April 29, 2022

Working from home can present particular challenges for women

by Rachel King • Comment, Flexible working

The pandemic has brought with it many different trials and tribulations over the course of the past few years. An area that has impacted teams across the country, and the world, has been working from home and other forms of remote work. Once a necessity imposed by the UK government to stop the spread in the early stages of the pandemic, it has now become a part of working life for many people in many different sectors. It has offered many employees the new luxury of time: no commutes resulting in more time to spend with family and friends and creating a better work-life balance. More →

April 27, 2022

Codelocks facilitates future of flexible working

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Workplace design, Works Magazine

With organisations adopting a hybrid working model and moving towards flexible working also comes a need for flexible office solutions. International office and workplace solutions provider Kinnarps, approached Codelocks as it was looking to furnish a UK county council with an access control solution suitable for its hybrid working needs. Codelocks designs and distributes a wide portfolio of innovative, standalone keyless door locks and access products for a range of growing markets.

The UK county council has adopted a hybrid working model to best suit the needs and lifestyles of its employees. The council has multiple working hubs across the country, allowing its teams to choose the office space that is convenient and accessible to them on their chosen office days. However, despite not being tied to a specific location, the need for employees to store possessions in the workplace remains.

The council sought a storage solution that:

can be used on temporary basis
is easy to manage
is within its constrained budget
accessed by different people on different days, for varying time periods

Perfect partnership

Due to its longstanding relationship with Codelocks, Kinnarps is familiar with the wide range of KitLocks by Codelocks cabinet and locker locks.

Steve Newman, KitLock Sales Manager at Codelocks explains, “We understood the council wanted to avoid the need to cut keys or have lockers allocated to specific employees. And with the ongoing concern of Covid-19 and the transfer of germs, it was also important to give easy access to personal belongings whilst minimising touch. The KL1100 RFID offers the flexibility the council needs.”

The KL1100 RFID is a smart card operated lock designed for both public and private lockers. It is perfect for building and facilities managers that oversee large quantities of lockers, as they can benefit from managing cards remotely.

Kinnarps found a locker company that the KL1100 RFID could be installed on and combined the two products to create ‘hot lockers’, similar to hot desks for all of the county council offices. County council employees simply collect a card from the reception at the start of their day, use a dedicated locker to store their personal belongings, and then return the card so it can be used by someone else the next day.

Simon Cotter, Account Manager at Kinnarps said, “We needed to provide over 1000 lockers for the council, so we sought a supplier that had an innovative and stylish lock solution with enough available stock. Due to the volume of lockers we needed to provide, we were glad that the KL1100 RFID was straightforward to install.”

Convenient Contactless Access

The KL100 RFID is perfect for the council’s hybrid-working approach. “The council office manager has expressed the importance of being able to manage card access remotely, as their employees are all working on different days and at different times. It also removes the cost and hassle of having to cut and hand out keys.” explains Simon. “Council employees have found the lockers easy to operate and appreciate the fact the council has put a storage solution in place that is secure and requires minimal contact.”

Council employees can now be sure that whichever office they choose to work from, they have convenient access to lockers to store their belongings.

April 26, 2022

Flexible working means half of workers says they are more able to be ‘themselves’

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News

A poll from Perkbox claims that moves towards hybrid and flexible working are changing the workplace experience for employees across the UK, with 57 percent feeling freer to be ‘themselves’ in this environment. This is particularly strong for women – 61 percent say they feel freer to be themselves when remote and hybrid working compared to 51 percent of men. In addition, 55 percent of employees say that remote and hybrid working has been a huge step forward in supporting more diverse and inclusive working environments. More →

April 25, 2022

What Jacob Rees Mogg really got wrong about working from the office

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Property

One of the challenges of taking part in The Great Work Conversation is swerving alignments with the wrong people. It’s easy enough to call out the crusty, passive aggressive notes apparently left by Lord Bufton Tufton on the desks of civil service drones. But it’s equally easy to find yourself tarred with the same brush if you dare to suggest not everybody is about to cocoon themselves in a bedroom forever or swap all they have for a life trundling from place to place in a dormobile, exchanging work for tokens. More →

April 20, 2022

Women working from home more likely than men to say their careers are harmed

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Women working from home regularly are less positive about their career prospects than men are, new research suggests. They are also less optimistic about getting recognition for good work and being included in important consultations when compared to men who often work from home, the study found. The research, presented at the British Sociological Association’s online annual conference today [Wednesday, 20 April 2022], comes at a time when employers and staff are deciding how much they will work from home as pandemic restrictions are removed.

