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Unions and employers call for greater uptake of flexible working

by • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

Flexible WorkingThe release of two new sets of employment data has prompted the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to issue separate rallying calls for the greater uptake of flexible working. Responding to a YouGov survey, which found that over two-fifths (42 percent) of UK workers would not feel comfortable asking their employer for more flexible working practices, the CBI called on firms to encourage and respond positively to such requests in both their own interests and those of employees. Meanwhile, the TUC used the publication of new figures from the Office for National Statistics, which showed that under-employment remains at pre-recession levels and there remains a shortfall in the number of full-time job opportunities, to suggest that part of the solution to both problems lies in the promotion of flexible working rights.

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UK business centres market continues to flourish, claims BCA and IPD report

by • Flexible working, News, Property

Regus business centresA new report has revealed just how important the growing business centres market is to the UK economy. According to the report from the Business Centre Association and Investment Property Databank the market is now comparable to the City of London both in terms of the number of people employed and the amount of office space it occupies. The report also outlines both the market’s robust health during the recent economic downturn and ongoing growth in response to increasing customer demand and the changing market for office space. The sector now boasts that it provides a home to some 80,000 businesses employing more than 400,000 people who occupy around 70 million sq. ft. of space including landmark developments such as the Regus No 1 Poultry centre in the City of London (above) and generate around £2 billion of income for the economy. The report, produced in conjunction with Snapdragon Consulting, found that the serviced office sector in the UK now represents around one third of the global market.

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New report offers occasionally surprising vision of the future of work

by • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

Future of WorkA new report into the future of work from Cisco claims –unsurprisingly – that employers are shifting their workplace policies to accommodate new demands from employees for more flexible working styles, regardless of their demographic cluster. The 2014 Cisco Connected World Technology Report also also claims that the majority of both Generation X and Y professionals already believe that smartphones and wearable devices will be the workforce’s most important communication devices by 2020 – while the laptop will maintain its place as the workplace device of choice. These devices and their attendant software and apps will drive the uptake of flexible working although sixty percent of respondents to the survey still prefer to take notes using a pen and paper. Two of the most intriguing findings of the report are that while just over half of Gen Y professionals think they are more efficient than older workers (roughly in line with the perceptions of older workers themselves) this is way out of step with the impression HR professionals, and the majority of people still believe that the future of work still lies in the office, at least some of the time.

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Worktech 14 London focuses on wellbeing, wherever we choose to work

by • Comment, Events, Facilities management, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Worktech 14 focuses on workplace wellbeing, where ever we choose to work

The variety of ways in which technology can help us thrive at work was one of the key themes of the first day of Worktech 14, which also provided yet more evidence that the workplace is no longer based in any one place. There were some interesting ruminations on the changing values of the workplace, which included the challenges of managing mobile working and its wider effects on our wellbeing; a topic that merited a whole series of sessions, including, how office design can aide brain function; analysing the psychological effects of the ‘always on’ culture and the role of the employer in combating the rise in western obesity. Meeting room no-shows run at around 35% for most companies and in an illuminating co-presentation on estates utilisation with Condeco, Bruce Everest of Vodafone described how the mobile giant has transformed its offices into collaborative space. There were also some thought provoking sessions that peered into the future, including  the statement by a speaker from none other than Intel that ‘technology alone is not our salvation’ and a fascinating glimpse into the workplace of 2040  provided by Marie Puybaraud of Johnson Controls. (more…)

The leap in workplace ill health is down to mobile devices and flexible working

by • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news, Technology, Workplace design

flexible workingAccording to latest HSE statistics, the UK has seen a huge jump in the number of cases of workplace musculoskeletal disorders over the last two years. The data makes for depressing reading and includes a 20 percent hike in the number of cases to more than half a million, 8.3 million lost working days and a sharp increase in the proportion of work-related illness associated with the condition. Of the 535,000 new illnesses reported in the UK in 2013/14, over a third were musculoskeletal disorders; 184,000 cases. All of which begs the question what exactly is going on to cause this leap. Anecdotally we are aware of a number of factors that might indicate the smoking gun. The first is that clients are talking to us more and more about upper limb disorders rather than those related to the lower back. Pains and illnesses in the lower back are commonly (but not always) associated with poor posture while working at a desktop PC, injuries and aches to the wrists, arms, neck and shoulders are more commonly seen in people with handheld devices especially smartphones and tablets.

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UK workers feeling more optimistic on state of global economy than the PM

by • News, Workplace

UK workers feeling more optimistic on state of global economy than the PMDavid Cameron has begun the week with dire warnings on the fragility of the global economy, but UK workers are (or were) feeling more optimistic. According to an annual report, there’s been a significant uplift in optimism, stability and dynamism, compared to the same time last year. The Workforce View 2014/15 by ADP, which measures the views and attitudes of more than 2,500 UK workers, suggests that the positive economic outlook reported so far in 2014/15 has filtered down to employees. The study shows that more than three quarters of workers (77%) now feel optimistic about their next 10 years at work, up from 64 per cent in 2013 and just 59 per cent in 2012. Over a quarter (26%) of respondents went further, saying they are ‘very optimistic’ about the years ahead – double the figure reported just one year ago (13%). Workers say they are more confident about job security (36 per cent), feel that career opportunities are growing again (35%) and sense the economy is improving, thereby benefiting their careers (32%). (more…)

