You spend so much time on work, why accept the status quo, when there are ways to do it better? Get expert advice, research and hacks that will crush your inertia. Join Lisa Leong and other This Working Lifers as we experiment and explore the latest in the world of work. We cover policy issues, like hybrid workplaces and remote work, employee wellbeing and organisational culture, the use of AI, employee surveillance, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion. We talk about progress on wider issues that relate to work, like work life balance, organisational change, restructures, and casualisation. On This Working Life our focus is on everything related to the people in a workplace too, including culture, individual experiences, performance management and career advice.
Australia’s richest person and long time supporter of Australian Swimming Gina Rinehart has been offering cash bonuses for Aussie swimmers at the Commonwealth games, $20,000 for a gold medal! It can be a nice to have after a huge challenge or a drawcard to make people work harder, but there can be a danger to motivating your team with extra dollars. So, Is Gina Rinehart right, do cash bonuses work? What actually motivates us? Lisa digs into the world of motivation and incentives to try and figure out what works for us and how you can motivate people without alienating them. Stacey Parker's co-authored article on compensation and design for Motivation Science Mark Puncher's work sheet on connection with work Guests: Dr Stacey Parker - Associate Professor and endorsed Organisational Psychologist at the University of Queensland's School of Psychology Mark Puncher - CEO of Employer Branding Australia ========== You can binge more episodes of the This Working Life podcast with your on the job correspondent Lisa Leong on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Please email us at thisworkinglife@abc.net.au if you would like to get in touch, we read them all and love hearing from you!
Speaking out at work is hard. It's even harder in a culture of silence. To take the decision to break the quiet is an act of bravery, ands it's one many of us are unwilling to risk. But the dangers of a culture of silence are many, and they impact employers and employees alike. While it can be a scary thing to do, research has found that people staying silent to protect their own heath and wellbeing almost always have worse results for their mental health in the long term in a silent workplace. Lisa speaks, loudly, with an expert on why people stay quiet. Guest: Dr Nate Zettna : Lecturer in leadership at the Business School of The University of Sydney
After the 100th email auto reply, the AI application screening and writing the umpteenth cover letter of the week, the job hunt can feel like a real drain. If you're feeling like it's harder to find a job now than last time you were looking you are not alone. A combination of people staying put, international forces and a tight economic market have all impacted the white collar worker world. And that's before we think about AI! Despite unemployment numbers remaining pretty flat the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that in the first 3 months of this year one point one million people without a job wanted one, with one million available to start within four weeks. Job application numbers per role are up as well. Employment website Seek found that in May this year job advert numbers were down 4.5% on May last year, and that applications per job advert have gone up 5.5% in a year. So what can we do if we need a gig? How do we prepare ourselves and our children for a rapidly changing world of work? Lisa digs into the data and goes hunting for answers for you. Guests: Hari Hara Priya Kannan - Chief Data Scientist at The Demographics Group Nic Cola - CEO of RMIT Online ======== You can find more episodes of the This Working Life podcast with your on the job correspondent Lisa Leong on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Please email us at thisworkinglife@abc.net.au if you would like to get in touch, we read them all and love hearing from you!
Are you being asked time and again to be the one who gets everything done, is your reward for crushing it, just more “it” to crush? You might be paying a competence Tax! Research consistently shows that people who are seen as high achievers are stacked with more of the same rather than being given pathways to doing new things. it's a story a lot of people can relate to but it can be a very difficult trap to escape. Lisa is joined by a world expert in what she calls "the curse of competence" to give you the tools to break the hex! Guest: Dr Ruth Gotian: Success researcher, Associate Professor at Columbia University and Author of The Success Factor and the Financial Times Guide to Mentoring. ========== You can find more episodes of the This Working Life podcast with your on the job correspondent Lisa Leong on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Please email us at thisworkinglife@abc.net.au if you would like to get in touch, we read them all and love hearing from you!
When you’re under the pump, it can feel like taking a break at work is impossible. But that can be habit forming, and bad for your physical and mental health. Learn the benefits of building breaks into your workday, and how to do it in a way that feels manageable.
You may have heard of greenwashing, now experts are worried about wellness washing where workplaces paper over the cracks with wellbeing measures but leave the chasms underneath.
You're starting a new job but you don't have what you need, or you certainly feel like you don't! Why is this such a universal experience and why are employers so happy to leave people to sink or swim? We dive in to the good, the bad and the ugly of onboarding and try to figure out how we can be doing it better, for bosses and for workers. Lisa also checks in with the Australian HR Institute about new research showing the global "job hugging" trend has arrived on our shores. Guests: Dr Talya Bauer - Professor of Management at Portland State University Sarah McCann-Bartlett - Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Australian HR Institute =========== You can binge more episodes of the This Working Life podcast with your on the job correspondent Lisa Leong on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Please email us at thisworkinglife@abc.net.au if you would like to get in touch, we read them all and love hearing from you!
