June 7, 2019
Many managers still rely on gut feelings and inadequate or flawed data to make important but potentially poor decisions about real estate and flexible working. That is the main conclusion of a new piece of research by flexible workplace specialist Abintra. Published in a new report, the study highlights how corporations are struggling to manage office space efficiently as the trend towards agile and flexible working gathers momentum.
June 6, 2019
Noisy, distracting, toxic and disastrous. These are just a few words that have been used to describe open plan office layouts. Though the open office layout model was originally conceived to promote collaboration, innovation and stronger workplace relationship, if recent press is to be believed, it’s had the opposite effect at many companies. (more…)
June 4, 2019
Employees who feel they are a good fit for their role and the culture of their company are 36 percent more productive, claims a new report from ThriveMap (registration). The paper claims to reveal what a difference feeling like a natural fit for a job and organisational culture makes to employees. The survey of 1,000 people used in the report claims that employees who felt they fit their role and the culture of their employer rated their productivity at 7.2 out of 10. This compares to just 5.3 out of 10 for those employees who felt they were a poor fit for both these factors.
May 31, 2019
One of the most commonly used and longstanding recruitment practices should be reconsidered according to new research from academics at Florida State University. Screening job applicants based on their prior work experience is often a mistake for employers because there appears to be little or no correlation between previous experience and future performance, according to a paper from Chad Van Iddekinge, FSU’s Bank of America Professor of Management and an expert on human resources management. (more…)
May 29, 2019
Although London still ranks as the most attractive city in the world for people working in the global tech industry, three out of four UK tech workers (75 percent) are willing to leave for the UK for better opportunities elsewhere. Digital experts are among the most in-demand workers but due to their talent and transferable nature of tech skills, they are also among those most prepared to relocate, compared to only 61 percent of non-tech workers who would be willing to make the move overseas. (more…)
May 28, 2019
Each day you can generally find somebody or other sharing their thoughts on ‘the office of the future’ or ‘the death of the office’. My view is that you should steer clear of taking most of this sort of stuff head-on, on the basis that hardcore deskheads have heard most of it before and already concluded that there are more important things to worry about in a fit-out than what a pool table and a second hand armchair tells us about workplace design.
May 27, 2019
According to a survey of employees, most people are unhappy and dissatisfied in our jobs and almost half struggle to get out of bed in the morning to go to work. The survey by Personal Group, a provider of human resources services, claims that there has been a 20 percent drop in workplace happiness over the past three years. Today, only 41 percent of the workforce are happy most of the time at work, down from 43 percent in 2018 and 51 percent in 2017. (more…)
May 21, 2019
A confidential survey of 850 members of Unite, the UK and Ireland’s largest union, claims that there is an epidemic of stress related illness and massive mental health issues among people employed by charities and non-governmental organisations. The survey found that 80 percent of respondents said that they had experienced workplace stress in the previous 12 months, while 42 percent of respondents said their job was not good for their mental health.
May 20, 2019
We may live in a knowledge economy in a world, where the most highly-prized people as far as employers are concerned are knowledge workers, but the thing that sets us apart from the machines is not knowledge at all, but creativity. Acquiring managing and sharing knowledge is essential, but it’s what we do with it that really matters. So it’s no surprise that creativity has become the de facto Holy Grail for many modern businesses.
May 17, 2019
Paid leave for new parents is a financial and operational challenge for 90 percent of UK SMEs, according to the findings of new research into the challenges faced by working women and their employers. The first ever Women in Business survey also claims that offering flexible working and covering the cost and resource of maternity and paternity leave is an even bigger concern for SMEs, with 96 percent of board level executives saying it’s a significant challenge for their business. (more…)
May 17, 2019
New research reveals how frequently being the target of workplace bullying not only leads to health-related problems but can also cause victims to behave badly themselves. (more…)
June 7, 2019
On target for a toxic workplace culture
by Nick Pye • Comment, Workplace
(more…)