Search Results for: stress

March 4, 2014

By 2030 your colleagues could be old enough to be your great-grandparents

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

By 2030 four-generation or “4G” workplaces – will become increasingly common as people delay retiring, even into their 80s. Although the role of women in the workplace will strengthen, an increasing divide will mean that while highly-skilled, highly-paid professionals will push for a better work-life balance, others will experience job and income insecurity. Technology will continue to evolve, pervading work environments everywhere, with many routine tasks becoming the domain of the smart algorithm. Multi media “virtual” work presences will become the norm, and as businesses seek additional flexibility, they will decrease the size of their core workforces, instead relying on networks of project-based workers. This is all according to the Future of Work, published this week by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES). More →

February 26, 2014

Don’t assume your colleagues are making you ill; it might be the office layout

by Mark Eltringham • News

It’s probably tempting to assume that any sniffles and bugs you’ve acquired at work are the direct result of the wheezing, sneezing, coughing and general poor hygiene of your co-workers. You could be right. But a new study suggests that the building and its interior design may well be having more of an influence than you think. The research published in the journal Ergonomics and available to read in full online here, explored the correlation between seven different models of office design and absenteeism in 2,000 subjects. The results published by researchers from Stockholm University in a report called ‘Office Design’s Impact on Sick Leave Rates’ found there was a clear link between how much time people spent off work and the layout of the offices in which they work.

February 25, 2014

Musculoskeletal disorders rate highlights scale of ergonomic challenge

by Sara Bean • Comment, Facilities management, News, Workplace

More working days were lost last year to back, neck and muscle pain than any other cause. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that although there has been an overall downward trend in sickness absence in the UK over the last two decades; with 131 million days lost in 2013, down from 178 million days in 1993, at 30.6 million days lost, the greatest number of staff sick days in 2013 were due to musculoskeletal problems. Regulations and guidance relating to ergonomics in the workplace (the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992), were published over 20 years ago; and despite being amended in 2002, that’s still aeons in technology terms. The typical modern worker now routinely uses tablets, mobiles and other digital devices; whether at work, on the move or at home.

January 29, 2014

Modern romance: advice to employers on managing workplace relationships

by Pam Loch • Workplace

Despite all the cautionary tales regarding the dangers of office romance, countless employees start up relationships with co-workers every year. Whether sparks fly over the work photocopier or more likely, on a Friday night in the pub after work, the workplace still beats the internet for finding romance. The sheer number of hours we spend with colleagues together with the stresses and strains of work, can lead to close friendships that may go on to become a relationship further down the line. Research shows that couples who met at work are most likely to marry. However, the fact is that many relationships can and do fail and this is no less so for workplace relationships. Whilst clearly there are issues for the people involved to manage, it can also create headaches for employers. More →

January 21, 2014

Working from Home Week: good idea, but it doesn’t suit everyone

by Sara Bean • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

Yesterday was hyped as the most depressing day of the year, but it also marked the beginning of Working from Home Week (20-26 January 2014). The idea will resonate with anyone struggling to get out of bed and join the January commute. There are many advantages to home working; but depending on your personality and personal circumstances there are also disadvantages. Yes, you’ll avoid traffic jams/crowded trains, take the dog for a walk when you fancy and can concentrate on a project without annoying interruptions. But working from home has its disadvantages too; including feeling isolated and finding it difficult to remain motivated. Rather like those who decide to move to the country but find it’s too quiet – for some people the buzz of the workplace is vital to their productivity and wellbeing. More →

January 9, 2014

Rise in employee wellbeing initiatives in 2014, despite little evidence they work

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

Amidst the plethora of fitness and diet advice which greets the New Year comes discussions on the value of employee wellness programmes in reducing absenteeism and improving staff productivity. A solid link between the two is still to be proved and now a major new piece of US research charting the effects of a seven-year programme on thousands of employees has found that while support for staff with chronic conditions was beneficial, there was no evidence that the fitness and lifestyle component made any difference. This will do little to stem the enthusiasm for wellbeing programmes however, as consultants Towers Watson reports there will be a rise in the uptake of employee wellness programmes over the coming year. More →

