January 23, 2020
Companies that align talent with business strategy outperform others by 16 percent, retain 30 percent more top performers, and see 34 percent higher employee performance according to The State of Talent Optimization Report (registration) from The Predictive Index. (more…)
January 21, 2020
Younger decision makers are increasingly relying on technology such as emails, video conferencing and WhatsApp in negotiations with suppliers, rather than speaking to them face-to-face, new research from Barclaycard Payments has claimed. Despite supplier negotiation being regarded as an ‘art’ by seven in 10, many said it will increasingly be conducted digitally over the next five years (68 percent). (more…)
January 20, 2020
Over the past decade, we’ve witnessed a radical change in the makeup of workforces in the UK and globally. The rise of flexible workforces continues unabated, to the point where contingent workers are a significant and vital part of the employment fabric. Demonstrating this point, recent research by the City & Guilds Group found that 84 percent of UK employers use contingent workers, and 35 percent anticipate they will rely on them more in the next 3-5 years. (more…)
January 17, 2020
Cass Business School and Slack have published new research into the nature future of teamwork which identifies the relationships between team alignment and execution, drivers for competitive advantage, and the role of new workplace technologies. It suggests that teams are the fundamental building blocks of modern organisations but their role in delivering better outcomes for an organisation is still undervalued. (more…)
January 16, 2020
Most chief people officers (CPOs) in the US realise they need new skills to meet the demand of the 21st century role, but few are prepared, citing a lack of development and investment from the C-suite, meaning they feel unprepared for the future of work. This is according to a new study by HR People + Strategy (SHRM’s Executive Network of business and thought leaders in human resources) and with Willis Towers Watson, a global advisory, broking and solutions company. The study, based on direct input from more than 500 executives, examined the key changes shaping the CPO role and identifies a pathway for developing and accelerating this next generation of HR leaders. (more…)
January 15, 2020
Employees value physical office design features and amenities that offer them a greater deal of comfort and functionality in the workplace. They especially favour outdoor views, natural light and on-site food services, according to a new report from CBRE based on a survey of 1,600 North American office users. (more…)
January 14, 2020
It’s been six years since Workplace Insight first appeared as a blog. I’d been in the office design and management sector for twenty years already, but I created Insight to explore both a new medium and a new conversation about work and workplaces. Since that time we have published over 6,000 stories with contributions from over 400 people. And – get this – we have been read by over 2.5 million people both in the UK and around the world. Clearly, we have been on to something, chronicling the development of what is essentially a new discipline. (more…)
January 13, 2020
You’ll only get one prediction from me this year and that’s about how all of the other workplace predictions will be cut and paste jobs from the past three decades and more. If you want to take a cynical approach to the whole thing, you’ll find one from your humble servant here. Apart from that, if you only read one set of actual predictions for 2020 or even the Twenties (that’ll take some getting used to), then make it this from an author also jaded and burdened by too many glib pronouncements about work and workplaces in general and the annual parade of predictable predictions in particular. (more…)
January 8, 2020
Over a third of UK employees (39 percent) at small-to-medium sized businesses are unhappy with their jobs and 36 percent believe their employer does too little to retain them, according to new research from People First. Exploring the attitudes of 250 bosses and 250 employees across the UK, the research claims to identify a major difference in outlook as more than eight-in-ten (86 percent) SMB bosses believe they have a happy workforce. (more…)
January 7, 2020
Imagine a world with no freelancers, holiday cover workers, or people to help fill the hiring gaps on projects. With IR35 extending into the private sector, this could be a reality; and we should be worried that a skilled and flexible workforce of freelancers could soon be extinct. Instead of dealing with the headache of the new regulations, 20 percent of UK businesses said they plan to axe contract workers. Freelancers themselves might be worried about how the new iteration of IR35, due to come into force in April next year, will affect their ability to work, and hastily take on permanent positions. (more…)
January 3, 2020
Flexible working has become an important part of the modern UK economy, with over half of employees taking up a flexible working arrangement. However, Nuffield Health’s latest whitepaper The effects of remote working on stress, wellbeing and productivity has found while remote working is associated with higher workplace wellbeing, it can also present many business challenges including the risk of burnout for an increasingly diverse workforce. (more…)
January 22, 2020
We might spot patterns in office design, but a global picture is beyond us
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design