Search Results for: technology

May 11, 2015

Does declining productivity spell the end for IT and property directors?

by John Blackwell • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Technology, Work&Place

When it comes to increasing organisational output, which in turn directly relates to real wage growth and higher living standards, the only determinant is productivity, measured in terms of output per hour worked. This is at the heart of all businesses and is essential for growth. The basic facts on productivity are clear. For over a decade, productivity has been painfully weak across all the major economies. The UK has performed particularly badly, with productivity having declined by 3.7 percent since 2008. A recent OECD report went as far as saying: “weak labour productivity since 2004 has been holding back real wages and well-being. The sustainability of economic expansion and further progress in living standards rest on boosting productivity growth, which is a key challenge for the coming years”.

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May 10, 2015

How the US judiciary is slashing costs with effective facilities management

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Public Sector, Technology, Workplace design

It’s not just the UK public sector that is looking to achieve major restrictions in its expenditure on property through the use of technology, shared space and more efficient facilities management practices. According to a report from the Judicial Conference of the United States, organisations in the nationwide US judiciary have achieved significant savings with an ‘aggressive space and rent reduction initiative’. The judicial branch across the nation claims to have achieved nearly 30 percent of its target of reducing building space by 3 percent over the next three years. Federal courts are reducing space by ‘closing or downsizing facilities; closing, reducing, or finding different uses for circuit libraries; releasing under-utilised space; and using technology and mobility to share space when possible’.

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May 8, 2015

The death of the office has been overstated but it is changing, study confirms

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Workplace design

The implications for the property industry of more efficient space planning models and the uptake of flexible working are laid bare in a new report from planning and design consultancy Nathaniel, Lichfield and Partners (NLP). The headline figure from the report, Workspace Futures: The changing dynamics of office locations is that the office stock in England and Wales rose by 17 percent in the twelve years to 2012 while the numbers of office based staff increased by around 21 percent. The report includes details on how these trends affect 11 key locations including Manchester, Cambridge, Bristol, Newcastle and Reading and concludes that while ‘the death of the office has been largely overstated’, the market is undergoing structural changes that need to be addressed by developers and government.

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May 7, 2015

Learning needs to be linked to overall business strategies says the CIPD

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

The CIPD has warned that Learning and Development (L&D) professionals need to link learning more directly to their organisation’s business strategies. This follows the results of its annual L&D survey which found that by limiting their focus to learner and manager feedback, just 7 per cent of L&D professionals evaluate the impact of their initiatives on the business. This lack of evaluation can contribute to skills gaps being undetected, particularly in the use of new learning technologies such as Gamification. The CIPD is urging L&D professionals to look beyond trainee satisfaction and measure initiatives in terms of how they add value to the organisation and society in general. This latest research follows the publication of a report by Skillsoft last week which revealed that 55 per cent of employers admitted they were more likely to recruit externally to address skills shortages.

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May 7, 2015

Understanding and overcoming the objections to sit stand workstations

by Marc Bird • Comment, Furniture, Wellbeing, Workplace design

In Sweden, sit-stand working is so commonplace that our Nordic colleagues are perplexed by how slow the UK has been to catch up. The expectation of varying working positions throughout the day is so widespread across Scandinavia that over 80 percent of Swedish, Danish, Finnish and Norwegian office workers already use sit stand workstations, and offering employees a height adjustable work station is now mandatory in Denmark. Despite sit-stand working still being in its infancy in the UK, with only 2 percent of knowledge workers having access to height adjustable workstations, there is plenty of compelling evidence, and a groundswell of expert opinion, to suggest that the UK office is going to have to get off its backside pretty soon.

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May 5, 2015

A responsible approach needed for the design and build of London’s towers ⁰

by Paul Chilton • Architecture, Comment, Property

There are currently over 260 new towers either proposed, approved or under construction in Greater London, a 12 per cent increase on last year. There has been much debate and concern about the impact of the design and build of so many new towers on the capital and in particular the visual impact. The Skyline Campaign was launched last year with signatures from over 80 public figures hoping to halt the ‘destruction’ of London’s skyline. London is a busy city, on a small island with limited space. Towers allow us to create residential and commercial property using a minimal amount of land. However it is vital that new buildings that are tall enough to have a visual impact have the right design, are in the right place, and are built at the right time.

