Newsletter #47 – June 2026

We are delighted to launch our updated website! The www.evolveworkplacewellbeing.org  URL remains the same but there are three major updates:

1)     We streamlined our menu navigation after listening carefully to all of you. It is now much easier to find the overview page and click through to the other key free resources in the toolkit.

2)     We added in ‘Our services’ as a separate section to the free toolkit, so you can read more about and book the paid offerings from UEA researchers: Evolve Training, Evolve Together and Evolve Take Action.

3)     To help people access the free online course on managing workplace wellbeing (bite-sized videos and real life case studies on workplace wellbeing) we also updated the links to Ryze Pro online and on Google and Apple Apps.  Ryze Pro is the course platform anyone can register with for free, to access the course.

As a result of the website migration, please note that we have updated our Privacy Policy to name our new hosting web agency. All other elements of the Privacy Policy remain the same.

Helen was delighted to be invited to share her experience and understanding in the areas of workplace wellbeing, people management, knowledge exchange and robust evaluation practices. The Government Skills College of Experts currently consists of 24 academics and expert practitioners affiliated with a range of universities and institutions across the UK. Members hold expertise and specialist knowledge across different disciplines related to the work of Government Skills. The Government Skills College of Experts will increase Government Skills’ access to academic networks, broaden its evidence base, and strengthen knowledge exchange across government and academia.
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/government-skills-college-of-experts

Kevin will be speaking about his work on the Creating Healthy Jobs project (led by the Warwick Institute for Employment Research) at the Living Wage Conference at City Labs in Manchester this week on 3^rd June.

The Healthy Jobs Framework (HJF) is a new comprehensive framework that translates language about healthy work across research disciplines, policy contexts, and practitioner applications. It will be launched in June and we will feature links to the framework in our next Newsletter.

Book now for the 15^th September 2026 Evolve Training session with Dr Ritchie Woodard on Making the Business Case for Wellbeing Investment.

This course introduces key economic ideas used to assess the cost-effectiveness of workplace wellbeing, explaining these concepts in an accessible way for HR, People Professionals, managers, and non-economists. It explores how wellbeing investments can translate into organisational benefits, such as reduced absenteeism and presenteeism, improved retention, and stronger engagement, and how these links can be understood.

Also – here is a selection of our free resources relating to making the business case for wellbeing investment:

·        Our Business Case Calculator: https://evolveworkplacewellbeing.org/business-calculator/

·        Prof Sara Connolly talking about the business case calculator in a recorded session during the pandemic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za_fqpZ_vBI&t=256s

·        A panel conversation on the IPPO report on the costs of NHS staff wellbeing https://evolveworkplacewellbeing.buzzsprout.com/2109567/episodes/13299380-nhs-staff-wellbeing-unpacking-the-ippo-review

·        Free online course available to line managers as an introduction to workplace wellbeing. Available via the learning platform Ryze Pro – make a free login and select the course ‘Wellbeing at Work’ https://ryzepro.app/#/home

Alongside case studies and learning points, it includes videos such as:

o   Is there a business case for a workplace wellbeing programme? – Dr Chris Van Stolk https://vimeo.com/563365778/a573180c03?fl=ls&fe=ec

o   Can a workplace wellbeing programme be cost-effective? – Prof. Sara Connolly https://vimeo.com/563364587/05f7362b8f?fl=ls&fe=ec 

WISHES is a £1.8m project funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) delivering the world’s largest ever trial of job crafting to support the health, work engagement, retention and productivity of UK workers. We already have a number of large and small employers signed up to take part, but the call is still open for more. Please be in touch!

·        To schedule a quick, no commitment online conversation with the team please email h.fitzhugh@uea.ac.uk and say where you heard of the project.

·        15^th September 2026, 13:30 – 16:30. Making the business case for wellbeing investment. Sign up via UEA Store.

·        10^th November 2026, 9:30 – 12:30. Enabling line managers to support worker wellbeing. Sign up via UEA Store.

·        18^th February 2027, 13:30 – 16:30. Authenticity building and overcoming cynicism. Sign up via UEA Store.

£375+VAT each (or one of your choice free when you join Evolve Together). Any questions – please email workplace.wellbeing@uea.ac.uk

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.

·        Policy Liaison Group briefing May 2026: https://plgworkplacewellbeing.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026_05_13-PLG-WW-Setting-the-conditions-to-%E2%80%98Keep-Britain-Working.pdf

·        Jan-Emmanuel De Neve briefing document: https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/news/oxford-wellbeing-research-led-prof-jan-emmanuel-de-neve-world-economic-forum-briefing-document

·        Aston University and Zellis on financial wellbeing in the workplace https://www.zellis.com/focus/financial-wellbeing-in-the-workplace-research-report/

·        University of Aberdeen on managing employees with long term health conditions: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/latest-news/in-brief/25567/

·        The website of the SkillsPulse project on potential skills shortages in workplaces: https://www.skillspulse.eu/

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