‘Good work’ must be at heart of next government’s thinking: CIPD

The CIPD is urging the next government to put "good work” at the heart of its thinking in order to improve the economy, boost individual welfare and prosperity.In its manifesto, the professional body for HR and people development is calling for publication of pay ratios, additional rights for zero-hours workers and increased investment in adult skills. This will, the CIPD believes, create the conditions for economic growth and sustainable improvements to productivity.

Positive impact of good work on wellbeing and performance

The pledges aim to address the systemic problems in the UK economy by focusing on the positive influence the world of work can have on productivity and wellbeing. Peter Cheese, chief executive of the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, said:“The world of work and the notion of ‘good work’ must be at the heart of the next government’s thinking in order to improve trust in business, accelerate economic growth and improve outcomes for Britain’s workforce."

Moving beyond declining trust and stagnating pay

Mr Cheese continued: “The key to building better businesses, and a better economy, is dealing with the long-standing challenges that have led us to a point where pay is stagnating, trust in business is declining and there is falling investment in skills.“We can only solve these challenges by investing in people through skills and training, reforming corporate governance to improve public trust and increasing diversity in our workplaces.“Otherwise we risk continued a cycle of short termism, where accelerated executive pay and reduced investment in our workforces leads us to skills gaps, poor productivity rates and stagnant wages.”

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With employers and businesses facing significant uncertainty about the terms of Brexit and question marks over the UK’s competitiveness in global markets, the manifesto seeks to bridge gaps in skills, productivity and trust.As well as an overhaul of the UK Corporate Governance Code, the CIPD is also calling on the next government to protect and raise awareness of employment rights, make skills the centrepiece of their industrial strategy and take steps to improve gender diversity in the boardroom.It also calls for organisations to focus more on greater organisational transparency so that businesses are more accountable for incorporating the principles of good work across their organisations.

Key commitments

The CIPD’s Manifesto for Work specifically calls for:

• A pilot of revised Individual Learning Accounts, designed to encourage people to invest in their own lifelong learning, in collaboration with their employer.
• A new voluntary target for 20 per cent of FTSE 350 board level executive directors to be women by 2020 as a stepping stone towards achieving equal gender representation on boards by 2030.
• Legislation to allow workers on zero-hours contracts to request a minimum number of hours after 12 months of employment.
• Voluntary human capital reporting standards to encourage more publicly listed companies to provide better information on how they invest in, lead and manage their workforce for the long term.
• A "Know Your Rights" campaign, run by government alongside employers, which would help inform people on the different types of employment status and their associated rights, in order to tackle the lack of knowledge about employment rights in an increasingly fragmented world of work.
• Widening out the Apprenticeship Levy into a broader training levy to make it more flexible to employers’ skills development requirements.

Employment strategies for the future

Peter Cheese continued: “The CIPD’s Manifesto for Work sets out the broad range of policies that we believe are necessary to help transform the UK economy into one that can cope with the challenges of the future and build strength, trust and stability into the system.“In order to restore that trust, organisations have to be transparent, demonstrate that they are enshrining the principles of good work in their business and then apply them when it comes to reward strategies and skills investment. That’s why we believe businesses should invest in human capital reporting in order to measure the true value of their workforce and make the right decisions based on that data."

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