February 1, 2013

Ban team building exercises for a feel good Friday

workplace relationships

Anyone who hates team building exercises will welcome a survey published by Samaritans and Simplyhealth today, which reveals that at 4%, the least popular option for making people feel good at work is team activities, including away days. When asked to select their top two factors, 42% of workers felt that positive relationships helped them to feel good at work, compared with a mere 14% for hitting their targets. The poll of more than 1,400 workers found having a good work-life balance was the second (40%) most common reason for feeling good at work followed by receiving praise (26%).

January 29, 2013

Global 100 green companies announced during Davos

by Sara Bean • Environment, News

The top-ranked company in the Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable corporations is Umicore, a Belgium-based materials technology and recycling company. The rest of the top five announced recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, were Natura Cosmeticos, Statoil, Neste Oil and Novo Nordisk. Hailed recently as the world’s most credible corporate sustainability ranking, the Global 100 is compiled by Toronto-based media and investment research company Corporate Knights, and consists of the 100 top-performing stocks worldwide on a range of sector-specific ‘sustainability’ metrics.

January 29, 2013

Sodexo Workplace Trends report covers familiar ground

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace

The latest annual Workplace Trends Report from workplace services provider Sodexo claims to reveal the crucial role the built environment has in organisational performance. The report emphasises the growing strategic role of facilities management and the importance of sustainability as an element of corporate culture as well as a trend toward designing offices to attract and retain top talent by emphasising productivity and quality of life. The report also identifies the importance of social media in attracting prospective employees instead of traditional e-mail campaigns and other media.

January 28, 2013

Report reveals wider impact than ROI for wellness programmes

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

Workplace wellness edit

The Return on Investment of workplace wellness programmes goes way beyond cost savings a major new report reveals. Making the Right Investment: Employee Health and the Power of Metrics found smoking cessation incentives help increase productivity, nutrition and exercise drives and centralised programmes which utilise the latest technology leads to increased employee engagement which helps reduce staff turnover. Said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman World Economic Forum “Over 50% of the working population spend the majority of their time at work, so the workplace provides a unique opportunity to raise awareness, as well as guide and incentivise individuals to develop healthier behaviours.” More →

January 22, 2013

Wellness linked to job satisfaction and engagement

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

Did ‘Blue Monday’ really get you down, or are you happy in your work? If you are engaged with your work, research suggests you’re most likely to have a healthier lifestyle. The findings from Gallup Daily tracking found that engaged employees are deeply involved in and enthusiastic about their work, those not engaged may be satisfied, but are not emotionally connected to their workplaces and are less likely to put in discretionary effort. And employees who are actively disengaged are emotionally disconnected from work and workplace and jeopardise their teams’ performance. More →

January 21, 2013

Cabinet for Core Cities looks to reshape the English economy

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Public Sector

A newly formed Cabinet of Core Cities met for the first time in Liverpool on Friday, seeking to reshape England and call on the Government to work with it to maximise the economic potential of the regions by creating a more balanced economic structure for the country and develop policies that would create jobs and investment. The cities represent the urban centres of Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol and Sheffield.

January 16, 2013

Workplace transformation strategies are an essential element of CSR

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Knowledge, News, Workplace, Workplace design

CNGLogo

Adopting 21st-century workplace practices that meet the needs of employers and employees is an important form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), according to a new corporate real estate (CRE) industry advocacy statement by CoreNet Global. The report finds the nature of work is “changing dramatically, transcending the traditional definitions of productivity to include the concepts of enabling work, employee engagement, employee satisfaction and employee wellness, framed around an emerging ‘work-life support’ business model.” More →