The Working Space
TWS - Orgatec 2022 Photo/Video Album

A quick walk thru of Orgatec 2022.

TWS - Orgatec 2022 Photo/Video Album
Manufacturer, NeoCon 2021
Source: CFN News Desk
Hightower wins multiple NeoCon awards including ...

Contract furnishings provider, Hightower received multiple awards at NeoCon 2021, including IIDA's 'Best Small Showroom' (under 4,000 sf) and 'Best of Competition' for its newly designed Chicago showroom.

Hightower wins multiple NeoCon awards including ‘Best Showroom’
Manufacturer, People
Source: CFN News Desk
Humanscale Announces Elizabeth Margles as Chief ...

Humanscale welcomes Elizabeth Margles to its Marketing Division in the role of Chief Marketing Officer. Margles comes to Humanscale with twenty years of experience in design, fashion and retail and a background in public relations and advertising.

Humanscale Announces Elizabeth Margles as Chief Marketing Officer
Manufacturer
Source: CFN News Desk
Steelcase teams up with Kontrol Technologies to ...

The exclusive relationship with Kontrol's BioCloud® Technology will provide real-time detection of airborne pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 to help make workplaces safer as organizations return to the office.

Steelcase teams up with Kontrol Technologies to provide air quality monitoring and viral detection technology
Manufacturer, People
Source: CFN News Desk
Alan Jay Heller dies at 81

For over 50 years, Heller offered leading designers the opportunity to work with new technologies to create innovative products. Those were great partnerships and they resulted in great products.

Alan Jay Heller dies at 81

Research

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The digital future of work is more about humans than machines, claims study

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The digital future of work is more about humans than machines, claims study

The claims that robots will render the human species redundant are largely exaggerated suggests a new report from Cognizant’s Centre for the Future of Work and the Economist Intelligence Unit. But we will have to find a new path and it may be one that emphasises human strengths and characteristics working alongside robots. The study of 420 managers in Europe and the US explores the future of the workplace in an increasingly automated world and suggest we will also see the emergence of new jobs involved in the design of augmented reality and avatars as well as a generally greater emphasis on robot-human partnerships in an increasingly digital world. The study claims, unsurprisingly, that the reliance on physical office space will recede, forcing businesses to employ intelligent workplaces which will monitor workers’ environment, needs and even moods.

Read the article on workplaceinsight.net >

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Shifting Workforce, Shifting Expectations

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Shifting Workforce, Shifting Expectations

As we create new workplaces to support organizational goals, those workplaces must do their part to attract and retain top talent and enable team performance. Much has been written about what the newest members of the workforce want and how to design for them. This is only part of the picture. As the workforce evolves – not only by adding the next generations, but also by becoming global and increasingly diverse, exible, full-time, or contingent – our expectations of the workplace continue to evolve as well. Expectations are and will continue to be a moving target. We now have de nitive insights into six signi cant factors that consistently correlate to knowledge worker performance that we can apply. Our challenge, then, is to design a dynamic, adaptive workplace that embraces diversity in all its forms, and enables the more timeless elements that support performance: relationship building and social cohesion, trust, effective communication, and expertise sharing. 

Read the article on allsteeloffice.com >

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Do Standing Desks Actually Make You Healthier? The Jury Is Still Out

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Do Standing Desks Actually Make You Healthier? The Jury Is Still Out

If sitting is the new smoking, is a standing desk the equivalent of giving up smoking? Maybe. Or maybe not. At the moment, we don't have strong evidence to say standing for longer produces health benefits, never mind the standing desk craze.

Read the article on fastcoexist.com >

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NEW REMOTE WORK STATS SHOW RISE IN TELECOMMUTING

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NEW REMOTE WORK STATS SHOW RISE IN TELECOMMUTING

Gallup Poll results documented in this article support the notion that the telecommuting trend is on the rise.  Signifiantly, 37% of participants say they have worked remotely at one point, which is four times the amount of respondents that indicated this just 20 years ago.  Likely contributors to this jump?  Advanced technology, a generation entering the workforce that prefers mobility and flexibility, and organizations seeking to expand remote and/or flexible work options as a way to attract and retain talent.

