Researching the impact of Covid-19 on the future workplace

A project to assess the future workplace as a result of Covid-19 has received funding from the OU’s Rapid Response scheme.

Dr Hilary Collins, a Senior Lecturer in Corporate Programmes for Executive Education, has received £7,500 to assess the impact of the pandemic on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements for organisational development in the UK.

This project is based on a need to research the underpinning developing changes and requirements for organisational development skills and interventions. There is a large overlap between jobs at risk due to Covid-19 in the short term, and jobs displaced by automation in the longer term. Many of the jobs that employers might need to fill by 2030 require a higher level of skills.

Dr Hilary Collins
Senior Lecturer in Corporate Programmes for Executive Education

A key output will be a new microcredential, ‘Management of change: organisation development and design’, this year. The project, which had previously run a workshop in Scotland to discuss the training needs of alumni from creative industries, held another one with employers in January 2021 and has more planned with the other Nations throughout the year.