Search Results for: workplace

Network Rail agrees £1.46bn commercial real estate sale to Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property

Network Rail agrees £1.46bn commercial real estate sale to Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property

by • News, Property

Network Rail has agreed terms with Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property Partners for the sale of its commercial real estate portfolio. Proceeds from the £1.46 billion transaction will help fund the railway upgrade plan, bringing improvements for passengers and reducing the need for taxpayers to fund the railway, according to a statement from Network Rail. Telereal and Blackstone will hold equal ownership stakes and intend to be long-term owners of the estate. Both parties have adopted a ‘tenants first’ approach, cemented in a tenants’ charter, which offers a commitment to engage with all tenants and communities in an open and honest manner. Telereal will oversee the day-to-day property management of the portfolio.

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Four day working week could become a reality soon, claims report

Four day working week could become a reality soon, claims report

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

A four-day working week could become a reality this century, according to the general secretary of the Trade Union Congress and a new TUC report. In a key speech to the TUC’s annual congress set to be delivered later today, Frances O’Grady will call for firms to use technology in a way to improve the lives of workers and cut the number of hours they spend working. However, the union also concedes that it may take government intervention for this to happen, given the way technology has encouraged the extension of working time over past few decades.

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We should measure wellbeing and security if we want to create Good Work, claims the RSA

We should measure wellbeing and security if we want to create Good Work, claims the RSA

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Job security, workplace mental health, and how well-supported workers feel by their employer, should be monitored annually by the government, a report led by the RSA and the Carnegie UK Trust recommends. The need to better monitor quality of work in the UK was called for in RSA chief executive Matthew Taylor’s 2017 employment review for the Prime Minister. The UK Government subsequently committed to delivering on this proposal; and Measuring Good Work now sets out a roadmap for how the ambition can be achieved. The report highlights that employment has a major impact on people’s wellbeing and quality of life, arguing that since the 2008 financial crisis, despite record employment, the overall figure on the number of people in work fails to account for issues like worker pay; whether employees feel they are trapped in a job below their skillset; are working too few or too many hours; or are facing excessive workplace pressure.

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How Thomas Jefferson came to invent the swivel chair and laptop

How Thomas Jefferson came to invent the swivel chair and laptop 0

by • Comment, Furniture, Technology, Workplace design

Thomas JeffersonIn 1775, Thomas Jefferson was a busy man. As part of the Committee of Five men and at the tender age of 33, he had been charged with drafting the Declaration of Independence that was to be presented to Congress the following Summer. By all accounts, Jefferson was a self-contained and self-sufficient man and, like many great people, a mass of contradictions.

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Leading a hybrid future workforce of robots, episodic employees and gig leaders

Leading a hybrid future workforce of robots, episodic employees and gig leaders

by • Flexible working, News, Technology

future workforceVisions of hybrid workforces, episodic employees, gig leadership and acceptable failure have been unearthed in a new study, ‘Work 2028: trends, dilemmas and choices’, revealing business and society leaders’ projections for the fourth industrial revolution. The project was led by Professor Bernd Vogel at Henley Business School and run in collaboration with Deutsche Telekom and Detecon Consulting, who commissioned Henley to carry out the survey. The research involved interviews with over 50 influential leaders from across a variety of sectors and countries including senior figures from Amazon and Unilever to look at the challenges facing organisations and their future workforce.

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Firms need to distinguish between job and organisation when it comes to employee engagement

Firms need to distinguish between job and organisation when it comes to employee engagement

by • News, Workplace

Organisations need to distinguish between employee engagement with a job and engagement with the organisation if they are to improve the employee experience and their overall competitive advantage, a new research paper claims. Published by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES), the paper claims to highlight how traditional, one-dimensional views of engagement fail to make a distinction between job and organisational engagement, viewing employee engagement as a single concept. However, employees can be highly engaged with the organisation but have low levels of job engagement, or vice versa. The research paper, Bridging the gap: an evidence-based approach to employee engagement, suggests that this lack of understanding about what engagement really is and how it influences organisational success can lead to inefficient and ineffective strategies to improve employee engagement.

