Search Results for: security

August 3, 2017

The most successful business leaders adopt a courageous approach to technology and the future of work

Software consultancy ThoughtWorks has published a new report which claims that the best business leaders share a particular approach to the running of their organisations that the report characterises as ‘courage’. The Next Big Disruption: Courageous Executives claims to revealing what sets top business leaders apart from their competition. The report profiles a segment of leaders referred to as “Courageous Executives” in the US, the UK, Australia and India and the findings ‘underscore the critical role technology plays in business strategy, from navigating the chaos of digital transformation to how they’re setting their business up for future success.’ The report also claims to shed light on the leadership styles of Courageous Executives including their tolerance for risk and failure, their use of customer insights and the ways leaders in all four countries are preparing for the future of work.

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August 2, 2017

Certain staff a ‘major block’ to adoption of new technology in local government

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Public Sector, Technology

Some individuals within local government are holding back tech to preserve the status quo – a new survey suggests. According to the research, these people feel threatened by new technology and believe it will be disruptive to their ways of working. While the survey by 8×8 of staff working in local government suggested a significant appetite for new technology, more than a fifth (22 percent) say certain individuals are holding back tech adoption to preserve the status quo. This view is more prevalent amongst those in IT procurement, where more than a third (35 percent) believe colleagues are standing in the way of technology because it will disrupt what they already have in place. Only 51 percent of respondents believe senior management understand the importance of new technology and just 21 percent think they invest enough money to stay up to date with the latest developments. This contrasts with the private sector, where over half (56 percent) believe there is sufficient investment in new technology.

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July 19, 2017

UK government publishes update on physical and digital infrastructure spending

by Mark Eltringham • News, Public Sector, Technology

The UK Government’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) has published its 2016 to 17 annual report on major projects, reporting 143 major projects on the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP), worth £455.5 billion and spread across 17 government departments. The report is in support of the IPA’s ongoing purpose ‘to improve the way infrastructure and major projects are delivered and the government’s commitment to transparency and delivering public services effectively and efficiently’. Projects currently on the GMPP reflect the government’s priorities; ‘making our infrastructure fit for the 21st Century, maintaining the security of the realm and modernising and digitising our public services’. The spending also updates progress on spending on faster broadband and connectivity as the UK continues to play catch up on digital infrastructure.

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July 12, 2017

The world has its say on the Taylor Review into modern working practices ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Legal news

Yesterday, the much-awaited Taylor Review into modern working practices was finally published. And by modern working practices, the report focussed primarily on what has become known as the gig economy. People have been speculating about the contents of the report for months and things ramped up last week after a partial leak to the media. So, things were already bubbling under nicely before the actual publication of the document brought things to a boil yesterday. Assuming the government do more than kick the whole thing into the long grass, always a possibility, debate will continue for a while. We’ll let politicians do their thing with it, but here are a few of the initial reactions from interested parties and the experts. (more…)

July 11, 2017

Taylor Review on Modern Working Practices and the gig economy is published ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The long awaited UK government commissioned report into modern working practices and the so-called gig economy has been published at last. The Taylor Review was commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy last year and there has been a great deal of speculation regarding its content ever since, especially last week after parts were apparently leaked to the media. You can follow the pile in now on Twitter and the festering pits of ignorance, prejudice and bile known as newspaper comment sections. Or you can read it here before you draw your own conclusions. We’ll be having our say tomorrow and sharing the thoughts of various organisations into its contents. The report was authored by Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the RSA and considers the implications of new forms of working, especially with regard to the gig economy and freelance work on worker rights and responsibilities, as well as on employer freedoms and obligations. It sets out seven key principles to address the challenges facing the UK labour market, set out below.

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July 10, 2017

Acas reveals majority of helpline callers on zero hours contracts feel unfairly excluded ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Acas’ helpline receives many callers working on a zero hours, agency or self-employed arrangement who do so out of necessity rather than by choice, with some people feeling taken advantage of and unfairly excluded from employment rights. In its response to the Matthew Taylor review on modern employment practices the Acas Council looked at calls to its employment helpline, which revealed confusion and uncertainty around employment status and rights for those involved in the non-standard types of working. Prompted by evidence that these types of working arrangements are on the rise Acas has also published a new discussion paper on non-standard or ‘atypical’ forms of work, and identifies areas where good practice can be encouraged and improved. The discussion paper, Ain’t that typical? Everyday challenges for an atypical workforce, also reveals that the practice of ‘zeroing down’ workers’ hours is used in some workplaces to discourage staff from raising concerns or asserting rights.

