Projects

The aim of the project is to provide an overview on the spread and impact of health coaching within the NHS Innovation Accelerator Programme. Through the development of organisational impact case studies, IES will explore local outcomes for patients, the workforce, and organisation culture, costs and performance. In addition IES will lay the ground work for future economic evaluation research.

IES is working with ICON-INSTITUT in Germany on a project for the European Commission which aims to: provide an overview of Youth Guarantee delivery models across the EU; present a synthesis of current and upcoming challenges faced by young people in their school-to-work transition and their implications in terms of policy levers; and propose options for future development to ensure that the Youth Guarantee remains a sustainable measure in dealing with youth unemployment.

IES, working with the Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) and Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), is undertaking research for the Department for Education into EU staff at UK higher education institutions to understand in greater depth individuals’ routes into working in the UK, their skills, current roles and longer-term career plans. The project will also develop the department’s understanding of how this relates to providers’ recruitment and retention plans in the short- to long-term, alongside wider workforce planning. The work involves analysis of HESA data, an online survey of HR directors, and an online survey of EU staff.

This project aims to undertake qualitative research to identify what good employment support for people with epilepsy should look like. The work will add strategic value to Epilepsy Action by increasing the charity’s capacity to provide future employment support to people with epilepsy. The project methods comprise desk research, focus groups with people with epilepsy, interviews with employers and interviews with expert stakeholders.

The aim of the research is to assess the impact of the introduction of the National Living Wage (NLW) in April 2016 and its successive updating on employment and hours worked. It will be based on an individual-level analyses of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) quarterly longitudinal dataset and the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). Whilst using a standard difference-in-differences approach, the analysis will reflect recent developments in the literature, such as the importance of reporting minimum detectable effects and elasticities, to provide greater insight into the economic significance of results. Our ongoing research was cited in the Low Pay Commission's 2018 report, containing analysis and evidence underpinning its National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage recommendations.

NHS Employers asked IES to produce a paper for line managers about employee engagement, based on our experience of running events for line managers in NHS trusts. The paper aimed to focus on engaging managerial behaviours and ways of building resilience within the team.

IES has conducted an online survey of optometrists in the UK on behalf of the Association of Optometrists. Students, pre-registration and fully-qualified optometrists are included, the latter category incorporating employed optometrists, franchisees and independent business owners. A particular focus is the future career plans of optometrists, and the extent to which they are prepared to move around the UK to achieve their aims. The survey is now closed and the data are being analysed; in addition, follow-up interviews will soon take place with around 20 participants, to add some illustrative detail to the survey findings. This survey complements other surveys of professions conducted by IES on behalf of professional or membership bodies in recent years, other examples being barristers, veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses.

The legal services market is facing widespread disruption with a more liberal regulatory environment, stronger commercial pressures, and the increasing adoption of technology. These developments will impact the type of roles and skills required in solicitor firms for them to preform successfully. The Law Society wants to assist solicitor and member firms to prepare for these changes by further developing their education, training and development offer. To achieve this, the Society needs detailed insights into where solicitor firms need further support. For this purpose, the Institute for Employment Studies has been commissioned to undertake primary research with law firms and organisations employing solicitors to understand: whether and how firms currently engage in workforce planning and the barriers to doing so how and when firms recruit the skillsets they look for, and how this may change over the next five to ten years. The research will comprise around 30 in-depth interviews with private practices and in-house legal teams throughout England and Wales. The interviews will generally be with individuals with HR responsibilities within the company who are charged with recruitment and retention.

IES was commissioned by The Bar Council to conduct the third survey in the Working Lives series. In partnership with Employment Research Limited, the questions explored a range of aspects of barristers’ working lives and make comparisons with earlier surveys where appropriate. This work adds to IES’ wealth of experience in conducting surveys for professional or membership bodies, for clients such as the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and the Royal College of Nursing. These surveys ensure that professions remain attractive, securing a supply of workers for the future whilst also helping to shape working conditions for those currently working in the roles in question.

IES undertook research with employers exploring their views and practices in providing employees support from mid-life, through to retirement. The project engaged 25 employers, a mix of those offering employees at mid-life and beyond specific or targeted support and those who don’t, and involved their HR directors and managers in qualitative in-depth interviews about their motivations for engagement and approaches in this area.