Publications

Academic papers

Cooper, A. J., Behrens, D. A., Jones, S. E., Neal, A., Jones, A., Hyll, W. 2025. Understanding the Impact of Employee Investigations on Those Who Lead Them: A Case Study from NHS Wales. Administrative Sciences, 15(6), 211.
https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci15060211

Cooper, A., Neal, A., Windsor, R., Lewis, R., Bansal, D. and Yarker, J., 2025. An integrated framework for disciplinary processes and the application of employee investigations. British Journal of Healthcare Management, pp.1-15.
https://doi.org/10.12968/bjhc.2024.0070

Cooper, A., Teoh, K.R.H., Madine, R., Neal, A., Jones, A., Hussain, A. and Behrens, D.A., 2024. The last resort: reducing avoidable employee harm by improving the application of the disciplinary policy and process. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, p.1350351. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1350351

Cooper, A., Rogers, J., Phillips, C., Neal, A., Wu, N. and McIntosh, B., 2024. The organisational harm, economic cost and workforce waste of unnecessary disciplinary investigations. British Journal of Healthcare Management, 30(4), pp.1-5. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjhc.2024.0024

Jones, A., Neal, A., Bailey, S. and Cooper, A., 2023. When work harms: how better understanding of avoidable employee harm can improve employee safety, patient safety and healthcare quality. BMJ leader, pp.leader-2023.
https://doi.org/10.1136/leader-2023-000849

Neal, A., Cooper, A., Waites, B., Bell, N., Race, A. and Collinson, M., 2023. The impact of poorly applied human resources policies on individuals and organisations. British Journal of Healthcare Management, 29(5), pp.112-121. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjhc.2022.0130

Articles

How Patient Safety Lessons Are Transforming Employee Investigations - Improvement Catalyst Coaching

The hidden harm in HR disciplinary processes - Transforming Society

Books

Cooper, A., Neal, A. (eds), 2025. Under Investigation: Transforming Disciplinary Practice in the Workplace. Bristol University Press. https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/professional-business/under-investigation

Discussion papers

Cooper, A., Windsor, R., Lewis, N., 2024. When we do harm. Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA). https://www.hpma.org.uk/avoiding-harm/

Podcasts

When HR hurts: Why workplace discipline needs a rethink. The Transforming Society podcast with Martin Parker (November 2025)

Avoidable employee harm: Rethinking NHS complaint and disciplinary processes. The When work harms podcast with Dr Paula Redmond (October 2025)

Video

“What is avoidable employee harm?” Explainer video.

Anne's story highlights the harm, cost and waste that can be caused by unnecessary and poorly managed employee investigations. 

A local authority focuses on disciplinary processes to improve employee wellbeing.