Whether you work in private business, the public sector, a charity or social enterprise you can probably relate to the challenges associated with managing a team. In fact, there is a wide body of research on the effect of different management styles on workers and organisations. The Government is interested in creating 'Good Work' which means work that is both engaging for the worker and productive for the business. Sometimes we all get frustrated if our work is not so good due to our line management. For example, if we cannot contribute the way we want to because we are not allowed to work flexibly, have a say in how things are done, feel stressed due to conflict or are not given work that uses our skills (or are not developed so we can keep learning and progress). Equally, anyone with management experience knows that managing people can be really challenging. Even experts believe there is no 'right way' to manage people. Yet, managers must manage and, often, line managers and owners of small firms do so under conditions of scarce resources and short-term pressures. In fact, many are 'accidental managers' who have pretty mixed feelings about their roles and receive very little support to reflect on, and develop, their skills. So what can be done to help managers become more effective at people management, for the good of themselves, their staff and organisations? That is the key question we are addressing in the Good Employment Learning Lab. It is what we call a 'tricky question' - it's not easy to answer because managers, workers, workplaces, sectors and places of management vary so much. We are tackling this challenge by forming a Learning Lab. This is a space where researchers, policy makers and managers collaborate to understand and address shared problems. They frame ideas for better practice and outline the 'theory of change' that is the logic of why they think this will work. They then experiment and evaluate 'what works'. At a deeper level, Learning Labs support long-term, trusting and creative relationships so researchers and practitioners can work together to learn via a process of Engaged Scholarship. We are zooming into two contexts to develop Good Employment Learning Labs: - The Greater Manchester Good Employment Learning Lab will partner with the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter (a coalition of local government, employers, trade unions, workers and other experts who aim deliver good jobs in Greater Manchester with opportunities to progress and develop, and a thriving and productive economy, by promoting 7 principles of Good Employment). We will work in three Greater Manchester districts (Manchester City, Oldham and Salford) to run Workplace Trials to raise management capabilities and share this learning across Greater Manchester - and with other places - to support widespread learning about 'what works' in different contexts to improve people management. - The Social Care Good Employment Lab will also run Workplace Trials, but this time focused on managers of adult social conducted at home or in residential care. Some of these trials will also be in Greater Manchester, so we can compare findings with the Greater Manchester Lab. The Social Care Lab will also share learning nationally. Our third Learning Lab will raise capacity for researchers and practitioners to get involved in joint problem solving and research via Engaged Scholarship. Activities will including workshops introducing this method, sessions for early career researchers on 'Becoming an Engaged Scholar' and workshops for academics and practitioners involved in Practising Engaged Scholarship. The outcomes of the Good Employment Learning Lab will be new learning, new communities and new evidence-based ways of supporting people management. Each of our Labs will also produce an open access Digital Resource Bank that anyone interested in people management or Engaged Scholarship can use.