agenda
Office furniture pieces make a welcome
appearance on this year’s list of designs
chosen to receive a Design Guild Mark
awarded by The Furniture Makers’ Company,
though, once again, domestic furniture
dominates.
Work-related winners include the hm221
collection designed by Timothée Mion for
Hitch Mylius, which supports a variety of
working postures, from sitting to standing to
leaning; Morgan’s interlocking Kyoto Bench
System for reception areas; and UNNIA Chairs
by Simon Pengelly, who was also awarded The
Jonathan Hindle Prize for Excellence and the
John Makepeace Prize for radical innovation.
Commenting on hm221’s Design Guild
Mark, Timothée Mion said: “To receive a
Design Guild Mark for the hm221 makes
me very proud. This collection is the result
of my first furniture project in collaboration
with Hitch Mylius who provided me with the
opportunity to bring my ideas to realisation
and to market. For this and for the given
accolade I am extremely grateful.”
A spokesperson for the Morgan Studio
design team responsible for the Kyoto Bench
System said: “The Design Guild Mark sets the
standard for quality, originality and innovation
in British design standards that we at Morgan
use as a benchmark for every design project.
We are incredibly proud that the Kyoto
collection has been recognised in this year’s
awards and to be acknowledged alongside
some of the leading names in our industry.”
For a list of all winners, visit
.
Handful of office designs selected
for 2016 Design Guild Mark
Mental health calls on the rise
Canada Life Group Insurance is calling on businesses to adopt employee assistance programmes
(EAPs) as a way of maintaining the well-being of staff, as analysis shows that more than one in
four calls to its EAP now relate to mental health.
Between January and May 2016, 28% of calls received by Canada Life Group Insurance’s
EmployeeCare line concerned anxiety, depression and work-related stress, 5% more than in the same
period last year.
Marketing director Paul Avis points out that while calls about mental health may be on the rise,
counselling and support services provided by an EAP can reduce feelings of anxiety and depression
significantly.
He said: “EAPs are an effective way of stopping mental health issues from taking hold and of
providing support if they do occur. It is for this reason that EAPs should be considered an essential
rather than ‘fringe’ benefit.We offer free EAP access to every organisation that has a Group Income
Protection policy with us and we cover all UK-based employees, whether they are insured or not.”
Adaptable bench desking
Javelin is a versatile new bench desking
system from Century Office. Designed to
accommodate two to 10 people per bench,
Javelin has height adjustable legs, a choice
of two frame finishes (white and silver) and
sliding worktops in a choice of five finishes
(white, walnut, light oak, maple and beech).
Complementary pedestals and storage units
are available.
The cost of unhappy call
centre staff
Unhappy call centre staff and and high
levels of employee disengagement cost
the UK economy around £2.3 billion every
year, claims call centre management
software provider EvaluAgent.
Managing director Jaime Scott warns that
the industry’s reputation for poor working
conditions makes it difficult to retain staff and
keep employees motivated and productive.
He said: “A major challenge faced by call
centres is mitigating the cost of disengaged
and apathetic staff. This is only truly achieved
by creating engaged, productive and happy
staff.With the right technology and approach
to support their staff, call centres have the
opportunity to drastically increase their bottom
line and out-manoeuvre the competition.”
One option chosen by many call centres
is homeworking. A new study by the UK
Contact Centre Forum shows that more than
half (58%) of contact centre operators now
employ homeworkers (or HomeAgents). Of
those, 69% say doing so creates happier and
more productive employees, while 74% say it
enables them to schedule staff more flexibly.
Homeworking also delivers benefits to
agents themselves, with 65% of HomeAgents
saying they have a better work-life-balance.
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