www.managedITmag.co.uk 5 council-operated. Two thirds (67%) sit in the Mainstream category, with the expanding Premium segment accounting for 20% of the market and Value and Niche providers making up 7% and 6% respectively. Nearly half (46%) of key players operate in London and regional markets, 39% are focused solely on regional locations and 15% are exclusive to London. spacestoplaces.co.uk/flex … Team-building activities are most disliked Team-building exercises are the least popular work-related social activity, according to a new survey by Acas. When the workplaces expert asked 1,000 UK workers which social engagements with colleagues they favoured least, team-building activities came out on top, cited by 31%, followed by after-hours drinks (20%), group discussions/meetings (17%), work social clubs/networks (15%) and oneoff events, such as leaving-parties or birthday celebrations (12%). One quarter (26%) say they enjoy all social activities with work colleagues, compared to 19% who don’t want any. Acas conducted the survey as part of its campaign to raise awareness of neurodiversity at work and to encourage employers to create more inclusive organisations. www.acas.org.uk … Show your appreciation! U.K organisations that make giving and receiving recognition part of their everyday culture have the highest probability of developing an emotionally intelligent workforce with high levels of empathy, self-awareness and good communication skills, according to a new report from employee recognition specialist O.C. Tanner. Its 2025 Global Culture Report, based on insights from 38,075 workers in 27 countries including 4,896 from the UK, reports that organisations that practice emotional intelligence (EQ) are 107 times more likely to thrive. Its research also suggests that EQ can be taught and cultivated in environments where it is practised daily, with business leaders and staff in organisations in which giving/receiving recognition is routine being 14 times and 8 times more likely to have a high EQ. Robert Ordever, European MD of O.C. Tanner, said: “Those who excel in emotional intelligence have an ability to empathise, connect and inspire others. And this can be effectively nurtured in a number of ways, including through organisation-wide employee recognition for stirring powerful feelings of appreciation, belonging and connection.” The report advises organisations to train leaders and employees to listen empathetically and then provide supportive action; to be open to feedback; to embrace change; to hold themselves accountable; and to recognise others’ efforts and achievements. www.octanner.com … UK workers waste one day a week looking for information Almost two thirds of UK workers (64%) complain that their workloads are more overwhelming than ever, in part because collaboration appears to be more difficult than it should be. The latest annual State of Teams Report from Atlassian shows that as well as spending nearly half (48%) the working week on ‘busy work’, like sharing information, tracking down people and resolving misunderstandings, UK knowledge workers waste an average of 9 hours a week, or one whole working day, finding the information they need to do their jobs. Over half (53%) believe the only way to get the information they need is to ask someone for help or to schedule a meeting, which has a negative impact on productivity: 55% say they have to put work on hold while waiting for information from other teams; 44% find it hard to coordinate work with other teams; and 34% feel that collaborating with other teams slows down the speed at which work gets done. The survey also highlights poor cross-team collaboration, with over half of workers unknowingly working on the same tasks as other teams and 55% admitting that in the past year their team has learnt about an important decision made by another team way too late. Dr Molly Sands, Head of Teamwork Labs at Atlassian, said: “This research highlights a critical issue in the modern workplace: the systems designed to support employees are not keeping pace with the increasing demands of work. As teams become more cross-functional, the inability to quickly access information is creating bottlenecks that slow progress. This ‘digital hide-and-seek’ not only wastes time but also stifles creativity and innovation as employees are forced to focus on administrative tasks rather than high-impact work”. Over half (59%) of UK workers believe that AI will improve the speed and quality of their team’s work; 67% think they could use AI more effectively to discover and manage information. https://atlassian.com Lifesum and FIIT launch corporate wellness solution Lifesum, a global healthy eating app, and FIIT, the UK’s number one rated fitness app, have jointly developed a corporate wellness solution to help combat employee burnout and address the annual £57.4 billion cost of lost productivity. Available via corporate subscription, the solution aims to boost employee wellbeing, performance and retention by bringing together the two companies’ areas of expertise. In Lifesum’s case, this is personalised meal plans, recipes and nutrition insights based on meal logging via photo, voice, text or barcode, and in FIIT’s case, on-demand, expert-led workouts that can be done at home, in the gym or on the go, with realtime tracking, heart rate integration and live leaderboards. Syncing workout and nutrition data across both apps gives employees a complete wellness overview and enables personalised nutrition advice based on exercise, calorie burn and recovery needs. HR leaders can track program effectiveness via engagement data and wellness impact reports and boost engagement through customised wellness plans, team challenges and educational material, including webinars. Lifesum.com/work. onefiit.com NEWS continued...
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