double masters course. The winning projects showed an outstanding approach to functionality, durability, sustainability and enhancement to user experience for our future working or learning experiences. A summary of each award winner is included below.  More →

Talkin` about the quarantine generation

Talkin` about the quarantine generation

The year is 2045. It’s well over twenty years since the Covid 19 pandemic created chaos and fear throughout the world. But just like the ‘baby boomer’ generation who were born, celebrated and cherished in the wake of World War II, so the ‘quarantinis’ are starting to make their way in the world of work. In contrast to baby boomers’ desire to throw off the societal shackles which paved the way for the swinging 60s, the quarantinis are much more reserved in their expectations, especially when their every move can be tracked and traced and their every conversation saved on surveillance software. More →

Work from home advocates beckon us to a living hell

Work from home advocates beckon us to a living hell

flexible workingLook, I work from home. The liberal in me says: if you want to and can work from home, then why not? Yes, few of Britain’s cramped homes – especially those occupied by young people – are well equipped for home working, which can be stressful. But, as I say, I see no problem in working from home if you choose to. It’s one thing to say people should be free to work from home (WFH). It’s quite another to endorse it as the New Normal, the way to go, and as a path to a low-pollution, low-emissions paradise on Earth, as many are now doing. More →

Research suggests men are more likely to struggle with lockdown isolation

Research suggests men are more likely to struggle with lockdown isolation

mental healthNew research claims that more than three quarters of men who live alone feel isolated while they’re working from home and two fifths of 18-30 year olds feel their mental health has deteriorated. This latest research from The Institute of Leadership & Management ‘Homeworking trials and triumphs during Covid-19: mental health and wellbeing’, explores the impact of working from home on mental health, suggesting  hat a significant number of men who live alone (79 per cent) are struggling with feelings of isolation during lockdown. More →

Carers consider giving up work due to lack of employer support

Carers consider giving up work due to lack of employer support

carersNew research suggests that almost half (44 percent) of working carers in England and Wales, equivalent to around 1.6 million people, are struggling to cope with the pressures of balancing their work and caring responsibilities – and that a quarter (24 percent) have considered giving up their job entirely. These are the findings in a newly published report, titled “Supporting working carers: How employers and employees can benefit”, from the CIPD and The University of Sheffield. More →

Investment in talent will drive market share gains as economy rebounds

Investment in talent will drive market share gains as economy rebounds

talentOrganisations that favour agile working and make strategic investments in human capital during the coronavirus crisis will be best positioned to gain market share and overtake competitors, according to a new Talent Trends report released by Randstad Sourceright. More →

The traditional commute to work may be a thing of the past

The traditional commute to work may be a thing of the past

A majority of corporate real estate professionals (58 percent) in a recent survey say that the traditional nine to five, Monday to Friday work pattern is a thing of the past. The survey was conducted by CoreNet Global, the professional association for corporate real estate professionals – those who have responsibility for managing the real estate, including workplace configuration and locations, at large corporations globally. The survey was conducted among “end-users” only from May 27 – June 16. More →