Search Results for: remote working

Workers spend less time on social media and non-work technology in a bid to restore work life balance

Workers spend less time on social media and non-work technology in a bid to restore work life balance 0

by • News, Technology

According to a new survey by job site CV-Library, over two thirds of workers (67.4 percent) don’t use social media whilst at work, and of those that do, the majority (45 percent) will only do so for up to 15 minutes. The study surveyed 1,200 workers on their opinions around technology in the workplace, and whether it is a distraction or an enabler to professionals. Interestingly, the survey claims that despite 56.1 percent admitting that they use smart phones while they’re at work, the majority (79.8 percent) do not use technology to do personal tasks during work hours. Many 0f the respondents cite the desire for a better work life balance as the main reason for their behaviour.

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Facilities managers should become “gardeners” rather than architects, claims report

Facilities managers should become “gardeners” rather than architects, claims report 0

by • Facilities management, News

A new white paper from ’boutique’ facilities management firm Anabas. It claims that the proliferation of diverse office environments and agile working means that facilities managers must develop a greater insight into the behaviour of people to help them deliver. The report, What Type of Office Worker Are you?, claims that it ‘helps to rediscover what it means to be human in the workplace and takes us back to the beginning by focusing on understanding individual behaviours, work styles and how they influence interaction within the workplace itself. It examines the importance of people in the workplace and discusses the ‘work style formula’ of – Culture + Mobility + Temperament – demonstrating how this can guide behaviours. It also claims to identify four main types of worker based on brain chemistry; Pioneers, Guardians, Drivers and Integrators and how despite the differences, each is driven in the same way, by the environment.

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How the fourth industrial revolution might help to solve the challenges of mobility and migration

How the fourth industrial revolution might help to solve the challenges of mobility and migration 0

by • Flexible working, News, Technology

The already cack-handed Brexit negotiations and the ongoing saga of President Trump’s ‘wall’ have ensured that the issue of migration has stayed at the top of the political agenda so far this year. Yet, one potentially significant factor that has stayed out of the headlines so far is the potential for people to migrate digitally across nations and the globe. The World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Migration, in conjunction with Remote.co, has now published a report into the subject called Mobile Minds: An Alternative to Physical Migration in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The white paper claims to outline the benefits of, and challenges associated with, cross-border remote hiring. Led by Rajeeb Dey, Tolu Olubunmi, and Sara Sutton Fell, the goal of Mobile Minds is to explore the global impact of remote work as it relates to both the mobility of the twenty-first century workforce and workplace.

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Employers in industries reliant on overseas workers will be hardest hit by Brexit

Employers in industries reliant on overseas workers will be hardest hit by Brexit 0

by • News, Workplace

Brexit MigrationAccommodation and food services, manufacturing, and transport industries will be hardest hit by limits on movement of EU and non-EU workers following Brexit, a new report has claimed. The latest edition of Mercer’s Workforce Monitor has highlighted how reliant certain sectors of the UK economy have become on EU-born and non-EU born workers, as respectively, 33 percent, 23 percent and 20 percent of accommodation and food services, manufacturing, and transport are made up of non-UK-born nationals, meaning companies in those sectors, and those reliant on them, are especially at risk from the changes in the UK’s migration policy. According to Gary Simmons, Partner at Mercer, “Since 2013, the UK-born workforce has been declining as people retire and we can see how reliant certain industries are on overseas workers filling the gaps. The UK is likely to impose more stringent migration controls in the future and this will reduce the number of overseas workers available.”

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In a crowd of truths, we can discern and reclaim what it means to be human

In a crowd of truths, we can discern and reclaim what it means to be human 0

by • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace design

This is the second of two responses to an excellent article by Antony Slumbers, the first being this perspective from my mirrored room, in this instance offering that his views offer a far too presumptive picture of how technology will shape our work future. The paragraph headlines are from Antony’s original article. One person’s optimism is another’s pessimism. A decade ago the dream of liberated commute-free teleworking was, to many, the nightmare of enforced seclusion to the soundtrack of the dishwasher. The deployment of robots for the performance of menial tasks creating time and wealth for leisure is another’s horror at the loss of employment and resultant anomic fragmentation and decay. The fatally pointless optimism of Candide’s Dr Pangloss was agnostic in regard to every such outcome. It was positive only because there could be no alternative, and therefore no better alternative.

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The impact of technology on corporate real estate: A Panglossian future?

The impact of technology on corporate real estate: A Panglossian future? 0

by • Features, Property, Technology, Workplace design

arton233Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman introduced the concept of Loss Aversion in 1984, highlighting people’s tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Most studies suggest that losses are twice as powerful, psychologically, as gains. Lose £100 and we will feel a remorse that easily outweighs winning £100. In a similar fashion we find it very hard to see future positives when confronted with short term loses. We understand easily what we have lost but cannot imagine what there is to be gained. Furthermore, as Frederic Bastiat wrote in an 1850 paper, “That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen”, man has a tendency to “pursue a small present good, which will be followed by a great evil to come, rather than a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil”. Put these together and it is no wonder that, by and large, the future of work, corporate real estate and the workplace is so widely misunderstood.

