Date: 8th March 2024 at 12.30pm (online event)

Speakers: Dr Jo Yarker, Managing Partner of Affinity Health at Work

Professor Karina Nielsen, Professor of Work Psychology at the University of Sheffield

Title: What line managers can do to help people stay in and thrive at work: Research examining the line manager’s role

Summary: The number of workers taking sick leave has hit a 10-year high.  In this presentation Dr Yarker and Professor Nielsen will share novel findings on the role line managers play in supporting returned workers and explore how business psychologists can integrate learnings from this research into their own work to help address this growing business priority.

Much research focus has been on supporting workers’ return to work after long-term sickness absence due to common mental disorders, however, workers are at risk of recurrent sickness absence, and they need ongoing support once they have returned to ensure their stay and thrive at work. Based on a study interviewing both returned workers and line managers about their experiences and support strategies post-return, novel results will be presented together with practical toolkit resources on how to support returned workers, and an ongoing multi-level intervention project focusing on supporting workers’ journey from initial sickness absence over return to work to post return.

Biogs:

Dr Jo Yarker
Jo conducts pioneering research and leads on strategy development, risk management and training and development programmes to enable people to thrive in work. She is Managing Partner of Affinity Health at Work, a research and consultancy organisation, and a Reader at Birkbeck, University of London. Jo’s work has been funded by the World Health Organisation, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, the UK Health and Safety Executive. She works with private, public and third sector organisations to improve mental health and wellbeing at work. Jo regularly contributes to national guidance and publishes widely to share new knowledge, evidence and tools to promote and sustain health and wellbeing at work.

Professor Karina Nielsen
Karina is Professor of Work Psychology at the University of Sheffield. She key research interests focus on how we can support workers’ wellbeing and their thriving at work. She has particular expertise in designing, implementing and evaluating multi-level interventions to prevent ill-health and promote good health and wellbeing and developed multiple frameworks to support such interventions. Karina has published more than 150 papers in high impact, peer-reviewed journals and won multiple awards for her research. Her research has been funded by national and EU funding bodies, charities and professional bodies.