This Working Life – Details, episodes & analysis

Awareness of psychosocial safety is growing and we know how destructive bullying can be. Yet incidents continue to occur, with performance management and generational differences creating flashpoints.

Despite decades of research and tighter regulations, many organisations struggle to prevent workplace bullying. We find out why, and learn about a prevention program that is making a difference. 

What if instead of adding tasks to your long to do list, you considered what you could take away? 

Professor Leidy Klotz has a theory that can help and he’ll teach you how to start subtracting at work. And Dom Price gives a coaching session that will help you stop, reflect and figure out what to let go of. 

How is the use of artificial intelligence in meetings, recording transcripts, generating notes, listening in (!), affecting your work, and how do you feel about its presence in the 'room'?

Learn what AI can do in meetings, to improve productivity and team building, and what's still to come.

What we want in our leaders has evolved; we’ve seen a growing desire for more ethical and empathetic leaders.

But destructive leaders are still in charge in many workplaces and their impacts are far-reaching. So how can we identify them and, more importantly, change them?

We look at the personality traits and four styles of destructive leaders and get some tips on how to avoid them to help improve employee and business wellbeing.

How’s your mental health? Is it affecting your work? Or maybe it’s the other way around and your work is affecting your headspace? Employee Assistance Programs….what are the pros and cons, and how could they work better? Is confidentiality actually a problem? And if so what can be done to make it safer?

Workplace bullying is a complex and insidious problem that one in 10 of us in Australia experience at some stage in our careers.

We look at the organisational structures behind bullying itself, how many of us might be unwilling bystanders, and the impact it has on us physically and mentally.

When’s the last time you had fun at work? Really had fun? FUN. What is it, and how can it  help us enjoy work more, which of course will help us work better! How can we bring more fun into our working lives? 

Catherine Price is a science journalist and author of The Power of Fun. She also wrote How to break up with your phone. 

Are you seeking leadership nirvana? Is there even such a thing? Leadership development is such a lucrative, multi-million dollar industry but are we just throwing resources at the executive level managers with little benefit to the broader organisation? Are we going about leadership development all wrong?

Burning out has become a phrase thrown around almost as often as anxiety. But being stressed and overworked is not actually burnout. There is  more to it.

Individuals can’t fight burnout alone - things have to change in our organisations. This is what the ‘pioneer’ of burnout theory and research has found.

It’s Christina Maslach's measurement tool that’s been used by workplaces and the World Health Organisation to assess if someone’s burning out - the Maslach Burnout Inventory.

What's it actually like to be a teacher these days? There’s a worldwide shortage of teachers at the moment, so what’s going on in the classroom and school yards? In this episode we meet a bunch of teachers and former teachers and hear first hand about the new pressures, and what’s driving them out of the profession. What needs to change about the working lives of teachers?