Search Results for: talent

June 2, 2016

People are happy at work but yearn for better tech and a second job ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology, Wellbeing

The recent riots across France sparked by mooted reforms to labour laws have been attributed to French workers objecting to the creation of working cultures akin to those in the UK and US. In which case, it would be interesting to see how our Gallic cousins might respond to the findings of a new report from Adobe which suggests that workers in both the UK and US as well as India see technology as the key perk they look for at work and many are perfectly happy to work more than one job and don’t expect long term commitments to (and from) their employers, although many of them also feel defined by what they do for a living and are happy at work. According to The Work in Progress report, a quarter of UK workers already moonlight and over two thirds believe that better technology would be the single most important way of improving their working lives. The same attitudes are also prevalent in responses from workers in both the US and India.

May 26, 2016

Digital mobility to work anytime, anywhere is key to job satisfaction ⁰

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

In a further nod to the growing relevance of flexible working, the ability to work anytime, anywhere is now key to job satisfaction with well over a third (38 percent) of employees in a global survey rating this as the number one factor, with the UK (43 percent) scoring this the highest. According to the “Mobility, Performance and Engagement” report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and Aruba, employees in Western countries report themselves to be happier in their jobs, more loyal to their employers and more productive in their work compared to their counterparts in Eastern markets. When it comes to securing loyalty, the ability to hot desk was seen as paramount by many employees, notably in Singapore (37 percent), UAE (31 percent) and the US (34 percent), while the ability to collaborate with other employees was the number one choice for employees in Germany (43 percent), France (37 percent) and Japan (35 percent).

May 25, 2016

Limited budgets greatest challenge to wellness programmes at work ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Sixty-five per cent of respondents in a new survey across Europe, the Middle East and Africa claim that stress and mental health are the health and wellness issues they are most concerned about. Fifty-three per cent say that employees’ physical health is the biggest issue, while unhealthy lifestyles are judged to be the biggest issue by 49 percent. However, according to the study from Aon, only 32 percent of employers have emotional or psychological health programmes in place and 69 percent say limited budgets are their biggest challenge. While 93 percent of employers see a correlation between health and employee performance, just 13 percent of respondents measure outcomes of health strategies. The findings pinpoint areas for improvement and make recommendations to increase health benefits take-up, improve measurement on the impact of health initiatives and to maximise the return on investment that firms make in employee health.

May 19, 2016

Where is the data for disability on boards – and do businesses care? ⁰

by Neil Barnfather • Comment, Legal news, Workplace

When it comes to diversity on boards, I would confidently say that disability comes in a poor fourth behind gender, age and ethnicity. It’s something I take a great interest in as a blind person, a senior executive who sits on boards and as a start-up champion. While acknowledging a limited perspective, over the years I have noted a lack of disabled representation at board level and when I joined the NonExecutiveDirectors.com recruitment platform, we had a conversation about this. The result was that the organisation and its partners decided to commission some research into the issue. The research involved the Office of National Statistics, EU Equality and Diversity Commission, Department of Business Innovation and Skills, leading academic experts in disability, in social policy and in work and employment, Trade Union Congress (TUC), business surveys, policy documents and more.

May 17, 2016

Employers need to step up to retain older workers and carers, claims CIPD ⁰

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

With people living longer and fewer young people entering the labour market, Europe’s employers are increasingly reliant on the skills and talents of older workers. However, the ageing population also means that there will be around nine million carers in the UK by 2037, many of whom will be trying to juggle care and employment, according to new research released by the CIPD. It claims that, although the UK’s policy framework for supporting older workers and creating fuller working lives is well-developed in comparison to other European countries, there is a crucial need to turn this thinking into practical action to avoid losing the skills and experience of employees who choose to work beyond retirement. With around 30 percent of the UK workforce currently over 50 compared to 20 percent in the 1990s, the CIPD is urging employers to put the tools and culture in place to support older workers as they represent and increasingly significant proportion of the labour market.

May 10, 2016

Alternate workplaces strategies explored as demand for US offices grows ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property

The US national office market recovery slowed slightly in the first quarter of 2016 amid some volatility within the financial markets. However, as the financial markets stabilised later in the quarter, office based job growth accelerated, likely signalling stronger tenant demand in the months ahead, according to a new report from CBRE. Tech and healthcare companies continue to drive growth, resulting in a scarcity of creative space in many cities. Meanwhile, energy-dominated markets slowed further due to sustained low oil prices. Many companies continued to seek space in vibrant downtown and suburban areas near public transport links in order to attract talent. A tightening supply within the Class A market has resulted in tenants exploring well-located Class B properties and creative space, with tenants across geographies and industries exploring alternate workplaces strategies to maximise efficiencies and collaboration.