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Gig economy growing but employers should continue to cultivate in-house talent

Gig economy growing but employers should continue to cultivate in-house talent

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

As gig economy grows employers should continue to cultivate in-house talentThe number of “gig economy” professionals working in organisations is growing and this trend is expected to continue, a survey by Korn Ferry has claimed. More than half (60 percent) of HR professionals say that compared to three years ago, gig workers now make up a larger percentage of their professional workforce, and 42 percent say they plan on hiring more contingent workers in the future. The reasons, according to the survey, include cost savings, access to high-calibre talent and ease of managing gig economy professionals. Despite the fact that many gig professionals work remotely, 67 percent of the HR professionals surveyed say they are confident they know what the gig professionals are doing on a day-to-day basis, and 42 percent say these contingent employees are easier to manage than full-time employees. However, according to Jeanne MacDonald, president of Global Talent Solutions for Korn Ferry’s RPO and Professional Search Business,  organisations should proceed cautiously and ensure they continue to cultivate in-house talent.

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Many UK freelancers feel lonely and isolated following leap to self-employment

Many UK freelancers feel lonely and isolated following leap to self-employment

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

The solo self-employed are now a vital element of the UK economy, contributing around £271 billion to the government’s coffers in 2017, of which around £125–140 billion came from freelancers. But with some predicting that by 2020, half of the workforce will be freelancing, we need to take an objective look at the world of self-employment and tackle its challenges head-on, giving freelancers the tools and skills they need to work effectively — and happily.

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From FUBAR to Five Star: Delivering Excellent Facilities Management

From FUBAR to Five Star: Delivering Excellent Facilities Management 0

by • Facilities management, News

Mark Wilcock is an experienced facilities management professional and he has something to share with you. His self-written new book From FUBAR to Five Star: Delivering Excellent Facilities Management offers reflections and guidance on a range of challenges that face facilities managers in their day to day lives. Mark is currently Business Support and Planning Manager at The Co-operative Group based in Manchester and was one of the first three thousand members of the BIFM. He has around 25 years experience in facilities management across a number of sectors and in different countries. In the book he shares his thoughts on key issues related to both the day to day and strategic role of facilities managers. All proceeds from the book will be donated to Alzheimer’s Research. Image: Co-op One Angel Square office Manchester, Buro Happold/David Hopkinson

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BRE announces plans for £10m innovation hub building

BRE announces plans for £10m innovation hub building

by • Architecture, Environment, News

UK based building research body BRE has announced plans for a new research centre building at its campus in Hertfordshire. The new Open Innovation Hub will be built on the current site of a redundant and soon to be demolished 1960’s office block, known as Building 4, at the organisation’s Garston base. BRE says the new building, designed by architects AHMM will create a national and international centre for research and innovation in emerging sectors such as digital, connected and smart built environment. The four-floor 35,000 sq ft building will offer high-quality incubation and SME acceleration space to facilitate collaboration between the research base, large firms and knowledge-intensive SMEs. BRE aims to see the £10m build project achieve a BREEAM outstanding environmental accreditation. Once finished it will create 150 jobs and BRE also hopes to attract as many as 25 new firms to its Enterprise Zone.

Quality coffee tops the list as the most important office feature

Quality coffee tops the list as the most important office feature

by • Coworking, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

Quality coffee tops the list for the most important office featureThe quality of the coffee is the most important feature for office occupants, with two thirds of workers saying a decent flat white or cappuccino is an essential for a productive and engaged workforce.  Research by coworking developer Areaworks also found that being closer to the outdoors, and the ability to work from a balcony or roof terrace was an important factor for 64 percent. Hanging chairs, bean bags and flexible spaces are a must for most, as half of office workers want to ditch fixed desks in favour of casual seating and hot desking, making it a top five most favoured feature. the office gimmicks failed to feature on most people’s workplace bucket list. The installation of office gimmicks such as fireman’s poles and ball pits all failed to feature on most people’s workplace list, but slides did make the list, while the majority (66 percent) included a fridge complete with beer and prosecco among their choice items.

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Cash is key motivator for UK workers and it is leading to high levels of disengagement

Cash is key motivator for UK workers and it is leading to high levels of disengagement

by • News, Workplace

Cash is key motivator for UK workers and it is leading to high levels of disengagement

UK workers are more motivated by cash than their European counter-parts, a new survey has claimed, with over half (62 percent) saying their pay check is the reason they come to work. According to the research from ADP, this compares to an average of 49 percent across other European countries. The study, which surveyed over 2,000 workers across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and the UK, also shows that non-financial drivers lead to higher engagement levels and greater satisfaction on pay day. UK employees were also the least likely to claim they come to work because they love what they do, with only 13 percent of UK workers saying this is the case, compared to 26 percent in the Netherlands. Worryingly, UK workers are also the most likely to feel like quitting, with 19 percent thinking this every week or more, and 9 percent going as far to think about it most days. This is drastically higher than all other countries, averaging 11 percent and 6 percent respectively.

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