In collaboration with the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, The Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter is working to promote how to take care of health in the workplace.

The Mental Health Toolkit for Employers includes information and key approaches employers can take to address Mental Health and Wellbeing in the workplace. This resource is applicable to SMEs and larger firms.

Guest contributors Gemma and David Sole, Partners at School for CEOs, speak on their recent research into the impact of Covid-19 on business leaders. In April 2020, at the beginning of lockdown, School for CEOs invited our Faculty of over 100 CEOs and Non-Executive leaders to share their insights on leadership through a crisis. Above all, the prevailing piece of advice was the one thing that leaders forget in the melee – to look after themselves. 

Head of the Good Employment Charter, Ian MacArthur, speaks on the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on Good Employment practice. The Scottish Bard, Robert Burns once said “There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing”, and I’m certain as we raised our glasses and toasted-in 2020, we all had hopes and plans for the year ahead, - but as Burns also said – "the best laid plans…"!

Guest contributor Donald Moore, Chair at Rowlinson Knitwear, discusses a recent decision to introduce lateral flow testing in the workplace. We were lucky to have the chance to establish lateral flow testing in our workplace, and are very grateful to Stockport Council for providing this for us. In fact, we are the first manufacturing organisation to do this in Stockport with the help of the council.

Guest contributor Annalise Lewis, Chair of GM B Local and Co-Founder of Pentameter, speaks on B Corp certifications. 2020 was relentless, ferocious and polarising, and strangely - came with the emergence of real opportunity for hope. This hope does not see a future empty of crisis but a deep and meaningful opportunity that includes compassion, community and renewal.

The Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter are delighted to announce four new Members of the Charter, the first of 2021. These employers have gone from ‘Supporters’ to ‘Members’, due to their continued employment excellence, and their demonstration of how deeply embedded good employment is within their organisation.

Guest contributor Joanne Holland, Employer Engagement Manager at Transition to Teach, discusses this funded programme delivered by Cognition Education. It offers free support to businesses and their employees in order to raise awareness of teaching as a credible alternative to those who may be facing redundancy, coming to the end of their contract or taking early retirement.

Guest contributor Alice Kinder, Solicitor at Anthony Collins Solicitors, discusses social mobility in our latest blog. As the world seeks to overcome the economic effects of the pandemic, many organisations are recognising the need to become more innovative and creative in their strategies. An important ingredient in this is diversity of thought, drawn from encouraging a diverse pool of talent. How can this be achieved?

Guest contributor Alexia Rhodes details a snippet of good practice from the Business Growth Hub. Like many firms over the last 9 months, all Business Growth Hub employees have been working from home since the outbreak of the pandemic. We had a wonderful office environment and many of us missed seeing familiar faces and having informal catch-ups and chats over a coffee. Our office space had no fixed desks for staff which meant that you could be sat next to someone new each day, which allowed staff to get to know people from other areas of the business and not just their team.