Search Results for: productivity

June 30, 2016

People find meetings more productive than you might think ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Wellbeing

People generally find they don’t spend as much time in meetings as is commonly assumed and find them more productive than is widely reported, according to a study of global workers by unified communications firm Shoretel. The report sets out what it suggests are ten misconceptions about how people meet based on the results of an online questionnaire carried out earlier this year with 1,000 respondents worldwide. It claims that over three-quarters of respondents (76 percent) say they spend one hour or under each weekday in a meeting. Inevitably, the report breaks things down by age demographics, claiming that Generation X’ers, are more likely than other generations to spend more time in weekly meets as were respondents working in the tech sectors. Only 11 percent of respondents found meetings a waste of time. Forty percent of respondents reported meetings were productive and another 48 percent said they were ‘sort of’ productive.

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June 24, 2016

Property and workplace experts have their say on the Brexit outcome ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Comment, Facilities management, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

Well, the results are in and the UK’s electorate has voted by a narrow margin for the country to leave the EU. There are likely to be other developments but whatever you make of the UK’s decision to vote to leave the EU – and I think it’s fair to say most independent people think it’s inexplicable – there’s no doubt that it will have a profound impact on the UK’s economy, relationship with the world, culture, working conditions and markets. What it will mean in practice won’t be apparent for months or years, of course, but that hasn’t stopped experts who work in the property, workplace, design, legal, HR and architecture sectors having their say on its potential implications. We’ll look at these specific issues in more detail going forward but for now, here’s a round-up of those we have so far, which we’ll keep updated throughout the day as the dust settles on what will prove to be a momentous decision for the UK, Europe and rest of the world.

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June 17, 2016

Home or away. What should employers be doing about the game? ⁰

by Anita Rai • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news, Workplace

The Euros 2016 are underway. It’s an exciting time for the nation, but not so much for businesses that are potentially facing a largely absent workforce, be it physically or simply because they will spend at least 90 minutes of their afternoon glued to their mobile phones watching the match. Some employees might have been organised enough to book annual leave for the afternoon, but for many, they will be devising a cunning plan as to how they can get away to watch the match. Employers can expect to be faced with a hike in “sickies” and last minute requests to work from home as suddenly there’s a delivery due or a poorly child to look after. Some employees will just decide to chance it and not come back to the office after their lunch breaks, with no pre-authorisation at all. So what should you be doing as an employer?

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June 17, 2016

Younger and older workers share many of the same attitudes to the workplace ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

The behaviour and attitudes of young people in the workplace are very similar to those of older generations. We keep repeating this point but it’s always worth reminding ourselves given the prevailing narratives that obscure this truth. Indeed, so powerful is the narrative that even when a piece of research or a survey contradicts it, there is often an attempt to ignore the report’s own finding’s in favour of something that fits the meme. This happens more often than you think which is why it’s always worth going beyond the headlines to look at what lies beneath. This week, two reports have appeared which highlight just how much a younger generation of workers shares the same attitudes and challenges as other generations. According to the reports, this is true for issues such as presenteeism and the need for the company of colleagues and so suggest we don’t need to treat different age groups quite so differently as is often claimed.

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June 17, 2016

Homeworking loses appeal as workers prefer flexible office environment ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Furniture, News, Workplace design

Most workers now look for flexibility in where and how they work finds a new survey from the British Council for Offices. But this doesn’t mean homeworking; as less than a third (28 percent) of workers now say they would prefer to work from home, a figure that has dropped from 45 percent in 2013, when the research from the BCO and Savills was last conducted. Over three-quarters of respondents (77 percent) said that they currently work in a traditional office, with the majority (60 percent) choosing to work from a dedicated workstation compared to only four percent that are asked to share desks with colleagues. This desire for a dedicated desk has increased over the past three years, rising from a figure of 41 percent in 2013; but despite demand for a dedicated desk, most workplaces (70 percent) now also include a communal environment to work from, providing a space for more dynamic working.

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June 17, 2016

Poor office acoustic design biggest issue for workers, but bosses aren’t listening ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace

Open-plan offices are meant to encourage collaboration and contribute to a collegial workplace culture, but they also come with serious drawbacks like noise and distraction. New research claims that more than half of employees said poor office acoustic design reduces their satisfaction at work. Many feel compelled to solve the problem on their own, blocking out distraction through visits to break out spaces, taking walks outside, or listening to white noise and music on headsets or headphones. The survey of more than 600 executives and 600 employees by Oxford Economics and Plantronics set out to understand what works for employees—and what doesn’t—about open-plan layouts, and to test for disconnects between workers and their managers. The results show that threats to productivity and worker peace of mind are bigger issues than most executives realise, and most do not have the technology or strategies in place to deal with the problems.

