Griffith researchers are changing how diverse professions manage, reduce, and recover from occupational stress experiences to enhance both workers’ health and organisational performance.
Not that long ago, the predominate belief in workplaces was that employees should self-manage stress and separate what happens at work from what happens at home.
But the complex layering of personal circumstances, organisation procedures and intensifying work conditions all have a part to play in an employee’s mental health.
The cost of work-related mental stress to the Australian economy is estimated at $15 billion per year, indicating that improvements in this area would have positive health, social and economic impacts.
“Good mental health is a valuable commodity for all of us and doesn’t stop when we enter a workplace,” said Professor Paula Brough, Director of the Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing, Griffith University.
“Creating psychologically safe work environments has positive impacts on employees and benefits organisations through factors such as increased employee productivity, punctuality and work commitment.”
Professor Brough and her research team focus on the evaluation and improvement of mental health at work, with specific interests in occupational stress and coping, work-life balance, and the psychosocial work environment.
Factors leading to psychologically unhealthy work environments include high workloads, harassment from colleagues and/or the public, and toxic leadership and management styles.
The team specialise in high-risk industries such as emergency services, corrections, and education, with Professor Brough having worked with Australian, New Zealand and United Kingdom police services for the past 25 years.
Professor Brough’s research into police stress has been critical to identifying and explaining the various stressors that impact first responders. From establishing the importance of the organisational factors, through to the impacts of the work-family interface, Professor Brough’s research shifted our focus from critical incidents and traumatic exposures to the broader system of stressors. Professor Brough’s work also provided the evidence base for developing organisational strategies and interventions to improve the wellbeing of our members.
Leigh Thomas Turvey, Manager, Wellbeing Services, Health, Safety & Wellbeing, Queensland Police
Professor Brough and her colleagues develop evidence-based models and assessments for occupational stress and work-life balance, bridging the gap between research and practice. They collaborate with organisations to collect feedback from workers, evaluate workplace policies and understand the content and risks of specific jobs.
This provides accurate assessments of occupational stress as shown through research undertaken with police and correctional officers, emergency department nurses and doctors and lawyers. They also explore the intersection with other life-based demands, such as carer responsibilities, and how this may affect wellbeing at work.
This process allows them to co-design intervention strategies with organisations including components of job redesign, supportive leadership practices, and enhanced equity policies. They deliver individual and group training sessions to improve factors such as long-term leadership skills. The team also use a train-the-trainer model to build capacity in organisations to deliver workplace practices and education that improve employee wellbeing.
Ongoing work by the team includes collaborations with New South Wales (NSW) Ambulance and UnitingCare Queensland, leading Australian state-wide providers of community and health services. Continuing research is also covering strategies that pre-empt the management of work-based stressors caused by specific circumstances (e.g., promotions, spikes in workload, return to work after sickness/stress leave).
“Professor Brough provided guidance and advice to support the evaluation of health and fitness programs at NSW Ambulance. She is very knowledgeable, takes a collaborative approach and has a been a fantastic sounding board for our research. It has supported us to review and improve the program offerings and support available to our staff,” said Nam Le, Manager Health and Fitness, Staff Health, People and Culture, NSW Ambulance.
Overall, Professor Brough’s research is providing relevant strategies and actions that diverse organisations can implement. Such interventions have positive health and social impacts on employees and influence organisation performance through improvements in worker productivity, attitudes, retention, and recruitment.
Professor Brough and her team are open to collaborations with organisations and academic, government, and community groups. This includes providing assessments of diverse workplace environments leading to both research outputs and direct workplace improvements.
To learn more about Professor Brough’s research and her contact details please go to:
Sustainable Development Goals
Griffith University is aligned with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is committed to advancing knowledge, innovation, and practices that promote holistic health and well-being, inclusive, equitable, and quality education, gender equity and equal opportunities, resilient economies, and a more equitable and just society while fostering partnerships for the goals.