What does good work mean for you?

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I’m leading the Review of Modern Employment for UK Government and I am determined that the Review will be bold and offer a comprehensive strategy for a better work future.

I decided early on that tackling exploitation, confusion and perverse incentives in work would only be likely if we all care as much about the quality of employment as about its quantity.

Good work is something the RSA cares about deeply.

We need a good work economy because

  1. Most people in poverty are already in work.

  2. Bad work is bad for people’s health and wellbeing

  3. Bad work is more likely to be low productivity work and thus bad for the economy

  4. Automation will impact the future of work 

  5. Bad work – with no choice or voice for workers – just feels wrong in 2017

But if good work for all is to become a reality, I need to show that there is strong support in civil society and the wider public for this goal.

The RSA wants you to talk about what good work means to you.

We have a few weeks to persuade whoever wins the next election that good work matters.

Post a video on Facebook or Twitter using #GoodWorkIs to tell us what good work means for you

Or comment below to share your conversation about good work

Join the discussion

77 Comments

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  • Picture of Melanie Simms

    Good work demands some kind of sharing of power between employees and employers. Historically that happened through trade unions and there are really important things we can do to strengthen their ability to enforce workers' rights. But the UK has always been very limited in its ideas about sharing power more generally and has tended to focus on day-to-day decisions. A wider notion might argue that good work is really difficult to achieve with some of the corporate ownership and governance structures that we now have. The prioritisation of financial and financialised objectives above a whole range of other objectives prioritises decisions that often have really problematic effects for workers (of all kinds - not just direct employees). Looking at ways to regulate some of the most predatory forms of financialised capital would be really important alongside improving workers' rights - and their enforcement. 

  • Picture of Claire Haigh

    Good work means, work that feels natural, uses our strengths and is contributing to something bigger. We need to help people explore what they have to offer and how they can put their strengths to work. if we can help people feel good and work, do good work and feel good about work then this will contribute to the health and wellbeing agenda. work and life are not separate for most people and being able to take our whole selves to work but also have space away from work is essential. Going to enjoy what emerges from these discussions.

  • Picture of Derek Anthony Smith

    We need a good work economy because


    1. Productivity per worker in the UK is woefully low

    2. Employers need to introduce new technology which will assist their employees to do much more much better

    3. We must face up to the consequence that increased productivity per worker may lead to unskilled job losses. Many who leave will be suitable for retraining in specialised areas

    4. Good work will give the worker the satisfaction of contributing to the growth of his employer and of his nation

    5.  Because there will be increasing need for skilled and specialised workers, the British education system needs a boost at every level from apprenticeship to postgraduate. Vocational training should no longer be seen as a low-grade educational regime

    6. In most thriving organisations, workers do already have a voice and their contribution to the debate is appreciated by their managements

    7. It is in the interest of employers to tackle this problem. Those who dont will fail. All government should do is point the way, not intervene or regulate. 

  • Picture of Dave King

     I'm an architect. good work is magical - it can touch your senses as can a great work of art or a wonderful sunset or the look in a new born baby's eyes.  it also has to function - to last, to make life pleasant for those both inside and out. it must also have given pleasure and satisfaction to the people who have designed and built it.

    unfortunately there's not much good work in architecture about. this is not because of a lack of skill technology or even money.  it's a cultural thing in the UK - people don't really know what good architects do. they just think 'pretty pictures' because of what appears in the press - a building has to be experienced to know whether it's good work or not....

    anyone can experience a building - just go there, make a detour, go inside if you can. look at the detail the doorframes the windows the stairs. think how every line, every junction, every surface, every texture, every colour and every fitting has been conceived/designed/drawn and administered by a person (usually young and not paid very much). ask yourself
    whether you sense dedication - if you do, then you are looking at good work.....

  • Picture of Michael E Hastings

    I think that there is also an aspect to this which is "pre-work" assessment and guidance: that is, investing in stronger career guidance before chosing a work or academic path such that the employment path someone takes is better suited to them as a 'person' (as an example, their Myers Briggs personality type) rather than an 'interesting' academic choice after secondary education. 

    This is not advocating psychometric testing at an early age, but rather finding out what makes a person tick so guiding them towards something for which they not only have a natural ability, but which they will also find personally satisfying.

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