Latest News
Positive Feedback on IWP Conference
Posted on Jul 28, 2010
IWP Conference 2010 has received much positive feedback. Please find an illustration of the initial comments received from delegates and sponsors in the days following the conference last month.
“The conference undoubtedly helped to keep Sheffield ‘on the map’ and at the centre of the growing agenda around workplace strategies”. David Fletcher, Director of Business Investment, Creative Sheffield.
“Really well done with regards to the conference, I was very impressed by the professionalism and organisation of the whole event.” Ian Proctor, Business Advantage.
“As always the organisation of the Conference, facilities and so on were outstanding, and your welcoming team deserve the highest praise for the way they created a “can do” spirit around the place”. Michael Reddy, Managing Director, Human Potential Accounting.
“It’s always useful to get an academic take on business issues as well as a practical insight through projects undertaken by graduates. I think I might use the Competing Values Framework from the Leadership in Schools session as well as the differentiation between Leadership & Management from Admiral Philip Wilcox (keynote speaker)”. Mike Barker, Head of HR Advice Services, Royal Mail.
“I will be using the information received following the session on ‘Positive Management Behaviour’ to support managers in recognising the causes of stress at work for themselves and members of their teams, identifying what preventative actions they can take and how they can support anyone who is experiencing this. The speakers were very clear and gave a detailed explanation of the topic. Everyone was involved in the workshop and had an opportunity to share their thoughts and ask any questions.” Sue Senior, Training and Development Manager, Schooltrends
“Everyone I talked to at the hosted dinner event on Wednesday evening said how well the conference was going. I am glad that it finished on a high note. I am glad that real organisational psychology is being introduced to the business community and it makes a difference to some of the pseudo rubbish that gets presented on TV (naked team building on Bravo for example). Many thanks to the IWP for promoting the value of real organisational psychology. Much appreciated from a self-employed occupational psychologist who is fed up of explaining to people that I don’t do things with pebbles and smelly candles!” Ian Franklin, Occupational Psychologist
“I would like to pay tribute to all the hard working team at IWP for delivering a superb conference. They are a credit to Sheffield and indeed the UK, they constantly uphold and deliver the very highest standards of learning provision that is truly world class. Keep up the brilliant work!” Paul Kincell, PKMG Limited
“The session I most enjoyed was the keynote speech by Arnold Bakker – it was excellent!” Rebecca Wilshire, Business Development Manager, Domino Interiors
Dr Angela Carter speaks about IWP Conference 2010 on Sheffield Live 2nd July 2010
Posted on Jul 07, 2010
Dr Angela Carter speaks about IWP Conference 2010 and problems of work stress
Dr Angela Carter on Communities Live! 02-07-2010 @12.00 (Item starts at 0:38:00 to 0:58:00)
To listen visit:
http://www.sheffieldlive.org/podcast/index.php?date=2010-07-02&page=2
Boost esteem to beat bullies
Posted on Jul 06, 2010
TWO out of five employees believe they have been the subject of bullying by colleagues, subordinates or superiors on a weekly or daily basis in the past six months.
Researchers from, Sheffield University also found workers could still be suffering from stress more than six months after an incident, but that enhancing personal optimism and self-esteem through work-based training programmes could limit the negative impact of bullying.
Christine Sprigg, lecturer in occupational psychology at Sheffield University’s Institute of Work Psychology, led the study. She said: “The evidence of the relationship between employee ill-health and workplace bullying is clearly shown by our data, but more importantly we find that there might be workplace interventions, for example working to boost employee self-esteem, that can help to lessen the impact of other people’s bad behaviour at work.”
Results of the University research were unveiled at the Institute of Work Psychology’s international conference in Sheffield last week.
More than 200 delegates from across the world attended the conference, which also examining well being in the armed forces, why people go to work when they are ill, how being on call limits opportunities for leisure and relaxation and why we no longer trust politicians.
The conference, run by IWP, and sponsored by city development company CreativeSheffield and market research and business development company Business Advantage, looked at ways that the Army deals with challenges such as separation from family, exposure to traumatic situations and mobility requirements.
IWP Conference 2010 - Politicians at Work
Posted on Jul 06, 2010
A return to old-style politics and closer contact between MPs and their constituents could be the key to restoring trust and encouraging more people to vote, according to researchers who presented results of a study into attitudes to politicians in the UK at IWP Conference 2010.
