A summary of this month's employment news.Read more
In this article Dr Ruth Yeoman discusses the new Oxford Handbook of Meaningful Work and the increased attention being paid to the importance of meaning and purpose in the workplace. She talks about the definition and value of meaningfulness at work and how we can all work to bring it about.Read more
IPA's Training and Development Director, Derek Luckhurst, discusses the upcoming reduction in the ICE threshold needed for a request to set up consultation arrangements. From his experience in supporting employee voice, he makes clear that in order for such arrangements to be successful, they need to properly represent the views of all employees - not just the minority who are disengaged.Read more
Increasing attention is being given to better management as part of the solution to Britain’s productivity puzzle, but there still remains a danger of insufficient attention being paid to the human factor. To address this, Professor Stephen Wood in this article discusses the launch of his new IPA Report on the concept of high-involvement design - an approach that combines role-involvement with more strategic organisational-involvement at the heart of Human Resource Management (HRM).Read more
Kate Dearden of the union Community outlines the big changes that are happening to the workforce in the UK with the growth of self-employment at the gig economy. These shifts pose a major challenge to traditional trade union models of workforce representation, but ultimately, workers in these new sectors still need collective support as much as ever. As she lays out, trade unions will need to adapt themselves to these new practices in order to continue to fulfil their purpose in the years aheadRead more
Patrick Brione, IPA's Head of Policy & Research, discusses the new FRC code coming into force on 1st January 2019. In particular, the change in rules around employee voice at board level, along with changes to I&C regulations announced by the government, offer a major opportunity to improve corporate governance arrangements across the UK - an opportunity which Patrick argues should not be squandered.Read more
In this article, IPA Training and Development Director, Derek Luckhurst, looks at the biggest current threat to UK business - cyber security. He explains why this should be seen not merely as a technical but also as an employee engagement issue with potentially huge costs for UK employers.Read more
In this article, Dr Chiara Benassi of King's College London discusses the findings of her research into employee involvement in lean manufacturing. Through a comparative look at the systems in the UK , Germany and Italy she talks about the risks of work intensification that can come with lean processes and the potential pitfalls of some attempts to involve employees in boosting productivity that don't properly align the incentive and employee voice structures with the intended goals.Read more
With the risk of a no deal Brexit now a serious possibility, IPA's Patrick Brione lays out the impact such an outcome could have on UK employees and their rights at work. He explains how current employment rights, while not immediately lost in such a scenario, would be potentially at risk and why moves to repeal them by a future Conservative government would be a mistake.Read more
In this article IPA's Patrick Brione discusses the major threat companies face from their own disengaged workforces when it comes to cyber security. In the light of a recent court ruling which could make companies liable for data breaches committed by malicious employees, it is more important than ever that companies have a joined up approach to cyber security, including a strong focus on employee engagement to combat insider threat.Read more
IPA Training and Development Director Derek Luckhurst discusses the problems employers are facing with workforce disengagement as a result of the uncertainty caused by Brexit. He outlines strategies firms can use for providing reassurance and improving communications with the workforce about Brexit, even when much of the outcome of Brexit still remains unknown.Read more
In this article Professor Stephen Wood of the University of Leicester discusses his latest research into appraisal of employees. He demonstrates that regular feedback and a set of clearly defined standards go a long way towards improving the quality of employee appraisals. He discusses the importance of a sense of due process and making sure that the appraisal process is seen as fair by all concerned.Read more
IPA's Patrick Brione discusses two radical policy proposals put forward by the Labour Party at their annual conference this month that, taken together, could transform corporate governance in the UK. The first would mandate employers to appoint employee directors to make up a third of all boards, while the second would require firms to transfer 10% of their shares to employees over a 10 year period.Read more
Reflecting on England's performance at the recent World Cup, Derek Luckhurst examines claims of Gareth Southgate's leadership qualities. By considering to what extent Southgate embodies the four pillars of employee engagement, Derek sets out how his career can offer useful lessons for managers and leaders in other organisations.Read more
Luke Hildyard of the High Pay Centre writes about new pay ratio reporting requirements passed into law last month and due to come into force early next year. He assesses the current problems with high pay inequality in the UK and how these new requirements might help curb excessive executive pay and a lead towards a fairer pay culture.Read more
In this article, Joe Dromey of IPPR looks at the impact that the gender pay reporting regulations have had and how they might help in closing the gender pay gap going forwards. He also discusses how the regulations could be used as a model for increasing transparency in other areas to drive change and reduce inequalities.Read more
Imogen Farhan of IPSE writes about the rise of self-employment and a need to focus on what good work looks like for the self-employed as well as for employees. Previewing the IPA report for IPSE on the subject due out in July, she points out that the self-employed care about far more than money, and other areas, such as developing skills and good client relationships are key to self-employed workers' satisfaction. She also highlights some of the poor client behaviours that need tackling.Read more