August 11, 2021

Green Building Council responds to IPCC climate change report

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has responded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, referring to it as a massive wake-up call. At the end of last year, the organisation set out plans for a roadmap to net zero for the built environment, which contributes around 40 percent of the UK’s entire carbon footprint. The roadmap is dues to be unveiled at the UN’s COP26 conference in Glasgow later this year. (more…)

August 10, 2021

Policymakers should encourage the responsible use of AI in decision-making

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Technology

A new report from the Center for Data Innovation claims businesses are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence tools to support workforce decisions in areas such as hiring and retaining high-performing employees. But to successfully deploy and maximize the productivity benefits of these AI tools, employers should address potential concerns to ensure the technology does not exacerbate biases or inequalities, produces fair and accurate results, and does not unduly compromise worker privacy. (more…)

July 26, 2021

Only a tenth of global businesses are front-runners in inclusion and diversity practices

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Working culture

Ninety percent of global businesses struggle with inclusion and diversity practices within their technology/ IT teams according to ‘The key to designing inclusive tech: creating diverse and inclusive tech teams’ report by the Capgemini Research Institute. (more…)

July 21, 2021

A digital presence saw some small businesses through Covid, but support now needed

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Technology

New research commissioned by Cisco claims the digital priorities and growth opportunities for small businesses in the UK, as they navigate a new hybrid world. (more…)

July 19, 2021

European Commission adopts ambitious Green Deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

The European Commission adopted a package of proposals to make the EU’s climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. The Commission claims that achieving these emission reductions in the next decade is crucial to Europe becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and making the European Green Deal a reality. (more…)

July 14, 2021

Shaping London’s future: Mayor’s Resilience Fund Winners Announced

by Jayne Smith • Cities, News

The Mayor of London, in partnership with Nesta Challenges, has announced the winners of the Mayor’s Resilience Fund, a £1 million innovation programme set up to support London’s businesses and community groups to emerge stronger from COVID-19 and to ensure the capital is prepared for future disruptive challenges. (more…)

July 1, 2021

The most critical HR topics of the post-pandemic era

by Jayne Smith • News, Workplace

HR leaders trying to navigate a rapidly changing workplace environment now have a clear set of objectives to focus on: digitisation, talent, and the future of work. That is the central finding of a new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA). The report is titled Creating People Advantage 2021: The Future of People Management Priorities. (more…)

June 30, 2021

Employees consider leaving jobs if health and sustainability expectations go unmet

by Jayne Smith • Environment, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Returning to the office is causing a growing rift between workers and managers according to a new report from NEXT Energy Technologies, Inc. The report claims most employees (74 percent) are willing to leave their jobs if existential issues like health and sustainability are not adequately addressed in the workplace. (more…)

June 29, 2021

Information findability problems impact companies’ bottom line

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Working culture

Over the past year, organisations experienced an increase in problems related to finding information, resulting in greater reliance on knowledge and information management tools than in previous years, according to a new survey by Sinequa and APQC. (more…)

June 22, 2021

Winning the war for talent in the post-pandemic world

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives

The Future Forum, a consortium launched by Slack Technologies, Inc., has released a new study that unpacks how 15 months of pandemic work has shifted employee expectations. (more…)

June 21, 2021

HR should play a more strategic role in business resilience

by Jeanette Wheeler • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace

Almost every organisation now knows it must become more resilient as the economy emerges from the pandemic. As well as coping with crises and global events, organisations must excel in the face of the many less high-profile disruptions that hit an organisation – from supply chain bottlenecks to shifts in demand and sudden skills shortages. HR departments have a major role to play in this but to do so successfully requires a change of mindset, taking a step back from traditional administrative functions and reviewing the entire business as if they were an outsider. (more…)

May 26, 2021

Commercial occupiers and landlords to get more in step on the future of the office

by Jayne Smith • News, Property

New research from MRI Software, claims that 71 percent of commercial occupiers say the mass shift to remote working during the pandemic has fundamentally changed their long-term approach to space usage, and yet 69 percent of landlords expect no lasting impact from COVID-19. (more…)