Het Betere Werk

We besteden zeer veel tijd aan werk in ons leven. Het kan nuttig zijn om af en toe te reflecteren over de plaats van werk in je leven en in hoeverre dat strookt met jouw waarden. Naast het werk zijn er nog andere dingen die er toe doen en die betekenisvol kunnen zijn. In deze aflevering onderzoeken we samen met professor Johan Braeckman wat het goede leven is en hoe werk daarin past. We hebben het over zingeving, onthaasten, rust nemen en flow.

Johan Braeckman

Johan Braeckman (°1965) studeerde wijsbegeerte aan de universiteit Gent, menselijke ecologie aan de Vrije Universiteit Brussel en Environmental History aan de University of California, Santa Barbara. Hij maakte een doctoraat over de invloed van Darwins evolutietheorie op wijsgerige kwesties en schreef boeken en artikelen over onder andere kritisch denken, bio-ethiek, wetenschap en cultuur en Darwin en de evolutietheorie.

Aan de Universiteit Gent doceert hij momenteel o.a. geschiedenis van de wijsbegeerte en geschiedenis van de wetenschappen. Uitgeverij Home Academy publiceerde meerdere hoorcolleges van hem. Hij geeft regelmatig lezingen over diverse kwesties in binnen- en buitenland.

Een stressvrije omgeving is een illusie, iedereen ervaart namelijk wel eens stress op het werk. Als er langdurig een disbalans is tussen draagkracht en draaglast, loop je het risico op een burn-out.

We hebben het in deze aflevering met professor Els Clays over de mogelijke risicofactoren, het taboe dat hier nog steeds rond heerst en de werkhervatting na een burn-out.

Els Clays

Prof. dr. Els Clays is Master in de Criminologie, Master in de Sociologie en doctor in de Medische Wetenschappen.

Zij is als hoofddocent verbonden aan de vakgroep Volksgezondheid en Eerstelijnszorg van UGent, waar ze deel uitmaakt van de onderzoeksafdeling Epidemiologie en Preventie. Haar onderzoek richt zich voornamelijk op stress gerelateerde en andere psychosociale gezondheidsrisico’s, werkgerelateerde gezondheid met bijzondere aandacht voor fysieke en psychosociale belasting, en cardiovasculaire preventie en ziektemanagement.

Zij heeft expertise in epidemiologie, biostatistiek, vragenlijstonderzoek, screening van cardiovasculair risico, en ambulante meetmethodes voor fysieke en fysiologische parameters. Verder is ze ook Associate Editor bij het tijdschrift BMC Public Health, en is lid van de International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH), en van het UGent @ Work consortium.  

Imposter feelings in the academic world are a common phenomenon among researchers. These feelings entail the idea that you’re a fraud and everyone will find out that you're not really intelligent. Everyone might experience this to some degree. In this episode we dig deeper into the imposter cycle and the influence of age, gender and culture on this phenomenon. Tips are given on what universities can do and what you can do yourself to cope with these emotions. Luckily, there is also an upside to these imposter feelings. The positive effects are highlighted in this episode. 

Jasmine Vergauwe

Jasmine Vergauwe (°1988) studied Personnel Management and Industrial Psychology at Ghent University, and Clinical Psychology at the Catholic University of Leuven. Afterwards, she started working on a PhD project on personality and leadership. Her research mainly focuses on the relationship between individual differences (e.g., personality, leader behaviour, work passion, the imposter phenomenon) and outcomes and attitudes in the work context, among which (effective) leadership, job performance, employee wellbeing (job satisfaction, burnout) and career success.

From next year onwards, she will be affiliated to the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where she will teach Social Psychology and Teams and Leadership.

Since stakes are high and job opportunities are limited, competition is inherent to academia. The people you work with are often your competitors too, which causes a complex dynamic people might struggle with. Johan Braeckman approaches the balance between competition versus cooperation from an evolutionary perspective. Competition can be stimulating to achieve higher goals, but is it always healthy? This episode highlights both sides of competition and digs deeper into the advantages of cooperating. If you cannot beat them, should you join them?

Johan Braeckman

Johan Braeckman (°1965) studied philosophy at Ghent University (Belgium), Human Ecology at the Free University of Brussels and Environmental History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His doctoral thesis was on the influence of the theory of evolution on philosophy. He published books on Darwin and Evolutionary Biology; Cloning; the History of Philosophy; the History of Biology, Bioethics, and Critical Thinking, and several articles in peer reviewed journals. 

At Ghent University he teaches courses on the history of philosophy, science and biology. For five years, he also taught courses on bioethics and the philosophy of science at Amsterdam University, the Netherlands. 

You might have heard the phrase: ‘It’s just the way things work over here’. But does it have to be this way? This episode highlights the different aspects of the umbrella term transgressive behaviour. Together with Scott Solder we talk about boundaries and what happens when someone crosses them. Tips are given on how to let someone know that whatever they have said has landed badly. During the episode we highlight the concept of an active bystander, power dynamics and the process of normalization. Scott emphasizes that we don’t have to start walking on eggshells, but that having an open dialogue about what is acceptable behaviour nevertheless is crucial. 

