Funded by IOSH and conducted in collaboration with the University of East Anglia, this project explored how managers and safety and health practitioners can best support the safety and health of distributed or remote workers – those who spend at least some of their work time working away from a main office or location. It generated a toolkit of materials designed to help practitioners and line managers understand the challenges and develop the relevant behavioural approaches.

- Full toolkit, together with an explanatory video and the full research report can be downloaded at: https://www.iosh.co.uk/outofsight

This project reviewed all the available literature about what affects the success of programmes to develop managers to manage in ways that improve employee engagement, health and wellbeing. It resulted in the creation of a set of checklists that highlight the range of factors that can enhance or reduce effectiveness of such programmes, together with a maturity model and other materials, with the aim of helping organisations in implementing programmes successfully.

The checklists and guidance developed, together with other materials and the report on the underlying research can be downloaded at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/research/developing-managers.aspx

This research developed a behavioural framework setting out what managers need to do to engender engagement in their team, while at the same time preventing stress/protecting wellbeing, in order to create sustainable employee engagement. This brings together our previous work on management competencies for enhancing engagement and for preventing and reducing stress at work.

A guidance leaflet based on the research can be downloaded at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/publicpolicy/policy-reports/engagement-behavioural-framework-guidance.aspx

This research programme explored what managers need to do to prevent and reduce stress in their employees. It developed a framework of relevant manager behaviours, and evaluated an intervention to support managers in developing their skills.

- Guidance leaflets based on the research can be downloaded from the CIPD website: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/guides/line-management-behaviour-stress.aspx

- Self-report version of the stress management competencies indicator questionnaire to measure the management behaviours for preventing and reducing stress is available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/mcit.htm 

- Full research reports can be downloaded as follows:

• Phase 4 (case studies) and Phase 3 (development and evaluation of intervention): https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/culture/well-being/preventing-stress-report
• Phase 2 (validation and refinement of framework): http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr633.htm
• Phase 1 (initial background and first version of framework): http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr553.htm

This research explored what managers need to do to support employees following long terms sickness absence and developed a framework of relevant behaviours.

- Guidance leaflet based on the research can be downloaded from the CIPD website: http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/hrpract/absence/_manager_support_long_term_sickness

- Checklist for managers to help them support an employee’s return to work can be downloaded from: http://www.bohrf.org.uk/downloads/Manager_support_checklist.pdf

- Full research report can be downloaded from the BOHRF website: http://www.bohrf.org.uk/projects/rehabilitation.html

This research used a similar methodology to the “Management competencies for preventing and reducing stress at work” research to explore what managers need to do to enhance employee engagement. It developed a framework of relevant behaviours, which we subsequently combined with the preventing stress findings to create the “Managing for sustainable employee engagement” behavioural framework.

We developed a competency framework for Managing Conflict based on our research findings on preventing and reducing stress. The CIPD has used this as part of a guide for managers that provided behavioural descriptors and case study vignettes to help managers understand how best to manage conflict in their team.

Commissioned by the CIPD, this report provides an overview of recent developments in leadership theory and research, including leadership development, and looks at the implications for HR practitioners.

In collaboration with the University of Loughborough and sponsored by Macmillan Cancer Care, this project developed a self-management tool to help people resolve work issues during their cancer journey by asking the right questions of the right people:

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/documents/cancerinfo/livingwithandaftercancer/workandcancerpdfs/workitout_2013.pdf

A further collaborative project developed a similar self-management tool for those caring for people with cancer while working: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/documents/cancerinfo/livingwithandaftercancer/workandcancerpdfs/workitoutforcarers_2013.pdf  

This project, funded by IOSH and conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Occupational Medicine and Loughborough University considered the occupational safety and health considerations of returning to work after cancer. It generated a range of tools and case studies as well as a research report:

https://www.iosh.co.uk/Books-and-resources/Return-to-work-after-Cancer.aspx

This research explored the interventions being used to develop resilience at organisational and individual level and provides a summary of the evidence available.

