Search Results for: workplace

August 19, 2016

Over a third of office workers complain about poor air quality ¹

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Almost 70 percent of office workers believe poor air quality in their place of work is having a negative effect on their day-to-day productivity and wellbeing, claims a survey commissioned by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA); and a third of workers are concerned that poor air quality could be having a negative effect on their health. Opening windows is the most commonly used form of ventilation with 60 percent of workers saying it is the first thing they do if they need fresh air. However, although this is seen as a natural response, opening windows runs the risk of further polluting the working environment by letting in outdoor toxins, the survey claims. Given that we spend 90 percent of our time indoors and on average, 212 days a year at work, BESA has called on firms, managers and employees to ensure proper, effective, well maintained ventilation systems are operating in all offices across the UK.

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August 18, 2016

Uncompromising job candidates’ demands don’t include flexible work ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Job candidates are becoming more demanding claims a new survey, with three quarters (79.2 percent) of UK workers polled not willing to compromise on certain areas when looking for a new role. Unsurprisingly, 18.2 percent say that a low advertised salary would put them off a role entirely, but other less tangible issues would also dissuade them from pursuing an application. This includes unclear job descriptions (20 percent) and a long recruitment process (10.2 percent); while 7.8 percent revealed that poor communication throughout the recruitment process would drive them away from a company. The research, which was conducted by CV-Library, surveyed 1,000 UK workers and found that candidates are growing increasingly impatient with their job hunt. Other key deterrents cited were poor traits about the businesses themselves, including a bad reputation (9.5 percent), a high staff turnover (7.1 percent) and poor management (6.1 percent).

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August 18, 2016

Economic slowdown curbs demand for office space in Dubai ⁰

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

There has been a reduction in demand for office space in Dubai over the past six months, as the ripple effect of the oil price collapse and the subsequent economic slowdown in the rest of the Gulf reverberates across the emirate’s commercial property market. As firms retrench staff and reconsider their future strategy in the wake of global economic challenges, decisions to acquire, expand or move office space have commonly been put on hold according to Cluttons’ latest Dubai Office Market Bulletin. This has resulted in an exaggeration of the seasonal summer slowdown throughout late Q2 and early Q3 2016. Cluttons’ research also highlights that, the general lack of rental growth is unlikely to change in the short-term. Across the market as a whole, rents are not expected to fall much further, particularly as they are at a point where they are considered to be fair market value and landlords appear unwilling to lease below a certain level.

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August 16, 2016

A well executed wellness strategy benefits staff and employers ⁰

by Beate O'Neil • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace

Employee health and wellbeing is moving up the agenda of many companies. A recent report from the Reward and Employee Benefits Association (Reba) and Punter Southall Health & Protection found that a third of companies have a wellness strategy in place, with 80 per cent having introduced one in the last three years. Of the 70 per cent that don’t yet have a strategy, a third plan to implement one this year, a third plan to implement a plan in the next few years and the final third have it firmly on their wish list. This is driven by the fact that the UK is experiencing a major demographic change – in 2014 the average age of the population exceeded 40 for the first time. With the percentage of the total population over 60 predicted in a report from AgeUK to rise from 24.2 percent at present to over 29 percent in 2035, employers are beginning to wake up to the fact that wellness is good for staff and good for business.

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August 16, 2016

Flexible working patterns may make us more susceptible to infection ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Wellbeing

We are more susceptible to infection at certain times of the day as our body clock affects the ability of viruses to replicate and spread between cells, suggests new research from the University of Cambridge. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may help to explain why people who work outside normal working hours are more prone to health problems, including infections and chronic disease. The time of day of infection can have a major influence on how susceptible we are to the disease, or at least on the viral replication, meaning that infection at the wrong time of day could cause a much more severe acute infection. According to the study, when a virus enters our body, it hijacks the machinery and resources in our cells to help it replicate and spread throughout the body. But, the resources our body has to fight infection fluctuate throughout the day, partly in response to our circadian rhythms – in effect, our body clock.

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August 16, 2016

How to save a sinking ship: lessons from Marissa Mayer’s experience at Yahoo ⁰

by Andrea Hak • Case studies, Features, Flexible working, Technology, Work&Place

When former Google employee Marissa Mayer joined Yahoo as its CEO in 2012, she inherited the company’s vast problems. Though it was once seen as one of the first tech behemoths, Yahoo’s inability to come up with ground breaking products like Google and others, put it in a slow, steady decline. Mayer was immediately tasked with trying to reinvigorate the stagnating company. Her focus was to find a way to identify and retain talent, while phasing out ineffective employees. However, Yahoo’s new management policies have brought about much debate and criticism from HR experts. A controversial book by journalist Nicholas Carlson titled “Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!” paints a highly critical view of Mayer’s first years as CEO. In response others have defended her, arguing that she has done the best she can with the resources available, but has become a scapegoat for poor management, like so many other women in powerful positions.

