Search Results for: technology

Presenteeism doesn’t aid productivity, so employers should set workers free

Presenteeism doesn’t aid productivity, so employers should set workers free 0

by • Comment, Flexible working

At this time of year, the days are short, the morning commute can be hellish and traffic grid-locked. Wouldn’t it be ideal if more employers recognised this and offered a solution involving flexible hours, remote collaboration or even home-working? And not just at Christmas, but the whole year round? More and more companies are switching on to the benefits this can bring in terms of their employees’ well-being and productivity. Firms can allow colleagues to occasionally work from home or a third place, provide tools that enable them to work remotely and support an agile working agenda. This can be done in parallel with making provision for a hi-tech and collaborative workplace where colleagues can get together regularly to connect, get work done and be part of an effective team.

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Book review…. HQ:Nerve Centres of the World’s Leading Brands

Book review…. HQ:Nerve Centres of the World’s Leading Brands 0

by • Case studies, Comment, Workplace design

primark-cropSome people would have you believe that the office is dying out. But the absolute dead giveaway that it is not is the creation of tech enclaves and palaces around the world that exists solely to bring lots of people to work together in real space and real time. Some of these buildings are presented in a new book called HQ: Nerve Centres of the World’s Leading Brands from Irish publishers Roads (link is to Amazon but please try to order from a local bookshop if possible). The high tech homes of the likes of Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Vodafone are presented alongside similar examples from eight other business sectors: Finance, Retail, Motoring, Media, Drinks, Fashion, Sport and Design & Innovation.

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Are these the best places to work in 2017?

Are these the best places to work in 2017? 0

by • News, Workplace, Workplace design

1_expediaRecruitment site Glassdoor has announced the winners of its ninth annual Employees’ Choice Awards to find the best places to work in North America and parts of Europe. The Awards are based on the input of employees who voluntarily provide anonymous feedback, by completing a company review, about their job, work environment and employer over the past year. This year, the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards feature six categories, honouring the Best Places to Work across the UK, US (both large and small companies), Canada, France and Germany. There is one category in the UK: 50 Best Places to Work (honouring employers with 1,000 or more employees). Winners are ranked based on their overall rating achieved during the past year.  The top five UK Best Places to Work in 2017 are Expedia, ARM, HomeServeUK, Mott MacDonald and Hays plc

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UK government to move 5,700 civil servants from Whitehall to east London

UK government to move 5,700 civil servants from Whitehall to east London 0

by • News, Property, Public Sector

10-south-colonnade-exterior-wpcf_741x417The UK Cabinet Office has today announced the location of a new Government Hub at Canary Wharf, as the government prepares to move around 5,700 full time civil and public servants from offices in Whitehall to East London. The government will take the whole building, owned by Canary Wharf Group, at 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, covering 50,354 sqm, on a 15 year lease (to end in 2032). The move, which will be completed by the end of 2018, supports the modernisation of the Civil Service outlined by the new Workplace Plan on July 12. The Government Property Unit, (GPU), as part of its remit to drive savings across the government estate, is overseeing the deal with Barclays for the new hub. The Government claims the hubs will benefit the public sector by ensuring the future workforce is where it needs to be, in strategic locations with great public transport connections, local amenities and offering a modern working environment. Relocating civil and public servants from existing, often fragmented office locations, to modern, cross-departmental workplaces will make the most of emerging working practices and technology is part of that drive, it claims.

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The strange future of work + New edition of Work&Place + Workplace irritations 0

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, Legal news, Newsletter, Technology, Wellbeing, Work&Place, Workplace, Workplace design

Sky's new HQ featured in current issue of Work&Place

In this week’s Newsletter; Mark Eltringham dissects the current obsession with engagement and motivation; and from the Winter 2016 issue of Work&Place which is now available to view online; discusses the future of work and place in the 21st century. We discover why creativity in the workplace is a prime engagement tool; that 85 percent of employers believe workplace automation will create more jobs than it will replace; however, in the now, technology issues cause the most lost time for SMEs. One in three lawyers would not feel comfortable even beginning the conversation about flexible working with their employer; a fifth of employees are distressed by political discussions in the workplace and employers urged to develop strategies to help retain older workers.  Download our new Briefing, produced in partnership with Boss Design on the link between culture and workplace strategy and design; visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

Study highlights the main causes of workplace disruption and irritation

Study highlights the main causes of workplace disruption and irritation 0

by • News, Technology

istock_22099178_medium-1280x640New research released by Samsung Electronics claims that UK small business workers are losing 5.5 hours a week because of workplace disruptions and irritations. Unsurprisingly, technology issues caused the most lost time, at an average of 27 minutes a day (or just over two hours per week). Crashing computers (92 percent) and slow internet (92 percent) were the two biggest technology factors annoying small business workers, closely followed by no access to emails (85 percent). Distractions caused by co-workers caused 22 minutes a day of downtime (just under two hours per week). Moaning (which annoys 84 percent of small business workers), eating loudly or messily (83 percent) and interruptions while talking (80 percent) were the biggest irritations. General office issues contributed 19 minutes a day (1.5 hours a week) in lost time. Being too hot or too cold (82 percent), uncomfortable seating (81 percent) and a messy workplace (80 percent) were the top frustrations.

