June 26, 2013
Latest edition of Insight newsletter now available to view online
The latest issue of the Insight newsletter is available to view online. This week, what Jeremy Clarkson can’t teach us about workplace productivity; the string of surveys, ideas and terminology that can lead commentators to make grand and daft pronouncements about flexible working and why the latest wellness figures show a disturbing lack of fitness amongst the UK workforce. Our regular contributor Simon Heath ponders the somewhat derivative and cautious designs amongst the RIBA awards winners, while our latest contributor Andrew Brown questions the futility of designing a state-of-the-art office in the first place if it’s the management that make the workplace stink. To view this week’s newsletter – which includes an update on the changing structure of the market for corporate offices in the U.S. – click here.
June 20, 2013
Half the time it’s management, not the design that makes the workplace stink
by Andrew Brown • Comment, Workplace, Workplace design
There is a general consensus around the workplace cognoscenti that design can and does impact upon the productivity and effectiveness of people in the workplace. That’s reflected in research, data and anecdotal exchanges, online and at events. What’s not often done is in linking this data to HR results, from employee surveys. While driven by professionally conscientious HR teams, their goal is shaped by the ever present desire to improve performance and hence save cash and enhance margins. In other words it’s a management initiative. But half the time it’s management who are the problem.
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