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June 15, 2016

New workplace technology will automatically adapt offices to needs of staff ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Case studies, Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace design

A new generation of workplace technology that allows the working environment to adapt to the needs of individuals will attract people to work in offices and contribute to their productivity, wellbeing and happiness. That is the key finding of a new report from US office furniture giant Haworth. According to the white paper Enabling the Organic Workspace: Emerging Technologies that Focus on People, Not Just Space a new generation of sensors will measure how offices are used and allow them to adapt on a day to day basis by changing temperature and lighting levels and responding to employees’ needs and influencing their behaviour in other ways. The white paper suggests this will be a development of existing technologies in the way it adapts the immediate working environment to the specific needs of an individual or group. This might even entail using biometrics to assess their psychological and emotional needs, according to the report.

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June 14, 2016

Winning over employees during the great Summer of sport ⁰

by Jamie Mackenzie • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

The summer brings about many challenges for both employers and employees. The longer days, warmer weather, and reduced staff numbers are an annual occurrence that managers need to factor in; 2016 also brings a particularly exciting season of sport. High profile events such as Wimbledon, Euro 2016 and the Olympics are already upon us, with many of the events taking place during working hours. Research from Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services suggests that 1 in 5 people say they typically feel the least motivated during summer or when there is a sporting event taking place. Managers need to combat this in order to maintain productivity levels throughout the summer – but how can this be achieved? And how can they use the opportunity presented by the Summer of sport to build closer relationships with employees that will have longer term benefits for the business than the immediate challenges they present?

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June 13, 2016

UK faces digital skills gap … but simply hiring Millennials won’t close it ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace

Although the UK remains a global tech leader, the country remains in the grip of a digital skills crisis which is holding back productivity and costs around £63 billion each year, according to a report published today by the Commons Science and Technology Committee. The report claims that 12.6 million UK adults lack even basic digital skills, and nearly half of these people (5.8 million) have never even used the internet. Meanwhile, a coincidental report published by Cisco claims that those organisations who apparently assume they can close the gap by merely employing so-called Millennials, will be disappointed because there’s no great correlation between age and confidence in using digital technology. The Digital Culture Clash report found the only meaningful correlations were between the type of work an individual does, their level of employment and their competence and confidence in using technology.

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June 7, 2016

New guide available on building the business case for agile working ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

For employers and employees who have yet to persuade senior management of its benefits, the work-life balance charity Working Families has launched a new online guide on how to construct a business case for agile working. The step-by-step guide spells out the argument that flexible working brings; higher levels of productivity which can lead to increased output at no additional cost; staff retention, reducing turnover and the cost of retraining; recruitment opportunities, ensuring you have access to the best talent; and that flexible working is necessary to adapt to future trends. The guide covers the globalisation of work and demand for 24 hour service; changing demographics and attitudes towards work and both the social case and the health and wellbeing case for flexible working. It also provides some evidence and case studies which show that flexible working increases organisational performance and productivity, along with a look at how technology can facilitate changing working styles and bring about change.

June 6, 2016

Only a third of employers have policies to support working carers ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

As baby boomers and Gen X age, more of the working population are responsible for the care of elderly relatives, with some being part of the ‘sandwich generation’, balancing work while caring for older family members and their own children. Yet according to a new survey published today by CIPD/Westfield Health just a third of employers (34 percent) have a formal, written policy or an informal, verbal policy in place to support working carers in their workplace . The report also finds that just 13 percent of organisations offer line manager training to support working carers, which is concerning given the key role line managers play in providing flexibility and support to people with caring responsibilities. With estimates suggesting that 3 in 5 people will end up caring for someone at some point in their lives, employers are being urged to put mechanisms in place to empower and support working carers, before they lose out on key talent; while those employers that do support working carers believe it’s made a positive difference to their culture.

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June 4, 2016

Robot woes + Coworking goes mainstream + Workplace sit-stand debate ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Property, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

In this week’s Newsletter; Sara Bean suggests improvements in work-based training could help address the productivity gap; Mark Eltringham says there will be no grand arrival for the ‘Office of the Future’; and warns of the lack of context when reporting research on sit-stand working. Better technology would improve workers quality of life, finds a new report; researchers say workaholism is closely associated with a range of mental diseases and psychiatric disorders; and a surprisingly large number of people fear their job being taken by a robot within the next 10 to 50 years. Banks are rationalising space to stay in London; coworking remains one of the main drivers of workplace change globally; and uncertainty about Brexit hits the construction sector. You can download our Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, on the boundless office; visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.