Search Results for: people

The challenge for the workplace in 2025: transformation when everybody is already tired of change

The challenge for the workplace in 2025: transformation when everybody is already tired of change

by • Business, News, Workplace

HR leaders say they are navigating workplace transformation at a time when most people say they are already worn out by changeIn 2025, human resource leaders say they will be focusing on navigating the complexities of workplace transformation, at a time when most people say they are already worn out by change. This is one of the key findings from the Gartner HR Priorities Survey [registration] of over 1,400 HR leaders from 60 countries and a range of industries. The report highlights five pivotal areas—leader and manager development, organisational culture, strategic workforce planning, change management, and HR technology—as central to driving change in an evolving business landscape. More →

Office attendance and desk use are on the rise as firms make most of real estate

Office attendance and desk use are on the rise as firms make most of real estate

by • News

office attendance and desk use continue to go up, although the provision of workstations has been reduced as part of an overall rationalisation of corporate real estateA new report from AWA claims that office attendance and desk use continue to go up, although the provision of workstations has been reduced as part of an overall rationalisation of corporate real estate. The report also suggests that this may have reached its optimal point right now as just 13 percent of UK organisations are considering further downsizing, suggesting that most firms think they may have reduced their real estate as far as they can. More →

Life science interiors: here’s how to create a petri dish for scientific breakthroughs

Life science interiors: here’s how to create a petri dish for scientific breakthroughs

by • Comment, Workplace design

The design of life science interiors is crucial for fostering scientific breakthroughs by balancing precision, functionality, and collaboration. Life science research has grown exponentially in recent years, driving an increasing demand for specialised laboratory spaces. These facilities – including wet labs, dry labs, and their supporting infrastructure – all serve a unique purpose. Like a Petri dish providing the perfect environment for scientific experiments, life science interiors need to balance precision with functionality. When designed well, they create the ideal conditions for innovation, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas. More →

That conversation about hybrid working? Same as it ever was

That conversation about hybrid working? Same as it ever was

by • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Property

The term hybrid working may only have been in widespread use for a few years, but the ideas behind it stretch back decadesRecently I wrote a short article based on a 1993 Architects’ Journal interview with IBM’s then design manager of property, Peter Wingrave. It reminded me how discussions about new ways of working – now including that neologism hybrid working – have been a constant throughout my career. In that interview, Wingrave is quoted as saying: “I think there are interesting times ahead for offices. We are already seeing the slow breakdown of the traditional office which people come to in the morning and leave at night…We would like our offices to catch the social spirit of an old gentleman’s club; you just pop in when you need to. You get more out of people that way… we’re lucky if our marketing areas are ever 40 per cent occupied … It’s crazy to build, run, heat, light and decorate a building as if people were there when 60 per cent of the time you know they are not”. More →

University staff love to connect on campus, but also value time working from home

University staff love to connect on campus, but also value time working from home

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A new survey reveals distinct trends in campus work culture and the growing preference for in-person interactions among academic staff, coupled with a desire to continue working from home when needed.A new report from Hassell, the 2024 Education Futures Survey, explores how hybrid working is reshaping the needs and expectations of Australian university staff. Based on responses from 300 university employees and a benchmark group of 500 office workers, the survey reveals distinct trends in campus work culture and the growing preference for in-person interactions among academic staff, coupled with a desire to continue working from home when needed. More →

Where are the iconic office furniture products of yesterday?

Where are the iconic office furniture products of yesterday?

by • Comment, Workplace design

A new image of Bauhaus students from 1927 raises interesting questions about the design of office furnitureLate last year, this image went viral on social media. It is of a group of Bauhaus design students from around 1927. They are called Martha Erps, Katt Both and Ruth Hellos. The full image (reproduced below) shows them with legendary office furniture designer Marcel Breuer, who Erps would later marry. The story of the photograph can be found here. On social media, though, the standard response from people of a certain vintage – my vintage admittedly – is to suggest that they were last seen supporting Echo and the Bunnymen at the Barrowland Glasgow in 1984.  More →

Is salutogenic design the next big issue for the workplace?