May 6, 2016

Management needs to improve opportunities for career progression ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

Almost a quarter of employees (24 percent) are intending to move, as job satisfaction in the UK drops to its lowest level for over two years finds the latest CIPD/Halogen Employee Outlook report. The survey reveals that almost a fifth (23 percent) of employees believe their organisation’s performance management processes are unfair (an increase from 20 percent in Autumn 2015). Over a quarter (27 percent) are dissatisfied with the opportunity to develop their skills in their job and this is reflected in the number of employees who say they are unlikely to fulfil their career aspirations in their current organisation, which has also increased to 36 percent (32 percent in Autumn 2015). Opportunities for women in senior roles have slipped as well with separate research by the European Women on Boards (EWoB) showing that Britain has a below-average proportion of women on boards; falling from sixth to eighth place among 12 leading economies since 2011.

May 5, 2016

The problems that come with London’s success need better solutions ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Cities, Comment

We might all welcome London’s success as a thriving centre of commerce and culture, but this comes at a price and we need to look for a better balance than we currently see between London and the rest of the UK. Of course London is often the main victim of its own success. Its thriving tech and creative firms continue to spill out of the incubator districts created for them to find cheaper and more appropriate spaces in which to grow. In doing so they are pushing up rents in such unlikely nearby places as Croydon. In the traditional business districts in the City and Docklands, the capital’s tech giants are now able to compete for the first time for some of the most expensive real estate on the planet. To cope with demand, the Mayor is rubberstamping tall buildings like never before, many of them bloody awful, unloved by Londoners and heritage organisations alike, transforming the skyline and creating windswept, arid tundra at their feet.

May 4, 2016

London firmly established as global leader in tech and media start ups ⁰

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property, Technology

One new tech company has started every hour in London since 2012, which has firmly established the Capital as the global leader in tech and media start ups. According to property firm JLL, over the last five years, a massive 45,000 new tech businesses has been set up in London, with 98 percent of tech companies being start-ups and small businesses. There is migration from the West End to the City and the East, including ‘Silicon Roundabout’ in Old Street, but also new areas which are attracting technology and media companies. The growth of small business has also seen the average office footprint of T&M business fall over the last three years. JLL says for every one T&M company that moved out of Aldgate, Clerkenwell and Shoreditch over the last three years, two new tech and media companies moved in indicating the rapid consolidation of T&M business in the East.

May 3, 2016

Remote working may be the answer to the housing crisis, claims report ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Flexible working, News, Technology

A new report from techUK and Citrix claims that the UK’s housing crisis is exacerbated by the majority of workers (59 percent) working on the basis that there is greater potential for securing employment by living and working in large cities. The Housing Crisis: a Digital Solution (download) is based on data from YouGov research into the expectations of 1,243 UK knowledge workers with the potential to enjoy remote working. The report claims that the burden that location-dependent work places on large cities could be significantly reduced by allowing workers to work remotely, as over half of British workers (54 per cent) stated they would be likely to relocate to a rural area if they could still perform their role to the same level. However, while many workers would relocate if they could, connectivity, transport and corporate culture were all cited as challenges to achieving this especially when 48 per cent of rural premises don’t have access to high-speed broadband internet.

April 28, 2016

New partnership to encourage creation of age friendly workplaces ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Between 2005 and 2015 the number of people working over the age of 50 in the UK increased by 2.5 million, while those working over the age of 65 more than doubled. By 2022, there will be 12.5 million job vacancies that need to be replaced due to people leaving the workforce in addition to the two million new vacancies that will be created. However, there are estimated to be just seven million younger people to fill them. Recruiting and retaining older workers will be critical to closing this gap. Now in a major new initiative, the Centre for Ageing Better has gone into partnership with Business in the Community to identify and test what works to recruit, retrain and retain older workers. Through this partnership, it wants to hear from employers across the country who see the benefits of older workers and who are implementing changes to create age friendly workplaces.

April 28, 2016

UK, Germany, Switzerland and Poland lag Europe in flexible working ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace

A new report has verified the value of flexible working by showing a positive correlation between employee happiness and the adoption of flexible working practices. Yet, the research conducted by IDC and sponsored by Cornerstone OnDemand also reveals that flexible working practices have been taken up at different speeds across Europe, where the lowest flexible working maturity appears to be clustered in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the UK. Business managers and HR respondents stated a low level of flexible working adoption in Poland, the UK, Switzerland and Germany – surprising, given the competitive labour market in these regions. The Nordics, Spain, Benelux and Austria were perceived to be the most mature when it came to flexible working options. Among the respondents from Poland, less than 50 percent of those surveyed were allowed to work from home, while the figure for the Nordic countries was 87 percent.