Improving management practices, work engagement and workplace innovation for productivity and wellbeing

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AIMSThis research will adopt an innovative, multi-disciplinary approach to exploring how workplace and job design practices shape employees' wellbeing and involvement in innovation, and how insights on these issues can help address the UK's 'productivity puzzle'. The proposed research aims to explore relationships between (a) factors shaping management support for workplace practices that contribute to an innovative work climate, (b) workplace practices and job design features (job demands and resources) that enable or constrain employee innovation, (c) employees' work engagement, and (d) employee wellbeing, innovative work behaviours and employee-driven innovation outcomes that enhance productivity. The research brings together a UK team with expertise on how workplace innovation practices support innovative work behaviours (Findlay, Lindsay, McQuarrie, Dutton, Burns, Roy) with world leading experts on Job Demands-Resources (JDR) theory and work engagement (Bakker, Demerouti). The research will be innovative in synthesising and integrating elements of these previously distinct research agendas, harnessing insights from a multi-disciplinary team with expertise in organisational psychology, occupational medicine, employment relations, organisational studies and labour economics to make an innovative conceptual contribution, develop and validate new research instruments, and deliver impactful research outputs.RESEARCH QUESTIONS1. Which factors influence strategic choice and management support for workplace practices that contribute to an innovative work climate? 2. What is the relationship between workplace practices, innovative work climate and job demands and resources, and levels of work engagement among employees? 3. What is the relationship between these factors and employee wellbeing, innovative work behaviours and employee-driven innovation?4. What is the relationship between these outcomes and firm performance and productivity?5. What is the scope for any firm-level productivity benefits from improved workplace practice, innovative work climates and work engagement to impact sectoral and national productivity?METHODS, ANALYSIS AND OUTPUTSThe research will involve the development, validation and deployment of innovative, bespoke survey and case study tools to capture relationships between workplace practices and JDR, work engagement and employee outcomes including individual wellbeing, innovative work behaviours and employee-driven innovation, all potentially important contributors to transforming productivity. These survey and case study tools will facilitate in-depth research in 24 organisations across a range of sectors. Qualitative and quantitative data analyses will produce new insights on decision making, workplace and job design practice and innovation and wellbeing outcomes. We will enhance the impact of the research by conducting solutions-focused dissemination and engagement with all case study organisations and by delivering specific, in-depth interventions in four organisations, sharing lessons from these exercises and making a practical difference to workplace and job design practices that foster innovation. A further innovation will draw on the team's economic modelling expertise to model potential short-run and long-run effects on the UK economy of innovation performance and productivity gains flowing from workplace innovation. Outputs will include a final report, at least 10 articles targeting journals across the disciplines and a multi-disciplinary journal special issue. Impact will be enhanced though a practice-focused publication that will summarise key lessons and substantial online content and 5 'Masterclass' KE events targeted at business leaders, policy and sectoral stakeholders. The Research Advisory Group, already in place (see Letters of Support), and taking in senior stakeholders from the business, trade union and policy communities will help to maximise the impact of KE.