Publications

We author and publish a range of resources to keep you up to date with the latest developments in employment, education and skills, labour market and human resource policy and practice. All our pdf publications are free to access.

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Publication

Best Practice in Rehabilitating Employees Following Absence Due to Work-Related Stress

This report identifies specific examples of best practice following absence due to stress-related illness, and various factors that influence its effectiveness. It considers the historical development of any rehabilitation practices within the case study organisations, and describes the key factors influencing the development of procedures.

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Employer Perspectives on the Recruitment, Retention and Advancement of Low-pay, Low-status Employees

Low skill, low status jobs in the UK can constitute a first step on a ladder to rising lifetime earnings, in which experience, tacit skills, contacts and know-how can be acquired and used to promote a pay off later. However, in practice, they provide little or no basis for substantial advancement through the labour market: the evidence suggests that short-term mobility in the wage distribution is limited, and that individuals who do progress, do not generally progress very far.

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Defining and Creating Employee Commitment

Over the past ten years, the study of commitment has advanced in many different directions. A variety of disciplines have adopted the topic as a theme in their research and these have offered fresh and significant insights. These recent advances include new approaches to both the conceptualisation of employee commitment and the particular human resource practices intended to increase it. This review discusses the definition of commitment and its creation based on IES' extensive experience of working in this area and a comprehensive literature review.

Publication

Questions to Measure Commitment and Job Satisfaction

As the title suggests, this paper identifies questions measuring employee commitment and job satisfaction. There are limitations to measuring morale and motivation by direct questions about their levels. The more practical approach of using statements about commitment and job satisfaction as indicators was discussed as these provide greater understanding of the issues.

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Work-Life Balance: Beyond the Rhetoric

Many employers now recognise that work-life balance is a key issue and offer employees a range of flexible working options. Nevertheless, take-up of these options remains low. The perceived impact on career prospects, as well as a number of other factors, can be off-putting for employees. Individuals and their managers therefore need to be supported to get over some of the difficulties and barriers they experience to ensure work-life balance policies and practices work effectively.

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How Can We Manage Work-Related Stress?

Over the past decade, organisations have become increasingly aware of the need to manage stress. There have been two drivers for this. The first is the need for a motivated and productive workforce, where the negative effects of stress on attendance, performance, job satisfaction and commitment are minimised. The second is an organisation's legal responsibilities for the care of their employees.

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Costing Sickness Absence in the UK

Despite growing concern over sickness absence, organisations appear fundamentally ill equipped to form a comprehensive view of their absence costs. The most usual method of estimation uses only the basic salary of the absent employee, and neglects other significant aspects such as salary oncosts, overtime, payments to replacement workers, and all management costs from both line management or HR functions. This applies even to 'leading edge' UK employers who have the most sophisticated information systems.