Italian government considers law to oblige all firms to offer free public WiFi

by • Cities, Flexible working, Technology

WiFiThe Italian government is considering taking a drastic step to increase the number of publicly accessible WiFi  hotspots across the country. As it seeks to close the broadband deficit from which it suffers compared to other European countries, a new bill has been proposed that would make it compulsory for almost every business to provide a hotspot. Those supporting the new law see it as a way of dragging the country up to some sort of par with other EU nations. At the moment Italy has just 50,000 hotpots according to WiFi network provider iPass, compared to 13 million in France and nearly 10 million in the UK. The new law has cross party backing and would oblige all businesses occupying at least 100 square metres and employing more than two people to not only create a WiFi connection but to allow the public to access it for free without a username or password. The new law will not only cover offices, bars and restaurants but also taxis and trains. While concerns have been raised about the proposed law’s necessity and enforcement the Italian parliament will debate it in earnest in the New Year.

Staff would forgo a higher salary to feel more valued by their employers

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Staff would forgo a higher salary to feel more valued by their employersEmployees would give up a higher salary if it meant they could work for an employer that regularly thanks its employees for their efforts. Nearly three quarters workers stated that employee benefits were more attractive than a pay rise, with 71 per cent preferring to work for an employer that offered an effective benefits and rewards package, than take a job with a higher salary. The research conducted by One4all rewards, found that improved benefits can increase an employee’s loyalty to the company, with 68 per cent of those surveyed stating that being regularly thanked for their efforts would be rewarded with loyalty to their employer, and 34 per cent claiming they would be very unlikely to leave a position if they were shown regular appreciation and praise. In addition, a work place that failed to offer or show appreciation for staff members would fail to attract new employees – as 17 per cent stated they would turn down a job offer if no employee benefits were in place.

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Workplace Week focuses on the office and individual productivity in all its forms

by • Events, Facilities management, Flexible working, Workplace, Workplace design

1KP_4971The holy grail of improving people’s productivity was the focus of this year’s Workplace Week, which took place last week from 3-7th November and raised more than £12,500 for Children in Need. The annual event organised by AWA and designed as a celebration of workplace innovation, included visits to 11 workplaces showcasing the latest techniques to get people performing at their very best, a day-long convention and a series of Fringe events. Andrew Mawson, who heads up AWA, opened the convention by setting the discussion in context. “We have maximised asset productivity by getting more people into buildings, and therefore working a building harder. But we need to focus on human productivity. If each organisation could make each person just 5 per cent more productive, that would have a major impact both on that organisation and the wider economy. In the knowledge economy we need to get the very best performance out of each and every brain on the payroll and to create the conditions that consciously support that.

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Interruptions and a lack of engagement cost UK firms £15 bn each year

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

engagementUK businesses are suffering massive losses in company performance due to ‘disengaged’ employees who complain of working conditions that result in constant distraction and disruption and a lack of privacy, according to a new report published by office furniture maker Steelcase. Research by the Centre for Mental Health claims that presenteeism (at work physically but unproductive mentally) costs UK businesses £15bn per year and that includes the cost of disengaged employees. A new IPSOS survey commissioned by Steelcase, claims to highlights this and related issues. The survey of 10,500 employees working in open plan offices across 14 different countries and found that only 11 percent of workers are engaged and inspired at work, 63 percent lack engagement and are unmotivated and 37 percent describe their workplace as ‘stressful’. (more…)

More than three-quarters of workers are reluctant to switch employer, finds CIPD

by • News, Workplace

Little appetite among workers to switch employer finds CIPD There is little appetite among workers to switch employer, despite the growth in employment prospects in the UK. This is according to the CIPD quarterly Labour Market Outlook report which suggests that employment will again grow strongly in the final quarter of 2014 but wage growth is likely to remain subdued. The latest report shows that near-term employment expectations have risen to a seven year high, which can be partially attributed to fewer employers looking to make redundancies, as well as an expected continuation of the trend for many employers to be hiring new staff. The proportion of employers reporting hard-to-fill vacancies is broadly unchanged (44%) and two fifths of these are reported as ‘skill shortage’ vacancies. With over three-quarters (77%) of employees saying that they aren’t currently looking to change employers, there is a resultant reduction in churn amongst the existing workforce. This, combined with a growing number of EU immigrants and older people seeking work and an ongoing skills shortage, goes some way to explaining weak pay growth. (more…)

Stockholm is Europe’s top tech start up location, claims interactive report

by • Cities, News, Property, Technology

Tech start upA new study by videoconferencing firm Atomico shows that the European centre for billion dollar technology start ups in Europe is Stockholm, followed by London and Berlin. The interactive visualisation from the survey shows that Stockholm is second only to Silicon Valley as a successful founding location for successful Internet businesses with a current market valuation of over $1 billion founded since 2003. Silicon Valley remains in a completely different league to locations on the rest of the planet with 53 startups, followed by Beijing with 17, New York with seven and Stockholm with five. London, meanwhile, has only three tech start up businesses in the £1 billion category despite its reputation as a hotbed of tech entrepreneurialism, the same number as Berlin. According to the report, Stockholm’s ability to foster successful tech startups is even more impressive based on its population of around one million, which makes it the second most prolific per capita location worldwide,with 6.3 billion-dollar companies per million people compared to Silicon Valley with 6.9.

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