Search Results for: technology

Gap in the provision of wellbeing initiatives undermines UK workplaces

Gap in the provision of wellbeing initiatives undermines UK workplaces 0

Workplace health gapAlthough there is much consensus among employers of the importance of actively supporting health and wellbeing in the workplace, there remains an ‘implementation gap’ that is threatening individuals’ health and long-term business sustainability. This is according to a new report from the CIPD, ‘Growing the health and well-being agenda: From first steps to full potential’, which found that fewer than one in ten (8 percent) of UK organisations currently have a standalone wellbeing strategy that supports the wider organisational strategy; that the majority of employers are more reactive than proactive in their approach to wellbeing (61 percent) and nearly two-fifths of employees [38 percent] are under excessive pressure at work at least once a week. With the average cost of absence now standing at £554 per employee per year – the CIPD is recommending employers take a more proactive approach to implementing a wellbeing programme.

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Could a sexy office help you seduce clients back to your place?

Could a sexy office help you seduce clients back to your place? 0

1573_24-04-2015_8503I am not suggesting that a cool or sexy office is all you need to drive business outcomes. Nor am I going to suggest that all you need to do to grow a successful business is to invest in a fully loaded, bells and whistles, technology laden, productivity enabling office environment. Not that all of those things won’t help, they very well could be the things that prove to be difference makers. What I will suggest however, is that in most instances a business’s success relies almost exclusively upon the satisfaction of their customer base. Any deliberations associated with office space should, therefore, in some way consider their needs and desires. No doubt these considerations will be highly dependent on the type of business you are in and whether the model it embraces is business-to-business or business-to-consumer, but when contemplating the needs of your clients, you should at least ask yourself the following 4 simple questions.

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The road to Bali and other destinations for the world’s remote workers

The road to Bali and other destinations for the world’s remote workers 0

Blue House MoroccoThe number of people who work from home or travel as freelancers has grown rapidly in the last 25 years. In 1990, as a percentage of the US population only 5 percent fit this classification, today it is closer to 30 percent. From photojournalists to graphic designers, to computer programmers – an increasing number of people are leaving the traditional office behind. The underlying reason is not difficult to establish. People are taking advantage of the opportunities offered them by technology. It’s no coincidence that the number of people working remotely has risen in parallel with the growth of home computing and internet connections, and more recently mobile technology. While the majority of those that traditionally followed this path became self employed, today companies are beginning to hire people to key positions without actually needing them to work from the office. Remote work is no longer just a freelancer’s game.

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New smart working code of practice launched by BSI and Cabinet Office

New smart working code of practice launched by BSI and Cabinet Office 0

CaptureWe’ll return to this in detail next week, but yesterday the business standards company BSI working with the Cabinet Office launched a new code of practice on Smart Working. The Smart Working Code of Practice, BSI Publicly Available Specification (PAS3000) has been designed to support organisations in implementing smart working principles. The Cabinet Office sponsors it on behalf of the Smart Working Charter Steering Group of industry, academia, institutions and other public sector bodies. According to the Cabinet Office, the code brings together best practice from across the world and across disciplines and will enable organisations to move from principles to standards and benchmark themselves against high performers in smart working. At the launch, the organisers also announced the second annual The Way We Work (TW3) Awards, a Civil Service programme recognising government teams that have created smarter ways of working.

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Digital media is having ‘largely positive’ effects on professional lives

Digital media is having ‘largely positive’ effects on professional lives 0

Digital workplaceThe digitization of content and data, along with new digital communication technologies, has fundamentally changed the way work gets done, and affected the nature of the employment relationship. While it has a largely positive impact on peoples’ lives, including individuals’ ability to find work, learn and develop skills, and balance work and life, it can, in some cases, lower worker productivity and increase inequality. These are among the key findings from Shaping the Future Implications of Digital Media for Society  – a report by the World Economic Forum conducted in collaboration with Willis Towers Watson and presented at the WEF 2016 annual meeting in Davos. In the study, which included a survey of more than 5,000 digital users from five of the world’s most important markets; Brazil, China, Germany, South Africa and the US, over half (56 percent) reported digital media has transformed the way they work, and two-thirds said digital media has improved their ability to do work.

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Generation Z are preparing themselves for an automated world of work

Generation Z are preparing themselves for an automated world of work 0

AutomationThe automated world is far closer than many people suppose. Yet one demographic group that is less fooled than others on that particular score is the one now starting to make its mark in the workforce, suggests a new report. Amplifying Human Potential: Education and Skills for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, commissioned by Infosys from researchers Future Foundation, claims that 42 percent of 16-25 year olds worldwide feel their education did not prepare them for the world of work they are encountering for the first time with over three quarters having to learn new skills to meet the demands of employers. The report also claims that 40 percent of young workers believe their current job could be replaced by automated systems including robotics within 10 years. The report lands in parallel with a cluster of stories which highlight just how quickly the world is moving towards an automated future.

