Search Results for: remote working

Get ready for the next wave of technological innovation, or get left behind

Get ready for the next wave of technological innovation, or get left behind

by • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Technology

devil takes the hindmost facilities managementThe natural world is a story of constant change and evolution. Animals, plants, insects and micro-organisms exist in an ecosystem, adapting to relentless changes in their environment, influenced by habitat, climate and their cohabitors. They respond to change faster than the human world, because they are not tied by the same restraints and conventions. They are interdependent and reliant on each other, competitors and cohabitors for mutual advantage. As humans move into what has been called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there is much we can learn from nature, particularly within the workplace environment. The transformation of an organisation’s real estate, facilities management, IT and HR functions into a workplace ecosystem, as proposed by the Stoddart Review, has been discussed for some time.

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Why new technology can still make employees happier, healthier and more efficient

Why new technology can still make employees happier, healthier and more efficient

by • AI, Comment, Flexible working, Lighting, Technology, Wellbeing

New technology can still make employees happier and more efficient

For many years, we became used to new technology being treated with excitement. Essentially, people thought technology made their lives better. More recently this consensus has been tested. On a very practical level, there is growing concern about the impact of everyday technology. ‘Screen-time’ has become a byword for anxiety and disengagement from the real world. Meanwhile, there is trepidation about the impact of future technology, such as the automation of jobs. Whilst caution is needed, there is a danger that we are forgetting the many benefits technology can bring. As an example, look to the workplace. Already, offices are gaining hugely from technology that benefits employee wellness and productivity.  However, we have only just begun to feel its impact. A ‘fast’ office may sound like an oxymoron. A building isn’t going to win a 100-metre race. Yet fast offices, which allow employees to control their immediate environment, are becoming increasingly common.

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Line up of speakers announced for Workplace Trends: Research Spring Summit

Line up of speakers announced for Workplace Trends: Research Spring Summit

by • Events, Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace design

The research-driven Workplace Trends Spring Summit returns for 2019. We have two sessions with invited guest speakers, our keynote and the after lunch debate. Following a recent Call for Abstracts and a blind peer review by our two moderators for the day, Nigel Oseland (Workplace Unlimited) and Mark Eltringham (Workplace Insight), the remaining sessions have now been filled with the highest ranked submissions.

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Employers struggling to attract skills needed for digitalised workplace

Employers struggling to attract skills needed for digitalised workplace

by • AI, News, Technology, Workplace

Employers struggling to attract skills needed for digitalised workplaceMore than half of CEOs (53 percent) admit they can’t find candidates with the necessary skills to help them navigate an increasingly digitalised business landscape a new survey from Robert Half has claimed. These include data analysis and digital skills, as well as softer skills such as resilience, adaptability to change and critical thinking. This means that nearly five million UK SMEs, the equivalent to four out of every five (82 percent) small and medium-sized companies, are struggling to attract the skills they need. As a result, many are being forced to offer salary packages higher than originally expected to recruit the right talent. (more…)

Many UK freelancers feel lonely and isolated following leap to self-employment

Many UK freelancers feel lonely and isolated following leap to self-employment

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

The solo self-employed are now a vital element of the UK economy, contributing around £271 billion to the government’s coffers in 2017, of which around £125–140 billion came from freelancers. But with some predicting that by 2020, half of the workforce will be freelancing, we need to take an objective look at the world of self-employment and tackle its challenges head-on, giving freelancers the tools and skills they need to work effectively — and happily.

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Optimal workplace productivity gains could add £39.8 billion to British and Irish economies

Optimal workplace productivity gains could add £39.8 billion to British and Irish economies

by • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace design

The United Kingdom could reshape its economic future and unlock its share of £39.8 billion in untapped GDP if organisations were to ‘optimise their workplaces’, according to a new study by Ricoh and Oxford Economics, titled The Economy of People (registration required). The UK could achieve a 1.8 percent increase in GDP, equal to £36.8 billion, which could pay for the cost of Brexit twice with change to spare. Similarly, the Irish economy could expand by 1.0 percent, or £3 billion, if businesses commit to creating the optimal office. The findings from The Economy of People are based on forecasts of how productivity in various industries will improve, if investment in workplaces makes them optimal for those that work there and their employers. Surveys and interviews were conducted with employees and executives to uncover how workplace elements, such as culture, physical workspace and technology affect performance and productivity.

