Written by Ian MacArthur, Director of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter (May 2023)

Since it was launched in 2019, the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter has become recognised as a key foundation in developing a more prosperous and fairer city region. It has engaged employers of all shapes and sizes, from all sectors and from all ten Greater Manchester boroughs.

We have engaged with well over 1,600 employers across the city, with around 600 becoming Charter Supporters and we’re now heading towards recognising our 100^th Charter Member. Perhaps more importantly, these organisations employ over 150,000 people in the city - ensuring that they can enjoy fair pay and good working conditions. We know that this makes a direct impact on the quality of people’s lives, their mental and physical health, and their resilience to deal with the unprecedented economic conditions we face – one way out of the crisis will be through the provision of good, fairly paid work.

Increasingly, employers also understand that this approach brings productivity gains and provides advantages in attracting and retaining talent – which is so important in the current employment market.

The community that has been built around the Charter is remarkably supportive. Through our networking events, the share & learn sessions, our webinars, podcasts, conferences, advocates and awards, Charter employers provide mutual support where they are equally happy to share a problem as celebrate a success. And all bound by a common thread - to make Greater Manchester a place where good work becomes the norm.

In four years the Charter has built momentum and credibility, and by way of celebrating our progress we will be holding the first ever Greater Manchester Good Employment Week between 19^th – 24^th June. This will see a host of events and activities organised by the Charter Unit and our partners – more details can be found here: Good Employment Week - 2023.

We will also be using the week to shift emphasis. To date, the Charter has exclusively worked with employers to help them develop employment policies creating good jobs that match the Charter’s criteria. In essence we have developed the supply ‘side’ of the market. The focus of this years’ Good Employment Week will be on the ‘demand’ side. We want to engage with employees, with citizens and especially young people who are entering the world of work. We believe it is important that everyone understands what good work can look like and know that Greater Manchester is striving to create good work for all.

To achieve this requires a very different approach, that is hopefully engaging, informative and fun. Throughout the week we will be encouraging everyone across the city to take our quick ‘How Good is Your Job?’ quiz. Completely anonymous, the quiz will run through 21 questions reflecting the charter’s seven characteristics and where a job doesn’t quite match-up it will provide supporting information explaining why and how the criteria helps to create a good job. Prompts to take part will be seen across the city on electronic boards, advertising, a bus and a tram!

This will be a step change in the approach of the Charter that builds on its maturity and moves it into a wider realm of consciousness across the city region.

More than most, Manchester understands the power of Charters, and we are determined to reflect the city’s proud history of social and economic reform by moving the Good Employment Charter from words on a piece of paper to a living movement that can make a difference that lasts.