Remembering Stephen Bevan
In memory of our esteemed and beloved colleague Stephen Bevan, we have collated a comprehensive collection of blogs and comment pieces spanning his contributions to several research centres and media outlets. While Steve is no longer with us, his work lives on and we hope his research inspires others to continue building the evidence base to deliver better employment outcomes for all.
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25 March 2024: Can job crafting help the terminally ill?
Stephen Bevan looks at how several methods of job crafting can provide ways to improve access to meaningful work for employees with a terminal illness.
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18 August 2023: Weigh more and get paid less: why the obesity wage penalty for women matters
Drawing on recent IES research, Stephen Bevan's blog considers the persistent wage penalty for working age women living with obesity and calls for society as a whole to permanently challenge the deeply embedded discrimination against people, especially women, living with obesity.
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14 July 2023: Reducing health-related job loss among older workers
Stephen Bevan reflects on the main causes of health-related job loss among older workers in the UK, highlighting what can be done by employers to predict and mitigate the risk of the problem getting worse.
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21 June 2023: Leadership: what’s it all about?
In an extended blog, Stephen Bevan considers the role of leaders and, drawing on personal experience, candidly reflects on his own tenure in several leadership roles over a 40-year career.
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02 June 2023: The 'Great Resignation': is the grass always greener?
Despite the hype around the ‘Great Resignation’, Stephen Bevan's blog identifies a regular core of factors that continue to drive resignation decisions and explains how IES can help employers manage labour turnover through good use of data.
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21 April 2023: Bullying in the workplace: why zero tolerance needs to be practised, not just preached
With allegations of workplace bullying once again hitting the headlines, Stephen Bevan details why it is always best to call out this kind of behaviour with senior colleagues, no matter what short term discomfort may result.
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10 October 2022: World Mental Health Day: Identifying three priority areas for employer action
To mark World Mental Health Day, Stephen Bevan looks at how employers can help tackle the causes of work related mental ill health, setting out three priority areas for action.
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02 August 2022: Regional pay in the public sector: an idea whose time has gone?
With the proposal to cut up to £8.8bn a year through the introduction of regional pay boards and wage variation for public sector workers now hastily retracted, Stephen Bevan and Tony Wilson look at this often-mooted idea and reflect on why it has never delivered.
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05 July 2022: Can more multi-year pay deals calm our industrial relations climate?
Stephen Bevan considers the merits of multi-year pay deals as a potential method of matching wages with potentially long term volatile inflation during a growing cost of living crisis.
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16 June 2022: Tackling the hidden anxiety crisis among self-employed construction workers
Stephen Bevan highlights the urgent need for self employed construction workers to have improved access to mental health services and support, and makes recommendations on how this could be delivered to make it more accessible to this hard to reach group of workers.
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04 February 2022: Overcoming the barriers to living and working with cancer
To mark World Cancer Day, Stephen Bevan reflects on new IES research the looks at the impact that cancer has on the working lives of people living with the disease and those who care for them.
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09 December 2021: Working from home (again) – five lessons from the last time
With the government once again invoking work from home guidance where possible, Stephen Bevan reflects on evidence-based research from the first wfh ‘experiment’ and highlights the resilience and agility of managers and organisations when needing to pivot quickly to ‘keep the lights on’.
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04 March 2021: Beating Obesity Stigma: A Three-step Programme
To mark World Obesity Day, Stephen Bevan calls for action to tackle the systematic barriers to workplace inclusivity faced by people living with obesity.
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04 February 2021: Cancer survivorship in Covid-19: A blind-spot for employers?
To mark World Cancer Day, cancer survivor Stephen Bevan highlights how the Covid-19 pandemic may result in cancer patients dropping down the list of priorities for some employers - just at the time when they most need support.
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14 April 2020: The curve steepens: COVID-19 and the social gradient for UK workers
Stephen Bevan looks at the impact of COVID-19 on the social gradient and the challenges facing policymakers if the social gradient graph in income and job quality is to be prevented from getting steeper.
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06 April 2020: How to avoid the homeworking-parenting clash
In a guest blog originally published by Society for Occupational Medicine, Stephen Bevan looks at the challenges facing homeworking parents and what bosses can do to both recognise and alleviate the pressure.
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02 April 2020: Beware the curse of the laptop warrior
Stephen Bevan considers the plight of the many millions of new homeworkers and how this dramatic shift in working patterns could affect their physical and emotional wellbeing.
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04 March 2020: Obesity stigma at work - the weight of evidence is growing
To mark World Obesity Day, Stephen Bevan and Zofia Bajorek highlight the stigma and discrimination that people living with obesity face in employment settings and reflect on what needs to be done to improve outcomes for workers living with obesity.