Read the blog post on theflexmatch.com >

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Graduates value flexible work and innovative office spaces over pay

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Graduates value flexible work and innovative office spaces over pay

There’s been a lot of assumptions and predictions made about Millennials, and the upcoming generation of workers dubbed Gen Z. They’re alternately spoilt with a sense of entitlement or have a zeal for change and strong social conscience. So while there is a danger of stereotyping this diverse group, employers still need to work out the best way to attract and retain the most talented. Today’s graduates have enjoyed much higher quality university accommodation and facilities than previous generations, and the flexibility of the modern day campus is clearly influencing their work choices. Unlike the generation before them, recent graduates place double the importance on flexible work and work-life balance than they do on their earnings to chart their success. A Bright Network study of over 2,000 of the country’s top graduates also found that high priority was placed on a clear path for advancement over and above high earnings.

Read the article on workplaceinsight.net >

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Robust office market fundamentals

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Robust office market fundamentals

Office market fundamentals have continued to improve across all three global regions, with buoyant leasing activity and tightening supply supporting solid rental growth. Global leasing volumes in the final quarter of 2015 were 14% higher year-on-year and, as a result, full-year volumes exceeded expectations, registering 8% growth on 2014 levels. The Asia Pacific region has seen a strong rebound, with its full-year volumes 19% higher. Leasing activity has also been remarkably vigorous in Europe, posting 13% growth in 2015. Meanwhile, the U.S. has maintained its robust leasing activity, with nearly half of volumes comprising expansion demand. Technology, banking and financial services and outsourcing are the key drivers of demand.

Read the research on jll.com >

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US businesses wasting $1.8 trillion annually on mundane tasks

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US businesses wasting $1.8 trillion annually on mundane tasks

A new report from enterprise software firm Samanage, claims that US businesses are wasting up to $1.8 trillion annually on repetitive and mundane tasks that could easily be automated, leaving people free to carry out more productive and creative work.  The Samanage State of Workplace Survey, polled around 3,000 US working adults and claims that workers spend an average of 520 hours a year – more than one full day’s work each week – on repetitive services and tasks that could be easily automated, such as, password reset requests, contract reviews and approvals, office supply requests and performing other simple administrative tasks. In addition to lost time and money, the survey also claims employees are skirting organisational IT policy. Outdated technology is holding employees in the modern workforce back from driving process efficiency and identifying ways to make their work life better.

Read the article on workplaceinsight.net >

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Unpredictability and office environment are key causes of workplace stress

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Unpredictability and office environment are key causes of workplace stress

The two most common factors influencing work related stress levels are unpredictability (26 percent) and workplace environment (21 percent) according to a poll by US jobs site CareerCast.com. The results, based on 834 respondents found that most of the respondents (62 percent) rated their jobs as highly stressful, while just 11 percent felt the amount of stress on the job was low. Other key stressors were deadlines (20 percent) and safety of others (16 percent). Interestingly, few people felt that length of work day/week (7 percent), personal well-being in danger (5 percent), potential for promotion (3 percent) and travel (1 percent) were major job stressors. Any number of factors can contribute to an unpredictable workplace; either the flow of responsibility changes from day-to-day with new tasks added or changed at random intervals or expectations may change. Running a close second is the workplace environment and culture, which includes interactions with bosses, co-workers and clients/customers.

Read the article on workplaceinsight.net >

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The nine workplace trends every organisation must learn to address

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The nine workplace trends every organisation must learn to address

The latest company to set out its vision of workplace trends is food services provider Sodexo. The company’s 2016 Workplace Trends Report suggests there are nine key areas that managers should address, each linked by the common theme of striking the right balance between the organisation’s commercial objectives and the needs of its stakeholders. The report is a detailed meta-analysis based on primary research, client feedback and research from academics, trade associations and FM providers. The report covers the most talked about themes in workplace design and management including wellness, work-life balance, diversity, green building and workforce engagement. The authors acknowledge the challenge firms face in striking the balance between these complex and conflicting demands and call for an ‘holistic’ approach to resolve them (which may suggest they have as much of an idea about the right answers as anybody else).

Read the article on workplaceinsight.net >

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Corporate real estate strategy shifts focus from cost to people

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Corporate real estate strategy shifts focus from cost to people

A new survey of corporate executives indicates a major shift in how companies make real estate decisions today, with more than half (50 percent) saying that talent is more important than cost (31 percent) as their foremost consideration. As a result, executives view the workplace as primarily a recruitment and retention tool that offers attributes such as a flexible workplace, high quality amenities and interiors. But while the people and workplace experience dominate the corporate real estate agenda, according to CBRE’s Americas Occupier Survey – escalating costs are a major concern. Of survey respondents, 85 percent cite space efficiency and restructuring as a top strategy for reducing occupancy costs. These two issues are driving real estate conversations; with the result that workplace strategy is increasingly being viewed as both a critical employee attraction and retention strategy (57 percent), and as a means to control costs.

