Newsletter #31 – February 2025

In the latest episode of our regular Evolve podcast, Professor Sara Connolly of the University of Leicester speaks with Dr Zofia Bajorek – Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies – about the importance of line management. Zofia talks about her recently released book on line management and how it was inspired not only by all the projects of her professional working life but also as a tribute to the exemplary line management of her co-author Stephen Bevan, who died in 2024.

Find the podcast on your usual podcast platform (search ‘Evolve Workplace Wellbeing’) or direct via this link:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2109567/episodes/16509423

At every Network meeting we always ask – what topics do network members want to hear evidence on? Last meeting the topics of loneliness, resilience and remote working came up. So, we tailored our next Network session accordingly:

·        Emotional demands at work and Secure Base Teams

·        Dr Laura Biggart, Associate Professor in Psychology, UEA

·        8^th April, 11:30 – 13:00

Applications to join the Network are open and membership is free to practitioners with direct wellbeing responsibilities in organisations.

Read more about joining the network here: The Evolve Workplace Wellbeing Network – evolveworkplacewellbeing.org

Dr Helen Fitzhugh will be speaking at, and part of the committee hosting, an inclusive economy discussion event on 19^th March 2025 in Norwich. Helen will be talking about the Good Jobs Project (see video, infographic and handbook here) and the importance of job quality for all workers, whatever their role or pay level.  Headline speakers include Sue Cohen, Bristol Women’s Commission and Liz Hind, Women’s Budget Group.

📅 Date: 19/30/25 (Free Entry)

⏰ Time: 14:00 – 17:00 Followed by networking and refreshments

📍 Location: Norwich University of the Arts, 4 Duke Street, Norwich (in-person)

This event is coordinated by Norwich Women’s Advisory Committee, funded by UEA, and hosted by Norwich University of the Arts.

RSVP now via the Eventbrite page here.

As per our data protection agreement with our subscribers, we will start to send out emails to check if you want to stay on our list after 3 years, starting in May. We very much want to stay in conversation with you, so please reply to your subscription renewal email as soon as it arrives. Hitting reply with subject ‘Yes’ is all it takes to keep receiving the newsletter monthly, for free, for another three years (and to avoid the multiple follow-up emails we will send to check in with you before we prune the list!)

In this section we compile other evidence-informed links to pieces on workplace wellbeing that we have found interesting. The following are not produced by the Evolve Workplace Wellbeing team.

·        Early pregnancy endings and the workplace | The Open University Business School

·        Improving health and wellbeing: A guide to using behavioural science in policy and practice

·        The Future of Jobs Report 2025 | World Economic Forum

·        Heejung Chung – Flexibility Stigma: Why we think remote workers are slackers

·        Do more inclusive workplaces lead to more innovation? Evidence from survey data for firms in England