April 13, 2022

Firms mark the cards of employees who go mute or turn cameras off in remote meetings

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Technology

Nearly all executives (96 percent) agree that primarily remote workers are disadvantaged compared to those who work primarily in the office, according to a poll of 200 executives at large US firms, commissioned by Vyopta. However, 92 percent of respondents also believe employees who are less engaged, either frequently on mute or don’t turn on their camera during remote meetings, probably don’t have a long-term future at their company. More →

April 8, 2022

Research casts doubt on environmental benefits of hybrid working

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News

A permanent post-pandemic switch to hybrid working may do little to reduce carbon emissions as the majority of remote workers travel further each week than their office-based counterparts, new research from the University of Sussex Business School reveals. The newly published study finds that, prior to the pandemic, most remote workers in England travelled further each week than office-based workers – despite taking fewer trips. This was partly because remote workers tended to live further from their workplace than non-teleworkers, so had longer, if less frequent, commutes. In addition, remote workers engaged in more travel on the days when they worked from home – for example, by making extra trips to shops and cafes. More →

April 5, 2022

Hybrid working burnout is inevitable, say third of workers

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Over one in three (36 percent) UK workers believe burnout is an inevitable part of their career, according to new data based on 2,000 UK knowledge workers. The figure, which rises to 41 percent of managers was noted by UK workers as a natural part of career progression by those who had experienced it. UK employees are feeling isolated at home when part of a hybrid working culture and they’re struggling to balance priorities and establish clear boundaries. More →

April 5, 2022

Flexible working could open up workplace to 1.3 million people

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Greater workplace flexibility could help open up new employment opportunities for 1.3 million people in the UK with disabilities, caring responsibilities, and those based in rural locations, according to a new study from LinkedIn. For those who may struggle to commute or work regular hours, the opportunity to work from home or enjoy flexible working options has the potential to improve workforce inclusion while adding a potential £40 billion to GDP. More →

March 28, 2022

Working from home means getting your priorities right

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace design

It should come as no great surprise to learn that data from Leesman, the world’s leading workplace analyst, found that the chair was seen by remote working employees as the second most important feature in creating a productive working from home environment. Cited by 90 percent of people, it was narrowly beaten into second place only by a desk or table (91 percent). A ‘mere’ 89 percent of people cited WiFi, which is what you may have assumed was the most important need of remote workers, especially given that Hierarchy of Needs meme we’ve all seen. That needs to be reworked because clearly broadband matters slightly less than comfort and safety. More →

March 25, 2022

The compadre of teleworking, with Jack Nilles

by Freddie Steele • Features, Flexible working, Podcasts

In episode four of Workplace Geeks, Chris and Ian cross seven time zones to learn from the father of teleworking and environmental activist, Jack Nilles, about the multi-disciplinary research project that led to his 1976 book ‘The Telecommunications-Transportation Trade-off: Options for Tomorrow’. Teleworking has been proven to be an effective and valued part of hybrid working solutions since the 1970s. The barriers to implementation are rarely, if ever, technological or economic: they are cultural, often specifically managerial, and always have been. Despite this, tried and tested change methodologies can overcome these challenges. Now, more than ever, we need to embrace the many benefits of teleworking, not just for organizational and personal gain, but also as part of our strategies to address the climate emergency. More →

March 21, 2022

Remote work one of the emergency measures that could cut energy use, says IEA

by Neil Franklin • Environment, Flexible working, News

In the face of the emerging global energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, practical actions by governments and citizens in advanced economies and beyond can achieve significant reductions in oil demand in a matter of months, reducing the risk of a major supply crunch, according to new analysis released by the International Energy Agency. These efforts, including the uptake of remote work, would reduce the pain being felt by consumers around the world, lessen the economic damage, shrink Russia’s hydrocarbon revenues, and help move oil demand towards a more sustainable pathway, the IEA claims.