Search Results for: performance

Shining a light on remote work at Google, willing slaves to tech, why design matters and some other stuff

Shining a light on remote work at Google, willing slaves to tech, why design matters and some other stuff

by • Features, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Away from you know what, one of the most talked about issues this week was the news that the smart devices we’re voluntarily incorporating into our homes are not just obeying us but acting as microphones on our lives. This is happening in the context of growing mistrust of the world’s tech giants, uncertainty about our relationship with technology and taps into a primal fear about control and surveillance. All of this is complicated by the fact that these systems of surveillance are not the telescreens of 1984 but the products of private sector firms who currently often exhibit ‘power without responsibility’, as Kipling once said about the media. (more…)

The best tall buildings in the world are announced

The best tall buildings in the world are announced

by • News, Property, Workplace design

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has announced the winners of the 17th Annual CTBUH Awards Program. These winning projects – comprising tall buildings, urban developments, and technical innovations – competed for winning distinctions at the 2019 Tall + Urban Innovation Conference from April 8–10 in Shenzhen. The CTBUH Awards Jury has named Salesforce Tower in San Francisco designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli as the “Best Tall Building Worldwide”, in addition to naming Category Winners across 20 award categories. (more…)

Insecure managers can cause huge damage to their organisations

Insecure managers can cause huge damage to their organisations

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Insecure managers have negative effect on workplace performanceInsecure managers who worry that their performance could be undermined by competent subordinates can end up ostracising talented employees they feel are a threat to their own position. According to an paper published in The International Journal of Human Resource Management by Professor Kirk Chang of the University of Salford Business School and his research team, managers whose negativity towards staff they see as threats can go on to cause huge damage to their organisations. Professor Chang, an expert in human resource management, said: “While the competence of subordinates is considered desirable in the workplace, it may create challenges in managing people in organisations.”

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Personal financial worries are increasing workplace stress

Personal financial worries are increasing workplace stress

by • News, Wellbeing

financial stressEmployers need to understand more about the impact of personal financial worries on workplace mental health, but are struggling to agree best practice standards to address the issue, new research from MetLife UK claims. More than six out of 10 (61 percent) senior HR executives have seen a rise in financial wellbeing issues affecting employee mental health and work performance, the nationwide study from MetLife UK suggests. (more…)

Smartphone addiction is driven by need to connect, but means we make bad choices

Smartphone addiction is driven by need to connect, but means we make bad choices

by • News, Technology, Wellbeing

Two new studies published in the Journal Frontiers in Psychology explore our complex relationships with smartphones. The first study from Canadian researchers, concludes that our addiction to smartphones is a real phenomenon but one that is rooted in a primal desire to connect with other people, suggesting that smartphone addiction is best described as hyper-social, rather than anti-social. However, the second study led by academics in Brazil claims that a pronounced preoccupation with smartphones can lead to poorer decision making.

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Why are graduates favouring Manchester over London?

Why are graduates favouring Manchester over London?

by • Cities, News, Workplace

streetview of Manchester, Piccadilly GardensThe economic performance of UK cities is increasingly dependent on the skills of their workforce. Cities across the UK face the challenge of both attracting and retaining high-skilled talent. The Great British Brain Drain investigates migration within the UK, specifically within cities. It finds that many university cities lose their graduates to London, with this movement especially strong for the highest performing graduates with 2.1 or 1st class degrees from Russell Group universities. Despite this, most university cities experience a ‘graduate gain’: they gain more graduates than they lose.

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Government lacks the know-how to help disabled people get into work

Government lacks the know-how to help disabled people get into work

by • News, Workplace

disabled people working in an office and smilingThe Department for Work Pensions has limited evidence of what works when it comes to supporting disabled people to work, according to the National Audit Office (NAO) in a report published today. The number of disabled­­ people in work has risen by 930,000 (31 percent) in the last five years, but this has not been matched by a reduction in the number of disabled people who are out of work. The NAO found that the government’s headline goal of getting one million more disabled people into work from 2017 to 2027 cannot be used to measure the success of its efforts. The Department itself recognises that this measure cannot be linked directly to any specific government policy or programme. Broader factors, such as more people who are already in work reporting a disability, and rising employment rates, have a significant effect on the measure. It therefore lacks a target for which it is willing to be held to account. (more…)

A new practitioner guide helps teams reach peak change-capability in the workplace

A new practitioner guide helps teams reach peak change-capability in the workplace

by • News, Workplace

The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) HR Research Network, in conjunction with The Henley Forum, part of The Henley Business School, is pleased to announce the launch of a new practitioner guide, Changing Together: Change Tools for Teams. The concise booklet is designed to assist teams to be change-ready, maximising full change-capability potential when faced with growing demands for increased agility and adaptability in the workplace.

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Interiors are not enough to win the war for talent

Interiors are not enough to win the war for talent

by • Comment, Workplace design

I often refer to Google and Facebook in my blog, due to their influence on workplace design. Many consider them to be workplace interior’s holy grail. But today’s big employers are competing with one another on a much broader set of principles. Cool interiors alone just won’t cut it. Zürich, like many European cities is home to a large number of global brands, with bustling financial services and tech sectors. I regularly hear of people with multiple job offers taking a job with a lower salary, rather than accepting a role in a company that doesn’t reflect their ideals. This decision can be influenced by office design and facilities, career development options, corporate culture and much more. (more…)

Greatest motivator for employees is more recognition, whether monetary or not

Greatest motivator for employees is more recognition, whether monetary or not

by • News, Workplace

Job recognition most important factor for employee motivation

The biggest motivator for staff at work is more recognition, whether monetary or not, according to a new survey on rewards at work by XpertHR. When asked which rewards are most important to employees, more than half (53 percent) said higher basic pay, followed by a wider range of benefits (37.1 percent), but being recognised for the work they do was also cited as an employee priority by 56.1 percent of respondents). The survey also claims that employers are facing a constant battle to get employees’ salaries at the right level. Almost all (97.7 percent) organisations questioned said they would be looking at salary levels in some way over the coming year – whether that be through the annual pay review, benchmarking salaries against the market or complying with the national minimum wage legislation.

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When exactly did busyness become a sign of status?

When exactly did busyness become a sign of status?

by • Comment, Wellbeing

When exactly did “busyness” become a status? At work, in our personal lives and online, the competition to “live our best lives” and “hustle harder” is being taken to the extreme. Neuroscientists refer to busyness as a state of “cognitive overload.” This state can hinder our productivity, as well as our abilities to think clearly, plan and control our emotions. In the early 1990s, John Maynard Keynes predicted that, by 2028, living conditions would improve so much that the working day would shrink to three or four hours. However, it is now 2019 and we are busier than ever.

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How artificial intelligence changes occupant experience

How artificial intelligence changes occupant experience

by • Facilities management, Features, Technology

If a robot received a signal that you had entered the building, it might bring you a fresh cup of coffee just as you reach your desk. If the front door recognised your face, it might unlock itself for you without requiring you to use a fob to gain access. If your desk knew you had left for the day, it might offer itself to a colleague who is looking for a quiet workspace. Throughout history, the interaction of humans with technology has been pretty much one-sided. We turn our technologies on and off, operate and guide them in their tasks, and use our senses to monitor their functioning and detect anomalies.

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