According to Dr Ros Searle, from the Open University, people who are concerned about the safety and stability of society were most likely to vote in an election, but the chances of them voting were heavily diminished when they lost trust in politicians.
“If politicians don’t re-engage with the public and repair the trust they won’t have the mandate of the people and that could have serious consequences in the long term,” said Dr Searle, holding up the possibility of civil unrest in response to unpopular policies.
If they were to regain trust, politicians would have to do more to explain themselves and make a real effort to engage with the public, although engaging with constituents individually would be difficult to achieve.
Fellow researcher Professor Jo Sylvester said politicians needed to do more to explain the difficult choices they had to make, instead of trying to sugar coat a bitter pill.
“They need to have the moral courage to stand up and talk about these difficult issues. The hardest message to get across is explaining what the difficult issues are and that they have to make a decision at the end of the day.”
The Government wants to get people off benefits and into work…but that can be easier said than done.
Finding a way into employment after years of illness can be a daunting prospect but single mum Terrie Whitehead offers inspiration. Determined to make a better life for herself and her daughter, she hopes volunteering will eventually lead to a rewarding career. Read her story in Wednesday’s Business Monthly.
Work Life Balance at IWP Conference 2010
Posted on Jul 06, 2010
Keeping fit and being involved in the local community are among the first activities people drop when they find the work- life balance beginning to tilt in the wrong direction, IWP international conference has told Sheffield.
Delivering a key note address at the Institute of Work Psychology Conference, Anne Marie Ryan, Professor of Organisational Psychology at Michigan State University said studies showed people also let friendships drop or failed to pursue opportunities to make new friends when pressure on their time increased.
“People are saying their involvement in exercise or taking care of themselves is affected and a lot of people say they have no involvement in community activities or voluntary work because they could not do that after meeting the demands of work and family,” Prof Ryan told the conference at the Mercure St Paul’s Hotel.
The conference, hosted by IWP and sponsored by Creative Sheffield and Business Advantage, also heard from Gary Johns, Professor of Management at Concordia University in Canada, who said that modern fads were having an impact on the medical reasons given for people being off work.
Prof Johns said there had been a steady decline in doctors signing people off work for flu and colds since the 1960s.
At the same time, there had been an increase in absences being attributed to smoking, obesity and psychological problems.
Research showed that factors like salary caps, a lack of promotion prospects, low organisational support and the perception that firms were uncaring or unethical all increased absenteeism.
It was as if people subconsciously said: “If you don’t care about me, I’ll steal time from you,” said Prof Johns.
Groups could also subconsciously affect the behavour of their members both positively and negatively.
While cohesive teams could encourage attendance they could also lower the bar when it came to establishing what was acceptable in terms of absenteeism and lead to the spread of complaints of ill health.
Prof Johns cited a study of air traffic controllers in Canada where teams had unconsciously adopted a strategy where members would be absent and then make up the pay they lost through overtime.
Social expectations could have an effect on absenteeism, he said.
A study of civil servants doing the same job for the same pay and conditions in two different parts of Finland had demonstrated that absenteeism had been lower among those who lived in the location where the population had been predominently middle and upper class.
IWP International Conference 2010 has reached its finale
Posted on Jul 02, 2010
We would like to thank all our speakers and delegates for helping make this conference another successful and memorable event for IWP. We would also like to thank our headline sponsors – Creative Sheffield and Business Advantage, as well as TAM PLC, Human Potential Accounting, Natwest, and our exhibitors for their support.
If you would like to find out more about our presentations and speakers please contact Carol Tighe on .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the meantime, we will aim to share some of the findings from the sessions over the coming weeks.
We look forward to welcoming all our delegates and supporters again in 2012.
IWP Conference 2010 into its final hour!
Posted on Jul 01, 2010
IWP Conference 2010 will have covered 140 presentations on work, wellbeing and performance by 4pm today.
IWP Conference 2010 will have covered 140 presentations on work, wellbeing and performance by 4pm today. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive to date with regard the quality of speakers and presentations. IWP experts have been on hand throughout the last two days to guide delegates on the practical application of the research for organisations.
We welcome comments from our delegates.
Problem with online payment system
Posted on Jun 22, 2010
I understand a number of people trying to pay via the online store have experienced problems. This was due to the cut-off date being wrong on the system. This has now been resolved and should work fine.