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Public sector employees ‘stressed’ but remaining optimistic following Brexit

Public sector employees ‘stressed’ but remaining optimistic following Brexit 0

by • News, Public Sector, Workplace

Public sector employees 'stressed' but remain optimistic following BrexitLevels of stress among public sector workers remain higher than any other sector, despite job satisfaction being at its highest level in four years amidst a tide of wider post-referendum optimism. This is according to the latest CIPD/Halogen Employee Outlook report of more than 2,000 employees which found that 63 percent of employees are satisfied with their jobs, rising to two-thirds (66 percent) in the public sector, the highest level for that sector since autumn 2012. However, public sector employees still report higher levels of pressure and exhaustion at work than any other sector. Two in five public sector workers (43 percent) say they are under excessive pressure at work at least once a week (all employees: 38 percent), and nearly half (46 percent) say they come home from work exhausted either always or often (all employees: 33 percent). The survey also suggests there is ample room for improvement in employee development and career progression which employers must address quickly so as not to lose valuable talent.

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Majority of employers believe automation will create more jobs than it will replace 0

by • News, Technology

A new report published by Capita Resourcing claims that 85 percent of employers believe workplace automation will create more jobs than it will replace in their organisation in 10 years’ time. The main benefits to businesses and employees over this period are likely to be enhanced productivity (76 percent) and new skills development (54 percent). The ‘Workplace More Human’ report surveyed the attitudes of 200 business leaders in medium to large organisations and 1,000 full or part time employees. It revealed that the workplace is currently undergoing rapid transformation with over half (54 percent) of employers already automating business processes that were once performed by people. A further 39 percent plan to automate more processes in the next 12 months.

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Reducing paper-weight is the key to maintaining a healthy business in the digital age

Reducing paper-weight is the key to maintaining a healthy business in the digital age 0

by • Comment, Technology

cameraThe idea of creating a paperless office has been circulating for at least 40 years. Business Week famously forecast its arrival in 1975, predicting that paper would be on its way out by 1980 and dead by 1990. However, it’s almost 2017 and even with new and innovative digital technologies that enable us to operate in a highly connected world, the paper-light office is still far from our reality. Yet institutions from a variety of different sectors are leading the way when it comes to driving initiatives forward to going paperless and paper-light. For example, to address the need of approximately 12 million people in the UK that annually fill in a self-assessment tax form, plans have been put in place by the government to give individual digital accounts, aiming to allow more than 50 million individuals and small businesses to manage their tax affairs online. As a result, costs will be significantly cut by erasing expensive and laborious bureaucratic processes in the long-term, whilst fundamentally streamlining and simplifying intricate business services and applications.

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Workplace professionals should look to the consumer sector for boosting engagement

Workplace professionals should look to the consumer sector for boosting engagement 0

by • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design

Bright Office Lobby

More and more businesses are recognising the power of the workplace experience to drive employee performance and engagement. Global brand Airbnb, for example, has now renamed its head of human resources as “chief employee experience officer.” This is good news for workplace design and management professionals. We are well placed to capitalise on this shift in business opinion, but if we want to make a tangible impact, we need to bring practical solutions to the table. First and foremost, these need to be backed up by research. There have been few studies specifically into what makes a healthy and productive work environment. However, there are a number of research projects that examine how a human being’s surroundings impact their mood and behaviour, and in particular how consumer environments shape customers’ perception of and engagement with a brand. As workplace professionals, we can learn a great deal from this consumer research and this is why workplace design and management teams should look towards consumer-facing industries for inspiration.

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Autumn Statement could undermine the growth of London’s tech firms 0

by • Cities, Facilities management, Legal news, News, Public Sector, Technology

london-tech-firmsChanges in business rates announced in yesterday’s Autumn Statement are likely to hit hardest the areas in the Capital such as Shoreditch and Fitzrovia where innovative tech companies are located, commented Jon Neale, head of UK Research, JLL. “The impact will no doubt undermine government plans to boost tech investment under its ‘Industrial Strategy’ announced earlier this week,” he said. “Meanwhile, office costs are high in London and post Brexit we need to minimise the risk that companies, will see cheaper continental cities such as Berlin as better bet place to set up shop.” He did add however that the promised “£1.3bn to improve roads and ease congestion is welcome and is likely to unlock development sites and promote economic development in many parts of the country. If the UK is to really address the challenges and opportunities of Brexit, investment in infrastructure needs to be more ambitious as well as more focused on an increasingly digital, hi-tech future. Green and smart city technology, new tram and underground networks and truly high-speed broadband would help provide precisely the platform UK business needs.”

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Asian HR executives ready to welcome our new robot overlords 0

by • News, Technology, Workplace

artificial-intelligenceAsia is set to lead the world in the uptake of artificial intelligence in the workplace and human resources managers expect to be in the vanguard when it comes to managing in the new era. According to a report in the MIT Technology Review, two thirds of HR managers in the region expect to be dealing with AI within five years and nearly three quarters believe the technology will lead to substantial job losses over the same period. Although the report is based on interviews with just 60 executives it highlights a growing awareness among HR managers worldwide that they will have to adjust very soon to a new era in which people are working alongside the next generation of AI. The report also highlights the different perspectives that HR professionals have on the subject compared to the boardroom.

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