Read the article on workplaceinsight.net >

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Fewer than ten percent of business processes will rely on paper by 2018

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Fewer than ten percent of business processes will rely on paper by 2018

A new report from Xerox suggests that the use of paper in business processes continues to fall away. The Digitisation at Work report claims that the move from paper to digital processes is nearly upon us although many of the 600 survey respondents admit they may not be ready for it. The report found concerns remain over paper-based processes, with cost (42 percent) and security (42 percent) cited as primary issues. Survey respondents predicted an average of nine percent of key business operation processes will run on paper in two years time. However, over half (55 percent) of the respondents admit their organisation’s processes are still largely or entirely paper-based and about a third (29 percent) are still communicating with customers via paper.This is despite the fact that 41 percent agree moving to digital workflows will cut organisational costs and 87 percent appear to have the skill sets available to make this happen.

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Open plan offices linked to low engagement and workplace satisfaction levels

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Open plan offices linked to low engagement and workplace satisfaction levels

As we’ve pointed out before, while open plan working can bring cultural benefits such as improved communication and collaboration; the continuing popularity of the open plan office is largely down to cost. The reason the UK has more than twice as many open plan workers as the global average is primarily due to high real estate costs. Now a new report from Steelcase suggests that space and cost-saving strategies such as open plan offices and hot-desking could be impacting workplace satisfaction and engagement. UK employees are falling below the global average for almost all workplace satisfaction metrics, reporting a lack of control over their work environment (59 percent), difficulties concentrating (43 percent) and an inability to work without being interrupted (50 percent). These three factors were found to be central to fostering an engaged and satisfied workforce. Only 29 percent of UK workers are engaged, compared to 34 percent globally.

Read the article on workplaceinsight.net >

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These 20 Cities Have The Most Expensive Office Space In The World

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These 20 Cities Have The Most Expensive Office Space In The World

Opening an office in Hong Kong or London? Be prepared for a hefty price tag.

Hong Kong, London, Beijing, New York and Shanghai are the five most expensive cities in the world for office space, calculated in terms of price per square foot in dollars per year. Check out this infographic, compiled using data from December 2015 from real estate firm JLL.

Read the article and see the infographic on forbes.com >

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Over half of UK employers will implement flexible working by next year

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Over half of UK employers will implement flexible working by next year

The UK is on the verge of a flexible working ‘tipping point’ with more than half of employers offering staff more choice of where to work. Working anywhere: A winning formula for good work? produced by Lancaster University’s Work Foundation, and commissioned by Citrix, reveals that 2017 will be the time when over half of organisations in the UK are likely to have adopted flexible working. It also predicts that over 70 percent of organisations will have followed suit by 2020. The Work Foundation, which hosted interviews with academics, business leaders and the public sector to glean insights around the theme of flexible working, supported by research with 500 managerial level employees within medium to large businesses, warns that there is still much to be done to address attitudes towards flexible working, from ensuring people don’t end up working longer hours to dealing with feelings of ‘disconnect’.

Read the article on workplaceinsight.net >

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Does a pretty office make a productive workforce?

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Does a pretty office make a productive workforce?

Offices with scenic views, as well as high-quality indoor environments, could help employees become more productive, research suggests. 

The view from office windows is rarely the stuff of picture postcards. Yet the scenic quality of our daily environments has a direct correlation on our personal wellbeing, researchers say.

Read the article on theguardian.com >

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Design Forecast: The Smarter Workplace

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Design Forecast: The Smarter Workplace

This desire for customization extends to all facets of life. Some people like to shop in brick and mortar stores where they can handle a physical item; others prefer to order it online their color from their favorite brand. But everyone at least wants the option to choose between online shopping and the in-store experience. At sporting events, discriminating fans look for more than just a seat in the arena—they want a customized experience that provides a litany of food options to choose from, and (for a price) allow greater access to the players. When traveling, people want to be able to choose between five-star brand hotels, comfortable-but-affordable boutiques hotel, or the budget-friendly option of a unique home or apartment via Airbnb. Travelers also customize their vacations online by perusing a host of discounted airfares, tours and attractions and then choosing what best suits their unique itinerary.

Read the article on gensleron.com >

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Creative Office Is The 'New Normal'

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Creative Office Is The 'New Normal'

Office users around the country, and across industries, are incorporating unconventional spaces and design, according to new research. Following the release of Ted Moudis Associates’ 2016 Workplace Report, the firm’s Justin Mardex, senior associate of workplace strategy, sat down with GlobeSt.com to discuss the research in this EXCLUSIVE story.

Read the article on globest.com > 

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