Mind On The Job – Details, episodes & analysis

This episode is about work design. Never heard of it? Start by listening to our mini-episode about Work Design.

When it comes to work design, we sometimes have an idea of what not to do -- such as micromanaging, overloading, and generally mistreating staff. But what SHOULD we be doing? Is there a way of describing what good work should be like?

This episode's guest answers to these questions.

An Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow, Sharon Parker is a John Curtin Distinguished Professor in Organisational Behaviour in the Faculty of Business and Law at Curtin University, where she directs the Centre for Transformative Work Design. Professor Parker is a world-leading researcher on the topic of work design, as well as other topics such as proactivity, job performance, and mental health at work. In this episode, she describes her model of SMART work design.

Mind on the Job is created, presented & produced by Dr Ben Searle. Check out our website, MindOnTheJob.com, for more resources. 

Music is Cypher by Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

If you enjoyed the episode, it would help me if you rate & review the show on your podcast player!

Season 2 is finally here!

This Mind on the Job mini-episode introduces listeners to the concept of "work design", which is important for our upcoming interview with Professor Sharon Parker about SMART work design, but will be relevant to many other episodes this season. Work design refers to features present at some level in any job, such as workload, complexity, and decision-making freedom.

This season's mini-episodes are also available in video format -- look for Mind on the Job on YouTube or check out my videos on MindOnTheJob.com.

Mind on the Job is created, presented & produced by Dr Ben Searle.

Music is Cypher by Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

If you enjoyed the episode, it would help me if you rate & review the show on your podcast player!

This Mind on the Job episode is an update about the show.

This show has been on hiatus since changes in my situation (work difficulties from 2018-2019 and we all know what happened in 2020) led me to burn out.

But although it took me a long time, I can announce not only that I've recovered, but also that I'm working on two new seasons of this podcast! The first of these should begin around August 2025.

I'm also about to launch a newsletter, READ BEFORE BURNING. This will be a brief monthly report on some of the things I learned as I worked not only on my own recovery from burnout but in the process of researching the book I've written on this topic (more about that later). Click here to sign up for the newsletter.

More importantly, I'm currently running a research project to help identify early warning signs for burnout. If you have experience of burnout (or if you think you might be burning out now), please consider participating in this confidential online survey. Better yet, share my posts about the project:

• LinkedIn,
• Facebook,
• BlueSky,
• Twitter.

The survey will be live until the end of July 2025.

Go to MindOnTheJob.com for more resources on this topic.

Mind on the Job (now on BlueSky)

Created, presented & produced by Dr Ben Searle (@drbensearle)

Music is Cypher by Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

If you enjoyed the episode, it would help me if you rate & review the show on your podcast player!

People are an organisation’s greatest asset, and from time to time, an organisation needs new people. But when a bunch of candidates apply for the one job, how do we work out who is the best person for the job? What are the limitations of traditional job interviews? What use are psychometric assessments? What differentiates executive selection from entry-level selection?

Organizational psychologists are known for their expertise in this area. So to answer these questions, Ben chats to organisational psychology experts Dr Patrick Dunlop (University of Western Australia) and Ms Jamie Sims (People Measures).

Go to MindOnTheJob.com for more resources on this topic.

update: This episode vanished for some reason -- if you can read this, the missing episode has been republished. 

Mind on the Job

Created, presented & produced by Dr Ben Searle (@drbensearle)

Episode 04: Assessment for Selection: Insights into Effective Hiring

Guests: Dr Patrick Dunlop and Ms Jamie Sims

Music is Cypher by Kevin Macleod

If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a rating & review on iTunes (or wherever you get your podcasts)! 

Mind on the Job episode 06 is about Designing & coaching terrific teams!

When a group of people get together under the right conditions, they can make a successful team -- one whose collective capability is greater than the sum of its parts. But not all teams are effective, and some are downright dysfunctional.

So why aren't all teams effective? What conditions are necessary for a team to work well? How would we know whether those conditions are in place? And what else can we provide or do to maximise team effectiveness?

To answer these questions, Ben chats to organisational psychology experts Professor Ruth Wageman (Team Diagnostics) and Ms Pauline Willis (Lauriate).

Go to MindOnTheJob.com for more resources on this topic.

update: This episode vanished for some reason -- if you can read this, the missing episode has been republished. 

