Employers and employees asked to help shape Greater Manchester’s Good Employment Charter

Greater Manchester’s Leaders are calling on employers, employees and others to give their views and help shape the country’s first ground breaking city-region Good Employment Charter. 

The first draft of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter, which aims to help employers reach excellent employment standards and become more successful as a result, has just been published for consultation. The Charter, which is the first of its kind in the country to be developed by a city-region, follows a consultation earlier in the year on what should be in a Charter, and a co-design process involving employers, employees and others. The proposal will be a key part of the Local Industrial Strategy being developed for the city-region to raise productivity.

The consultation is now open and will close on Sunday, November 18. Share your views on the draft Good Employment Charter here: https://www.gmconsult.org/strategy-team/gmemploymentcharter.

Good jobs have been at the heart of the city region’s resurgence. Many employers are not only innovating, investing, growing but also helping to make Greater Manchester a great place to live.

However, while employment growth in the city-region has been strong, too many residents are in low-paid and insecure roles with little opportunity to progress.  Greater Manchester’s ambition is to extend the excellent employment practice in some sectors and employers, more widely.  

While creating the draft Charter, many employers have been clear that engaging employees brings significant benefits like lower turnover of staff, a more motivated and dedicated workforce, and new insights, ideas and perspectives help an organisation succeed. This improvement in working practices in turn helps to raise the productivity of employees, a major challenge for the city-region.  The evidence is that businesses that support and invest in their employees are more profitable, add more value, and are better respected. 

The Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter aims to build a movement of employers behind these ambitions to create good work across the city-region – engaging widely at the same time as setting challenging standards. The Charter will also look to harness the power of public procurement to drive up standards across Greater Manchester.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said: “I want Greater Manchester to be the best place to live, work and invest.  The Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter is right at the heart of those plans. 

“In this draft Charter we’re setting out a vision of good employment – jobs which are secure, fairly paid and fulfilling, with opportunities to progress and develop.  This has been created alongside employers, business groups, trades unions, professional bodies, campaign groups, and academics. 

“But we want to hear from all of our city-region’s businesses, trade unions and employees to make sure this Employment Charter is truly by Greater Manchester and works for Greater Manchester. 

“Good employment is a win-win for Greater Manchester’s employers – whether they are in the private, public or voluntary and community sectors – because employers who are the best at engaging and supporting their employees are the most successful.

“As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Trades Union Congress, founded here in Manchester as a voice for working people, I’m determined that we continue to lead the way in improving their lives.  This Charter can be a critical tool as we work with business, trade unions and others to make our city-region a beacon of good and productive work.”

Greater Manchester’s Deputy Mayor for the Economy, Sir Richard Leese added: “Employers have been central to Greater Manchester’s growth and success.  Many of Greater Manchester’s leading employers ensure they get the best from their workforce through fairly-paid roles, using skills and strengths to the full and providing opportunities to progress.  This helps to drive growth and boost our economy.

“We now want to pioneer an approach that brings together employers behind these values. 

“Our Employment Charter can help to make our city-region the best place to work but only if we hear the voices of employers and employees from across Greater Manchester during this consultation.”

Greater Manchester portfolio lead for Education, Skills and Apprenticeships, Councillor Sean Fielding said: “Greater Manchester is establishing itself as the best place in the UK for businesses to grow and succeed. The Good Employment Charter will further carve out our unique identity, helping employers create great jobs and demonstrate their commitment to driving shared prosperity.

“The partnership at the core of the Good Employment Charter is what Greater Manchester is all about – bringing together businesses, trade unions and communities across the region. Combined with great schools and outstanding further and higher education, the Charter is part of making an economy that works for everyone.”

Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive, Clive Memmott said: “I think it’s really important that we have the courage in Greater Manchester to set out the principles of what good employment practice and effective employee engagement looks like. This shouldn’t be prescriptive, complex or aiming to be the perfect model for all employers. Its purpose is set out a clear vision of what good and fair employment looks like. This won’t be fixed in tablets of stone but will be dynamic and continue to evolve as more organisations become involved and different approaches are recognised and new ideas generated.

“Effective employee engagement strategy is plain common sense. The idea that creativity, imagination and innovation just comes from those at the top of an organisation is nonsense. If we really want our organisations in Greater Manchester to be more productive we need to be fully engage and involve all our people and provide flexible and fair employment. This isn’t always easy but the results can be transformational for both employer and employee.

“This consultation will only be effective if people get involved and send in their views. This is your chance to shape the thinking about what good employment should look like in Greater Manchester and how we should promote, encourage and recognise this. If we really are serious about improving our productivity in Greater Manchester this is an important starting point.”