Case Studies From Work, Learning and Wellbeing Project, 2015-2021

These data were collected for the purpose of understanding how workplace health and wellbeing practices are implemented in organisations and how integrated programmes of activities and managed and maintained. Data consist of qualitative semi-structured interviews with 39 participants working in six organisations of varying sizes and in different sectors.<p>Is it possible to change working practices so that workers are happier, more productive and absent less often? How can growing numbers of older workers best adapt to working later in life and find new jobs in changing labour markets? What lifelong learning opportunities do adults require in order to thrive in globalised and technologically advanced economy? What are the societal costs of ignoring worker wellbeing? This research is concerned with addressing questions such as these and identifying practical interventions, tools and processes that can protect and enhance the wellbeing of workers, adult learners and those seeking work. Wellbeing comprises many components. In relation to work- and adult learning, wellbeing is formed from multiple factors including: the experience of positive emotions in work and in learning and infrequent experience of negative emotions; job satisfaction; work-life balance; work and learning performance; skills development. Understanding such a diverse concept requires expertise from a range of research areas, including economics, education, law, public health, employment relations and psychology. This project will build upon the wealth of existing research and data to identify what can be done to protect and enhance the wellbeing of workers, adult learners and those seeking work. In the first phase of the research, we will identify nine priority areas for action. To help us identify and refine priorities, we will engage with different user groups through public consultations. We will then address two main issues. 1. We will examine 'what works' for protecting or enhancing aspects of wellbeing. In each priority area, we will begin by identifying, systematically reviewing and evaluating the best possible research in order to identify factors that can protect or improve wellbeing. 2. Then we will examine 'what works for whom and in which circumstances'. We will do this by analysing the best existing data - for example the most comprehensive nationally and inter-nationally representative surveys. We will take the results from our reviews of existing research and examine if some factors promote wellbeing more for some groups (eg. younger workers, workers in service jobs) than for others. We will examine trade-offs and spillovers between different components of wellbeing within or between different groups. For example, do people take on new work that is difficult and stressful in the short-term so that they may acquire skills and have a more interesting job in the longer term? Do organisations that promote work-life balance also promote intergenerational benefits through the educational attainments of workers' children, as workers spend more time helping their children learn through culturally or physically rich activities? By examining what works for whom and in which circumstances, trade-offs and spillovers, we will produce a rigorous assessments of the costs and benefits of specific interventions for a range of groups. The team will be mindful of two major principles. First, 'what works' needs to be actionable by workers, adult learners, those seeking work and those close to them (eg. line managers, educators, careers advisors, job centre staff) - so the research will focus on what can be done 'on the ground'. Second, because wellbeing is comprised of many things, we will seek interventions that offer improvements across a broad range of the elements of wellbeing and a broad range of people. By doing so the results which speak more effectively to policy actors who have to account for the inter-dependencies of specific interventions in the context of heterogeneous users. In the final stage of the research, we examined how organisations implemented health and wellbeing practices. This work included cost-effectiveness analyses, a systematic review and six qualitative case studies. The data deposited here are from the six qualitative case studies. Throughout the research, the team will engage with the public through extensive use of social and traditional media, public lectures, workshops and talks. This engagement will inform the guidance we offer so that it is heedful of the complexities, obstacles and trade-offs that stakeholders encounter when initiating action.</p>本数据集采集自一项旨在理解职场健康与福祉实践在组织中的落地方式，以及整合式活动项目如何被管理与维护的研究。数据包含对6家不同规模、跨不同行业的组织内39名参与者开展的定性半结构化访谈（qualitative semi-structured interviews）。 是否可通过调整工作实践，让员工更快乐、生产力更高且缺勤率更低？日益增多的老年劳动者如何能最好地适应延迟退休，并在不断变化的劳动力市场中找到新工作？在全球化且技术先进的经济环境中，成年人需要哪些终身学习机会以实现发展？忽视劳动者福祉将带来何种社会成本？本研究旨在解答上述这类问题，并识别出可保护并提升劳动者、成年学习者及求职者福祉的实用干预手段、工具与流程。福祉涵盖诸多维度，针对工作与成人学习场景，福祉由多重因素构成，包括：工作与学习中的积极情绪体验与低频负面情绪体验、工作满意度、工作生活平衡、工作与学习表现、技能发展。理解这一多元概念需要经济学、教育学、法学、公共卫生、雇佣关系及心理学等多研究领域的专业知识。本项目将基于现有丰富的研究与数据资源，探索可保护并提升劳动者、成年学习者及求职者福祉的可行路径。 本研究第一阶段将确定9项优先行动领域。为协助我们识别并细化优先事项，我们将通过公众咨询与不同用户群体开展互动。随后我们将聚焦两大核心议题：1. 探究“何种方式可有效保护或提升福祉维度”。在每个优先领域中，我们将首先通过系统性梳理、系统综述（systematic review）与评估顶尖研究，识别出可保护或改善福祉的影响因素。2. 继而探究“何种方式对哪些群体有效、且适用于何种场景”。我们将通过分析现有最优数据开展此项工作——例如最具代表性的全国及国际层面调查。我们将结合现有研究综述的结果，分析部分因素是否对特定群体（如年轻劳动者、服务业从业者）的福祉提升效果更显著。我们还将研究不同群体内部或群体间福祉各维度之间的权衡与溢出效应。例如，人们是否会在短期内承担艰巨且充满压力的新工作，以在长期内获得技能并拥有更具吸引力的岗位？倡导工作生活平衡的组织，是否会通过劳动者投入更多时间陪伴子女参与文化或富有教育意义的活动，进而通过子女的学业成就实现代际福祉增益？通过探究何种方式对哪些群体有效、适用于何种场景，以及权衡与溢出效应，我们将针对一系列群体开展特定干预手段的严谨成本与收益评估。 研究团队将遵循两大核心原则。其一，“有效方式”需具备可操作性，可供劳动者、成年学习者、求职者及其相关人员（如直属经理、教育工作者、职业顾问、就业中心工作人员）落地实践——因此本研究将聚焦“可实地推行”的方案。其二，由于福祉涵盖多重维度，我们将寻求可广泛改善多维度福祉并惠及广泛人群的干预手段。如此一来，研究结果可更有效地为政策制定者提供参考，使其能够在异质性用户的场景下考量特定干预手段的相互关联性。 在研究的最终阶段，我们对组织落实健康与福祉实践的情况开展了调研。该项工作包含成本效益分析（cost-effectiveness analyses）、系统综述及6项定性案例研究。本数据集所收录的数据即来自这6项定性案例研究。 在整个研究过程中，研究团队将通过广泛运用社交媒体与传统媒体、公开讲座、研讨会及演讲等形式与公众开展互动。此类互动将为我们提供的指导意见提供信息支撑，使其充分考量利益相关方在启动行动时所面临的复杂性、障碍与权衡取舍。