This Working Life

What do psychometric tests, workers comp and Sydney bin chickens have in common? Well they can be all in a day’s work for human resources professionals.

But their responsibilities and place in the company is rapidly changing in organisations today. Jacqui Curtis is chief operating officer of the Australian Tax Office and is also in charge of this change in HR for the Australian Public Service.

Jacqui explains why HR must have a seat at the boardroom table and how AI and data analytics can help the people management.

Producer: Maria Tickle

Illustrator: Tatum Kenna

Changing careers isn’t easy - overcoming inertia is hard and knowing where to start can seem really difficult.

Career coach Kate Richardson debunks some myths and steps us through the process. We also meet some brave souls who’ve pulled it off including criminologist turned crime writer Mark Brandi, former lawyer now psychiatrist-in-training Nicca Grant and Monique Ross who left a 12-year career in digital media to follow her passion and become a forest therapy guide.

Producer: Maria Tickle

Routines and rituals boost productivity and wellbeing - but how? We explore why we need routines and rituals, how to create your own and how they can improve your work ethic, output and satisfaction.

(This show was first broadcast on Radio National July 20, 2020.)

GUESTS:

Dr Sean O’Connor, Director of Sydney University’s Coaching Psychology Unit Casper ter Kuile, Harvard Divinity School fellow and author of The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices

With thanks to: 

Kate Christie, time management expert

Steph Clarke, podcaster

Susie Hopkins, TWL listener

Producer: Zoe Ferguson

Are you feeling absolutely exhausted at work right now? What you are feeling may be uncertainty fatigue.

For ideas on how to work through the overwhelming and heavy feelings that come with yet another lockdown, psychologist Dr Shanta Dey from the University of Sydney Business School and leadership expert and coach Julia Steel share what they’ve learned through the COVID chaos.

Producer: Maria Tickle

Researcher: Kara Jensen-McKinnon

Do more of what matters without burning out. In Effortless Greg McKeown implores us to move away from the cult of busy and overwork. 

He argues to achieve breakthrough results, we need to save our energy by inverting the question “How can I work harder?” to become “How can I make this easier?”

Producer: Maria Tickle

Owen Eastwood shares how the Maori principle of whakapapa has helped create dynamic, inclusive cultures in some of the world's most diverse elite teams, including the England Football team for the past five years.

Producer: Maria Tickle

What getting sacked taught former journalist Andrea Clarke about future proofing her career and the the pros and cons of a career break.

Beauty industry entrepreneur Kate Morris has given her imposter syndrome's voice in her head a name: "That's just Kevin, you can zip it Kevin," she laughs. And she gets on with her day.

And she's not alone. Researchers have found around 70 per cent of us feel like an imposter some of the time at work (...and let’s face it the other 30 per cent are probably lying). So since these feelings are so common, we've decided it's time we gave this ‘syndrome’ a rebrand and learned how use it to help, not hinder, our careers.

Beauty industry entrepreneur Kate Morris has given her imposter syndrome's voice in her head a name: "That's just Kevin, you can zip it Kevin," she laughs. And she gets on with her day.

And she's not alone. Researchers have found around 70 per cent of us feel like an imposter some of the time at work (...and let’s face it the other 30 per cent are probably lying). So since these feelings are so common, we've decided it's time we gave this ‘syndrome’ a rebrand and learned how use it to help, not hinder, our careers.