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Lack of effort by UK employers to retain staff is increasing talent turnover

Lack of effort by UK employers to retain staff is increasing talent turnover

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Lack of effort by UK employers to retain staff is resulting in high talent turnover

UK employers are facing increasing levels of staff turnover with one in seven (14 percent), or roughly 4.5 million employees predicted to seek a new job in near future, according to research carried out by Robert Half UK. Employers have registered this shift with almost three in five (61 percent) reporting an increase in voluntary employee turnover in the last three years. The research also showed that over half (51 percent) expect employee turnover to increase in the next three years. Yet many businesses still fail to employ basic retention initiatives. Only half (47 percent) of organisations run training and development programmes to help build employees’ skills and support career development, while most don’t have any programmes in place to support employee wellbeing or reward performance. Organisations are also missing out on valuable insight from their departing employees, with more than four in five (83 percent) failing to undertake exit interviews.

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Two fifths of people think their jobs will be obsolete within a decade

Two fifths of people think their jobs will be obsolete within a decade

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A new survey from job site Jobbio claims that more than two fifths of British workers think their job will be obsolete in as little as ten years, compared to over a third of those in the US. Respondents believe roles such as travel agents, telemarketers and factory workers will all disappear. in the longer term, a little over two-fifths of 2,000 British respondents (41 percent) think that they won’t be able to retire until the ages of 70-74 in 2050 with less than a fifth (14 percent) thinking they will get to retire under the age of 65. The survey focuses on the issue of happiness and what makes people happy at work. It found that there are some marked differences between the two countries although people are universally keen to address the issue of work life balance.

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Poor management driving nearly half of UK workforce to seek a new job

Poor management driving nearly half of UK workforce to seek a new job

by • News, Workplace

Nearly half of the UK workforce (47 percent) will be looking for a new job in 2018, with nearly 1 in 5 people already actively searching for opportunities, according to new research produced by Investors in People (IIP) in their annual Job Exodus Survey 2018. These findings highlight an improvement in satisfaction across the UK job market according to IIP, representing a fall of 12 percent on last year’s figure, where 59 percent of respondents stated the intention to seek a new job. However, despite the reduction in the proportion of those considering a job move, there are still nearly 1 in 4 unhappy workers.

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Most US employees will work and stay in touch with colleagues during the holiday season

by • Flexible working, News, Technology, Wellbeing

Over Christmas and New Year, 43 percent of US workers say they plan to take a holiday, and of that group, roughly half — or 21 percent of all workers — will completely disconnect from work. Meanwhile, 22 percent of workers will be taking a holiday but checking in with work via email or other means. These findings, from a poll of over 500 people from earlier this month claims that the majority of workers will be connected to their jobs over the holidays — either because they are not taking a vacation at all or because they will check in during their vacation days. US workers are more likely to say they plan to take holiday than they were when Gallup last asked the question, at the beginning of the millennium. The 43 percent of US employees who plan to take a break this holiday season is up from about a third of workers (34 percent) in 2000.

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Time to address the missed opportunities and wasted resources of the modern workplace

by • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Rapidly changing work and workplaces. Productivity languishing below optimum levels. Staff engagement well below where it should be. Ongoing recruitment and retention challenges. All this has been building over the last couple of years; it would appear that organisations have never had it so tough. There have been plenty of tough times before, of course, but we have been witnessing something of a ‘perfect storm’ in recent months, where a whole range of issues and developments, as well as advancements and opportunities, have come together to push these challenges up the management agenda. But there are things we can do to make the workplace a better experience for everybody.

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Employees accessing workplace IT systems from holiday may be cyber security risk

Employees accessing workplace IT systems from holiday may be cyber security risk

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Employees remote working while on holiday may pose a Cyber Security riskOrganisations are taking serious security risks by allowing employees to access workplace IT systems remotely while on their summer holiday, a telecoms company has warned. According to research by the corporate IT and cyber-security arm of Deutsche Telekom, nearly a third of employees (31 percent) use free Wi-Fi hotspots, and nearly a quarter (24 percent) use them for work-related emails and documents.  These are a big danger area as they are insecure and easy for hackers to clone (getting access to all email and web traffic, including any work documents and passwords). It also warns that 28 percent of employees email work documents to and from their personal email, despite this creating numerous security problems.  Ten percent use free USB charging points at airports and stations; and these ports can be used to transfer viruses and malware to unsuspecting users. The blame cannot solely be placed on the employees though, as just 28 percent of employees have never in their working career had any cyber security training to protect themselves and their employer.

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