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the latest from the Institute for Employment Studies

The following are extracts from recent IES research, publications and press notices. Follow the links for the full story.

Click on ‘newsletters’ for a selection of features from our recent newsletters, HR Insight and Employment Studies, and ‘register’ to join our news mailing lists.

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• Lack of evident success in the experimental ‘Fair Cities’ Pilot programmes (designed to help people in ethnic minority communities into the job market) has nevertheless led to clear lessons for future demand-led interventions.
• Quality of working life: how do you measure it? A new report by IES for the Sector Skills Development Agency, investigates the elements of the job, workplace and relationships that have a specific bearing on an employee’s quality of working life, and the connections these may ultimately have with employee satisfaction and organisational performance.
• Train to Gain was launched in August 2006: how are learners benefitting? Evaluation by IES with Ipsos MORI finds that employers play a key role in getting learners involved, and that learners have benefitted in many ways. This report concludes with ‘good practice factors’.
• Brighton and Hove is a practical example of a city with universities, competing for new graduates in its workforce. But what makes them want to stay; what are their aspirations at this key point in their lives? IES and the University of Sussex Career Development and Employment Centre have been finding out.
• IES has published a practical Workforce Planning Guide. Following eight key steps to implementing a successful workforce planning process will help achieve these aims: a business that runs smoothly, with no staffing crises; a good age, gender and ethnicity balance in the workforce; staff with clear career progression routes without any blockages or shortfalls; and happy customers.
• Three in ten working adults with no higher education qualifications would consider going to university. A local university, support from their employer, and part-time study could make it possible, but costs are perceived to be a barrier.
• Does social dialogue have an impact on working conditions? Our new report for the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions highlights examples across Europe of where dialogue between employers and employer representatives has had a positive impact on the working conditions of employees.
• Women in London’s economy, 2008. A picture of opportunities and inequalities, with women better qualified but in fewer senior roles, and being paid less in full-time jobs (a gap of 23 percent compared with 17 per cent nationally).
• People management pays, according to a new two-year consortium study. Organisations with a comprehensive approach to people management perform better than those without, indicated by higher profits per employee, higher profit margins and higher productivity.
• Government should have responsibility for ensuring people have a basic level of literacy and numeracy, and qualifications up to Level 2, leaving employers to focus on the rest: not necessarily in terms of achieving qualifications, but in developing skills needed to progress in work.
• Care to Learn is working, beating targets for getting young parents back into learning. New research by IES for the Learning and Skills Council shows that providing help with the cost of childcare while in education or training can make all the difference to a young parent achieving qualifications and progressing into employment.
• IES identifies effective workplace interventions for common health problems. A more sophisticated approach using best practice, and involving employee, employer and medical professionals, can help prevent ill-health, manage it, and promote recovery more effectively.
• New research on equal opportunities for Young Apprentices gathers best practice for information, taster sessions and delivery, from five case study areas and covering three strongly gender-segregated sectors.
• What makes employees engaged with their organisation and its aims? Feeling valued and involved, while always important, is not necessarily the key driver. Other likely candidates are job satisfaction and experiences of training and career development.
• IES maps the evolution and current state of the HR function in a new CIPD publication. The report also provides practical guidance for organisations on how best to structure and staff the function to achieve future success.

• all new and recent publications by IES authors