What we do

Our Work Programme

Work Advance provides independent research, evaluation and advisory services, working collaboratively to secure practical improvements and bring lasting positive change to the world of work: supporting a more competitive and inclusive future for the UK.

Our work programme seeks to be dynamic and salient, responding to the most pressing challenges of our time and the changing needs of our clients. Our Research Areas cut across ‘three pillars’ where we seek to have positive impact.

Our Approach

Work Advance adopts an approach that combines rigorous evidence, practical experience, strong stakeholder engagement and partnership working.

We build on well-established models of the policy-cycle and identified ‘qualities’ or ‘fundamentals’ of good policy-making in order to establish clearly defined pathways to impact. We seek to unlock cycles of continuous improvement in policy and practice through 4 Es: Explore, Engage, Experiment & Evaluate, and Elevate.

Our Services

Our services not only include research reports, but intelligence and insight, reviews and briefings, ad-hoc deep-dives, policy think-pieces, infographics, and a variety of events that support ongoing discussion, sharing of ideas and peer to peer exchange and learning.

We also design and support the delivery of tailored programmes to test and trial new innovations and ways of working, including help with monitoring and evaluation to enhance learning and understand the effectiveness of interventions, their results and impact.

How we work

Five underlying values:

1. Credible: we draw on leading, inter-disciplinary academic thinking and apply this to the real world. Our work is rigorous, independent, future-focussed and evidence-led;

2. Innovative: we question assumptions and challenge the status quo. We seek to drive continuous improvement that builds on ‘what works’ and learns from international good practice, to shape interventions that tackle the thorny issues of today and tomorrow;

3. Partnership: we recognise that we will only be successful in achieving our mission if we collaborate with others. We bring together experts with specialist knowledge and capability to work alongside us on projects, and engage extensively with stakeholders throughout the research process;

4. Client-centred: we listen and seek to deeply understand the needs of our clients – what’s important and what success looks like for them. While we build on our extensive experience, our approach is always tailored to the exact needs of the client and the brief;

5. Outcome-focussed: we exist because we want to bring about positive, lasting change. We strive to deliver exceptional-quality, high-impact work. We measure our success by the value we deliver for our clients and evidence of the impact our work has had in driving practical improvements in policy, programmes and practice.