Apologies for any inconvenience
Additional Hosted Dinner
Posted on Jun 22, 2010
We have just announced a further venue for the hosted dinners http://conference.iwp.dept.shef.ac.uk/programme/hosted_dinners/
Malcolm Patterson and Chris Stride will be hosting a dinner at Artisan. Details will be added shortly
Politicians @ Work
Posted on Jun 15, 2010
As part of the action packed conference programme, IWP will be holding a morning and afternoon symposium on ‘Politicians at Work’ on Thursday 1st July (10.30-12 noon and 2-3pm). Details on what this will cover are set out below.
This symposium draws together organizational psychology researchers who have been working with politicians, or are investigating how political skill and political behavior impacts on outcomes within traditional workplaces. The first papers explore the importance of considering the political nature of work outside of politics. The second two papers address declining trust in British politicians, and what might be done to repair trust and increase public engagement. Political scientists have been interested in trust and voters’ choices for many years. Similarly, interest in trust between organisational members and customers has been a major focus for management theorists and psychologists. Paper three reports the findings of a large survey of attitudes, completed as part of a 20-country international study of political and general values, where data was collected just at the height of the MP expenses scandal. It looks at how political values impact on trust and intention to engage in politics. Paper four reports on the first two studies of an ESRC PhD co-sponsored by the Department of Communities and Local Government, which has been investigating individual politician actions and perceptions of trustworthiness. Both papers draw on management and psychology research to explain political performance.
The second part of the symposium focuses specifically on research undertaken with politicians. To date very little research has involved politicians – a notoriously difficult group to engage in research. These four papers are unique in involving politicians as the primary participant group, either in terms of completing personality and leadership questionnaires (paper five), in completing measures of well-being and stress (paper six), taking part in extensive interviews about experiences in Parliament (paper seven) and participating in research investigating political learning and support (paper eight).
We have invited local politicians to this session – will they turn up and do they care?
To attend this symposium at a cost of only £120, which also includes admission to keynote presentations and further papers, and lunch, on Thursday 1st July, register now using our online booking form at http://www.iwpconference.org/register or contact Carol Tighe, Business Manager on .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Expert Analysis on hand @ the Institute of Work Psychology International Conference 2010
Posted on Jun 08, 2010
We are delighted to announce that IWP experts will be on hand through out the two day IWP conference.
We are delighted to announce that IWP experts will be on hand through out the two day IWP conference to assist delegates in translating the theory behind the conference sessions into meaningful tools, techniques, and knowledge that they can use within their organisation, to help make a real difference in these turbulent times and help organisations get ahead of their competitors.
The resident experts will be available to guide delegates on relevant sessions to attend based on their current business needs, to attend targeted sessions with delegates at their request or to meet at interval breaks to answer queries, or interpret the session outcomes.
If you would like to attend the IWP Conference 2010 or to avail of this valuable free service, to ensure a fulfilling, worthwhile and memorable conference for you, please contact Carol Tighe on .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call 0114 222 3227.
IWP Pre-Conference Workshops 29th June 2010 - Deadline for Registration Extended
Posted on Jun 03, 2010
A programme of nine practical, evidence-based workshops will run through-out the day before the IWP conference begins. Each workshop has been individually designed to provide the latest thinking in the area supported by a strong theoretical background.
IWP are delighted to offer the following workshops:
• What do you need to know about workplace coaching? Have a go, and find out.
• Understanding, measuring, managing and reducing unconscious prejudice
• The secrets of employee engagement
• Understanding positive manager behaviour – session one
• Understanding leadership and authority in TOP Teams
• Promoting positive management behaviour – Session two: train the trainer
• Research in teams: Methodological and statistical issues
• Critical Discourse Analysis
The standard price for these workshops is £140 for one half day workshop, £200 for two workshops, with discounts available to those attending the conference, students and those attending multiple courses. Lunch, refreshments and workshop materials are included in the price.
Closing date for registration is Friday 18th June, so please contact Carol Tighe on .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or visit http://www.iwpconference.org to download the registration form and times of workshops.
Online Payment now up and running
Posted on Jun 02, 2010
We have finally resolved the issues surrounding this and are pleased to say payment for the Conference, Workshops etc. is now possible via the University of Sheffield online store. Please follow the link which should take you to the relevant site and choose the correct price band.