Scott Solder

As one of the founders of The Active Bystander Training Company, Scott delivers training and appears at conferences and events demonstrating psychological and assertiveness techniques which are highly effective in challenging unacceptable behaviours. 

Scott is a former Editor at BBC News and Current Affairs and a specialist in language, influence and persuasion.  His book, ‘You Need This Book to Get What You Want’ (published by Simon & Schuster), is a globally published and widely translated guide to improving your powers of persuasion.

The Active Bystander Training Company operates globally in 25 countries in five languages. Its clients include listed companies, global brands, government departments, universities and schools.

www.activebystander.co.uk

With professor Frederik Anseel. Moving to another country can be challenging on different levels. It can be compared with learning a new language, and people tend to underestimate the impact on their mental health. In this episode, Frederik Anseel suggests looking for a ‘guide in the jungle’ to smooth the process. He also talks about raising awareness of the culture we are living in and about possible stereotypes we hold over other cultures. This episode also highlights what you can do as a colleague or as a host institution to make employees from abroad feel welcome. 

Frederik Anseel

Frederik Anseel is Senior Deputy Dean (Research & Enterprise) at UNSW Sydney Business School and Special Commissioner Talent Management at Ghent University. Previously, he has held leadership and professor appointments at King’s College London (UK), ESSEC Business School (France) and Bocconi University (Italy).

Professor Anseel studies how people and organizations learn and adapt to change. His influential leadership studies, published in leading academic journals, have been cited over 8500 times and featured in the Financial Times, The Economist, Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Guardian and the Australian Financial Review.

Nowadays, our society tends to be individualistic and a lot of our jobs are solitary. As a researcher, you are probably working alone a lot as well. Does this automatically mean we are feeling lonely? This episode focuses on the difference between being alone and feeling lonely, on how to connect with others and how maintaining a social network is hard labour. Building profound connections may even be more challenging for international researchers. Piet Bracke also talks about homesickness, friendship and how everyone has a certain amount of social energy.

‍Piet Bracke

Prof. Piet Bracke received his PhD in sociology in 1996 on a thesis about the gender difference in depression and the social inequality of women and men. 

He is currently a professor at the Department of Sociology, where he is part of a research group, Hedera-Health & Demographic Research, that conducts socio-demographic and health-sociological research. This research currently focuses on education and health inequalities, on reproductive health, on mental health and the organization of mental health care, and on formal care use and/or medical consumption from a medicalization perspective. 

The emphasis is on cross-national, comparative research that should contribute to the further development of the macro-sociological perspective on public health.

Do you need help with suicidal feelings, or do you feel concerned about someone? In Belgium, you can call 1813 (the suicide line) or visit their website to chat (www.zelfmoord1813.be). Internationally you can call the Community Help Service 02 648 40 14

In this episode, Gwendolyn Portzky and host David Chan attempt to break the taboo about mental health. The interaction between thoughts, emotions and behaviour, as well as common signals of mental difficulties are discussed. Approximately 1 out of 10 people experience suicidal thoughts at some point in their life, so it is not an uncommon phenomenon. Gwendolyn stresses the importance of talking about it and also gives tips to start a conversation. Steven Laureys testifies about the way he takes care of his mental wellbeing via mindfulness. As a bonus, there is a small meditation exercise guided by Steven himself at the end of the episode. 

Gwendolyn Portzky

Gwendolyn Portzky is associate professor Medical Psychology at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science of Ghent University. She is director of the Flemish Centre of Expertise in Suicide Prevention (VLESP) at Ghent University. VLESP is the official partner of the Flemish Government for the prevention of suicide in Flanders and coordinates the development and implementation of the Flemish Suicide Prevention Action Plan. She is director of the Unit for Suicide Research (Ghent University). She is also responsible for the prevention of burn-out for residents and health professionals at the Faculty of Medicine at Ghent University and the University Hospital Ghent. As a clinical psychologist and cognitive-behavioural therapist she is attached to the Department of Psychiatry of the University Hospital Ghent, where she is specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, burn-out, depression and suicidality. 

Wat doet AI met je werkplezier? Hoe geef je leiding op een manier die werkt voor jezelf en je team? Hoe hou je je aandacht er een hele dag bij? Welke onzichtbare bagage neem je mee naar het werk? Hoe ga je om met afwijzing? En hoe zeg je wat gezegd moet worden, met zorg voor de relatie?

In het derde seizoen van Het Betere Werk gaan Nele en Pieter van de Universiteit Gent op zoek naar meer energie, verbinding en voldoening in ons werk. 

In zes afleveringen brengen ze persoonlijke verhalen van UGent’ers samen met inzichten van experten. Ze verkennen herkenbare situaties van collega’s en reiken concrete handvatten aan om zelf mee aan de slag te gaan. Zo onderzoeken ze hoe we ons werk werkbaar kunnen houden, voor onszelf en voor elkaar.