December 8, 2021
Search Results for: workplace
December 2, 2021
Seven in ten HR managers support greater flexible working in their workplace
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Workplace
Seven in 10 (70 percent) of UK HR managers now say flexible working could work for their business – claims a new TUC poll. Half (49 percent) of UK HR managers polled said that greater flexible working could work for their business as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, building on the one in five (21 percent) who say that their business already enabled significant flexible working before the pandemic. More →
December 2, 2021
UK employees health demands on returning to the workplace
by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives
As the new Covid-19 variant, omicron, threatens to spread across the globe, research from Infogrid, claims that people who have not had their Covid-19 vaccination have become a major barrier to employees wanting to return to the physical office. Over half (57 percent) of UK employees who attend or expect to return to the physical workplace said they are worried about encountering people at work who are not vaccinated. More →
November 19, 2021
Workplace data proves that the devil is in the detail for the new era of work
by Steve Morren • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design
Predicting the future is a fool’s errand. History is littered with examples of people who got it horribly wrong. In 1876, William Orten, the president of then telegraphy pioneer Western Union, claimed that the telephone was an idiotic, ungainly and impractical idea that would never catch on. Almost a century later, Microsoft’s Bill Gates said that nobody would ever need more than 640KB of memory in a computer. Today’s home computers and laptops can store up to 32GB of memory. More →
November 18, 2021
Time to stop playing around with the issue of workplace sustainability
by Joanna Knight • Environment, Facilities management, Features, JK, Workplace design
The so-called green agenda, sustainability and climate change have finally hit centre stage. Various announcements are being made by UK Government and numerous high profile figures are crying a call to action to implement carbon reduction plans now. Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman William Russell, stated at the Annual Lord Mayor Gresham Lecture early in 2021: “Climate change is a bigger threat to the world than COVID-19.” He called on the financial and professional services sector to take urgent action to tackle climate change and ensure sustainability is at the heart of every financial decision. More →
November 15, 2021
Toxic workplace culture impacting the mental health of almost half of workforce
by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace
Two in five employees across the UK have experienced problematic behaviour, such as bullying, harassment or discrimination at work; with 42 percent confirming toxic workplace culture has impacted their mental health, according to research from Culture Shift. The study (registration) also claims over one third have felt silenced on issues that matter to them in the workplace, while 29 percent have taken time off due to an incident that happened at work, such as bullying, harassment, discrimination or sexual misconduct. A further 41 percent confirmed bad workplace culture has impacted their productivity and 42 percent have previously left a job due to negative workplace culture. More →
November 10, 2021
New research provides insights into post-pandemic workplace
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, Newsletter, Working culture
The latest research from MRI Software, claims that commercial occupiers’ willingness to allow all employees the choice to work remotely fell dramatically from 39 percent to 26 percent between March and September 2021. Seventy percent of survey respondents planned to institute policies that tighten up remote work eligibility and onsite requirements – up from 60 percent in March. More →
November 3, 2021
Business leaders wary that greater workplace flexibility could encourage ‘proximity bias’
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives
With the vast majority (86 percent) of UK businesses planning to offer employees greater flexibility around where they work, leaders are focused on ensuring employees feel included regardless of their location, according to new research from LinkedIn. This comes as LinkedIn has seen a 97 percent increase in remote jobs being advertised on the platform in the UK from September 2020 to September 2021. More →
November 1, 2021
The modern workplace is defined as much by digital space as the physical office
by Wilco Wijnbergen • Comment, Property, Technology
There are no prizes to be won for saying that the modern workplace is already markedly different from those we have known in recent decades. As remote and flexible working practices have become more common, the role of the office has already begun to evolve – the pace of change has been greatly accelerated by the pandemic, which has resulted in a rethink among many organisations about their real estate needs. More →
October 29, 2021
Workplace balance of power shifts in favour of employees
by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace design
The workplace power dynamic has shifted in favour of employees, according to a new study released from BCW in partnership with Workplace from Facebook (now Meta of course). The inaugural International Workforce Insights Study (registration) reveals that more than half of all employees say they feel more empowered to influence change in their workplace compared to a year ago, including with their employer’s business strategy (54 percent), company culture (55 percent) and their work experience (59 percent). This feeling of empowerment is most pronounced among Generation Z and Millennials. More →
October 27, 2021
Hybrid working: too few companies are making the workplace changes they need
by Tony Antoniou • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design
At a recent Women in Office Design event on the subject of hybrid working and workplace change, the founder of WOD Harsha Kotak posed a question which I thought was extremely important but often goes unasked. “Whilst I have a great understanding of how the workplace landscape will change”, she said, “are companies making these changes?” This is a brilliantly relevant question because in my opinion based on my research and experience of the past year and a half, not enough companies are. More →
December 6, 2021
We must wake up to the realities of workplace sustainability
by Oliver Cripps • Comment, Environment, Workplace design