Work Life Balance

Urban Farming and Corporate Culture Collide in this Tokyo Office Building

Corporate offices in Tokyo don’t exactly have a great reputation. Drab, grey walls. Generic cubicles. Desks crammed next to each other. These are some of the images we conjure up. But there are an exceptional few trying to break the mold. And they’re not always tech startups.

In the center of Tokyo’s busy financial district is Pasona, a multi-national recruitment firm. When the company decided they needed a new headquarters they hired Japanese architect Yoshimi Kono to help renovate a large, 9-story building and adorn it with a lush, green wall. But the vegetation doesn’t just live on the exterior. Integrated within the building are urban farming facilities that occupy roughly 20% of the entire office space and support 200 species of fruits, vegetables and rice.

Source: www.spoon-tamago.com

Take a break from your work to go farming just outside your cubicle! An interesting way to change the corporate culture.

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Telework

Is Telecommuting the Future of the Workforce or Not?

Back in January, Forbes contributor and CEO of TalentCulture Consulting Group Meghan M. Biro made a not-so-bold prediction: telecommuting is the future of work.

Source: www.hrtalentmanagement.com

It is important that organizations do not see telecommuting as the  only future work setting. Organizations vary in what they need in a work arrangement. The future will be flexible work, of which telecommuting is just one option. For example, organizations offering condensed work weeks still require workers to work in-office, they just have the option to work longer hours on fewer days. Other companies are considering using temporary telecommuting as a way to help mothers transition back into work and the office after maternity leave.

HP and Yahoo brought their telecommuters back into the office, but that doesn’t mean that flexible work is detrimental to all companies.

We advise our clients to think about the kind of work they do, how their employees work, and what they need in order to be productive.  By planning and clearly understanding these three things, organizations won’t be stuck in situations like HP and Yahoo. They will know which members of the workforce can and should work flexibly. They will also know how to implement and support an ongoing program.

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Workplace Flexibility

Why Compressed Work Weeks Can Be Great For Employees and Employers

A compressed work week is a useful flexible work arrangement that can help free up valuable time for family and life demands while minimizing workplace disruptions. Employees Win! I have a friend w…

Source: fathersworkandfamily.com

Tomorrow is Friday! Fridays are always the perfect day to talk about a Condensed Work Week (CWW), a flexible work arrangement that consists of longer work days and shorter work weeks.

The best part of working a CWW? Predictability. Managers and employees alike can gain the flexibility of an alternative work arrangement and still easily keep track of schedules.

While Scott Behson, Associate Professor of Management at Fairleigh Dickinson University, does go on a bit much on what can be accomplished on a “day off”, he also notes a very important  benefit for companies– employees can work the same amount of hours and have an extra day to get personal errands done outside of work. This results in a more engaged employee at work. What do you think of the CWW arrangement?

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Telework

Atlanta companies embrace teleworking as winter storm approaches | www.ajc.com

the ice storm that hit metro Atlanta left thousands of employees stuck not at their desks but at their steering wheels.

Now that there is a ton of forewarning about the impending winter storm that will hit the area this week, scores of companies and workers are embracing teleworking to remain productive when the bad weather finally arrives.

Source: www.ajc.com

Over 2000 cars were abandoned during Atlanta’s “stormy” commute last month. This week, Atlanta businesses are preparing for impending winter weather by implementing formal and informal telework policies.

An organization with telework policies won’t miss a beat during unexpected weather events and can keep employees safe.

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Telework

The Helpful Impact of Telework

Over the past 30 years, at the same time the percentage of commuters driving has flatlined, the share of people working from home has exploded, almost doubling since 1980. Telecommuting is controversial — some suggest it increases productivity while others maintain the value of offices — but it is gaining popularity no matter its merits.

Source: www.citylab.com

Telecommuting is not just a cost save for companies, it can also be a cost save for taxpayers and the community in the long run.

With fewer people on the road during peak hours, we could see a decrease in expensive transportation levies and infrastructure requirements.

How could the benefits of telecommuting further Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives in your organization?

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Workplace Flexibility, Workplace Strategy

New Survey Reveals Top Workplace Trends for 2014

Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology surveyed some 8,000 industrial-organisational psychologists to unearth what they believed to be the top 10 workplace trends of 2014. Many of these will be familiar to readers of this blog, but some might be new. Check them out and see what you think.

Source: www.socialmediatoday.com

This list links Remote Working (#9) to Work-Life Balance (#7). We also see a link between Remote Working (#9) and Locating Talent (#3).


By providing an option to work remotely, your organization can avoid geographical barriers to hiring and retaining top talent.    

 

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Telework

Managing a Millennial Workforce in an Era of Connected Things | WIRED

The future is upon us: the millennial generation. Millennials come armed with mobile devices of every size, and the corresponding mindset that immediate access is a necessity. In a workforce increasingly comprised of millennials, how can an enterprise harness the power of its mobile workers to be more efficient while still fostering creativity and innovation?…

Source: www.wired.com

Leveraging mobile technology: BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)


Technology allows us to make almost any place into a workplace. What winning combination(s) of technology and place lead to productive work for you?

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Telework

18 ways to ensure your remote workforce doesn’t end up like Yahoo’s

Marissa Mayer found herself at the center of a controversy when she issued a mandate that all Yahoo employees must work in one of the company’s offices.

Many people saw this as an indictment against the telework movement, which has become a mainstream option in recent years thanks to the explosive growth of mobile and cloud technologies that allows many professionals to work anyplace they have Internet access. As Yahoo played damage control about the decision, describing the decision as necessary for Yahoo’s situation and not a value statement about remote workers, a picture began to emerge of wide scale corporate dysfunction.

Source: www.citeworld.com

Yahoo is a great example of why you shouldn’t leave a telework program on auto-pilot. Here are some tips for setting up a program.

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management, Workplace Strategy

Why Brooklyn Is The New Mecca For Fledgling Tech Startups

Although every city is mired by challenges and no neighborhood truly represents an urban planner’s paradise, Brooklyn’s live-work lifestyle comes quite close. While recent pieces have chronicled the detrimental effects of large tech firms on cities, a new perspective is warranted.

Perhaps the grass is greener on the East Coast, but here in Brooklyn and throughout New York City, tech companies have been helping neighborhoods flourish because they are choosing to work in collaborative, creative environments.

Source: www.businessinsider.com

The trend of startups using shared space and coworking locations can teach established corporations something about attracting and retaining Gen Y, which populates the tech sector.

The youngest generation in the workplace wants to work in a collaborative setting or close to where they live (generally gentrified, urban settings).  Either provide a modern workplace or operate downtown. 

Another possibility, which we’ve seen organizations whose HQ is not in a ‘hot market’ embrace, is the adoption of telework.  By allowing employees to work remotely (and live where they want, not just where you are), they’ve found they can finally start recruiting the workforce of the future.

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Workplace Flexibility

Work Life Integration: The New Norm

“Gone are the days when you could come home from the office and unplug. We are now living in a 24/7, always connected business environment. Your company doesn’t stop running when you leave the office or when you go on vacation. For the past few decades, journalists, authors, speakers and executives have talked about the importance of work life flexibility but that discussion has shifted in this new environment.”

Source: www.forbes.com

The lines have been blended, blurred, and all but erased between work and personal life.  As we’re asking employees to do more, especially during ‘off business’ hours, how has our corporate culture evolved to afford employees the flexibility to tackle personal tasks on ‘company time’?

If you’re organization is all ‘take’, sooner or later your employees will stop ‘giving’.  What have you done to ensure workplace flexibility is part of your corporate culture?

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change