June 11, 2019

What is workplace technology really for, anyway?

It’s a hot day on the Savannah, and our hero Jon picks up the tool that he uses to hunt and cut his food, and marches across the plain to complete the next big task of the day—survival. Even though Jon lived 2.5 million years before basic writing was developed, the tools he’s invented are the difference between eating or starving. Jon is one smart Ape, and he wasn’t even doing it for likes or followers. Of course, big Jon’s tool is not workplace technology as you might think about it, but it is in the truest sense. More →

June 11, 2019

The lack of female role models in STEM

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

A new study claims there is a serious lack of female role models within STEM (science, tech, engineering, maths), leaving a generation of girls without inspiration and identifiable routes to pursue careers in science and tech. In fact, the research from jobs board CWJobs claims that UK workers in STEM are at a loss when it comes to naming key role models in their industry. Despite working in a STEM field, these professionals are more likely to recognise the Big Bang Theory’s Dr Sheldon Cooper over celebrated real-life scientists and mathematicians. More →

June 7, 2019

On target for a toxic workplace culture

by Nick Pye • Comment, Workplace

Setting clear and bold targets has become part of leadership 101. We take it for granted that the first action for anyone taking over the helm of a business or team is to state or re-state targets. The rise of “management by objectives” in the 1970s drove the initial focus on target-setting and, in line with shoulder pads and lapel width, the 1990s saw a shift in management culture to ‘bigger is always better’. In 1994 Jim Collins and Jerry Porras wrote their highly influential best seller Built to Last. In it, they memorably wrote of the power of BHAGs – big, hairy, audacious goals. Targets were no longer for hitting but represented something bigger, a longer-term vision of the future.

June 6, 2019

In defence of open plan office design

by Elizabeth Mixson • Features, Workplace design

Noisy, distracting, toxic and disastrous. These are just a few words that have been used to describe open plan office layouts. Though the open office layout model was originally conceived to promote collaboration, innovation and stronger workplace relationship, if recent press is to be believed, it’s had the opposite effect at many companies. More →

May 29, 2019

Biophilia in the corporate HQ: an historical perspective

by Guzman de Yarza Blache • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, Features, Workplace design

In recent years, the concept of biophilia and the inclusion of greenery in the working environment has captured the media’s attention, which has depicted it as an important aspect of wellbeing in the workplace, seemingly the crucial indicator of a great office. For this reason, and beyond the superficial or cosmetic use of plants in the office, I would like to analyse the relationship between nature and the corporate world from a historical perspective in an effort to understand the role of greenery within the architecture of the corporate headquarters.

May 28, 2019

Number of over-70s in work doubles

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace

Record numbers of over-70s are choosing work over retirement, according to new analysis from Rest Less, a membership community site in the UK to offer work and volunteering opportunities specifically targeted at the over 50s. Using bespoke data provided to Rest Less by the Office for National Statistics, Rest Less’s analysis claims that the number of over-70s in full or part-time employment has been steadily rising year on year over the past 10 years, reaching a peak of 497,946 in the first quarter of this year – an increase of 286,000 or 135 per cent since 2009. Today, nearly 1 in 12 (8.1 percent) of those in their 70s are working, a significant increase from the 1 in 22 (4.5 percent) there were 10 years ago.

May 27, 2019

Milan named as best city in world for wellbeing

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Wellbeing

Milan has been named the 2019 Wellbeing City as part of the Wellbeing City Award, which claims to be the first global award recognising city-led action. Five Award Laureate Cities have been announced as part of the Award and will be honoured at The Wellbeing Cities Forum in Montréal on June 19, 2019. The annual Award has been developed by NewCities in partnership with the Novartis Foundation, the Novartis US Foundation, and in collaboration with the City of Montréal, Toyota Mobility Foundation, Transdev, and the US Green Building Council. More →

May 23, 2019

Boosting low carbon building renovation across Europe

by George Eltringham • Cities, News

Today, the World Green Building Council’s European network, in collaboration with eight cities and partners announced the launch of Build Upon, the next phase of what it claims is the world’s largest collaborative project on building renovation. With cities across the world declaring climate emergencies and climate action high up on the agenda for the European elections, this European Union (EU) funded project will empower cities across Europe to join forces with national governments and industry to decarbonise their existing building stock by 2050 and so increase the proportion of low carbon building across Europe. More →

May 22, 2019

Young people increasingly sceptical about work and institutions

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

Younger people across the world are increasingly disillusioned with traditional institutions, sceptical of business’ motives and pessimistic about economic and social progress, according to the 2019 Deloitte Millennial Survey. The survey claims that despite global economic growth, expansion and opportunity, younger generations are wary about the world and their place in it. But they remain hopeful and lean on their values as both consumers and employees. More →

May 21, 2019

Overconfidence can be misinterpreted as competence, claims study

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace

The higher a person rates their social class, the more likely they are to overestimate their talents and the more likely they are to be promoted to a level beyond their competence, a new study from researchers at Stanford and the University of Virginia claims. According to the study published by the American Psychological Association in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, people who see themselves as being in a higher social class tend to have an exaggerated belief that they are more adept than their equally capable lower-class counterparts, and that overconfidence can often be misinterpreted by others as greater competence in important situations, such as job interviews.

May 21, 2019

Calls for urgent reform of skills policy development and implementation

by George Eltringham • Legal news, News

City & Guilds Group is calling on Government to urgently rethink how skills and education policy in the UK is designed and delivered, in light of a new report launched by the Group today. Sense and Instability 2019 finds that important lessons from the implementation of skills policy over several decades have not been learned, meaning badly-needed training and education programmes are not fit for purpose or delivering the right results for people, businesses and the economy.
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May 9, 2019

People find connected devices creepy and intrusive

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

A survey conducted in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, France and the United Kingdom by IPSOS Mori on behalf of the Internet Society and Consumers International found that around two thirds (65 percent) of people are concerned with the way connected devices collect data. More than half (55 percent) do not trust their connected devices to protect their privacy and a similar proportion (53 percent) do not trust connected devices to handle their information responsibly.