Management versus Regulation?

Abstract

Not all is roses in British workplaces. The extent and pace of change, detailed across the preceding chapters, inevitably create growing pressures on employees in terms of continual adaptation and the quest for higher performance. Moreover, the change agenda is falling short of what employees — or society — aspires to in terms of work-life balance and family-friendly policies. What all this adds up to, for the great majority of employees, is a more ‘stressed-out’ working life. Research evidence shows that this is not just a fashionable phrase of the chattering classes, but a hard reality.¹