Search Results for: performance

Ten pandemic related responses with highest business impact

Ten pandemic related responses with highest business impact

businessThe Josh Bersin Academy, a development academy for HR professionals, has announced the release of its newest research-based report, Business Resilience: The Global COVID-19 Pandemic Response Study. The 38-page complimentary report is based on a survey conducted in August 2020 of 1,349 HR leaders and professionals across the globe and all industry segments. (more…)

Mentally demanding tasks are harder to handle at home

Mentally demanding tasks are harder to handle at home

Mentally demandingA new study looking at skills in online chess tournaments from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) claims that working from home could be damaging for mentally demanding tasks. (more…)

Younger people most affected by disconnect of remote work

Younger people most affected by disconnect of remote work

remote work and the officeOver a third of younger office workers forced to work from home feel remote, unfocused and less committed to their employers, posing a real threat to businesses in the medium and long term, new research from Oktra claims. Of 1,500 people surveyed, who used to work in an office full time but have been working at home for the last six months, the experience has changed the way that 71 percent of them feel about their employer; 85 percent have struggled with the experience of remote work. (more…)

The wellbeing needs of men and women can be very different

The wellbeing needs of men and women can be very different

Mental health and wellbeingThere are currently 15.6 million women in work in the UK, and each of these women is likely to have differing wellbeing needs which must be supported to help retain talent and enable them to meet their full potential in the workplace. In short, business leaders need to do more to recognise and address women’s health. This will have both short-term and long-term positive effects on their business and employees. A McKinsey study found that gender diverse businesses are 25 percent more likely to financially outperform their counter parts. A separate report published in the Harvard Business Review found that such an approach can also increase innovation revenues by 19 percent. (more…)

The office has the potential to adapt to meet new needs

The office has the potential to adapt to meet new needs

office80 percent of us want to get back to the office, according to a new report from Dale Office Interiors, but only if they become more than just “places to work”. The research, which surveyed the opinions of UK employees and HR professionals, suggests a disconnect between what we believe offices should do, and the performance of our actual real-world offices – a problem HR heads feel is all the more stark now that we face a return to the office in a post-COVID world. (more…)

Flexible working is here to stay as organisations recognise effect on productivity

Flexible working is here to stay as organisations recognise effect on productivity

flexible workingTo mark the start of National Work Life Week, work-life balance charity Working Families has launched the results of a survey of employers who have invested in creating family-friendly workplaces with flexible working. Reflecting the views of 26 Working Families employer members, the survey gives a snapshot of employer best practice during the pandemic, showing how organisations have risen to the challenge of supporting their staff. (more…)

Most people with mental health issues would prefer a robot therapist to a human

Most people with mental health issues would prefer a robot therapist to a human

mental health2020 has been the most stressful year in history for the global workforce and people want robots to help, according to a new study by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence, an HR research and advisory firm. The study of more than 12,000 employees, managers, HR leaders, and C-level executives across 11 countries claims that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased workplace stress, anxiety, burnout and other mental health issues for people all around the world, and would prefer a robot instead of other people to help. (more…)

Post-COVID environment will drive demand for flexible office space

Post-COVID environment will drive demand for flexible office space

Employees are proving keen to return to the office, reporting that they miss the human and social interaction that the office facilitates. At the same time, while employees show a strong affinity for the office, they also desire the ability to have the option to work from home 1-2 days per week on average according to a recent JLL global study of 3,000 workers. The trend towards workplace mobility was not created as a result of the pandemic, but it was certainly accelerated by it. As a result, agile work strategies are expected to increase in a post-pandemic world, reinvigorating demand for flexible space. (more…)

EDGE adds building software to its portfolio of innovations

EDGE adds building software to its portfolio of innovations

Sustainable  tech-led real estate pioneers EDGE have built upon their already impressive reputation as an innovator with the launch of a software platform that offers what the firm claims is a “seamless solution for optimising any office building’s performance”. It claims that EDGE Next allows “tenants and owners to transform their offices into smarter, healthier and more sustainable spaces in which people and companies can truly thrive”. The EDGE Next platform also sets out to ensure the wellbeing of employees by monitoring air quality and the numbers of people in a spaces, which it claims will make offices safer for work during the COVID-19 outbreak and beyond. (more…)

Flexible working is crucial for many older workers

Flexible working is crucial for many older workers

The Centre for Ageing Better and Timewise have launched a toolkit to help employers maximise the benefits of flexible working. Experts at the two organisations say that enabling flexible working is particularly crucial in retaining the skills and talents of workers aged over 50, enabling them to manage health needs and caring responsibilities as well as achieve a better work-life balance. (more…)

Employees concern over the fairness of who returns to the office

Employees concern over the fairness of who returns to the office

FairnessFairness around office rota decisions and implementation is a top employee concern, claims new research by HSM. As employers now consider the impact of a second wave of Covid-19, the Government is now encouraging people to work from home and grapple with decisions around how and when to bring people back to the office. (more…)

No need to sideline form in our quest for function

No need to sideline form in our quest for function

The enduring struggle to improve the working conditions and performance of people through the design and management of workplaces carries more than a whiff of the Enlightenment, a period in which pure reason was seen by its proponents as more than enough to convince the world of the ways in which we could improve the human condition. It’s a battle that was won in some ways but which endures. (more…)