Better ways to work

Happy people make productive workers. That isn’t some inspirational mantra from HR experts. It is a fact supported by evidence. Research studies by both the University of Oxford and Warwick have shown that productivity can increase by around 13% in organisations that have a happy workforce.

And Google has shown that investing in employee support can increase workplace satisfaction by 37% - with a demonstrable improvement in productivity. But what are the factors that need to be considered when creating a place of decent work and productivity? And what can be done to shape a bright future for the world of work?

Working alongside organisations and policymakers, Manchester Met is focusing on the changing nature of work and, as a result, is helping to answer these questions.

It isn’t necessarily about creating a fun workplace, with slides, pool tables, game machines and even
drinks on tap. It is sometimes about identifying the barriers to workplace happiness and putting the relevant support in place.

Researchers at Manchester Met are helping organisations to meet their individual challenges around workplace wellbeing, as well as supporting vulnerable workers in employment and self-employment,
while finding ways to create greater diversity and social mobility in the workplace.

Experts in human resource management, organisational behaviour, strategy, entrepreneurship and diversity are all brought together in the University’s Decent Work and Productivity Research Centre.

They all share a core belief that all people deserve access to fair, secure and aspirational work. And it is through this research hub that an understanding is being built on how decent work and productivity are affected by employment practices.

Perinatal mental health

“Many organisations feel that any problems that occur during the maternity leave period is not their
problem, and this is the wrong way to look at it – there are many things organisations can do to support their employees through this, particularly when returning to work,” explained Dr Krystal Wilkinson, Reader in Human Resource Management at Manchester Met.

Her research is helping organisations to transform the way they support employees affected by perinatal mental health issues – those which occur during pregnancy or in the first year following the birth of a child.

According to the NHS more than one in five women and one in ten men in the UK are affected in the perinatal period, but it is an often forgotten area in legislation and organisational HR policies across all sectors.

“We know a lot about pregnancy and maternity and often see these written into HR policies, but perinatal mental health is mostly overlooked despite it being so common – this is the case in all workplaces,” said Dr Wilkinson.

She has worked with Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to develop a new approach to support members of staff using recommendations from the PANDAS Foundation HR toolkit, which is based on research findings from Manchester Met.

The toolkit is designed to educate and upskill businesses to support their employees who may experience perinatal issues. It outlines 12 recommendations for employers including, raising awareness of perinatal mental health, conducting an audit of policies and practices, training and flexible working.

Detective Inspector Anna Rickards of GMP and Chair of The Association for Women in Policing is working with Manchester Met to tailor this approach to her organisation.

“Police Officers must be fit for duty both physically and mentally in order to serve the public to the best of our ability,” said DI Rickards. “We are a unique employer in many ways as the vast majority of warranted officers will remain with a police force for the duration of their working lives.

“With the longevity of service and the knowledge that repeated exposure to secondary trauma can result in a preposition to mental ill health, it makes both ethical and operational sense to support those who are suffering with mental health difficulties.”

Boosting opportunities for ethnic minority employees

Another unique project led by Manchester Met is challenging the under-representation of ethnic minority employees in senior roles.

The collaborative project, named BOOST, between the University and Greater Manchester Housing
Providers (GMHP) has already been successful in increasing opportunities for ethnic minority employees to enter leadership roles within the social housing sector.

“Talking about race at work makes people feel nervous and that can stop us tackling the reality that
ethnic minority colleagues face unfair barriers to progression,” explained Professor Julia Rouse, a leader in the Decent Work and Productivity Research Centre at Manchester Met.

Informed by her research, senior leaders from 13 housing associations have been paired with staff from an ethnic minority background in disruptive mentoring relationships and supported by nominated “Change Champions” across GMHP.

The later addition of a ‘change project’ has allowed each mentor-mentee partnership to identify one
organisational barrier, find a way to resolve it, and implement it into their organisation.

Organisational processes, including recruitment, progression and handling of racist incidents, will also be reviewed, and the emerging ethnic minority leaders will be empowered to lead on service
improvement ideas for ethnic minority tenants.

The mentorships are guided by a unique “Enquiry Toolkit” designed by Manchester Met researchers. The same researchers work closely with the Change Champions in each housing association who will look at implementing the actions identified through the programme.