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Number of smart cities worldwide jumps 40 percent in past two years

Number of smart cities worldwide jumps 40 percent in past two years 0

SmartCities_Icon_SBAccording to a new report from Navigant Research, the total number of identified smart city projects worldwide has grown from 170 in the third quarter of 2013 to 235 today. The report examines the current state of global smart city development, covering the related aspects of the smart energy, smart water, smart transportation, smart buildings, and smart governments sectors, segmented by region. The authors of the report claim that, as the benefits of smart cities become clearer, the number of projects and partnerships supporting the cause is rapidly increasing. In the last few years, city leaders, central government ministries, and technology and service suppliers have announced a range of new smart city initiatives, incentives, and product and service offerings, while more cities are moving from one specific technology interest to a broader range of solutions that have multiple applications.

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British companies lead the Bloomberg Best Employers UK 2016 Survey

British companies lead the Bloomberg Best Employers UK 2016 Survey 0

Staff engagementThe UK’s top three employers are Jaguar Land Rover, AstraZeneca and Harrods according to an independent survey conducted by Statista for Bloomberg’s content and research arm. The results were from an extensive online employee survey among 15,000 workers in more than 1600 UK-based firms with at least 500 workers. They revealed that 70 percent of the best employers within the top 50 are British firms, including the top three. Microsoft, Nike and Google led the US companies within the top 50 which make up 12 percent. Microsoft is the only technology firm in the top 15 of the full ranking, with Google in second place, ranked 16th. The survey found that employees working in the Professional Services industry were the most likely to recommend their employer, while employees in Government Services were the least likely. The complete list of 400 firms across 25 industry sectors and the methodology can be found at the Bloomberg Best Employers UK 2016 site.

Fourth industrial revolution will result in five million job losses by 2020

Fourth industrial revolution will result in five million job losses by 2020 0

Worktech 2015

Disruptive global employment trends, including flexible working, the rise of robots, other forms of automation and Big Data analytics will see over five million jobs disappear worldwide over the next four years, a new report claims. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report has calculated that current disruptive labour market trends, including improvements in artificial intelligence, cloud technology, the Internet of Things and flexible working arrangements, could lead to a net employment loss of more than 5.1m jobs in the 15 countries surveyed. The report estimated that new trends would result in a total loss of 7.1m jobs – two thirds of which are concentrated in the office and administrative functions – and a total gain of 2m jobs. The WEF surveyed those who it felt were best placed to observe the dynamics of workforces including heads of HR departments and CEOs in 15 developed and emerging economies.

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Skilled migrants attracted to regional and city work hubs, not countries

Skilled migrants attracted to regional and city work hubs, not countries 0

dubai-commercial-market-outlook-winter-2015-2016-carouselHighly-skilled migrants are increasingly attracted to cities and regions rather than countries, the latest Global Talent Competitiveness Index has revealed. Silicon Valley, Dublin, Helsinki-Espoo, Dubai [pictured] and London are the real hubs, rather than the United States, Ireland, Finland, the United Arab Emirates or the United Kingdom. The index, produced by Adecco Group, INSEAD and the Human Capital Leadership Institute, ranks the factors driving the international movement of skilled migrants of 109 countries, covering 87 percent of the global population and 97 percent of global GDP. Switzerland is in top place, followed by Singapore and Luxembourg in second and third place. At seventh place, the UK is ahead of Germany and France, but behind top performers such as the United States and Canada. It also trails behind in terms of gender diversity; ranking 56th for female graduates and 71st for the gender earnings gap.

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Firms demanding more data about workplaces…and they’re about to get it

Firms demanding more data about workplaces…and they’re about to get it 0

Carbon-databaseCompanies are increasingly focussed on generating workplace data as they seek to make better decisions about the ways their real estate supports their key organisational objectives. That is one of the key findings of the latest European Occupier Survey from property consultants CBRE (login required). The good news (or bad news, depending on your point of view) is they’re about to get it in spades, according to another study from researchers International Data Corporation which found that there will be a huge surge in the availability of Big Data infrastructure in EMEA countries over the next four years. The acquisition of data about buildings and their inhabitants remains a troublesome issue, especially when executives do things like introduce sensors to monitor working patterns of employees without their knowledge, as  bosses at The Telegraph found in a very public way recently.

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The growing hysteria around employers’ ability to pry is not justified

The growing hysteria around employers’ ability to pry is not justified 0

Microscope_Nosepiece (1)Two current media frenzies highlight just how paranoid we are becoming about the use of technology to monitor our behaviour and conversations. Last week bosses at the Daily Telegraph were found to have installed sensors under the desks of employees to find out when they were sitting at their desks. Yesterday, the world whipped itself up about a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that was interpreted by a large number of media outlets as a rubber stamp for firms to monitor the private messages of staff. While the first story provides a perfect example of what happens when managers make stupid decisions, the second shows how the media can distort a story that taps into specific concerns and fears.  The headlines are now written and the narrative established so we may be hearing this distorted version of the truth for some time, but the facts are somewhat different to the headlines.

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