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August 16, 2016

Women struggling to reach senior executive roles in top US firms ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, News, Workplace

Progress for women in reaching the executive ranks within the UK’s FTSE 100 is too slow and the picture is less than inspiring on the other side of the Atlantic. A new analysis by Korn Ferry of the top 1,000 US companies by revenue finds the percentage of women in most executive positions is dramatically lower than their male counterparts. Across the most prominent executive job titles and several industries (consumer, energy, financial, life sciences, industrial, technology) an average of less than one quarter (24 percent) of the top leaders are women. The most senior post is held by the smallest percentage of women, with only 5 percent serving as CEO; 12 percent of CFO’s (Chief Financial Officer) are women; and 19 percent of women holding the CIO (Chief Information Officer) role across all industries. The CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officer) role is the only one where there is gender parity, with 55 percent of CHROs across industries being women.

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August 15, 2016

Brexit leads to ‘softening’ of employment market, claims CIPD survey ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Public Sector, Workplace

The UK’s decision to leave the EU has resulted in a softening in hiring intentions and businesses should invest in skills immediately, according to the latest CIPD/Adecco Group UK & Ireland Labour Market Outlook. The report is based on employer sentiment in the two weeks before and after the EU Referendum and claims that employers surveyed ahead of the vote were somewhat more optimistic about hiring intentions than those surveyed afterwards. It suggests that the proportion of employers expecting to increase staffing levels over the next three months dropped from 40 percent pre-Brexit to 36 percent following the vote. The net employment balance, based on the difference between the share of employers expanding their workforce and those reducing it, dropped from +21 pre-Brexit to +17 post-Brexit. However, the fall was significantly sharper among private sector employers, with the post-Brexit employment balance declining to +25 from +39.

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August 15, 2016

UK commercial property prices fall during first full month after Brexit ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, News, Property

The first full month of market activity in the UK’s commercial property sector since the Brexit vote, saw its value fall by just under three percent, according to the latest data from real estate researchers MSCI in their monthly IPD real estate index. The value of the nationwide market fell by 2.8 percent over the month. Central London was particularly badly hit with values falling by 4.1 percent. The monthly report is sponsored by a number of the major players in the commercial property sector and is based on an analysis of every building in the MSCI database including currently occupied buildings and those in development and being refurbished. A report published earlier this month by Investment Property Forum found that while the overall value of the UK’s commercial property had hit record levels, the uncertainty surrounding the consequences of Brexit was of major concern for investors and occupiers.

August 15, 2016

The traditional office is still very much alive, but it is changing ⁰

by Alex Gifford • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

A skim through workplace features in the media and you’d be forgiven for thinking that the traditional office is no longer with us. According to the narrative, we’re all now 20-somethings, working in open-plan warehouses, with table football, bean bags and comfy sofas to lounge on, while drinking our custom-made soya lattes. When in actual fact, while more relaxed, fun and funky offices tend to make the headlines, the majority of people still work in a relatively traditional way, with their PC or laptop, a desk and an ergonomic task chair. What’s more, with an ageing workforce, we certainly aren’t all 20-somethings, with DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) figures revealing that the employment rate for people aged 50 to 64 has risen by 14 per cent in the last 30 years, and doubled for over 65s. So designing with just the youngsters in mind simply doesn’t add up. Recent research by the Senator Group, backs up this view.

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August 11, 2016

Government regulations will help global BIM market to grow by a fifth ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, News, Property, Technology

A new report from Allied Market Research claims that the worldwide market for Building Information Modelling will grow by over a fifth to hit $11.7 billion by 2022, driven primarily by legislation demanding that all construction work should apply BIM. The World Building Information Modelling (BIM) Market report, claims that its growth projections are based on increasing demand from the construction industry, in turn based on new government regulations mandating the use of BIM, a booming property sector in Asia and growing awareness of the benefits of BIM. Construction industries will continue to be the leading consumers of BIM, constituting nearly 63 percent of the global market by 2022. The report concludes that ‘BIM has emerged as an ideal alternative to traditional CAD software, owing to its suitability over a variety of operational issues such as cost management, handling raw data and information and alignment of processes’.

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August 10, 2016

The solution to closing the digital skills gap starts at home ⁰

by Andrea Chadwick • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace

Much has already been written about the UK’s digital skills gap, and undoubtedly as the Government continues to develop and roll out its Digital Strategy for the nation, many more headlines will be devoted to it. For a country so focused on technological development it’s a problem which is both acute and imperative. Recent Government figures put 12.6 million Britons at risk of being left behind in terms of the skills needed for a modern economy. Parliamentary plans to address this issue focus firmly on education: including digital development as a key part of apprenticeships, encouraging vocational digital skills courses at universities, and broadening access to other educational courses to help people to learn to code. However, responsibility to upskill the nation’s workforce also resides with employers. Whether the current role demands IT skills or not, technology increasingly impacts and transforms every element of our lives.