“The Greater Manchester housing sector is showing real leadership by investing in a disruptive innovation process that builds the confidence and power to create organisational change so that ethnic minority leaders can emerge and thrive,” explained Professor Rouse.

“Our mentoring project provides both career coaching to ethnic minority colleagues and creates a
space to talk with a mentor, change champion and senior leaders about barriers to progression. At the same time, leaders are reflecting on how stereotypes affect their own thinking and committing real energy into change projects.

“By developing a movement of allies, we seek to fundamentally change the culture of social housing
so that the leadership is more diverse and better able to serve the diverse lives of tenants.”

Since the project began, some mentees have already been promoted and other participants found that mentoring had a valuable impact on their leadership journeys.

By working together through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Manchester Met and GMHP hope to
continue this success and develop more empowering and inclusive career pathways.

“Research findings from the first-year unearthed obstacles and challenges our Black and Asian colleagues face in their career progression, which the partnership is committed to removing,” explained Karen Mitchell, Chief Executive of Southway Housing Trust and Lead of the BOOST Programme.

“This should not be happening, ever, but especially today, and this really pushes us on to drive the change needed in our sector. I am pleased with the engagement we have seen with the project so far and look forward to seeing its ambitions further realised in year two.”

Improving employment standards

As well as working directly with organisations to address specific challenges in the workplace, Manchester Met is partnering with local authorities and policymakers to initiate change at a regional level.

A new toolkit, developed by the University, is offering practical advice and resources to aid the development of good employment initiatives and is driving improvements in employment standards.

The toolkit is based on the processes involved in the development of Greater Manchester’s Good Employment Charter, allowing other regions who may be engaged with the design or development of
similar initiatives, in the UK and beyond, to share in their learning.

Dr Sarah Crozier, a researcher in the University’s Centre for Decent Work and Productivity, developed the toolkit as part of a three-year project with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) that examined the impact of the introduction of the Charter on participating organisations.

“Our toolkit provides a framework to help navigate the three broad areas of establishing a good employment initiative, from defining the concept, to implementation, evaluation, impact and evolution,” explained Dr Crozier.

“It is fantastic to see how sharing the learning from the development of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter is helping other regions around the UK to build their own initiatives that will help them to improve employment standards.”

Greater Manchester’s Good Employment Charter helps employers to grow and succeed through improved employment standards by encouraging and supporting employers to develop good jobs and deliver opportunities for people to progress.

By signing up to the Charter, employers can support the health, development and resilience of their workforce whilst sharing good employment practices and learning from other employers in the city region.

The Charter’s toolkit contains a wealth of practical resources for reflecting upon the challenges and opportunities at each stage of design, to help regions to navigate the different steps and to act as a sense-checking tool.

For the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, the University’s research was a key part in helping people and organisations across the region improve the way they work.

“The Good Employment Charter is a major step towards making sure that new and existing jobs right across Greater Manchester are underpinned by a commitment to equality, fair pay, and giving employees a say in how their workplaces are run – securing our city-region as an area of employment excellence,” said Burnham.

“As we face up to the challenges of these unprecedented times, the Good Employment Charter will be absolutely fundamental to our ambitions to build back better and fairer for all.”

Working with the GMCA, Dr Crozier also explored differences in employee experiences of good employment across different sizes of organisations and sectors. This provided industry comparisons, showcasing good practice and areas for further development across the region.

The project also provided recommendations for building good employment practices alongside statistical modelling to map which of these are most important in shaping employee perceptions of good employment.

Improving skills

Central to the success of these improved ways of working is the skills of the people and leaders putting these policies into action.

The University’s Centre for Enterprise is using academic expertise to design courses for small to medium-sized businesses. The Centre is working with over 1,000 businesses to drive change, by combining real life business insights with academic knowledge to help ambitious organisations to reach their full potential.

In addition, Manchester Met HR experts have delivered a training programme for 366 line managers across Greater Manchester and the North West.

Through the Good Employment Learning Lab managers are being helped to understand and tackle a variety of management challenges, all while the University conducts research on the training to understand what works, for whom and why.

Whether it’s the skills of the people that make them, or the policies and procedures needed to ensure their success, businesses and organisations of all sizes are benefitting from academic research.

And importantly, these collaborations are continuing and developing to address future challenges and create better places to work for everyone.