In this episode of Lewis Silkin's In Conversation podcast (part of their Future of Work Hub), Lucy Lewis reflects on the impact of recent global elections on the future of workplace regulation. Join Lucy and other Lewis Silkin partners James Davies and David Hopper as they explore emerging global trends and their implications for the UK. Discover how political shifts are reshaping employer-employee relationships and union influence in an increasingly volatile and uncertain landscape.
Takeaway for employers
- Stay on top of political changes: Global trends show a fragmented political landscape, evolving social values and rising populism. New governments often bring regulatory changes impacting employment rights and union power, creating periods of post-election upheaval and uncertainty for businesses. Monitoring political change and its impact on the world of work should be high on the business agenda.
- Navigate increasingly divergent rules and regulations: There's a shift from global harmonisation to a multi-system world where different countries and different regions have different laws and regulations. It is crucial for global organisations to track cross-border regulation where approaches are diverging, especially in areas like data privacy, AI and DE&I.
- Monitor and manage workplace division: As the workplace becomes more diverse, more inter-generational and more international, managing conflict and differing views in the workplace is essential. Developing organisational capability and skilled leaders in conflict resolution is a strategic priority.
- Create an environment to support employee voice: Employee expectations have been evolving over a number of years. Employees want to be heard on broader organisational issues, not just pay and conditions. Proactively building mechanisms to promote employee voice in the workplace can boost organisational performance and innovation by creating a trusted environment that effectively manages employee concerns. This will be of growing importance where there are strong political drivers to create a more supportive environment for unions.
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