The purpose of this paper is to consider the usefulness of “decent work” as a construct, whether a collaborative approach helps to highlight problem areas and what lessons can be identified and generalized in respect to impact in context.
Data is gathered from stakeholders employed by organizations in Scotland using mixed methodology including survey data, focus group data and a large scale poll for low-paid employees and interviews for employers and advocates of work quality.
The results suggest that “decent work” priorities identified by low-paid employees are primarily “hard” variables, employers’ primarily identify “soft” variables and advocates identify a mix of hard and soft variables.
Therefore to engage all stakeholders a set of “soft” and “hard” priorities should be recognized and implemented in policy development and professional development programs focusing on “decent work” skills and knowledge introduced to support employers who are currently not perceived as providing “decent work”.
This paper has an original approach in that it identifies what matters and who can make a difference in a collaborative research study in a national context.
