Workplace innovation : Europe's competitive edge : a manifesto for enhanced performance and working lives

Why a manifesto? Workplace innovation is an increasingly influential global movement. With strong European origins, it is increasingly recognised by policymakers and other stakeholders in countries across the world as a powerful tool in helping to achieve diverse economic and social policy goals, from inclusive growth and productivity to mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. For enterprise leaders, managers and employee representatives, it provides an actionable framework for effective, sustainable and win-win organisational change, one solidly grounded in research evidence as well as practical experience. Yet we know from successive EU-wide surveys (most recently the 2019 European Company Survey) that there is a long tail between the less than 20% of European companies using workplace innovation practices systematically throughout their organisations and the majority. The EU misses out on potential gains in business performance, workforce skills and health. Several European governments have recognised the importance of workplace innovation within their economic policy platforms and actively implement measures to enhance awareness, promote dissemination and stimulate research. The European Commission itself adopted workplace innovation as part of its policy portfolio, creating the European Workplace Innovation Network (EUWIN) in 2013. Since 2013, EUWIN has been a consistent advocate for the broader adoption of workplace innovation policies and programmes at regional, national and EU levels. Now supported solely by its partners in ten European countries, EUWIN welcomes the European Commission's continuing recognition of workplace innovation but argues strongly for expanding related measures in its industry, employment and research policy fields. EUWIN also argues for the expansion of national and regional policy measures throughout Europe, and enhancing awareness amongst social partners and other stakeholder bodies. This manifesto addresses the European Social Pillar agenda as well as the broader policy priorities of DG EMPL and DG GROW. It summarises the nature, origins and policy significance of workplace innovation, making a case for enhanced recognition throughout Europe's policy eco-system

A new measure of workplace innovation

Despite the popularity of Workplace Innovation (WI) and its demonstrable utility for supporting both organisational productivity and employee well-being, there is at present no reliable and valid measure of WI practices for use in research and workplace settings. The aim of this paper is to present the development of a measure of WI climate. The study involved 855 individuals across all levels of three organisations, and a survey of WI practices that was based on four underlying elements: jobs and teams; organisational structures, management and procedures; employee-driven improvement and innovation; and co-created leadership and employee voice. The original list of items was developed in consultation with employers and practitioners. WI was assessed as climate perceptions. A series of analyses were undertaken on the measure, demonstrating good psychometric properties, including consistency of the factor structure, internal reliability, construct validity, and criterion validity. Support for reliability and validity of the new 19-item measure with four elements is presented. Employees who experienced the four elements of WI climate more positively also enjoyed greater work engagement and job satisfaction, outlining criterion validity of the new measure. The availability of a rigorous and reliable measure of WI climate offers a tool for practitioners and researchers tasked with communicating and promoting WI in diverse workplace settings and with diverse groups of stakeholders. We hope that this new measure of WI will stimulate further research on the role of WI in promoting healthy and productive workplaces

Atmospheric lifetimes, infrared absorption spectra, radiative forcings and global warming potentials of NF3 and CF3CF2Cl (CFC-115)

Abstract. Fluorinated compounds such as NF3 and C2F5Cl (CFC-115) are characterised by very large global warming potentials (GWPs), which result from extremely long atmospheric lifetimes and strong infrared absorptions in the atmospheric window. In this study we have experimentally determined the infrared absorption cross sections of NF3 and CFC-115, calculated the radiative forcing and efficiency using two radiative transfer models and identified the effect of clouds and stratospheric adjustment. The infrared cross sections are within 10 % of previous measurements for CFC-115 but are found to be somewhat larger than previous estimates for NF3, leading to a radiative efficiency for NF3 that is 25 % larger than that quoted in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report. A whole atmosphere chemistry–climate model was used to determine the atmospheric lifetimes of NF3 and CFC-115 to be (509 ± 21) years and (492 ± 22) years, respectively. The GWPs for NF3 are estimated to be 15 600, 19 700 and 19 700 over 20, 100 and 500 years, respectively. Similarly, the GWPs for CFC-115 are 6030, 7570 and 7480 over 20, 100 and 500 years, respectively. </jats:p

Workplace innovation: European policy and theoretical foundation

Workplace innovation is gaining profile as an emerging European policy, creating organisational performance and quality jobs. DG GROW and DG EMPL are leading. Policies regarding work organisation and workplace innovation in the EU over the last 20 years used to be rather fragmented, but more coherence is likely to develop in the near future. Besides social partners and government- and EU-officials a major role was played by European Networks of Applied Researchers. They provided the theories that are part of the foundation of such policies. The evidence for the positive effects of workplace innovation stimulated many entrepreneurs and managers to apply it. National programs appear to be helpful, in particular where coalitions of employers' associations, trade unions, governments and research institutes exist. However, this is still a minority. More research is needed into the obstacles and the mechanism to promote implementation

Industrial policy in a period of organisational and institutional change: the case of inward investment and the electronics sector

The authors argue that two complementary elements of policy formulation have become dislocated: the actual changes occurring in the organisation of industry, and changes in the mode of policy production. This dislocation presents a variety of possibilities for new modes of policy production. The significance of the whole process of the production of industrial policy is stressed: the selection of the object of policy, the institutions of policy formation and delivery, and the orgamsation of work and the distribution of skilis within such institutions. The nature of the innovative and creative institutional responses that will be required to avoid further industrial decline are discussed.

Workplace innovation, Social Innovation Europe launch event

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Workplace innovation as an important driver of social innovation

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