The Professor Ian Beardwell Prize was set up in memory of leading HR academic Ian Beardwell. Professor Beardwell made a huge contribution to the study and practice of HR, especially in terms of linking research and practice. We award the Prize annually to the author(s) of an impactful applied research paper, with the winner receiving a £1,000 award.

In the past, winners were chosen from a selection of papers that had been presented at the Applied Research Conference and published in an academic journal. From 2024 onwards we’ve changed the criteria. We now select the winner from the three most read bitesize reviews of the year – these are summaries of the latest research and insights, written for our members by CIPD experts.

The 2025 winners were:

Sam Sharps, Tom Smith, James Browne, Oliver Large, Rhea Subramanya, PeiChin Tay, Danae Ellina, Isabel Atkinson, Jessica Lythgow and Rithika Muralidharan, for their report on The Impact of AI on the Labour Market.

Read the bitesize review of the winning article

 

Other shortlisted articles for 2025 were:

  1. When and how does psychological safety fluctuate for employees?
  2. Performance management: Taking a strengths-based approach

 

If you have an article for a bitesize review, please share it with us at kx@cipd.co.uk  


Previous winners of the Professor Ian Beardwell prize include:

2024: Professor Uwe Jirjahn, Dr Marie-Christine Laible, and Professor Jens Mohrenweiser for their paper, “Management Practices and Productivity: Does Employee Representation Play a Moderating Role?”.

2023: James Brooks, Irena Grugulis and Hugh Cook for their article, Unlearning and consent in the UK Fire and Rescue Service, published in Human Relations. 

2022: Professor David Guest from King's College London for his work on employee engagement and well-being 

2021: Dr. Emma Parry from Cranfield University for her research on the impact of technology on HR practices 

2020: Professor Paul Sparrow from Lancaster University Management School for his contributions to understanding global HRM 

2019: Dr. Jonathan Crawshaw from Aston University for his research on organisational justice and employee behaviour 

2018: Dr. Almuth McDowall from Birkbeck, University of London, and Professor Gail Kinman from the University of Bedfordshire for their work recognising employee wellbeing requires the ability to switch off from work 

2017: Professor Stephen Wood from the University of Leicester, along with Professors Shaun Pichler and Gerard Beenen from California State University Fullerton, for their paper on performance appraisals and positive feedback 

 

Our conference opportunity to share learning between academics /researchers and practitioners is now Evidence Lab Live at the CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition.
Learn more