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03 February 2020: Putting the ‘being’ at the heart of workplace wellbeing
From the risk of over-medicalising to the need for workers to be treated as individuals, Stephen Bevan reflects on the recent IES health and wellbeing conference and pulls out five key takeaways to help navigate the challenges of effective workplace wellbeing
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19 December 2019: The right to disconnect: are you switching off this Christmas?
With the festive season fast approaching, Stephen Bevan looks at the principle of the 'right to disconnect' and considers if legislation or cultural and behavioural change is the best way to ensure quality downtime for workers.
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27 September 2019: Job Crafting: An employee-led approach to job redesign?
Stephen Bevan considers the merits of job crafting, an alternative approach to traditional job design, that is gaining both practitioner support and an evidence-base.
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21 August 2019: The end of retirement?
In his latest blog, Stephen Bevan delves into the past to find that today's discourse on retirement age echoes that of the 1950s.
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08 August 2019: Mental health training for managers? A case of caveat emptor
Stephen Bevan and Sally Wilson reflect on the meteoric rise of Mental Health First Aid but question the level of evidence that underpins the initiative.
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27 June 2019: Carrot or stick? How are UK employers managing absence?
Stephen Bevan considers the latest DWP survey summary -looking at how employers are managing employee absence, health and wellbeing.
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07 June 2019: Closure at Ford Bridgend – what next for the workforce?
Stephen Bevan looks at the impact of Ford closing the Bridgend engine plant and considers necessary mitigating actions and valuable lessons learnt from previous plant closures.
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16 January 2019: Hiring a chief meaning officer? You're missing the point
Many organisations are hiring chief meaning officer roles. Drawing on IES research, Stephen Bevan highlights how these efforts may be misguided, and not succeed in making work more meaningful for employees.
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07 January 2019: Workforce planning remains a missing link in the NHS long term plan
Stephen Bevan, IES Director of Employer Research and Consultancy, looks at the new NHS 10-year plan and sets out the key workforce strategy issues which will also need to be addressed.
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06 December 2018: The productivity puzzle: are we looking in the right place?
Stephen Bevan discusses how reductions in sickness absence may be masking increases in 'presenteeism' - in turn contributing to the UK's productivity problems.
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03 September 2018: Ten years on, has HR learned any lessons from the financial crash?
What role should HR take in preventing or mitigating an ethical crisis? Stephen Bevan considers what HR has learned from the 2008 financial crash and whether HR should act as the moral compass of an organisation.
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15 May 2018: Is wellbeing a missing link in our search for productivity growth?
What are the links between employee mental wellbeing and productivity? Stephen Bevan reflects on IES research on behalf of EEF, The Manufacturers' Organisation.
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21 August 2017: Working with arthritis: more common than you think
Stephen Bevan considers the prevalence of arthritis in the workplace and what should be done to help employees with arthritis to remain and thrive in work.
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19 July 2017: Is 'good work' the ultimate workplace health intervention?
Stephen Bevan considers the less-discussed aspect of the recent Taylor Review of modern employment: 'good work'. What is the evidence base, and what should a 'proactive approach' look like?
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01 June 2017: Is there a mental health 'time-bomb' ticking away in the public sector?
Stephen Bevan reflects on the reasons behind the variations in public sector and private sector absence, and what is being done in response.
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09 January 2017: Two cheers for the PM's focus on mental health at work
Stephen Bevan responds to the announcement by PM Theresa May that the government will carry out a review into workplace mental health support.
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08 December 2016: Working beyond retirement - the new prescription for good health?
Stephen Bevan responds to the 2015 Chief Medical Officer's annual report and considers the impact of working longer, for employees and their employers
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30 August 2016: Post-referendum uncertainty demands a focus on employee engagement
Stephen Bevan considers the need for HR and employers to focus on employee engagement following the Brexit vote.
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26 August 2016: Pension deficits, bond yields and quantitative easing: Why HR professionals need to take note
Stephen Bevan on the need for HR to be prepared to provide guidance around pension funds and employees' financial concerns.
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24 August 2016: Don't get 'sniffy' with hay fever victims at work
Stephen Bevan looks at the impact of hay fever on wellbeing at work, productivity, and presenteeism.
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05 July 2016: Poor musculoskeletal health and workforce productivity
Stephen Bevan welcomes a new Arthritis Research UK report looking at the challenges at work faced by people living with a range of musculoskeletal disorders.
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22 April 2016: Older worker health - a looming crisis?
Stephen Bevan discusses what employers can do to tackle the looming problem of older worker health and how our European counterparts are approaching this issue.