In November, David MacLeod and Sarah Pass spoke at an Modernising Employment All Party Parliamentary Group event at the House of Commons. The session has been developed into guidance. The guidance highlights the movement, referencing the four enablers and findings from the annual survey.
The Better Hiring Institute (BHI), in collaboration with Reed Screening, Engage for Success, Nottingham Business School, The University of Liverpool, The Workstyle Revolution, Parliamentarians, and industry leaders, have produced trailblazing best practice on the role of hiring and autonomy to boost UK productivity.
Developed in Parliament with a Foreword by Baroness Dido Harding, the free guidance is for all employers as the UK faces a critical productivity challenge. Amid rising unemployment and uncertainty over working from home versus office models, businesses and the UK Government play a pivotal role in figuring out what work looks like for a productive UK.
The number of people across the UK economically inactive continues to increase, with over 9 million or 21% thought to be inactive. With 150 million job applications processed each year and high withdrawal and no-show rates, it is clear that effective hiring and strong people management are essential to unlocking productivity gains and creating psychologically safe workplaces where employees thrive.
Baroness Harding of Winscombe, The House of Lords said: “The quest to improve the UK’s productivity has perhaps been too much about policy, and not enough about delivery. I am pleased to support the work of the Better Hiring Institute as they transform UK hiring to make it faster, fairer, and safer. When the right people are in the right jobs, this focus on leadership and culture is essential to empower and retain those people in order that businesses can thrive.”
Keith Rosser, Chair of the Better Hiring Institute said: “People are at the heart of productivity improvement. Broadly speaking it is people endeavours that drive productivity, endeavours such as innovation, culture, engagement, customer service, and leadership. This means that people are critical to productivity. The Better Hiring Institute are on a mission to change the way the UK hires, to make UK hiring faster, fairer, and safer. This is essential to solving the productivity puzzle.”
Dr Sarah Pass, Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Business School and Advisory Board Member at Engage for Success said:
Employee engagement is one of the most powerful yet overlooked drivers of UK productivity. It’s no coincidence the UK ranks low on both. Engaged employees deliver better services, innovate more, and drive stronger results. It’s important to remember that engagement starts before day one – by hiring people fairly, placing them in the right role, and ensuring they feel supported from themoment they join. When we get this right, we create workplaces where people can thrive, and where productivity can finally grow.
Lizzie Penny, Co-Founder at The Workstyle Revolution said: “If we want to improve UK productivity, we need to look beyond policy and focus on how work is experienced in practice. This report shows clearly that productivity lives or dies in the everyday realities of leadership, culture, and how much trust we place in people at work. When work is designed around autonomy rather than control, people are more engaged, more innovative, and more productive. Yet autonomy is still treated as a privilege, not a right. If we are serious about improving productivity, we must modernise how work is structured, give people genuine control over how they deliver outcomes, and build inclusive systems that allow everyone to thrive.”
Corinne Peart, Client Relationship Director at Reed Screening said: “At Reed Screening, our mission is to pioneer the future of hiring. At a time when productivity is slowing and the UK faces rising unemployment alongside declining job vacancies, there is a clear need for a bold shift to get Britain working again. We are committed to working in partnership with UK Government and employers to help deliver that step change — empowering organisations to hire both quickly and safely. ”
David MacLeod, Co-Founder at Engage for Success said:
Productive, modern workplaces will have high levels of employee engagement. Research is now conclusive: organisations that prioritise people issues grow faster, are more profitable, and are more innovative. With Britain ranking 30th out of 37 European countries for levels of employee engagement, addressing this is urgent (Gallup 2025). The good news is that inspiring examples of best practice exist in all sectors of the economy. We just need to share the insights and lessons from those winning through their people.