- Practitioner guide: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/guides/developing-resilience-evidence-guide.aspx

- Research report: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/research/developing-resilience.aspx

We carried out a literature review for a project about wellbeing and engagement in higher education institutions, which looked at the literature around the business case for wellbeing and engagement interventions. The report, reference list and spreadsheet of references are available on the UCEA website: http://www.ucea.ac.uk/en/empres/epl/engage-well/wellbeing-proj-resources/index.cfm.

We were part of the Engage for Success wellbeing subgroup responsible for producing a report about the evidence for the linkage between employee engagement and wellbeing, and the consequential impact on individual and organisational performance. Available on the Engage for Success website: http://engageforsuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/wellbeing-and-engagement-04June2014-Final.pdf  

A discussion paper put together in collaboration with Acas as part of their ‘Future of Workplace Relations’ series, which reviews the broadening of the health at work agenda in recent times and highlights future challenges to health and wellbeing, such as the aging workforce and economic austerity measures. See: http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/7/k/The_future_of_health_and_wellbeing_in_the_workplace.pdf.

We are involved in the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Workplace Health Expert Committee (WHEC), which provides independent expert opinion to HSE by identifying and assessing new and emerging issues in workplace health. Working under an independent Chair, WHEC gives HSE access to independent, authoritative, impartial and timely expertise on workplace health. It has produced a number of papers, including one on Work-related stress and psychological health, which can be downloaded here.

We were involved in founding a group within the Division of Occupational Psychology of the BPS that is working to enhance the use of Occupational Psychology evidence in public policy making. The first report published by the group is about the contributions that Occupational Psychology can make to addressing the question of how culture change can be implemented within the NHS. It can be downloaded from: http://shop.bps.org.uk/publications/briefing-papers-and-reports/implementing-culture-change-within-the-nhs-contributions-from-occupational-psychology.html. 

We contributed a chapter to this collection of thought pieces, published in February 2016, which provided a range of perspectives on wellbeing at work. Available on the CIPD website: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/culture/well-being/health-agenda-report

A toolkit of materials designed to support employees and employers through the return to work process following mental health sickness absence. The toolkit includes employee and manager guides, conversation frameworks, checklists and self-led activities to help improve communication throughout absence and on return.

- Watch an animation here

- View the toolkit here

Managing employee wellbeing online learning package developed in collaboration with Business in the Community: http://www.managingemployeewellbeing.com/bitc

Online learning materials developed in collaboration with Unum: http://sites.unum.co.uk/stress-awareness/HTML/Homepage.html

Co-authored by Emma Donaldson-Feilder, Jo Yarker and Rachel Lewis and published by Wiley-Blackwell, this book is based on our “Management competencies for preventing and reducing stress at work” research programme. It provides an accessible, evidence-based exploration of how managers can prevent and reduce stress for those they manage. In his review in “People Management” when the book was published, Kevin Friery said “In my dictatorship every manager would be given this book prior to interview and their appointment should be contingent on their ability to demonstrate the ways in which they would implement the learning from it – it’s that good.”

You can buy the book here.

Rach to provide text

You can buy the book here.

Rach to provide text and link

Put together by HRZone and Simplyhealth, this toolkit was developed to help HR professionals more easily access the latest wellbeing research and give them practical advice to help increase wellbeing and productivity in their organisations. We contributed a chapter on the role of managers in raising levels of wellbeing. See: https://www.hrzone.com/resources/corporate-wellbeing-academic-insight-report

We have published the following book chapters:

• Positive manager behaviour for engagement and wellbeing, in "Flourishing in Life, Work, and Careers: Individual Wellbeing and Career Experiences”
• Developing positive leadership for employee wellbeing and engagement, in "Leading to Occupational Health and Safety" 
• Leadership and employee wellbeing, in “Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Leadership, Change & Organisation Development”
• Modern Mid-life, in “Developmental Coaching: Life transitions and generational perspectives”
• Management competencies for preventing and reducing stress at work, in “Occupational Health Psychology: European Perspectives on Research, Education and Practice (Vol. III)”
• The vital role of line managers in managing psychosocial risks, in “Improving Organizational Interventions for Stress and Well-being”

Link to Rach and Jo Kingston pages:

http://www.kingston.ac.uk/staff/profile/dr-joanna-yarker-433/

http://www.kingston.ac.uk/staff/profile/dr-rachel-lewis-419/