Unconference 2026: The Health of Work
About this Event
About this event
Most wellbeing initiatives sit on top of jobs that are already wearing people out. Our fifth annual Unconference wants to look underneath them, at the way work itself is designed.
Since 2022, the Unconference has brought together HR practitioners, leaders, academics and students to rethink HR through a different lens each year. Last year we focused on AI and sustainability. This year we’re turning to the health of work, and asking what it would take to build organisations where people with different cognitive profiles and different thresholds for stress can do their best work without burning out.
We’ll be exploring burnout, neuroinclusion, mental health and psychological safety, with a focus on the things that cause problems at the root: workload, pace, communication norms, hierarchy and who gets included.
How the day works
The format is built around conversation. The morning opens with two short keynotes and five five-minute provocations from speakers across the NHS, consultancy, the charity sector and higher education. You’ll then join a World Café, moving between seven discussion tables led by our speakers and building on the ideas as you go.
After lunch, groups take on The Health of Work challenge. This is a creative session where you’ll design and present your own version of healthier work, whether that’s a “day in the life” simulation, a new team ritual or an art installation. The day ends with voting, prizes, drinks and canapés.
Who should come
The day is for HR practitioners and leaders from the university and the local area, academics, and students studying HRM and related subjects at Greenwich. If you care about how work affects the people doing it, you’ll find plenty to get stuck into.
What it feeds into
Ideas from the day will help shape CIPD research on mental health and wellbeing at work, along with new research on neuroinclusion and psychologically safe workplace design. For students, it’s a chance to hear where the profession is heading and meet people working in it.
Supported by CREW, the Centre for Research on Employment and Work
Agenda
🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:15 AM
Registration
Info: Tea, coffee and pastries.
🕑: 09:15 AM - 09:30 AM
Welcome and opening address
Info: Dr Joanna Smith, Deputy Dean, delivers the opening address. Professor Myrtle Emmanuel then sets out the day's focus, and Julia Tybura explains how it will run.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 09:45 AM
Keynote
Host: Demola Soremekun
Info: Healthy Work Design: Participation and Agency
🕑: 09:45 AM - 10:00 AM
Keynote
Host: David d’Souza
Info: Global Perspective on Healthy Work Design
🕑: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Provocations
Info: Five short talks to get the conversation started:
Nicole Gee: Is it possible to design kindness into organisations?
Natalie Mills: Psychological Safety, Employee Voice and Retention
Madeline Longshaw: Neuroinclusion, Masking and Creating Inclusive Environments
Neal Mankey: Neurodiversity and Healthy Work: A Societal View
Banji Adewumi MBE: EDI and Voice: Who Gets Heard in the Design of Healthy Work
🕑: 10:50 AM - 11:15 AM
Break and reflection space
Info: What are we noticing? What questions do we have?
🕑: 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
World Café
Info: Three rounds of discussion at tables led by our speakers. Move to a different table for each round.
🕑: 12:15 PM - 01:00 PM
Our reflections
Info: Each table shares what came up, then the floor opens for questions and “aha” moments.
🕑: 01:00 PM - 01:40 PM
Lunch
🕑: 01:40 PM - 03:30 PM
The Health of Work challenge
Info: A short briefing, then a creative group challenge to design what healthier work could look like.
🕑: 03:30 PM - 03:45 PM
Tea break and networking
🕑: 03:45 PM - 04:00 PM
Lightbulb moments so far
🕑: 04:00 PM - 05:15 PM
Group presentations
🕑: 05:15 PM - 05:45 PM
Review, voting and prize giving
🕑: 05:45 PM - 06:45 PM
Networking, drinks and canapés
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 0.00
