What do we like (and loathe) about our jobs? Why are some industries struggling to recruit and retain? How can we reshape work to increase job satisfaction and productivity? And how can we have more rounded conversations about jobs, beyond their pay and responsibilities?
I’ve developed a Work Talk Framework (WTF) to inject more structure into the way we address these questions. It codifies a wide range of ‘work attributes’ into five distinct themes. The framework has applications across various public policy areas relating to labour, employment, education and skills. Who knows: it could also be a useful tool for HR managers and careers advisers.
The framework builds on analysis I’ve been doing on various freelance projects recently relating to aspirations, careers and local labour markets. It also draws lightly on existing literature on work attributes – Sutherland (2011) and Warr and Inceoglu (2018) – which is surprisingly thin.
I’m already using the framework in my own research: here’s an example of the WTF in action, as part of an evaluation of a post-16 setting for young people with SEND in Sussex.