November 16, 2020

Built environment sector must think in radical ways and act quickly

by Neil Franklin • Cities, Environment, News

The construction sector, the real estate industry and city planners must give high priority to the same goal – to drastically reduce their climate impacts. Powerful, combined efforts across all of the built environment sectors are absolutely crucial for the potential to achieve the UN’s sustainability goals. And what’s more – everything has to happen very quickly. These are the cornerstones to a roadmap presented at the recent Beyond 2020 World Conference. (more…)

November 13, 2020

Mental health continues to deteriorate as a result of the pandemic

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Morneau Shepell has published its monthly Mental Health Index report, which claims there is a a consistent trend of negative mental health among Britons at the seven-month mark of the pandemic. The Mental Health Index for October is -13.4, suggesting that Britons’ mental wellbeing continues to be at risk, with declining workplace productivity and the need for support adding to the continuing strain of the pandemic. (more…)

November 3, 2020

Government urged to give regions greater power over skills and employment

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Working culture, Working lives

The Government must give UK regional economies greater autonomy over skills and employment to develop grassroot recovery strategies – or risk levelling down the chances of millions, according to a new report published by City & Guilds Group. (more…)

October 16, 2020

Younger people most affected by disconnect of remote work

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace design

Over 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…)

October 14, 2020

Uncompetitive companies pose threat to future prosperity

by Jayne Smith • Business, News

A new model of competitiveness devised by academics at Goldsmiths, University of London in partnership with Microsoft scores almost half (46 percent) of UK firms in the lowest quadrant, posing a threat to Britain’s prosperity as organisations rally from the impact of COVID-19, and prepare for Brexit as UK-EU negotiations reach their conclusion that such uncompetitive companies pose a serious threat to the country’s future prosperity . (more…)

October 2, 2020

What (nearly) everybody gets wrong about work and the coronavirus

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

You’ve probably read and heard dozens, or even hundreds, of different viewpoints about the effect of the pandemic on the world of work. Most of them (until recently perhaps) have dished up one of the two binary options as part of a zero-sum game. Many are based on hackneyed ideas and expressed as clichés. (more…)

September 28, 2020

Nature positive cities have potential to transform the world

by Neil Franklin • Cities, Environment, News, Workplace design

COVID-19 recovery packages that include infrastructure development will influence the relationship between cities, humans and nature for the next 30 to 50 years. With the built environment home to half the world’s population and making up 40 percent of global GDP, cities are an engine of global growth and crucial to the economic recovery. (more…)

September 23, 2020

Employees concern over the fairness of who returns to the office

by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives

Fairness 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…)

September 11, 2020

The next chapter for office life, remote work and the stories we tell about it all

by Mark Eltringham • Comment

One of the few interesting things about the deluge of tedious work-related stories over the last few months has been watching the narratives about remote work, office life and all the rest of it develop. Of course, you’ll still get the odd piece like this, a rambling, lazy string of unexamined clichés that could have been written by a bot. And soon will be. (more…)

September 4, 2020

Employers facing surge of workplace health problems

by Neil Franklin • Features, Wellbeing

Doctors are becoming increasingly concerned about a cascade of work-related health problems during the fallout from COVID-19, with some predicting dire consequences for employers and the economy. Whilst many have become used to working at home or have returned to work with social distancing in place, many employers are not aware that the responsibility for managing health issues amongst their employee’s rests firmly on their shoulders. (more…)

September 2, 2020

New strategy tackles the post-COVID climate emergency

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News

Supported by its Green Building Councils and their members, the WorldGBC (World Green Building Council) network has launched Sustainable Buildings for Everyone, Everywhere — a new strategy to accelerate and mainstream the transformation of built environments around the world. Based on climate science and the Global Goals of Sustainable Development (SDGs), the strategy tackles global warming, health and wellbeing and resource impacts to deliver quality infrastructure — a critical need for our planet, communities and economies in the context of the COVID pandemic.
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August 27, 2020

Number of calls to mental health helpline jump as depression cases double

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

Data from the health and wellbeing provider, Health Assured has revealed the number of people calling for support for depression on their EAP (employee assistance programme) helpline increased by 31 percent in June compared to May this year. In June, the helpline received an additional 249 calls regarding the illness. (more…)