Search Results for: workforce

Flexible working seen as of more benefit to employers than staff

by • Knowledge, Legal news, News, Technology, Workplace

Flexible working

Nine in ten UK professionals think that flexible working will become the dominant employment model – but half think it will be adopted for business reasons rather than to benefit the workforce. According to research from specialist HR recruiter Ortus, just one in ten professionals (12 per cent) actually deem flexible working to be a vital benefit – lower than the proportion who said a free company mobile phone is vital to them. And just 1 in 10 said they thought it was being implemented to help with gender equality. In the survey conducted among 450 professionals across a variety of sectors, 51 one per cent felt the reason behind the growth of flexible working is efficiency and productivity – not to help people manage the number of hours they work. (more…)

Commercial sector bucks downward UK construction trend

by • News, Property, Public Sector

Construction figsConstruction business activity fell by the third month running in January, with new orders at slowest pace since October 2012 according to the latest Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). There were some reports that snowfall had contributed to reduced output volumes, but the majority of respondents cited weak underlying client demand and a lack of new projects.  However commercial activity was the only sub-sector to buck the wider downward trend in output during January with the latest data indicating unchanged volumes of commercial activity, ending five months of contraction. (more…)

Employers overlook flexible working alternative to redundancy

by • News, Workplace

Flexible

Only 22 per cent of UK managers believe their companies are very effective at redeploying employees rather than making redundancies. And according to new global research it’s a worldwide problem, with almost three in ten employers believing their organisations are “not effective”. Mark Hodgson, practice leader of Talent Management in Right Management UK & Ireland said: “The results suggest that businesses aren’t seeing redeployment as a feasible way of making savings and keeping staff. Businesses can’t afford to underestimate the importance of a flexible workforce in this tough economic climate.” (more…)

Global 100 green companies announced during Davos

by • Environment, News

Global 100The top-ranked company in the Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable corporations is Umicore, a Belgium-based materials technology and recycling company. The rest of the top five announced recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, were Natura Cosmeticos, Statoil, Neste Oil and Novo Nordisk. Hailed recently as the world’s most credible corporate sustainability ranking, the Global 100 is compiled by Toronto-based media and investment research company Corporate Knights, and consists of the 100 top-performing stocks worldwide on a range of sector-specific ‘sustainability’ metrics.

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Sodexo Workplace Trends report covers familiar ground

by • Environment, Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace

sodexo workplace trends editThe latest annual Workplace Trends Report from workplace services provider Sodexo claims to reveal the crucial role the built environment has in organisational performance. The report emphasises the growing strategic role of facilities management and the importance of sustainability as an element of corporate culture as well as a trend toward designing offices to attract and retain top talent by emphasising productivity and quality of life. The report also identifies the importance of social media in attracting prospective employees instead of traditional e-mail campaigns and other media.

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Report reveals wider impact than ROI for wellness programmes

by • News, Technology, Workplace

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The Return on Investment of workplace wellness programmes goes way beyond cost savings a major new report reveals. Making the Right Investment: Employee Health and the Power of Metrics found smoking cessation incentives help increase productivity, nutrition and exercise drives and centralised programmes which utilise the latest technology leads to increased employee engagement which helps reduce staff turnover. Said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman World Economic Forum “Over 50% of the working population spend the majority of their time at work, so the workplace provides a unique opportunity to raise awareness, as well as guide and incentivise individuals to develop healthier behaviours.” (more…)

Happiness levels in UK workplaces growing, says Government.

by • Knowledge, News, Public Sector, Workplace

smiley faceThe general level of satisfaction in the UK’s workplaces has increased significantly in spite of ongoing economic uncertainty according to a report from the Government published yesterday. The study of more than 21,000 employees, found that job satisfaction levels actually increased in 2012 with a fifth (20 per cent) of employees either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with all aspects of their job, compared to just 16 per cent in 2004 when the survey last appeared. The report also showed that levels of commitment to individual employers had also increased over the same period, with the proportion of employees who said they shared the values of their organisation up from 55 per cent to 65 per cent. (more…)

Designing for productivity means creating space for us to be alone

by • Facilities management, Furniture, Knowledge, Workplace design

WilkhahnOn the face of it, the case for working in open plan offices is clear cut. Not only are they  more conducive to collaborative work and less bound by ideas of that great no-no that we used to call ‘status’, the economic case is seemingly open and shut. Open plan workstations not only take up around half the space of cellular offices, the fit-out costs are typically 25 per cent lower. And yet there are clear signs of a backlash, at least to the idea of them fostering collaborative work.

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A more decentralised office inevitable for world’s workers

by • Facilities management, Knowledge, News, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

The changing nature of work and the workforce continues to transform offices around the world. And nowhere more so than in the United States  According to a recent report from McKinsey – called Preparing for a New Era of Knowledge Work – not only are we seeing the final stages of the transition to a knowledge economy with all that entails, demographic inertia means that there may be a huge shortfall in the number of skilled graduate workers needed to service it. This pattern will be evident around the world, especially in rapidly developing economies such as China and India.  (more…)

Hidden depression amidst Blue Monday hype

by • News, Workplace

DepressionToday is ‘Blue Monday’, allegedly the most depressing day of the year. The case against the beginning of the third working week in January includes an inability to keep up New Year resolutions, lack of daylight, and giving us something to gripe about. However it also presents an opportunity to discuss the hidden problem of depression amongst the workforce. One in four will have some kind of mental health problem this year which is why Business Disability Forum has today announced a new guide for line managers on how to manage mental health at work.

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UK’s Centre for Cities launches Outlook 2013 report

by • Knowledge, News, Property, Public Sector

cit_0000The Centre for Cities has today published the latest issue of its flagship Cities Outlook report in conjunction with the Local Government Association. The report has been published annually since 2008, identifying trends and key economic indicators from the UK’s largest cities. This year’s report is extensive in its coverage of a range of issues but focusses on construction, especially of housing, as an engine of growth.  Several towns including Milton Keynes, Brighton and Northampton are singled out for their high levels of private sector investment and employment.

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Job fulfilment, not pay, motivates Generation Y talent

by • Knowledge, News, Workplace

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Today’s 20-to-30-something workforce, representing the management class of the future, values job fulfilment over financial reward, according to research by the iOpener Institute, which analysed responses from over 18,000 professionals. The study shows that Generation Y, the digital cohort born after the early 1980s, are motivated to stay with their employer, and to actively recommend their organisation to friends, by the level to which they are fulfilled in their job, rather than their levels of pay. (more…)

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