December 11, 2020

UKGBC sets out route to net zero buildings

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has announced the start of a new project to plot a route to net zero carbon for the UK’s built environment sector, by developing a Net Zero Whole Life Carbon Roadmap. Hot on the heels of the Government’s new target to cut emissions by 68 percent by 2030, against 1990 levels, this project will identify how the built environment supports that objective and set a science-based trajectory to achieving net zero for the whole sector by 2050. The roadmap will cover all building types and infrastructure, all built environment stakeholders and sub-sectors and address carbon across the whole building lifecycle. (more…)

December 10, 2020

Three quarters of US workers suffering from burnout

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

A December 2020 online study of 1,136 employed U.S. adults carried out by wellbeing provider Spring Health claims that more than three-quarters (76 percent) of U.S. employees are currently experiencing worker burnout. The coronavirus pandemic — along with major political upheavals and natural disasters ranging from wildfires to hurricanes — has led to skyrocketing rates of depression, anxiety, and stress for U.S. employees, setting the stage for another crisis: worker burnout. Among U.S. employees experiencing worker burnout, 57 percent say worries about COVID-19 have been a contributing factor to their experiencing burnout, while 33 percent say worries about political issues have contributed to the problem. (more…)

December 10, 2020

Tech industry employees three times more stressed working from home than others

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Wellbeing

Unify Square, the services provider for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Slack platforms, has released survey results around remote collaboration and communication among enterprises. The survey highlights key perspectives of enterprise employees on workplace collaboration and communication in the midst of the global pandemic. (more…)

December 10, 2020

UK tech workers prefer better work-life balance to a pay rise

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working culture

When it comes to job satisfaction, Denmark tops the list of the best places to work in digital in Europe – beating the UK, Germany and France – according to the 2020 Digital Talent Global Work Happiness Index. The Nordic country scored highly for work-life balance, family-friendly working models, purpose, personal safety and personal impact, which describes how much impact an individual feels they are making to their business. (more…)

December 8, 2020

IWFM announces new framework for delivering social value

by Jayne Smith • Business, Facilities management, News

The Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) has partnered with the Social Value Portal and National Social Value Taskforce to develop a new measurement framework for social value, designed specifically for the workplace and facilities management profession. (more…)

December 3, 2020

Hybrid working presents us with a once in a generation opportunity

by Michael Cockburn • Comment, Coworking, Flexible working, Technology

In the face of the revolutionary and long-lasting changes to workplaces across the world resulting from the pandemic, some commentators have suggested that the wide-spread necessity of adopting remote working practices may have made the office obsolete. However, such a dramatic upheaval to the very foundation of the workplace and working dynamic won’t come without a cost, and new data suggests that perhaps the office isn’t the dinosaur many assumed, but still a central pillar to effective businesses as part of a hybrid working strategy. (more…)

November 27, 2020

UKGBC publishes guidance to catalyse the delivery of net zero carbon buildings

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News, Property

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has published new guidance, Unlocking the Delivery of Net Zero Carbon Buildings, which examines how current barriers to the delivery of net zero carbon buildings can be overcome. (more…)

November 27, 2020

BBP launch new energy rating scheme for UK offices

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News

A new scheme for rating the operational energy efficiency of UK offices, NABERS UK, has been launched. NABERS UK will play a vital role in bridging the performance gap between the design and in- use energy performance of offices in the UK and create much needed transparency for the market. (more…)

November 26, 2020

WorldGBC and global leaders call for historic Built Environment Day at COP26

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News

The World Green Building Council joins nine international organisations to sign a letter to COP26 President, Alok Sharma, requesting a Built Environment Day at the climate summit in November 2021. The day at COP26 would be dedicated to the action pathways to accelerate the decarbonisation of the built environment, and it will demonstrate how business and governments are catalysing solutions to the climate crisis. (more…)

November 24, 2020

Work really has become much harder during the pandemic

by Eva Selenko • Features, Flexible working, Wellbeing

The pandemic has seriously altered how we work. According to statistics published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in September 2020, US$35 trillion (£26 trillion) has been lost globally in labour income. There has also been an estimated loss of 17 percent of working hours worldwide since 2019, with young people and women being hit hardest. And many of those still in jobs are working under very different conditions. (more…)

November 18, 2020

Generation BETA is the latest demographic grouping you need to acknowledge, claims report

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Working culture

GlobalWebIndex (GWI), together with LinkedIn’s B2B Institute, has launched “Work in BETA: The Rising B2B Decision Maker”. The new report sets out to examine the ‘changing behaviours and attitudes of “the BETAs” – the first cohort of digital natives (21 to 40 year-olds) to assume positions of seniority in business, at a time of dislocation’. (more…)

November 17, 2020

Top priority for HR leaders in 2021: building critical skills

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Working culture

Gartner, Inc.’s 2021 HR Priorities Survey of more than 750 HR leaders claims that 68 percent of respondents cited building critical skills and competencies as their number one priority in 2021. The survey, conducted from June through August 2020, claims the other top HR priorities for 2021 are: organisational design and change management (46 percent), current and future leadership bench (44 percent), the future of work (32 percent) and employee experience (28 percent). (more…)