Birkbeck Workshop Now Full
Posted on May 27, 2010
Thanks to all who submitted draft papers for the Birkbeck Review Workshop - we have now closed this as we have had a great response and cannot accept any more !
Conference Programme now online
Posted on May 17, 2010
The Conference Programme has been confirmed and is now available to view on the website.
If there are any amendments or queries regarding presentations could you please contact Bekki kendrick (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) in the first instance.
Headline Sponsors for IWP Conference Announced
Posted on Apr 22, 2010
We are pleased to announce Creativesheffield and Business Advantage as our 2010 headline sponsors.
Creativesheffield is the UK’s first ever city development company, charged with delivering Sheffield’s economic transformation. Its core activities are Investment, Marketing, Regeneration, Innovation, and Business Support Services. Creativesheffield is funded by Yorkshire Forward, Sheffield City Council and The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
Business Advantage, a three year collaboration between Sheffield Business School at Sheffield Hallam University and the Management School at the University of Sheffield aims to build regional competitiveness through developing future leaders - with small and medium-sized businesses to benefit the most. With the demand being led by business, Business Advantage provides an exciting opportunity for a real step change in the relationship
between higher education and industry to benefit the region’s economy and its future development. As well as developing leadership and management skills, Business Advantage will improve participants’ problem solving and job skills. Business Advantage is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
Further sponsors of the conference include; Natwest, Human Potential Accounting, and TAM Plc. There will also be a number of exhibitors during the conference which will include; Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Emerald Group Publishing Ltd, Psychology Press Ltd, Motivational Maps®, Human Potential Accounting, and Precious Health.
Figure It Out statistics courses
Posted on Apr 06, 2010
The IWP run a number of statistical methods training courses led by Dr Chris Stride. This year we will be running courses on Multiple Regression, Multilevel Modelling, and Structural Equation Modelling with discounts for conference attendees. These are always popular and places are limited, so book now to avoid disappointment! For further information and booking forms, please visit our website: http://www.figureitout.org.uk
Early Bird Rate extended
Posted on Mar 10, 2010
We are a little behind getting the result of the reviews out - we aim to have these done by the middle of March now - as such we have extended the time period of the Early Bird rates for registration. The new deadline is now Friday 23rd April
Birkbeck Review Workshop at the IWP Conference
Posted on Feb 25, 2010
We are pleased to announce, that by popular demand, we will be running another paper review workshop at this year’s IWP conference. Professor Rob Briner and Dr. Gillian Symon from Birkbeck College, University of London will be leading this session. Professor Rob Briner is Consulting Editor on several leading journals including Human Relations (on which, until recently, he was Associate Editor). Dr. Gillian Symon is joint Founding Editor (with Prof Catherine Cassell) of the journal Qualitative Research in Organisations and Management, has guest edited special issues of OP journals on qualitative research, and is also on the Editorial Board of various other leading journals.
The session will enable attendees to gain feedback from these editors and other researchers on a paper prior to submitting it to a journal. It will be particularly useful for early career researchers beginning to submit papers to journals or researchers who have an interesting or unusual idea for a paper on which they would like to receive feedback.
The editors will each be allocated a small group of authors and will prepare feedback on their papers, which will be given at the conference session. At the workshop individuals will be split into groups led by the editor allocated to their paper. All members of the group will receive in advance all the papers in their group so that they too can provide feedback to the author. The workshop will conclude with a plenary discussion that draws out the general learning points.
Those wanting to attend must submit a full paper via the IWP conference website by midnight, 10th May, 2010. Places are limited (maximum 8) and will be allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis. Theoretical, qualitative and quantitative papers are all welcome. The requirements for the paper are below:
• Abstract (100-200 words)
• Title page (include title, authors’ names, affiliations, full contact details, and the workshop submitted to: i.e., Birkbeck Review Workshop)
• Full article text (double-spaced with numbered pages) no more than 6000 words
• References (APA style).
• Tables, figures, captions placed at the end of the article.
Conference Submission Deadline Extended
Posted on Jan 21, 2010
Over the last week we have had an overwhelming amount of requests to extend the deadline for submissions to the IWP Conference. As such we are delighted to announce that the new deadline is Monday 8th February. If you have not visited the site recently you will also notice we have revised the submission guidlines to make it much simpler as well as many other updates.