May 4, 2022
Nearly two thirds of American employees are resisting the calls for a ‘return to the office’, according to a poll published in The Hybrid Performance Review from Poly. The firm surveyed 5,000 US employees and employers to uncover how workspaces, technology, and personality traits impact performance; and how employers are responding. More →
May 2, 2022
Six workplaces across the North of England and Northern Ireland have been recognised at the annual British Council for Offices (BCO) Regional Awards today. The Northern BCO Awards dinner returned in-person to the Kimpton Clocktower in Manchester, recognising the North’s highest quality developments and setting the standard for excellence in the office sector across the UK. More →
April 28, 2022
Employees with full autonomy to choose where they work are happier in their job, yet only one in five are currently able to do so. And though 60 percent of all employees prefer hybrid working, only 39 percent are able to flexibly split their time between the home and office. This is according to Jabra’s 2022 edition of the Hybrid Ways of Working Global Report. Carried out amongst 2,800 knowledge workers across six countries worldwide, the report analyses employee sentiments and motivations around the physical workspace in this hybrid working era. More →
April 26, 2022
A poll of 2,000 people published in the new edition of the State of Hybrid Work study from Owl Labs claims that flexibility is now key to retaining top talent in 2022 and beyond. 65 percent of British employees would rather be paid less in exchange for a four day week and over a third (37 percent) would choose to decline a job if flexible hours are not offered. The report claims that offering greater flexibility will prove key to preventing employees from driving the ‘Great Resignation’ – with nearly one in three (31 percent) employees changing jobs in the past two years and a quarter (25 percent) of employees actively seeking a new opportunity in 2022. More →
April 22, 2022
Do organisations truly understand how their people work? A big question that needed some unpacking and was explored at a recent Workplace Evolutionaries event, led by Tim Allen and Mark Eltringham. This is raw audio from the event so includes a brief chat about dogs and some other stuff. More →
April 20, 2022
There’s a scene in the 1986 horror movie The Fly in which Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) persuades the reporter Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) to try two steaks, one of which Brundle has just sent between two teleportation pods in an effort to work out why the pods can’t process organic matter, including the organic matter that had recently belonged to a very unfortunate baboon. More →
April 13, 2022
The idea of the cargo cult derives from anthropological observations made about the behaviour of societies that encounter more technologically advanced societies. In particular it is rooted in those rituals and objects created by Pacific islanders in an attempt to attract modern goods and technology and generally earn favour with people who they thought could prevent terrible events. More →
April 10, 2022
The pandemic has irrevocably changed the way we work. Once considered a place simply to do business, the office is fast becoming a ‘lifestyle choice’ among young people who value more than just a desk. Instead, they want an engaging, healthy, and resilient working environment where they can socialise, make friends, and build connections to help their career and wellbeing thrive. In fact, an EY study found that 90 percent of Generation-Z value the human connection in the workplace above salary when it comes to their at-work communication. A recent Gallup survey even found a tangible link between having a best friend at work and productivity: those who have a best friend in the office are twice as likely to be engaged in their role and company. More →
April 8, 2022
There has been much talk over the past two years of the adoption of hybrid working for elephant-in-the-room reasons and it is now the case that the practice is being widely adopted by many organisations. Knocking at our office doors now is the next big talking point in terms of technology: the Metaverse. There has been much speculation recently on how this collective, virtual open space, which incorporates environments including those in which to shop, learn, be entertained and, of course, work, will evolve. It has been described as the ‘next chapter of the Internet’ and is created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality. More →
March 31, 2022
Steelcase has released a new global research report which reveals that outdated offices are no longer conducive to employees’ shifting needs for greater control, comfort, and privacy. The study found that if a workplace was made more in tune with shifting expectations, staff were more engaged, productive, connected to their organisation’s culture and less likely to leave. The Steelcase report, The New Era of Hybrid Work, surveyed nearly 5,000 workers in 11 countries. The findings reveal that whilst 87 percent of respondents now spend at least some of their time working from the office as the threat of the pandemic recedes, six in ten (58 percent) prefer working from home. One of the most appealing attributes of a home for two-thirds (65 percent) of UK employees is that they have a dedicated space for work. Whereas in the office, the majority (59 percent) have desks in open areas, with minimal privacy. More →
March 29, 2022
The first Omnirama event on the 23rd of March launched the series exploring different factors challenging the world of work in a time of prevailing uncertainty. Underlying Ominirama’s raison d’etre is that recent events have turned the status quo on its head with some major structural and systemic changes taking place. Nobody seems to have any clear idea of how to deal with this enormous transformation in the ways we work All the playbooks and all the guidance that we have all relied upon for so many years have now gone out the window. More →
April 25, 2022
What Jacob Rees Mogg really got wrong about working from the office
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Property