Mind on the Job (@mindonthejob)

Created, presented & produced by Dr Ben Searle (@drbensearle)

Episode 06: Terrific #teamwork: Designing, coaching & assessing teams.

Guests: Professor Ruth Wageman and Ms Pauline Willis

Music is Cypher by Kevin Macleod

If you enjoyed the episode, it would help us if you rate & review the show on iTunes! To do this, go to iTunes (use the search function within your app), search for Mind On The Job (even if you've already subscribed), click on the show under Podcasts, and click on the Reviews tab. Then rate and review.

Mind on the Job episode 05: Organisational Culture & Climate!

When people work in social groupings, like organisations, they tend to develop a shared set of perceptions, attitudes, and values. These can be reinforced through systems, behaviours, and personnel selection until you have measurable phenomena that we call organisational culture (and its more easily measured attitudinal cousin, organisational climate).

But what exactly are they, and what is the difference between them? Why do we care about them at all? And if they matter, what can we do to improve them?

To answer these questions, Ben chats to organisational psychology experts Associate Professor Ian Glendon (Griffith University) and Dr Louise Parkes (Voice Project).

Go to MindOnTheJob.com for more resources on this topic.

update: This episode vanished for some reason -- if you can read this, the missing episode has been republished. 

Mind on the Job (@mindonthejob)

Created, presented & produced by Dr Ben Searle (@drbensearle)

Episode 05: Culture & climate @ work: Why they matter & how to change them.

Guests: Associate Professor Ian Glendon and Dr Louise Parkes

Music is Cypher by Kevin Macleod

If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe and also leave us a rating & review on iTunes! To do this, search for Mind On The Job in iTunes (even if you've already subscribed), then click on the show under Podcasts, and then click on the Reviews tab.

Work can sometimes be stressful, but if it gets too bad or goes on for too long, people can burn out. But what does that look like? How would you know if you're at risk of burning out? What causes burnout, and what should organisations be doing to prevent it?

To answer these questions, Ben chats to organisational psychology experts Professor Michael Leiter (Deakin University) and Ms Diya Dey (FBG Group)?

Go to MindOnTheJob.com for more resources on this topic.

In the meantime, here are some resources to seek out:

• Heads Up -- Resources to support a mentally healthy workplace

• Beyond Blue -- Support for depression

• Lifeline telephone line (Australia): 13 11 14
  • If outside Australia, consult this list of suicide help lines.

Mind on the Job

Created, presented & produced by Dr Ben Searle (@drbensearle)

Episode 03: Burnout & Wellbeing at Work: How Do We Manage Them?

Guests: Professor Michael Leiter and Ms Diya Dey

Music is Cypher by Kevin Macleod

If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a rating & review on iTunes (or wherever you get your podcasts)!

Workplace bullying! It's a menace, it causes huge problems, and it happens in more workplaces than you'd think. So if someone is treating you badly at work, why is that happening, and what steps should be taken?

In this episode, Ben chats to organisational psychology experts Associate Professor Michelle Tuckey (University of South Australia) and Ms Heather Ikin (formerly of Workplace Health & Safety Queensland) about what bullying means, how common it is, and where it is most common. We then tackle the two biggest issues: what causes bullying, and what can you do about it?

Go to MindOnTheJob.com for more resources on this topic.

In the meantime, here are some resources to seek out:

• Fact sheet on bullying from the Australian Human Rights Commission
• Information on bullying from Fair Work Australia
• Lifeline telephone line (Australia): 13 11 14
  • If elsewhere, consult this list of suicide help lines.

Mind on the Job

Created, presented & produced by Dr Ben Searle (@drbensearle)

Episode 02: Workplace Bullying: How Can We Discourage It?

Guests: Associate Professor Michelle Tuckey and Ms Heather Ikin

Music is Cypher by Kevin Macleod

If you enjoyed the episode, leave us a rating & review on iTunes (or wherever you get your podcasts)!

Welcome to Mind on the Job!

This short episode introduces your host (@drbensearle), explains what organisational psychology (also called I/O Psychology) is all about, and outlines the reasons why knowing about it can help you strive for workplace excellence. 

It should be of interest to:

• professionals in HR, OD, change management and other human service areas,
• current and aspiring leaders and managers, 
• I/O psychologists 
• students in management and psychology
• anyone who is interested in the psychology of people at work.

Follow the podcast on Twitter: @mindonthejob

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For more information visit the Mind on the Job website.