The holiday season is here! It's time for eggnog, our favorite holiday movies, and holiday traditions! Goodwill and cheer is all around. Grandma's going to have an unfortunate run in with a reindeer, Ralphie may shoot his eye out, and the Griswald light show is in full swing! It also means your associates are beginning to reflect on the year and consider their overall job satisfaction. So what do today's workers love most about holidays in the office? Randstad USA  did a study that provides us with some tips about how we can continue to create great associate experiences and Forbes Human Resource Council give us some ideas to keep our teams engaged during this time of the year. We'll also share what we, at Continental, do to keep the holiday spirit going for our team.

In our line of work, we hear all of the arguments for and against the open office plan. That's why we don't push for open offices. Instead, we tell our customers to provide choice and flexibility. This means listening to your employees and providing settings and spaces that are right for them. Every office is different, and should be designed based on how we as individuals work. That said, providing choice and flexibility can - and most likely will - result in a mixture of private and open settings.  But, how do you truly make your employees feel happy about their environment? And, what is their biggest complaint?

More and more, organizations are beginning to realize the importance of workplace design and how it can impact their bottom line, both in terms of revenue and in keeping great talent.

Have you ever talked to your boss or C-Suite about branding and heard the following responses: "I'm not sure branding is worth the investment right now. We have other things to prioritize like recruiting talent or hitting financial goals. We can put some graphics on the walls later"? I've personally heard these many times. But you can change the perception. After branding spaces in various industries, here are some things I've learned that can help.

 A Brief History of Drywall

The U.S Gypsum Company invented drywall in 1916. It was originally called "Sackett Board," named after the Sackett plaster board company. At first, it was sold in the form of small, fireproof tiles. However, within a few years it transformed into multi-layer gypsum and paper sheets. In less than a decade, it became the drywall we're familiar with today - a single layer of compressed gypsum between two sheets of heavy paper.

Today when most people speak about flexible office spaces, they're commonly referring to the new trend of coworking spaces or shared offices. While traditional office space can get overlooked when we say the word "flexible", traditional space is often the right solution for both new and established businesses.

A lot of tools and resources exist to help general contractors estimate construction costs. In fact, there are so many that it can get a little confusing. Here are just a few that we found after doing a quick search: 2017 Assemblies Cost Data, 2017 Building Construction Cost Data, 2017 Commercial Renovation Cost Data, 2017 Concrete and Masonry Cost Data, 2017 Facilities Construction Cost, 2017 Facilities Maintenance and Repair Cost Data, 2017 Green Building Cost Data, 2017 Interior Cost Data, Markup & Profit, A Contractor's Guide, and the list goes on and on.

That's a tough question to answer. As the world continues to change, so do our needs. No matter how hard we try to stay up-to-date with new forms of self-directed, creative, and collaborative work, old working styles remain in our lives and in our workspaces. Today, a work team may work in numerous locations across the globe with new and emerging tools and technology to support them. At the same time, those same locations may still have forms of directed, repetitive, and individual work. That's why new solutions for co-creation, display, remote connection, and nonlinear development are either replacing or being layered on existing systems.

In today's construction market, the labor shortage appears to be getting more dismal while demand is growing. Some American contractors cite their biggest problem is finding people to do the work. In fact, the Associated General Contractors of America estimate there are 17% fewer people working in construction. In a country that's known for building amazing structures, this is a relatively new challenge and the industry is looking for a solution. After all, the U.S. built revolutionary structures like the Empire State Building (the tallest building in the world from 1931 to 1970) and the Hoover Dam, which controlled the Colorado River for the first time in history. So how did we get here?

Over the past decade we've seen dramatic changes in healthcare construction in terms of demands and delivery. This extends to cost factors and green building requirements, which are having a profound and exciting impact on the development of healthcare facilities. Changes are often difficult to predict so new buildings are being designed to be flexible and adaptable. It can get especially tricky with the redevelopment of existing buildings. Those responsible for redeveloping existing buildings know it can adversely affect air quality or have long construction timeframes.