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Employee relations in Britain have undergone fundamental change in the last three decades. Research by Lewis, Upchurch, Croucher and other colleagues has tracked these changes identifying the decline of collective bargaining and the rise of alternative forms of employee voice. The impact of this programme of research has been evident in influencing the evolution of wider public debate on issues of employee voice and shaping the development of policy frameworks and specific policy initiatives in the UK and abroad, particularly concerning whistleblowing. Impact has been apparent through influencing the development of employment culture and the respective practices of employers, unions, and human resources/industrial relations practitioners.
University of Bath research into employee attitudes and behaviours has underpinned changes at Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS), a global provider of Human Resource (HR) outsourcing and consultancy services to 45 major clients in 6 countries. The research has improved AMS's ability to understand and to manage employee commitment across organisational boundaries. As a direct result of this research, AMS have developed new processes and approaches that balance commitment to clients with commitment to the company. Specifically, they have enhanced their induction programme; increased training hours for technical staff by 15% and for managers by 45%; initiated a global teamwork award; introduced an electronic knowledge base; and established senior management development. Results have shown a 9% improvement in employee commitment, an 8% reduction on intention to quit, and a 5% increase in internal promotions.
The impact of the Hull University Business School`s (HUBS) research on ESV emerged out of a project with Yorkshire Bank and Irwin Mitchell Solicitors (August 2010-July 2011) and a separate project with the Co-operative Group and the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens (FCFCG) (February 2012 - January 2013). These led to wider impacts on:
1) Corporate ESV policies of the case study companies.
2) Hull and East Yorkshire Community Foundation (HEYCF) approaches to ESV and engagement with business.
3) Securing new funding from the ESRC Knowledge Exchange Opportunities Grants Scheme in partnership with HEYCF.
Research on employee share plans and employee ownership has made an impact in the media and on government policy. Pendleton's research has influenced and increased media discussions of participation in share plans, financial knowledge, and plan outcomes in the specialist reward and financial press. Additionally, the research impacted upon government policy in two ways: one in informing a government decision not to remove the tax benefits connected with share ownership plans; and two, in contributing to an enquiry which has subsequently had a significant influence on the views of the main political parties towards employee ownership.
The impact of the research detailed in this case study has been made at four levels:
Research by Prof Iraj Hashi has had a significant impact on the development of policies on Employee Financial Participation (EFP) by the institutions of the European Union. The impact has been achieved through the preparation of two major reports for DG V (Employment), a study for the European Parliament, and a study for the European Commission (currently underway). As a result of these works, various institutions of the EU have proposed policies to encourage employee participation in the results of their work (in the form of share ownership, profit sharing, share options, etc.). Most recently, the Commission has issued a call for tender for a "Pilot Project - Promotion of Employee Ownership and Participation", and has also included EFP as an element of its Action Plan to reform European company law and corporate governance. These reports and the associated policy proposals have been informed by, and in turn facilitated, the research by Prof Hashi; in particular, Hashi (1998), Hashi and Hashani (2011) and Hashi and Hashani (2013).
Research on employee ownership (EO) conducted by Professors Lampel and Bhalla at City University London has made a substantial contribution to the evidence base used by the UK government to formulate and introduce policies aimed at boosting employee ownership. Evidence on the resilience and flexibility of EO firms, as well as the barriers that they confront, played an important role in the launch on 4th July 2013 of a new government policy to make employee ownership more accessible, including the injection of £50M annually to support EO models. Greater adoption of the EO model in the private sector benefits employees and employers and improves the wider economy. The evidence provided by this research has also led to a greater focus on EO in the public sector, with government policies now being formulated to encourage greater adoption of EO, specifically in the areas of health and social care, benefiting additionally the recipients of services and their families.
Over the last five years, researchers within the Institute for Research into Organisations, Work and Employment (iROWE) have worked closely with policy-makers at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) to develop a programme of research that has provided new evidence in the areas of conflict management and downsizing. This has been central in re-shaping Acas's strategic priorities to include explicit reference to conflict management for the first time. It has also informed Acas's response to government over proposed employment reform and been used to develop new guidance in respect of redundancy handling, representation and workplace mediation. These impacts were sustained and maximised through the co-ordination of an ESRC funded seminar series, co-sponsored by Acas in 2012-13.
Research by Professor Ian Cunningham and Professor Dennis Nickson has influenced policy and practice with regard to a range of employment relations issues in the voluntary sector. Sector-level lead bodies, such as the Coalition of Care and Support Providers Scotland (CCPS) and individual trade unions (e.g. Unison and UNITE) and union confederations such as the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) have adopted the research results and recommendations to campaign and influence public policy. The research has enabled Unison to establish a separate 'service group' (a term used to describe the union's key industrial sector). Research work on re-tendering in the voluntary social care sector (VSSC) has also been a key influence for the Scottish Government according to the Director of the CCPS, resulting in the formulation of specific guidance on social care procurement. Some research findings are cited in an influential report that has resulted in the establishment of a Scottish Government National Steering Group on joint strategic commissioning. The research on the impact of recession on VSSC has also led to joint lobbying between the STUC and employer organisations to campaign on worker terms and conditions, and training.
Organisations in the social housing sector have a model of how to use information to monitor the outcomes of their activities. Drawing on research which places information in its organisational context, the mechanism of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships has been used to enable Nottingham City Homes to pioneer the evaluation of its activities focusing on a major investment programme called Decent Homes. Cited in Parliamentary debates, not only has the impact shifted the strategic direction of the organisation's activities, but also it has been adopted as a model of best practice for the sector.