The vital importance of access to good work with Anna Ambrose
The vital importance of access to good work with Anna Ambrose
Since the 2008 financial crisis, access to stable, secure work has become increasingly rare. Young people in particular struggle to find quality, full-time permanent work. But what defines good work and what role does internal communication play in creating workplaces that build careers?
Good quality, meaningful work is vital for mental, emotional and financial wellbeing. This is even more important for young people entering the labour market for the first time. US research shows university graduates entering the workforce during a recession experience lower earnings for at least 10-15 years longer than those who start work when economies are doing well.
But what is good work and why does it matter? As pathways into working life face their biggest challenge in decades, creating high-quality apprenticeships matters more than ever. In this final episode of series 16, Anna Ambrose, CEO of Workwhile, shares her insights on the importance of creating work and career opportunities that deliver meaning and purpose for young people.
Anna is CEO of Workwhile – a small charity with a mission to create a fairer world of work. She has led Workwhile’s strategy and operations from its inception as a pilot project incubated by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Since 2020, Workwhile has improved the working lives of 3,000 people from disadvantaged and marginalised backgrounds, by creating new apprenticeships and high-quality work opportunities.
Prior to joining IPPR in June 2019, Anna worked for education charity Ambition Institute, supporting schools and multi-academy trusts to develop their workforce and leading the operational delivery of Ambition's sales and account management function. Anna also led Ambition's staff equality, diversity and inclusion work. Outside work, Anna is chair of governors at a local primary school.
Find Anna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-ambrose-46400234
In a digitally driven, hybrid world, human connection is under threat. Workplace relationships have cooled. Interactions lack warmth. Physically, we are often isolated from each other. Through authentic leadership, an inclusive culture and meaningful dialogue, we can reignite trust and collaboration and create work environments – digital and in-person – where people perform at their best.
Discover how leaders and communicators can reignite human connection in a dispersed workplace - driving authenticity, purpose, and performance through inclusive, emotionally intelligent internal communication.
So many aspects of work are changing concurrently, making it hard to keep up. New employment types, flexible ways of working, increasingly distributed and disparate work teams, the pace of work itself – with continuous change all around us, it’s never been more important for organisations to focus on connection and community.
This episode, Adele McIntosh, VP of Internal Communication and Community at Arm, shares her views on the importance of community at work.
Discover how internal communication can enhance human connection at work in this insightful discussion with Dr. Peter Mandeno, Jen Sproul, and Cat Barnard—exploring research-backed strategies to strengthen relationships and performance.
The IoIC has commissioned Dr. Peter Mandeno, a leading expert in designing for human connectivity, to write a practical white paper on enhancing human connection at work with internal communication. This paper combines key insights from his PhD research with bespoke qualitative research conducted with IoIC members.
In this final episode of series 16, Anna Ambrose, CEO of Workwhile, shares her insights on the importance of creating work and career opportunities that deliver meaning and purpose for young people.
Transcript S16, E7 – The vital importance of access to good work with Anna Ambrose
