The Evolve Workplace Wellbeing Podcast

Hosted by Evolve Workplace Wellbeing Team

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Latest episode

Aug 2026

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EN-GB

About the show

This podcast is part of a toolkit of free, evidence-informed workplace wellbeing resources provided by the Workplace Wellbeing Research Team based at the University of East Anglia, UK. You can find the resources on www.evolveworkplacewellbeing.org The contents of the toolkit draw upon cutting edge multi-disciplinary research on workplace wellbeing, including insider insights and case studies. We want to give you the insight you need to take evidence-informed action, helping your business evolve and thrive. Every six weeks a member of our team will introduce you to a new piece of research and to someone whose life experience puts a human face on that same research topic.

Listen to episodes

29 recent

August 13, 2026Episode 2932 min

Energising the support provided to workplaces by local Government: WHISPAs research

In this episode Prof. Kevin Daniels of the University of East Anglia speaks with Dr Laura Kudrna, Associate Professor in Health Research Methods and Professor Richard Lilford, Professor of Public Health, Co-Director of NIHR Midlands PSRC, both of the University of Birmingham. They talk about their current research on the topic of WHISPAs: Workplace Health and Wellbeing Initiatives that are Free at the Point of Use to Workplaces. They also detail the evidence and studies that informed the design of their forthcoming work trialling new packages of support and testing if they reduce sickness absence in participating employer organisations. Find out more about WHISPAs here: www.whispas.co.uk

June 22, 2026Episode 2831 min

Insight from the Trailblazer project on supporting musculoskeletal conditions

In this episode Professor Kevin Daniels of the Evolve team at the University of East Anglia speaks with Elizabeth Bachrad, Head of Programme Strategy for Business for Health. Business for Health is a Community Interest Company that focuses on the impact of business on health outcomes. Elizabeth describes findings from the process evaluation of a Trailblazer project supporting people with musculoskeletal conditions. She highlights that what makes the Trailblazer programme interesting is that it doesn't treat employment and health as separate problems. Business for Health led the process evaluation of the MSK Trailblazer programme, MSK for musculoskeletal conditions, in partnership with Unity Insights and with support from West and North London ICB and local government partners. www.businessforhealth.org

May 11, 2026Episode 2730 min

Overcoming the loneliness of line managers: peer learning and problem solving

In this episode of the Evolve Workplace Wellbeing Podcast, Dr Helen Fitzhugh of the University of East Anglia speaks with Dr Katie Elizabeth Green, Senior Lecturer in Leadership Development at Manchester Metropolitan University. Katie draws on her extensive research for the Good Employment Learning Lab to offer insights into the isolation line managers can feel, their wellbeing and the ripple effects of that for team wellbeing. She offers insight into the value of programmes to foster peer learning between managers. You can find out more in this report and article: Developing collective leadership in an online peer learning community - Katie Elizabeth Green, 2025 How_To_Develop_The_People_Management_Skills_of_Line_Managers_Good_Employment_Learning_Lab.pdf

March 16, 2026Episode 2634 min

The urgency of health and wellbeing at work action and reflections on the Mayfield Review

In this edition of the Evolve podcast, Prof Sara Connolly of the University of Leicester speaks with Dr Chris van Stolk, Executive Vice President at RAND Europe, part of the original Evolve team. Chris was recently on the advisory group to the Keep Britain Working (Mayfield) review due to his longstanding experience on research and action to improve health and wellbeing at work. In this podcast he comments on the urgent need to make progress on maintaining and getting people into employment and highlights the importance of helping young people avoid long-term exclusion from the labour market.

January 26, 2026Episode 2532 min

Rebuilding and reimagining context and connection at work

In this episode, Dr Helen Fitzhugh of the Evolve team speaks with Dr Laura Byrne, lecturer in Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour at the Leadership and Management department at Aston Business School, Aston University. She wrote a PhD thesis on whole-organisation wellbeing strategies in context and shares here useful insights on what makes these successful (or not!) Laura's refreshing and hopeful take on workplace wellbeing includes paying attention to context and the future, as well as focussing on human connection. She is also carrying out a study on the wellbeing of people professionals and if you are interested, you can sign up to take part here: https://forms.office.com/e/QW0vZWjZiq (Please note this link will only be live as long as the project is running, you may come across this podcast after the project has closed).

December 9, 2025Episode 2424 min

Unpacking how entrepreneurs maintain wellbeing under pressure

In this podcast, Prof Kevin Daniels of the University of East Anglia talks with Dr Juliane Opel of the University of Kassel in Germany. They discuss the paradox of high satisfaction amongst entrepreneurs who face working conditions (stress, instability etc.) that are know to lower satisfaction in other types of employment. Juliane draws on her current postdoctoral and previous PhD work, outlining different ways in which entrepreneurs reach a point of satisfaction in face of overwhelming odds.

October 14, 2025Episode 2326 min

Job crafting for people with health conditions and disabilities

In this edition of our Evolve podcast, Dr Helen Fitzhugh of the University of East Anglia speaks with Professor Adam Whitworth, Professor of Employment Policy, Scottish Centre for Employment Research at Strathclyde Business School. The conversation covers Adam's research on policies that support people to move into or maintain good quality, well-matched paid work, particularly people with health conditions, disabilities or complex disadvantages. Adam is leading the WISHES project - potentially the largest ever trial of job crafting. More information can be found here for employers interested in finding out more about the trial: Employers – WISHES: Workplace Intervention for Sustainable Health and Employment Support

August 25, 2025Episode 2223 min

Making work meaningful - simple ways to bring purpose to jobs

In this edition of the Evolve Workplace Wellbeing Podcast, Professor Sara Connolly from the University of Leicester speaks with Professor Ying Zhou from the University of Surrey, where she is Director of the Future of Work Research Centre. Her research is focused on job quality, occupation and employee wellbeing and in this podcast she shares findings from her latest work on the Skills and Employment Survey, focusing on meaning and purpose at work. She explains that when people are able to use their skills at work, take initiative and count on supportive managers, they are far more likely to think their work is meaningful.

July 14, 2025Episode 2129 min

The changing location of work and how it influences workplace wellbeing

In this podcast Dr Helen Fitzhugh of the Evolve team speaks with Prof Alan Felstead, Emeritus Professor of the Welsh Institute of Social and Economic Research Methods and Data (WISERD) at Cardiff University. Alan offers insight into the changing location of work (remote, hybrid and more) and job quality. He draws on personal stories and almost 40 years of research in this area, as well as recently published research from the Skills and Employment Survey: a nationally representative sample surveys of individuals in employment aged 20-65 years old. You can find the How Good is my Job quiz here: How Good Is Your Job | Take the Quiz Read Alan's work at: https://wiserd.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/8.-Is-the-Office-Dying.pdf Is job quality better or worse? Insights from quiz data collected before and after the pandemic https://routledge.pub/RemoteWorking

June 3, 2025Episode 2030 min

Fostering a culture of trust and proactivity for wellbeing in SMEs

In this edition of the Evolve Workplace Wellbeing podcast, Dr Helen Fitzhugh from the University of East Anglia is in conversation with Nigel Lloyd, a Senior Research Fellow within the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) funded Public Health Intervention Responsiveness Studies Team (PHIRST) at the University of Hertfordshire. Nigel has been working on a project exploring take up of local authority support for SMEs on the topic of wellbeing and shares findings from that work. He kindly invited Helen to find parallels in Evolve's own work to enrich the discussion so the podcast session covers quite a lot of ground! The PHIRST website with project outputs is here: https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/evaluations/an-evaluation-of-workplace-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-walsall-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises-smes/