December 20, 2013

Driving home for Christmas? Forget Chris Rea and try Sigur Ros

by Tess Gaze • Comment, Technology

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Six in ten commuters travel by car. This was the finding of a survey conducted by the RAC earlier this month. Inevitably a busier road leads to congestion, and therefore stress. It’s no shock to learn, according to a Sky News report, that almost half of British drivers claim to have been involved in some form, with road rage. In fact, Britain is the shamed ‘winner’ of the highest road rage (Daily Mail), a surprising truth for such a stereotypically polite-prone nation. Road rage is a worrying occurrence – both for stress levels – but also for road safety. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents attributed ‘aggressive driving’ to the deaths of 122 and the serious injury of almost 1,000 in 2011. It goes without saying, that lowering these high-stress experiences for drivers is a necessity.

December 16, 2013

Festive burnout is latest ailment to strike unwary office workers

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

As we enter the last full working week before the Christmas holidays, the reason why the office is already half empty isn’t just because staff have faked a sickie to do their Christmas shopping. Many of them may be genuinely sick – with Christmas the primary reason. The new ailment of “Festive Burnout” has been coined to mark the countdown to Christmas, as stress, exhaustion and illness begins to strike offices. According to the findings of a new investigation from AXA PPP healthcare; while one in four Brits say that Christmas is their favourite time of the year, a third tend to start their holiday feeling burnt out from the stress of the run up to the holiday break.

November 28, 2013

The future belongs to those who leave themselves choices of how to deal with it

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace

Everybody likes to talk and read about the future. It’s one of the reasons we see so many reports about what the ‘office of the future’ will look like. Often these attempts at workplace prognosis are overwhelmingly rooted in the present which might betray either a degree of timidity or lack of awareness of just how far along their standard list of trends we really are. Even when such reports appear to be bang on the money, they tend to disregard one of the most important factors we need to consider when trying to get a handle on the future, which is the need to leave ourselves choices. This is important because not only will the future be stranger than we think, but stranger than we can imagine, to paraphrase J B S Haldane.

November 26, 2013

Control over their work space helps satisfy people’s basic emotional needs

by Annie Gurton • Comment, Workplace design

In the second of two pieces to mark the seventieth anniversary of Abraham Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ Annie Gurton writes: Workers need an element of control in their surroundings. As Maslow said in the 1940s, humans are fundamentally, simple creatures. We need air, water, food and security, but along with those basic physiological needs we have a set of emotional needs. If these are not met we do not die, but we become emotionally distressed. When it comes to designing office space, it is important that our basic emotional needs are met if we are to feel happy. Workers need to have privacy yet feel connected to others. They need to have a sense of community yet feel that they are respected.

November 15, 2013

Quarter of the UK workforce report they’re suffering long-term ill health

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Workplace

Administrative and support activities, which includes facilities management, is one of five UK industries where employees have reported the highest levels of long-term ill health. However across all the sectors a staggering eight million people, or a quarter of the UK’s workforce (27%) say they suffer from a health problem that’s lasted more than a year. According to the new Health at Work Index from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) one in ten workers (12%) – approximately 3.5 million people – said their ability to do their job is limited by poor health. This includes over half of diabetes sufferers (58%) and the same proportion of people suffering from depression, mental illness or panic attacks (58%). More →

November 9, 2013

Looking back on a year in which the office sought a clearer sense of identity

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Workplace design

It’s not often that workplace management becomes national business news but that happened at the end of February when the world became very interested for a while in the way we design and manage offices. The reason for this was the decision by Yahoo to ban homeworking for staff at its headquarters. The resultant period of shirt-rending at this challenge to received wisdom told us more about the changing view of the workplace than the actual decision by Yahoo. As the dust settled, we discovered that the Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer had based her decision to change working practices on data from the company’s network that showed people working from home didn’t log on to the company Virtual Private Network as much as those in the office.