ReWAGE is fortunate in having some of the UK’s foremost thinkers on its Expert Group, drawn from leading universities and research organisations from across the UK.

This week we are turning the spotlight onto ReWAGE expert Ian Kessler who is Professor of Public Policy and Management at King’s Business School.

Background:

Ian joined King’s College London in September 2012, after almost 25 years at the University of Oxford.

Ian’s research focus is employment relations in the public sector, exploring themes such as union organisation, industrial action, pay determination and work organisation in the sector. Over the last decade he has been researching nursing support roles in a variety of healthcare settings, and the general re-structuring of the healthcare workforce. In 2005, he was a commissioner on the Local Government Pay Commission. In 2014 he acted as special adviser to the House of Commons Local Government and Communities Select Committee inquiry of senior management pay. In 2018 he was a member of the Health Education England (HEE) scrutiny committee on the nursing associate role. Since 2019 he has been Deputy Director of the NIHR Health and Social Workforce Research Unit within the Policy Institute at King’s (and is currently acting Director).

ReWAGE is fortunate in having some of the UK’s foremost thinkers on its Expert Group, drawn from leading universities and research organisations across the UK. Between them they have a huge breadth of knowledge, covering such subjects as the labour market, job quality, employment relations and the changing nature of work.

This week we are turning the spotlight onto ReWAGE expert Jo McBride who is Professor of Work and Employment Relations at Durham University Business School.

Background:

Jo joined Durham University Business School in June 2018 from Newcastle University Business School where she had been Senior Lecturer in Industrial Relations, Work and Employment. Prior to that Jo worked at Bradford University School of Management and Northumbria University.

Her main areas of academic interest are Industrial Relations and the Sociology of Work. She was President of the British Universities Industrial Relations Association (2016-2019) which was founded in 1950 and is one of the largest academic associations in the United Kingdom aimed at promoting the study of employment relations across relevant academic disciplines.

A recent report Estimating the Costs of Workplace Conflict in Northern Ireland commissioned by the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) has revealed that almost 300,000 employees (37% of the workforce) experience conflict in the workplace, costing the local economy of £851m.

The analysis forms the basis of a new report from work and employment expert group, ReWAGE, which focuses on the impact of workplace conflict in Northern Ireland. Managerial Capability - Minimising the Costs of Workplace Conflict in Northern Ireland compares the relative costs of resolving conflict early through informal discussion and mediation, and situations where those discussions either fail or do not take place, resulting in dismissal or resignation.

This policy brief was authored for ReWAGE by Professor Richard Saundry and was based on research undertaken with Professor Peter Urwin at the University of Westminster. The research was funded by the Labour Relations Agency and Acas.