Professor Colin Lindsay
Head Of Department
Work, Employment and Organisation
Personal statement
Professor Colin Lindsay MA, MSc, PhD has been researching and teaching on employability, employment and skills, public management and social policy for more than twenty five years. He has published more than 70 peer reviewed articles, books, book chapters and policy reports. His books include ‘Disability benefits, welfare reform and employment policy’ (co-edited with Donald Houston, published by Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).
He serves on the Editorial Boards of two journals: ‘Education & Training’; and ‘Social Policy and Administration’. He has co-edited special issues of the journals: ‘Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy’; ‘Policy Studies’; and 'Social Policy and Administration'. He was a member of the Editorial Team for ‘Social Policy and Administration’, 2013-23.
He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Social Policy Association. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the RSA.
Area of Expertise
- workplace innovation
- performance management (with particular reference to public service organisations)
- employee resourcing
- training and development
- professional practice in public services
- public management and HRM
- employability
- health and labour market disadvantage
Prize And Awards
Publications
- Business models, innovation and employees' experiences in the workplace : challenges for the post-Covid-19 economy
- Findlay Patricia, Lindsay Colin, Roy Graeme
- Productivity and the Pandemic Challenges and Insights from Covid- 19 (2021) (2021)
- https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800374607
- Diaries from the front line - formal supervision and job quality among social care workers during austerity
- Cunningham Ian, Lindsay Colin, Roy Chandrima
- Human Resource Management Journal Vol 31, pp. 187-201 (2021)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12289
- Collaborative innovation and activation in urban labour markets
- Lindsay Colin, Pearson Sarah, Batty Elaine, Cullen Anne Marie, Eadson Will
- European Urban and Regional Studies Vol 28, pp. 282-297 (2021)
- https://doi.org/10.1177/09697764211003649
- Collaborative innovation in labour market inclusion
- Lindsay Colin, Pearson Sarah, Batty Elaine, Cullen Anne Marie, Eadson Will
- Public Administration Review Vol 81, pp. 925-934 (2021)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13338
- Collaborative innovation, new technologies and work redesign
- Lindsay Colin, Findlay Patricia, McQuarrie Johanna, Bennie Marion, Corcoran Emma, Van Der Meer Robert
- Public Administration Review Vol 78, pp. 251-260 (2018)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12843
- Co‐production as a route to employability : lessons from services with lone parents
- Lindsay Colin, Pearson Sarah, Batty Elaine, Cullen Anne Marie, Eadson Will
- Public Administration Vol 96, pp. 318-332 (2018)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12408
Teaching
Professor Colin Lindsay teaches human resource management at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level. He is also Module Leader for programmes within the Department's undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
MBA. Module Leader: ‘The Boardroom Challenge’.
MSc (PG) Human Resource Management/International Human Resource Management. Module Leader: ‘People Resourcing’.
MSc (PG) Human Resource Management. Module contributor: ‘Critical Issues in Human Resources’; 'Leaning, Managing and Developing People'.
Research Interests
Professor Colin Lindsay's research interests include: public management reform; HRM and employment relations in the public sector; new governance in public policy; policy evaluation; employability, skills and access to training; experiences of low-skilled work; and approaches to promoting equality in the workplace. He works closely with the Scottish Centre for Employment Research (SCER), and is currently conducting research with colleagues at SCER on workplace innovation. He has conducted research for the UK Commission for Employment and Skills; the Scottish Government; the Scottish TUC; and the European Commission. His current research focuses on the link between health and employability; and the impact of new technology on employees’ experiences of job quality.
Professor Lindsay's research addresses a range of issues including:
- public sector employment relations and work redesign (e.g. research recently published in the International Journal of Human Resource Management);
- workplace innovation in SMEs (ongoing research with the Scottish Centre for Employment Research);
- the governance of employability and labour market policies (e.g. research recently published in Public Administration);
- labour market exclusion and the barriers faced by disadvantaged groups;
- and inequalities in access to workplace training.
Professional Activities
- Crafting Dynamic and Innovative Workplace Futures, invited talk to Ron Joyce Centre for Business Studies, Mount Allison University, Canada
- Keynote speaker
- 14/7/2025
- Presentation to Society for the Advancement of Socio-economics Conference, 2025: Decent jobs and fair work as a route to employee engagement
- Speaker
- 29/6/2025
- Keynote to the University Forum for Human Resource Development Conference, 2025
- Keynote speaker
- 13/6/2025
- Distributed leadership in dynamic organisations, presentation to Transport Scotland Staff Conference
- Invited speaker
- 13/5/2025
- Remarks on the Future of Work at Industry 5.0 Panel, CMAC Open Days 2025
- Invited speaker
- 19/3/2025
- InterAct and LightGuide Webinar – Digital transformation, inclusion and innovation in manufacturing
- Invited speaker
- 22/1/2025
Projects
- The Progression Economy: An evaluation of CLES' work on supporting in work progression in the Edinburgh and South East Region
- Stewart, Robert (Principal Investigator) Cullen, Anne Marie (Co-investigator) Lindsay, Colin (Co-investigator)
- 19-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2028
- Made Smarter Innovation - Amplifying the Impact of Ingeract
- MacBryde, Jillian (Principal Investigator) Ates, Aylin (Co-investigator) Lindsay, Colin (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2026
- Lone Parent Positive Workplaces
- Lindsay, Colin (Principal Investigator) Cullen, Anne Marie (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2028
- WISHES: Workplace Intervention for Sustainable Health and Employment Support (Work & Health Programme)
- Whitworth, Adam (Principal Investigator) Figus, Gioele (Co-investigator) Findlay, Patricia (Co-investigator) Lindsay, Colin (Co-investigator) McIntyre, Stuart (Co-investigator) Remnant, Jennifer (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2028
- Upskilling and reskilling in a changing economy: the role of employer investment
- Lindsay, Colin (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2026
- Effective worker voice and pathways to productivity
- Findlay, Patricia (Principal Investigator) Lindsay, Colin (Co-investigator)
- 08-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2025
Contact
Professor
Colin
Lindsay
Head Of Department
Work, Employment and Organisation
Email: colin.lindsay@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 3976