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The facts about sit stand work are already lost in the stream of narrative

The facts about sit stand work are already lost in the stream of narrative 0

by • Comment, Knowledge, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Toss a sliver of information into the great stream of accepted public narrative and see what happens to it. There it goes, briefly visible on the surface then consumed; part of the stream but no longer to be seen. A perfect example of this is provided by a recent piece of research carried out by the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health into the effects of standing at work on a small sample of call centre workers. While the results of the study are impressive, notably a 46 percent increase in productivity, by the time the story was reported on Inc.com, the 167 call centre workers had suddenly morphed into ‘everybody’. It should go without saying that the headline ‘Your Productivity Will Increase by 46 percent if You Stand at Your Desk’ does not reflect the conclusions of the original research. The statements by the researchers suggesting that the study is significant with regard to call centre staff but merely indicative of a wider issue go ignored.

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The global uberification of commercial property and the workplace

The global uberification of commercial property and the workplace 0

by • Facilities management, Features, Property, Technology, Workplace design

uberificationTechnology doesn’t just transform the world, it reshapes our language. So, we all need to get used to the word uberification as well as the idea of it. Based on the success of the on demand taxi service Uber, the word refers to the way a product or service becomes available to customers on demand via the Internet. Customers book a service only at the point of consumption. This represents an entirely new commercial model and is the defining characteristic of the new 21st Century economy. Uber may have provided the tipping point, going from start up to market valuation of $66 billion in just 7 years, but its success has given us a name for a process that is reshaping businesses and customer experiences across the entire economy, including in the commercial property sector.

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Home workers take fewer sick days than office based colleagues

Home workers take fewer sick days than office based colleagues 0

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace

home workersWorking from home has long been branded ‘shirking from home’ but a new survey suggests that home workers actually take fewer sick days. The research by CartridgePeople.com and published in the SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) Workers Report, found that home workers are not only happier but they are also healthier than their workplace-based counterparts – taking an average of 2.4 sick days per year, in comparison to the 2.6 taken by those working from company premises. Of course, that doesn’t tell us if they are in fact healthier, or that they’re more prepared to carry out their work duties from the comfort of their bed. But the survey of 1,096 British workers, including both home workers and those who work from their employers’ premises, also revealed that the majority of workers (60 percent) did feel happier when working from home.

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Workers spend just a third of their time performing their actual job

Workers spend just a third of their time performing their actual job 0

by • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

jobIn the ongoing quest for workplace productivity the fact people spend too much time checking their emails has recently been noted, but it seems that workers are so frequently distracted in the workplace that only 38 percent of their time is actually spent on performing their primary job duties. A survey by Workfront claims the top three things that get in the way of work include: wasteful meetings (62 percent), excessive emails (52 percent), and excessive oversight (39 percent). A quarter (26 percent) of workers said uninterrupted blocks of time would help them be more productive at work, followed by more efficient work process (26 percent), and more/better qualified people and resources (19 percent). And over two third (37 percent) of office workers agree that email will no longer be the main mode of communication in five years, with over half (57 percent) saying that the majority of workers will work remotely in the coming years.

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Are we seeing the workification of home or the homification of work?

Are we seeing the workification of home or the homification of work? 0

by • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

flexible workingThinking and theories about working environments continue to be much debated, of course. As part of this ongoing discussion, Bisley recently hosted an event at its London showroom to continue the aspects of the debate that focus on how offices seem to be morphing in to homes, and how our homes are, conversely, functioning as places of work. The panel discussion was led by Professor Jeremy Myerson of The Royal College of Art and WORKTECH Academy. He was joined by Kirstin Furber – People Director at BBC Worldwide, Sebastian Conran – a leading product and furniture designer, David Barrett – Head Buyer of Living, Dining and Home Office at John Lewis and Amelia Coward – Founder and Creative Director at Bombus.com.

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Perils of sitting + Meeting change with resilience + Root causes of stress 0

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, Furniture, Insight Briefings, Newsletter, Wellbeing, Workplace

Insight_twitter_logo_2In this week’s Newsletter; Gary Chandler argues we are witnessing a new era for office design; Neil Franklin wonders who fares best when working remotely; Mark Eltringham unpicks the facts from fiction on the dangers of sitting; suggests the ways we can break ourselves out of groupthink and delves into a report which suggests order and disorder are perfectly functional ways for firms to operate. The overwhelming majority of UK employees are working beyond their contracted hours; employers’ views on the causes of workplace stress differ from employees; managers struggle with the fall-out from crises; and despite the prospect of a female PM, the boardroom remains out of reach for many business women. Download our new Briefing, produced in partnership with Boss Design on the link between culture and workplace strategy and design; visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

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