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.

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.

While the digital revolution has changed the way we work and build, the Engineering and Construction (E&C) sector has historically been slower to adopt new technologies than other industries. However, given today's factors like stricter environmental requirements, a shortage of labor, and clients who demand cost certainty, the Construction sector needs to evolve. And this crucial transformation will rely heavily on new advances in technology to do so.

Measuring performance is essential not only to your bottom line, but it greatly affects workspace environment. In fact, Herman Miller recently cited an article that states by 2017, organizations that track metrics will increase profitability by 20 percent.

We asked that same question after we visited our friends at National during NeoCon, the most important event of the year for the commercial design industry, earlier this week. While we were in their showroom, we saw Darma Sit Smart technology - the world's first smart cushion that monitors your posture, sitting habits, stress level, and coaches you to sit better, much like wearable technologies.

DIRTT, known for modernizing the construction industry, proved they are a lot more than a modular wall system. Their solutions support reconfiguration and feature extreme levels of customization. At NeoCon this year, we saw this demonstrated in a variety of industries including healthcare, corporate, education, and even residential.

What makes the 21st century classroom so very different than the conventional style classroom we likely grew up with?