Search Results for: values

December 22, 2016

Getting ahead at work: social class divide, power and office politics ⁰

A new study from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business has found that class-based inequality in the workplace persists not only because of external factors like bias and glass ceilings, but also because of structural factors that discourage people from lower social classes from seeking positions of power in the first place. The paper, co-authored by Peter Belmi of the Darden School of Business and Kristin Laurin of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, claims that most people believe that getting ahead requires a mixture of pro-social behavior – such as being competent, hard-working, and a team player; and political behaviour – such as being outspoken, flattering, and treating others as “resources”. According to the research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, inequality begins to thrive in the disparity between which groups are actually willing to put both behaviours into practice. Even though everyone derides political angling, it turns out that relatively high-class individuals are still willing to play the game to get ahead. Not so with lower-class individuals.

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December 21, 2016

Employee retention and engagement was top of mind for employers this year ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Employee retention was the top workforce management challenge in 2016, claims a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), with almost one-half of surveyed organizations (46 percent) citing it as a top challenge in 2016. Other top workforce management challenges for at least one-third of organizations were: employee engagement (36 percent), recruitment (34 percent) and succession planning (33 percent). SHRM’s survey Influencing Workplace Culture Though Employee Recognition and Other Efforts, which was produced in collaboration with and commissioned by Globoforce, found that as employers look for ways to deal with the challenges of low employee retention and high turnover, more organizations are tying employee recognition efforts to their core values.The majority of respondents indicated that their employee recognition programs had positive impacts on employee engagement, workplace culture, retention and employee happiness.

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December 16, 2016

Millennials more tuned-in to discrimination at work than other generations ⁰

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Millennials have widely divergent experiences and attitudes toward diversity and inclusion within the workplace than older generations, claims a new US-based report. In the research from the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) and Weber Shandwick into the importance that people place on diversity and inclusion (D&I) when considering a new job found that 47 percent of Millennials consider it an important criterion in their job search compared to 33 percent of Gen Xers and 37 percent of Boomers. Nearly six in 10 of all employed Americans (58 percent) report that they see or hear about some form of discrimination and/or bias at their workplace, most frequently racial or ethnic in nature (22 percent). Millennials are significantly more likely than older generations to be attuned to such behaviour at work, and also much more comfortable discussing these issues at work than their older colleagues. The survey also asked respondents why they believe employers emphasise diversity and inclusion in the workplace. All three generations cited “To make it a better place to work” among their top three reasons. Millennials also recognize increased opportunities while reputational benefits and outside pressures are noticed by Gen Xers and Boomers.

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December 9, 2016

The workplace holds the key to enormous productivity boost, claims study ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Workplace design

Companies could boost their productivity by between 1 and 3.5 per cent, adding as much as £70 billion to the UK economy, by focusing on how the workplace might be used to generate revenue, instead of regarding them simply as a cost to be managed. That is according to the newly published The Workplace Advantage report from The Stoddart Review based on a meta-analysis of 200 studies by workplace expert Dr Nigel Oseland. Taking a new approach to how space is used to help employees to be productive and changing who is responsible for the decisions is the first step. The Review, a collaboration between business leaders and workplace experts, found that only a little over a half (53 percent) of the UK’s office workers can say their workplace enables them to be productive. For the rest, a workplace that’s unproductive is also affecting their pride in the company, its image and culture. It found that too many businesses are prioritising filling up their offices with people rather than asking themselves ‘what will make their staff productive’. As a result, as many as 70 percent say their office is too noisy and they are disappointed by the lack of different types of workspace including communal areas and break-out zones.

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December 7, 2016

Are these the best places to work in 2017? ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace, Workplace design

Recruitment 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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December 7, 2016

Brexit could lead to a freeze of over a third of UK commercial property investment ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

The unexpected political events of 2016 will lead to a rise in caution and risk aversion among real estate investors in 2017, making secure income streams more highly prized among core investors globally. This is expected to benefit the UK market, where high levels of transparency and stable legal structures make real estate a safety play, according to a report from real estate advisor Savills. The firm unveiled its predictions for UK real estate at its annual cross-sector briefing this week, taking a detailed look at the commercial property, residential and agricultural markets. The overall story for UK real estate is one of slower growth. In the commercial market, average total returns on UK property investments are likely to be approximately 5.6 percent per annum during 2017-2021, with a 1.6 percent five year capital growth forecast for office values and a 4.4 percent growth forecast for office income returns. The report claims that there will be a fall of around 30 to 40 percent overall, and possibly up to 50 percent in Central London.