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May 5, 2015

UK digital infrastructure struggling to keep pace with demand

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

The UK is struggling to create the digital infrastructure it needs to keep up with burgeoning employment and investment levels in new technology. A new study from IT recruitment firm Experis claims there has been an 18 per cent increase in the number of permanent job roles in the IT sector advertised across the UK in the first quarter of 2015. Meanwhile, a report from Santander’s commercial business division claims that the UK’s SMEs are planning to invest £53bn in digital business over the next two years. All of this should be good news except for the fact that digital experts are warning that the UK is about to hit the digital buffers over the next two decades, according to experts who will present their findings to the Royal Society next week.

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May 1, 2015

Organisations advised to create a manifesto for digital workplace success ⁰

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

The adoption of digital technology enables new, more effective ways of working which can help improve employee engagement and agility, research by Gartner claims. However, the report also warns that it’s important employers establish a ‘business manifesto’ that communicates the intentions and motives of the emerging digital workplace if they want to communicate and implement the policy changes that are required. According to the analysts, the manifesto should guide and clarify corporate culture as well as help employees embrace new ways of working. Employers must bear in mind that while corporate culture can be strong at the core, it may be less so for remote employees. That is why it’s important to foster a healthy digital workplace that brings the corporate culture alive to all employees.

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April 29, 2015

‘Time to bin SLAs’ as IT buyers focus on costs over benefits ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Products, Technology

More than half of the UK’s technology buyers claim that their main focus when procuring IT services is on keeping down costs rather than achieving specific benefits for their business, according to a report from technology company MooD International. The report, based on a study of just 160 IT directors and managers, also claims that revenue generation and growth are named as the most important initiatives by the remaining 48 percent. Over three quarters (76 percent) of respondents said that their firm’s expectations are not aligned with what suppliers believe they are contracted to deliver. The report claims this mismatch can be traced back to service level agreements (SLAs). While 77 per cent of suppliers focus on business benefits to a great or reasonable extent, 64 per cent of contracts are either entirely or mainly measured on transaction based SLAs.

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April 27, 2015

Business clusters fuel growth in office occupier demand in smaller cities ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Smaller cities, including Brighton, Solihull, Reading and Warrington [pictured], look set to see a growth in occupier demand for office rentals over the few years, a new report has revealed. JLL’s ‘Where Next in the UK?’ report analysed the economic and office market performance of 37 smaller towns and cities giving an insight in to which locations will offer investors the biggest opportunity over the next five years. It shows some smaller cities are found to have a stronger outlook than the ‘Big 6’, (Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow and Edinburgh). The success of these smaller cities, says the report, will be closely associated with their ability to develop and grow clusters of businesses, for instance a growing nuclear research and technology cluster in Warrington – along with strong university links and the provision of integrated transport and infrastructure.

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April 27, 2015

How remote working employees go rogue in search of productivity ⁰

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

Although many European employees now spend long hours each week working remotely, many of them don’t think their employers provide them with the tools they need to do their jobs properly and so go ‘rogue’ to find the best ways of communicating with each other and using information. That is the key finding of a new study from internal communications specialist Newsweaver which explores the ways remote working employees use mobile devices. It found that while one in five workers across the EU now spend at least ten hours a week working remotely, 41 per cent do not believe that the tools their company provides meet their needs. They therefore choose to use their own apps instead. This fact is well understood by IT teams with three out of four technology managers admitting they are offering staff outdated tools.

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April 24, 2015

Rising commercial property costs driving small businesses out of London ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, News, Property, Technology

The vast majority of small businesses in London and other parts of the South East are considering relocating over the next five years because they are frustrated with the lack of appropriate facilities and soaring commercial property costs in the region. A new study from the University of Sussex’s business incubation network Sussex Innovation claims that nearly two thirds (63 percent) of small businesses, rising to 78 percent of technology startups, believe their future may depend on leaving the capital. The study claims this threatens the viability of the Government’s flagship Tech City hub just months after it announced a new scheme to attract firms to the area. The research is based on a study of over 500 business owners and leaders in London and the South East and was presented at the launch of Sussex Innovation’s new hub in Croydon.