AI usage is on the rise, but its implementation within jobs and workflows is causing problems. Research shows there is a capability gap amongst Australian workers, and a lack of AI fluency and context-poor AI use is creating job strain. What can leaders do to turn this around? Guests: Dr Rebecca Hinds , head of the Work AI Institute at Glean Dr Sean Gallagher , founder of Humanova and the former Director of Swinburne University's Centre for the New Workforce
Tying together what your team does within your organisation’s strategy is a key skill for middle managers and something workers at all levels can benefit from. Learn how a strategy is put together and ways you can work towards it. Guests: Brandon Lee , Associate Professor at Melbourne Business School, consultant, researcher and executive educator Rebecca Murray , principal of strategy consultancy, Marlborough and Ferdinand
If you’re always busy but feel as though you’re not getting on top of things, you may be experiencing cognitive and emotional overload. Liane Davey, the ‘Teamwork Doctor’, calls this “thoughtload” and offers ways to manage overwhelm and focus attention, to improve productivity and wellbeing in individuals and teams. Guest: Liane Davey PhD organisational psychologist and author Thoughtload: Manage the Madness and free your Team to do great Work
Once you’ve made the decision to quit your job, it’s worth considering how to do it in a way that fits the situation. The researcher who coined the term, “The Great Resignation” shares his insights on different resignation styles, from the “grateful goodbye” to “bridge burning” and what managers can learn from the way employees quit. Guest: Professor Anthony C. Klotz, UCL School of Management, author Jolted, Why we Quit, When to Stay and Why it Matters Check out our companion episode Should you really quit your job?
The researcher who coined the term, "The Great Resignation", says most of us are only one event away from quitting our jobs. He calls them “jolts” and describes the one that led Oprah to quit her new job at 60 Minutes, and Jürgen Klopp to give up his successful role as manager of Liverpool FC. What motivates us to quit, what should we consider before we do it? Guest: Professor Anthony C. Klotz, UCL School of Management, author J olted, Why we Quit, When to Stay and Why it Matters Look out for our companion episode Try This: how to quit in your podcast feed.
The narrative around AI at work is moving away from “job apocalypse” towards jobs transforming. So how do you redesign roles to improve productivity and take care of the psychosocial safety and wellbeing of workers? Guests: John Curtin Distinguished Professor Sharon Parker, Director of Centre for Transformative Work Design , Curtin University If you’d like to try the S.M.A.R.T. job design assessment, the link is here .
Have you struggled to make lasting behaviour change at work, and wondered why you can’t get to the next level? The author of bestsellers Hooked and Indistractable, spoke with readers who loved his books but couldn’t nail the change part. He spent the next five years researching what was missing, Beyond Belief is the result. Nir Eyal, behavioural design expert, author, Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Extraordinary results
Working for longer can help you financially, as well as giving you purpose, a social life and a healthier brain. We speak with three Australians working past retirement age, and an expert coach who helps individuals and organisations achieve longevity goals. Guests: Ronni Kahn AO , social entrepreneur, Founder and Visionary in Residence, OzHarvest Brian James , co-founder, The Copper Doctors Alison Hernandez , co-founder, Re-create 100 Scientia Professor Henry Brodaty, co-director of Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, UNSW, 2026 Senior Australian of the Year You can find Professor Henry’s Brodaty’s healthy brain ageing tips at the end of this episode.
Circadian rhythms dictate our peak times or chronotypes and they vary across the workforce, so why does everything start so early? Learn how these biological rhythms interact with cognitive and emotional performance and how practicing circadian-influenced leadership can help get the best out of your team. Guest: Stefan Volk , Professor of Management at the University of Sydney Business School
Jackie O’s lawyers claim ARN breached workplace health and safety obligations by failing to protect her psychosocial health while she was working with co-host Kyle Sandilands. As the case heads to court this week, find out how leaders should manage psychological safety at work, and learn the potential consequences if they fail to do so. Guests: Martyn Campbell , former Chief Executive of SafeWork SA and Secretary-General of the International Association of Labour inspection. Fay Calderone , employment lawyer and partner, Hall and Willcox and author, Broken to Safe: tackling toxic workplace cultures and burnout
Marcus Buckingham’s latest research shows that love is a driver of super productive human behaviour. He argues the case for "designing love in" to experiences at work. Learn how to create experiences that inspire your colleagues and staff to say, "I love that!" Guest: Marcus Buckingham , global researcher focused on unlocking strengths, increasing performance and pioneering the future of work. Author, Design Love In
Worrying about your young person’s future? The impact of AI is already changing the job market in some industries. So what’s the best approach for guiding them into a career during this time of uncertainty? Guests: Alana Kilmartin , speaker and author, Unserious Careers: a fun guide to the first five years of your career David Carney , Executive Director, Career Industry Council of Australia
When your boss sends a text complimenting your work, it feels amazing! But if they point out a mistake in front of your peers, you may feel shattered. What does it take to be an inspiring leader, and how can you avoid being an infuriating one? Guest: Adam Galinsky , Paul Calello Professor of Leadership and Ethics at the Columbia Business School This interview was recorded at the Power, Status and Influence Research Conference, for the Melbourne Business School .
