WIN - Quality of Working Life, Industrial Relations and Labour Productivity

2005 – This report is based on the main findings in two workshops on the quality of work, industrial relations and labor productivity, as part of the WORK -IN-NET project. These workshops were organized by the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research ( FAS ) and VINNOVA, the Swedish Innovation Agency (Stockholm, May 2005).
The report is a summary of the discussions during the workshops in the field of social responsibility, quality of work and productivity.

WORK-IN-NET (WIN)
The WORK-IN-NET (WIN) was a Coordination Action (CA, 2005 – 2010) in the ERA-net and  aimed to collect, analyze and disseminate information on national activities in the field of innovation. By improving the quality of work and making more use of the creativity of the employees, Europe can keep up with the demands of today’s economy. The information was shared with other Member States of the European Union where workplace innovation is not yet on the agenda. WORK-IN-NET wanted to reduce economic and social disparities between European countries.

Purpose of the workshops
The purpose of these workshops was to facilitate an exchange of information between experts on best practices and research programs in the field of social innovation. The focus was on the balance between the state, the social partners and individual employees in creating of better working conditions and an increase in productivity and quality.

Approach

The report is divided into two sub-topics:
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and economic growth;
Human Resource Management , Quality of Working Life and Labour Productivity.
Within these areas, the focus was on:
– National policy on the quality of work and social responsibility;
– The relationship between quality of work and economic policy;
– The role of social partners and legislation;
– Best practices;
– Business Strategies;
– Motivation and commitment to employees in the field of social innovation;
– Safe and healthy working conditions at the workplace;
– Interactive learning; good and bad examples.
 
Reference
See the annex for the full report, Quality of Working Life, Industrial Relations and Labour productivity (2005), by H. Hart, E. Ribbing & K. Abrahamsson.