February 13, 2019

Stark levels of stress among small business owners as they struggle to stay solvent

Chronic work-related stress has risen sharply among small business owners, with a fifth of small business owners look to taking a job elsewhere to stay afloat this year. This is according to new research from AXA, which reveals that many are adopting short-term planning and cutting reliance on external funding ahead of Brexit. Staying agile and light is a common strategy, but may not give businesses the best chance of survival if financial cushions are not in place too. The study finds a sharp increase in financial anxiety amongst business owners. Over the course of 2018, those reporting they felt chronically stressed about their businesses increased by almost 50 percent, reaching 29 percent by year end. (more…)

February 12, 2019

Lack of cohesion in many organisations on adoption of digital workplace

by Sara Bean • AI, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology

The majority of organisations (58 percent) do not have a have a clearly defined strategy in place when it comes to adopting and integrating digital workspace technology which suggests that implementing and making use of such technology is still being carried out in something of a haphazard manner. The findings of the research are summarised in SoftwareONE’s Building a Lean, Mean, Digital Machine report, which also claims that, despite the fact that almost all organisations (99 percent) employ some form of digital workspace technology, respondents have encountered a host of challenges when it comes to using them. These include higher security risks (cited by 47 percent) and a lack of employee knowledge in how best to use the solutions (45 percent). (more…)

February 11, 2019

TUC calls for a complete ban on zero hours contracts

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Zero-hours workers are more than twice as likely to work night shifts than other workers, according to new analysis published by the TUC. The analysis shows that on a range of key measures, zero-hours workers are having a tougher time those in secure employment. The TUC is now calling on the Government to ban zero hours contracts and do more to help people who work anti-social hours. (more…)

February 8, 2019

Post digital era offers the chance to create personalised experiences at work

by Neil Franklin • AI, News, Technology

The enterprise is entering a new “post-digital” era, where success will be based on an organisation’s ability to master a set of new technologies that can deliver personalised realities and experiences for customers, employees and business partners, according to the Accenture Technology Vision 2019 annual report that sets out to predict the key technology trends that will redefine businesses over the next three years. (more…)

February 8, 2019

Finding the Goldilocks Point for collaborative workplace design

by Jonathan Hindle • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

One of the great paradoxes of modern life is the ever increasing likelihood of breakdowns in communication in a world in which we have more ways to talk to each other than ever before. This can play out in especially toxic ways in the wider world, but its effects in the workplace can also be problematic. Most importantly, what we often assume to be true about communication and collaboration may not be borne out by the facts and this in turn has implications for workplace design.

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February 7, 2019

Maybe the time has come to shoot the workplace messenger

by Rob Harris • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace design

I spent some time with Frank Duffy recently, releasing a stream of memories of working with him, first as an employee at DEGW during the 1980s, and then as a client while directing developer Stanhope’s research programme during the 1990s. Along with his long-term business partner, John Worthington, and thinkers including Franklin Becker, Gerald Davis, Michael Joroff and Jack Tanis, to name a few, Frank helped sketch out the grand scheme of what we now call ‘workplace’. Much of the work of their successors has involved filling in the matrix of detail within the grand scheme. But further reflection has caused me to ask whether, in filling in the finer details, we have recently somehow lost our way. Are we, the ‘workplace profession’, instead of standing on giants’ shoulders, now just pandering to fads and fancies? Or, even more radical, might it be that ‘workplace’ is now done, and that we’ve run out of meaningful things to say? (more…)

February 5, 2019

UK cities joining the global movement to net zero building

by Natasha Stokes • Cities, Environment, Features

The UK is joining a global drive towards a ‘net zero carbon’ future, with its biggest cities setting ambitious decarbonisation targets in an effort to reduce their impact on the environment. Manchester plans to be a carbon-neutral city by 2038, while Bristol aims for full decarbonisation by 2030. In London, all new buildings will be net zero carbon by 2030, as the UK strives to meet targets set by the Paris Climate Agreement.

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February 4, 2019

Businesses need to build far more employee trust in their use of workforce data

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace

Business leaders need to improve the way they implement and communicate responsible workforce data strategies if they are to build the employee trust that will help generate sustained revenue growth, according to a new report from Accenture. The report, Decoding Organizational DNA, is based on qualitative and quantitative research, including global surveys of 1,400 C-level executives and 10,000 workers across 13 industries.

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February 1, 2019

Are these the 2019 Top Employers to work for in the UK

by Neil Franklin • Company news, Wellbeing, Workplace

The Top Employers Institute, a certifier recognising employers that provide world-class employee conditions, has released its list of Certified UK Top Employers for 2019. Over 600 HR professionals gathered at London’s Hilton on Park Lane, on the 31st January 2019, to recognise the best employers in the UK. (more…)

February 1, 2019

UK employees confident they will benefit from a ‘buyers’ market for talent

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

This year is set to be a ‘buyers’ market’ for the UK’s top professionals, as the nation’s war for talent intensifies. This is according to new research from Robert Half UK, which found that nearly a third (32 percent) of those surveyed believe their skillset will be more desirable over the coming months – even against the current economic and political climate – as the supply/demand imbalance of the UK’s top talent heightens. The current skills in demand include data analysis and digital skills, as well as softer skills such as adaptability, resilience and critical thinking to help complement the evolution of the workplace. (more…)

January 31, 2019

Forty percent of UK businesses have experienced cyber security breach in past year

by Sara Bean • AI, Facilities management, News, Technology

Forty percent of UK businesses have experienced cyber security breach in past year Well over a third (40 percent) of UK businesses have experienced a cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months, according to new government figures as it announces the UK is set to become a world leader in the race to eradicate some of the most damaging cyber security threats. The Business Secretary Greg Clark has promised that increased security and protections will be built into digital devices and online services with the help of up to £70 million in government investment through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and backed by further investment from industry.

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January 30, 2019

Workers do not take week and a half of holiday allowance each year

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

The dreary January weather can prompt many workers to dream of sunnier climates and start booking their holidays for the year. However, a new survey by consultancy Lee Hecht Harrison Penna claims that UK workers are not using up all of their holiday allowance. By the end of last year, employees had more than a week (7.5 days) of annual leave they had not taken.