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July 10, 2017

Improved employment rights would boost number of gig workers claims PwC survey ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Legal news, News

While most workers favour full time employment, significant numbers of people would consider gig work and other flexible options such as zero hours contracts, according to a PwC survey of more than 2,000 UK adults. But key concerns remain job security, the ability to earn sufficient income and losing out on workplace benefits. The findings come ahead of the much anticipated Taylor Review into Modern Employment practices, expected this week. While 77 percent of the people surveyed prefer full time employment, 45 percent of the respondents would consider gig work (defined as short-term, casual work, typically organised or facilitated via mobile phone apps) or already work in this way. This number would rise if employment rights improved significantly, with two in five people saying it would make them more likely to take up gig work. Flexible options are most popular with ‘millennials’ – some 58 percent of 18-34 yr olds would consider taking gig work compared with 30 percent of those over 55. Likewise, while zero hours contracts would be considered by 35 percent of respondents overall, 45 percent of millennials say they would take a zero hours contract., falling to just 24 percent of over 55s.

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July 5, 2017

Minimum wage should be extended to the self employed and gig economy ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News

The government should extend minimum wage legislation to protect some of the UK’s 4.8 million self employed workforce as part of its drive to tackle low pay and insecurity in the modern workforce, according to a new report published by the Resolution Foundation. The Minimum Required? – which forms part of the Resolution Foundation’s submission to the Taylor Review on modern employment practices – sets out a number of proposals to tackle endemic levels of low pay among the self-employed. Its new analysis claims that that while around in one in five employees are low-paid (earning less than two-thirds of typical weekly earnings), last year around half of the full-time self-employed workforce (49 percent) fell below this threshold, earning less than £310 a week.

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June 29, 2017

Major global study identifies the priorities of students and their most favoured potential employers ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

A new study of 290,000 students worldwide claims that the majority studying business, engineering and IT would prefer to work for medium sized businesses and that they have a very clear idea about the sort of employer they would like to work for. The World’s Most Attractive Employers (WMAE) study from employer branding consultancy Universum Global is now in its 9th year and draws on data from the world’s 12 largest economies to rank the companies students find most desirable for employment. Overall, the majority of students (74 percent) reported that they would prefer to work for a company with fewer than one thousand employees. A larger proportion of talent from Germany, France, and Brazil would prefer to work for larger employers, but overall talent in these markets also said they would prefer to work for smaller firms. For business and engineering / IT students in all countries excluding Russia, India and Germany, work/life balance remains the overall top career goal. Results reveal Russian students in both fields of study still prefer job security, while Indian students in both fields of study are far more interested in having an international career than they are in other career goals.

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June 22, 2017

Shared desks are less hygienic than dedicated workstations, claims study ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

A study by Initial Washroom Hygiene claims that microbiological activity is 18 percent higher in ‘hot desking’ environment. The firm claims that these findings suggest that having germs from different people on the surface of shared desks, computer mice and other equipment, means these workstations are typically home to more bacteria. The swabbing study was conducted using one company of over 100 employees with a fixed-desk environment. The same company then moved to a hot-desking environment, and the study was repeated in the same manner four months later. Experts from used an ATP bioluminescence reader to measure the microbiological concentration of various items on 40 different workstations, to determine what levels of bacteria these surfaces were harbouring. On average, the readings in the hot-desking office were 18 percent higher than those in the fixed-desk office. The use of communal computer mice in the hot-desk scenario was a key contributor to the difference in hygiene levels. Shared mice in the hot-desking environment had a 41 percent higher microbiological reading compared to readings taken from the computer mice on the fixed-desks.

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June 21, 2017

Report sets out costliest cities for mobile workforce of multinationals ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News

In a rapidly changing world, mobility has become a core component of companies’ global talent strategy and as a result, multinational organisations are carefully assessing the cost of packages for their international mobile workforce, claims a new report which sets out the costs of living in the world’s major cities. Mercer’s 23rd annual Cost of Living Survey finds that factors like instability of housing markets and inflation for goods and services contribute to the overall cost of doing business in today’s global environment. Mercer’s 2017 Cost of Living Survey finds Asian and European cities – particularly Hong Kong (2), Tokyo (3), Zurich (4), and Singapore (5) – top the list of most expensive cities for expatriates. The costliest city, driven by cost of goods and security, is Luanda (1), the capital of Angola. Other cities appearing in the top 10 of Mercer’s costliest cities for expatriates are Seoul (6), Geneva (7), Shanghai (8), New York City (9), and Bern (10). The world’s least expensive cities for expatriates, according to Mercer’s survey, are Tunis (209), Bishkek (208), and Skopje (206).

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June 20, 2017

The self employed have to rely on each other as government offers almost no support ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News

The self employed are turning to one another for business and financial support, according to new analysis by the RSA think-tank. Commissioned by the Federation of Small Business (FSB) to examine how self-employed workers might manage the risks they face, the RSA report claims that growing numbers of workers are turning to collective sick-pay funds to manage ill health, cash pooling schemes to deal with late payments and micro-loan services to plug gaps in bank finance. The RSA’s report, The Self Organising Self Employed concludes that, to date, both the state and the market have struggled to keep pace with the rising numbers of the self employed. Although successive governments have been vocal in their admiration of people who strike it out alone, holding up their attributes as ‘self-starters’ and ‘strivers’, this had led to a ‘non-interventionist, hands-off policy agenda, with the self employed broadly left to their own devices’.