Moving beyond the business case:The real living wage in the UK care sector

This paper reveals the opportunities and challenges of co-produced research projects that aim to generate real world HRM impact. This research explored whether employer adoption of high-road HRM strategies such as the real living wage (RLW) could simultaneously reduce staff shortages and turnover, as well as tackling in-work poverty among employees. The research was co-produced with key local stakeholders across the care economy in Greater Manchester (GM). It draws on two longitudinal case studies to open up the ‘black box’ of HRM implementation within organisations, and to understand the diffusion of HRM policies across organisations. Our collaborative research showed that the HRM intervention (the RLW) had varied impacts for workers, organisations, and the broader caring industry in GM. For workers, the RLW had symbolic impact in recognising the value of their labour; for organisations, there were short-term impacts on staff morale. However, where organisations adopt highroad HRM practices for business rather than moral reasons, these practices are more at risk of withdrawal as market and financial conditions change. The ongoing nature of the research also allowed us to critically evaluate the rollout of the RLW across the care economy and impress upon policy makers the importance of incorporating the RLW into a broader bundle of high-road HRM practices.