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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  • What is good work? This is essentially subjective as everyone will view it in a different way based on what they want from it. Some want the empowered view of work where they feel fulfilled by ownership of what the do and deliver. Some view work as a means to an end, something they don't want to do to allow them the freedom to do the things they do want to do. Some just go to work to provide the needs of the family and themselves and seek nothing more from it.

    So is the definition of good work something different? Can good work be boring, repetitive, and all those other such adjectives if it advances the overall lot of society? Is good work just work that makes things better as long as it doesn't damage society or the environment in the process? Should good work now be judged in line with the triple bottom line of people, profit and planet?

  • Good work is work that is fairly remunerated, and alsofairly taxed. Most of the comments here are solely from a worker’s idealised view,but what about those of the business community? I deal on a daily basis withsmall companies and self-employed, and I must say that they are extremely concernedthat the government does not understand how they function, and that theself-employed in particular are to be squeezed into a sort of ‘employed’status.

    If the problem is merely one of extracting more revenue fromthe self-employed by means of higher NIC, there are other options. The proposed1% increase is not viewed in itself as too much of a burden, but the worry isthat it may be the start of regular increases. Has anyone asked self-employedpeople if they want to have extra benefits? The CIS scheme works well for thebuilding trade, so why not extend it further?  Any self-employed person working for abusiness that runs a payroll, can have tax deducted from their invoices. Allmuch simpler than the Making Tax Digital (MTD) plan, and could be a useful stop-gap until MTD isfit for purpose (unlikely to be 2018, and totally unwanted by everyone I speak to).

    We should also review the status of self-employed ‘worker’that the recent Uber case established. Either someone is self-employed with theflexibility and responsibility that entails, or they are not. The agent thatsources the work should not be able to set unsatisfactory and exploitative terms,and equally the self-employed should feel they can turn work down without beingpenalised on future contracts. This is an area than needs further examination,and promptly, as fair working practices seem to be largely missing in thissector.

    Micro-entities form the bulk of the UK’s private sectorbusiness, and with less than 10 employees, may not have the ability to absorb theextra work to do if employees are off with long-term sickness, familyemergencies etc. It isn’t that they don’t want to be good employers, merelythat they are already over-stretched. In many cases the owners work incrediblylong hours, taking only a basic salary themselves, and feel a pride that theyare can provide work for others.

    We all want to have good work, but for many, any work isbetter than none.

  • I am also a worker, working as a writer for an online thesis writing service reviews company. Good work mean, do the work with 100% sincere. Use your full effort to do the entire job. Trust is the main thing expecting from a good employee, be a good employee for ever. 

  • Your key points are great 

    As an employer I have found that the following  transcends all your points 

    Good diet 

    Good excercise 

    Good areas to relax to de stress 

    Reduced working time improves productivity 

    Automation developed positively improves physical and mental wellbeing 

    Automation creates work and wealth and continuause retraining educates while reducing fear and lack of security it makes people feel legitimate 

    Most important these things lower mental ill health and changes the dinamic from need to work to want to work and or desire to work 

  • Good work is personal, subjective, relative, and objective. For myself, I would consider good work to be meaningful, socially useful and beneficial, fulfilling, growing, joyful - something I never want to retire from doing. But then, I have been blessed to have the opportunities for development, higher income work, and sufficient experiences of 'bad work' (yes, especially consultancy assignments) that have helped me to determine and shape my own definition of 'good work'. The answers revealed in the report will depend on who the question is posed to and one needs to be cognizant of the dangers of a single narrative. For some, 'good work' is simply a job that pays the bills and puts some food on the table. There are many variables involved.

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