Is salutogenic design the next big issue for the workplace?

by • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Colleagues talk in a bright and lively office design

A number of progressive workplace issues have crossed into mainstream thinking over the past few years, and perhaps none more so than biophilia. It is now a principle that has become an issue talked about in the mass media, as shown by a CNN interview with one of Europe’s leading proponents of biophilic office design, Oliver Heath. The interview explores how biophilia taps into our embedded love of nature to evoke certain behaviours and emotions. More →

Four honest impressions of Orgatec 2024

Four honest impressions of Orgatec 2024

by • Comment, Workplace design

 

Here are four of my impressions of Orgatec 2024. Spoiler alert: Orgatec is big. It's the furniture that got small

I’ve been going to Orgatec in Cologne since 1992. It has always been one of the twin global behemoths of office design shows. The other being NeoCon in Chicago. Over that time, I’ve seen it dwindle significantly in size, if not relevance. It is held every two years, which means it can offer a better snapshot of current thinking about offices than an annual show might. The last show, two years ago, was still hungover from the pandemic (2020 was cancelled) so this year’s event was, in a way, the first chance to see how things stand in whatever era we might now be in. More →

Why does colour psychology make so much difference to us?

Why does colour psychology make so much difference to us?

by • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

In 2013, two Australian academics set out to discover the answer to a deceptively simple question. Why is there such a thing as colour psychology, but not shape, line or texture psychology? The answers they come up with are complex, arcane and wide-ranging but they manage to sum them up to some extent in the conclusion to the paper they published. “No other visual attribute shares such diverse representations”, they wrote. “Study into shape, line, and texture hardly competes. For this reason, there are no proportion-shape-line-texture prediction agencies, and chromotherapy is not challenged by proportion-shape-line-texture therapies. Colour remains special and, given its rich and complex heritage, is likely to remain so.” More →

Beyond the jargon: what insurance benefits really mean to your team

Beyond the jargon: what insurance benefits really mean to your team

by • Company news

Here’s a jargon-free guide to the different insurance benefits you can offer your employees, and the real-life impact they have on your team.Offering a comprehensive employee benefits package is more important than ever, and  Drewberry’s 2024 Employee Benefits And Workplace Satisfaction Survey found that a fifth of employees want insurance to protect their loved ones. But with so many products out there, and terms like “Group Income Protection” and “Critical Illness Cover” making many people’s eyes glaze over, it can be hard to determine the right product for your people – and what they really offer. More →

Remote workers are more likely to miss out on promotions

Remote workers are more likely to miss out on promotions

by • Flexible working, News

A new report claims that more than a quarter of remote workers believe they have missed out on a job promotion or opportunityA new report claims that more than a quarter (27 percent) of office workers who work flexibly believe they have missed out on a job promotion or opportunity. Even so, most remote workers say they still wouldn’t want to give up on flexibility. The Work Remastered 2024 survey of 1,000 office workers in the UK and US, carried out by consultancy United Culture claims to highlight a disconnect between what leaders and employees want. More →

Standing desks may not be any better for you than office chairs

Standing desks may not be any better for you than office chairs

by • Furniture, News, Wellbeing

A new large scale study from researchers in Australia suggests that the use of standing desks does not have the impact claimed and that the risks of some conditions may even be worsenedLast week at Orgatec, many firms continued to repeat the claim that “sitting is the new smoking” in their marketing spiel. There’s something in this. The risks of a sedentary lifestyle include health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Standing desks have been seen as a way to reduce the time people spend sitting while at work as a fix for such health problems. But a new large scale study from researchers in Australia suggests that the use of standing desks does not have the impact claimed and that the risks of some conditions may even be worsened with their prolonged use. Instead people should look to move more, regardless of their workstation setup.  More →

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