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November 25, 2016

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

by Jeff Flanagan • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design

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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November 15, 2016

‘Western’ millennials rate sense of purpose most important job criterion ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

A sense of purpose remains the top priority among ‘Western’ millennials from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and France; but in the largest emerging economies, including China and India, salary and career advancement remain the most important job criteria, according to the Global Shapers Annual Survey for 2016. While the US, UK and Canada lead the list among young people who would like to live abroad to advance their careers, the United Arab Emirates and China are the most preferred emerging-market countries, the survey from the World Economic Forum survey claims. They came in at 11th and 12th place, respectively, ahead of the Scandinavian countries, all other BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries and Singapore. One reason for the strong performance of the UAE may be the good prospects for landing a job in the country. While 34 percent of millennials globally identified the lack of economic opportunity and employment as one of the three most serious issues affecting their country – making it the biggest issue of concern after corruption –only one in 10 of the UAE respondents said they see unemployment as a serious issue.

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November 4, 2016

Corporate responsibility now essential to attract and retain millennials ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Corporate social responsibility is no longer seen as more than a nice to have, with those working within the built environment for example, appreciating the role it has in reducing greenhouse gases. But it is also being increasingly seen as a positive way of attracting and engaging the right talent. Now according to a new survey carried out in the US, meaningful engagement around CSR is becoming a business – and bottom line – imperative, impacting a company’s ability to appeal to, retain and inspire Millennial talent. Three-quarters (76 percent) of Millennials consider a company’s social and environmental commitments when deciding where to work and nearly two-thirds (64 percent) won’t take a job if a potential employer doesn’t have strong corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, according to the 2016 Cone Communications Millennial Employee Engagement Study. Because the millennial generation are the most likely to blend their personal and working lives, it’s more important to them than other generations to view their job as a way to make a positive impact on society, the study suggests.

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October 25, 2016

How tech giant EMC standardised the design and management of its office portfolio ⁰

by Cathy Hayward • Case studies, Facilities management, Features, Workplace design

This summer’s headlines have been full of discord, a cacophony of angry voices either directed at continental Europe, or at the Brexiters who voted for Britain to leave the European Union. But EMC, a global leader in information technology-as-a-service which has recently been acquired by Dell, is a leading light of European integration through its One Team approach to workplace management and design across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Over the past three years, the EMC Global Real Estate and Facilities Team (GREF), which supports more than 12,000 people in around 130 office locations across 50 countries in EMEA, has transformed from a group operating independently, to a fully-aligned team which provides a uniform and standardised approach to workplace delivery and management to enable greater business success.

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October 7, 2016

Are we seeing the workification of home or the homification of work? ⁰

by Anna King • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

Thinking and theories about working environments continue to be much debated, of course. As part of this ongoing discussion, Bisley recently hosted an event at its London showroom to continue the aspects of the debate that focus on how offices seem to be morphing in to homes, and how our homes are, conversely, functioning as places of work. The panel discussion was led by Professor Jeremy Myerson of The Royal College of Art and WORKTECH Academy. He was joined by Kirstin Furber – People Director at BBC Worldwide, Sebastian Conran – a leading product and furniture designer, David Barrett – Head Buyer of Living, Dining and Home Office at John Lewis and Amelia Coward – Founder and Creative Director at Bombus.com.

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October 6, 2016

Employers must create modern cultures to retain working mothers ⁰

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

When it comes to working mothers, too many US organisations continue to follow policies created in the 1990s, if not the 1950s. In the report Women in America: Work and Life Well-Lived by Gallup one factor emerges that has the greatest influence on women’s decision to stay in the workforce or leave, children. In the US, more than 5 million jobs are available, but women continue to drop out of the workforce in troubling numbers because despite employers introducing family friendly policies their cultures remain out of date. Because of this, far less than half of female employees polled (35 percent) are engaged in their jobs, and nearly half of women say they are looking for or considering new jobs. Organisations have to create cultures that enable women to maximise their full potential in and out of the workplace; and those that continue to enforce outdated policies will not be able to keep up with employers who offer more choice and flexibility and greater trust and transparency.