Designing good work with collaborative leadership across business functions
20-21 November 2024, Sydney
Day One – Wednesday 20 November 2024
8.30 Registrations open
9.00 Opening address from Chair
9.10 Opening Keynote Address:
Integrating organisational psychology into the design of work
- Integrating new tools and discoveries from the psychology of good work design
- Harmonising work design strategies with existing organisational strategies
- Engaging organisational psychology experts to improve work design
- Leveraging psychological principles to design work better
David Burroughs, Principal Psychologist and Founder, Australian Psychological Services
9.55 Exclusive Legal Perspective:
Adapting your work design approach to new expectations and regulations
- Transforming your work design strategy in line with new HR and safety regulations
- Ensuring your organisation keeps pace with emerging work design innovations
- Adjusting workflow across all business functions to promote good work design
- Exceeding all expectations across the organisation with thoughtful work design
Dr Laura Sowden, Partner, Mills Oakley
10.40 Morning Tea
11.10 Promoting a cohesive and mutually supportive organisational culture
Melanie Fisher, Global Head of Health (Mental Health and Wellbeing), BHP Billiton
11.55 Implementing flexible work within the future of organisational processes
- Establishing the level of flexibility within your diverse business units
- Supporting all members of your workforce to self-manage their responsibilities
- Preparing your organisation for an increasingly flexible working environment
- Utilising flexible work arrangements to improve overall wellbeing and performance
Catherine McLachlan, Assistant Secretary People Engagement, Planning and Innovation, Department of Home Affairs
12.40 Lunch
13.40 Panel Discussion:
Bridging the gaps in work design between HR, safety, OD, and other functions
- Designing work across the differing perspectives and goals of each business function
- Adjusting your collaborative approach to the unique features of each organisation
- Transforming work design to support key objectives across business functions
- Achieving senior leadership support for cross-departmental work design programs
Jasna Blackwell, Chief People Officer, Department of Education
Ally Orr, Health and Wellbeing Business Partner, Aurecon, and AIHW Australian WHS Emerging Leader of the Year 2023
Jessica Reynolds, Director WHS Australian Antarctic Division & Parks Australia Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water
Dr Laura Sowden, Partner, Mills Oakley
Dr Lucinda Iles, Research Associate, Future of Work Institute, Curtin University
14.25 Implementing job design changes based on feedback from your teams
- Determining the appropriate communication style for each of your business areas
- Collecting useful feedback without task or information overload
- Signalling organisational openness to accommodate feedback in work design
- Achieving enthusiastic buy-in for senior leaders on job design changes
Jessica Reynolds, Director WHS Australian Antarctic Division & Parks Australia Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water
15.10 Afternoon Tea
15.40 Communicating your work design strategy effectively with leaders and staff
- Explaining work design concepts accessibly in whole-of-business communications
- Adapting your communication style based on your audience
- Relating concepts in work design to existing strategies and practices
- Supporting leaders to acclimate their teams around work design changes
Paul Willingham, Manager Risk and Safety, City of Parramatta
16.20 Case Study:
Implementing effective work design strategies from a project management perspective
- Assessing the advantages and weaknesses of project management in work design
- Ensuring ongoing work design projects align with broader strategic objectives
- Managing a team with multiple ongoing work design projects
- Identifying business units and functions best suited to manage work design projects
Tiffany Auvaa, Manager WHS Projects, Department of Planning, Housing, and Infrastructure
Rachel de Montemas, Senior Stakeholder Engagement & Program Manager, Department of Planning, Housing, and Infrastructure
17.00 End of Day One & Networking Event
Day Two – Thursday 21 November 2024
8.00 Registrations open
8.30 Opening address from Chair
8.40 Understanding the nature of ‘workload’ and practical work design solutions to mitigate risks
With changes in work health and safety legislation in Australia, understanding practical solutions through work design are critical to organisations in addressing psychosocial risks. In our session, will cover understanding the nature of workload hazards and case studies using theoretical concepts in work design such as job demand theory to address workload risks.
Helena Koczka, HR Function, Health, Safety & Wellbeing Lead – Organisational Psychologist, Westpac
Vimi Dogra, HR Function, Health, Safety & Wellbeing Lead – Organisational Psychologists, Westpac
9.25 Case study:
Designing work better – utilising a “biopsychosocial” approach to job demands
This is an exciting development in the work design space, mirroring many of the learnings in work design around role clarity, job descriptions, and job demands. The Biopsychosocial Risk Program is a multidimensional HRM and WHS model developed by the Department of Home Affairs, which manages the biological, psychological, and social demands placed of their workforce holistically. The keystone of this innovative new program is the Biopsychosocial Job Profiles (BJPs), which allow for a detailed understanding of roles, their inherent demands/risks, and mitigation strategies for addressing those risks throughout the employee lifecycle.
Katrina Ashcroft, Director Clinical Advice and Assurance, Department of Home Affairs
10.10 Morning Tea
10.40 Achieving senior leadership buy-in for your work design strategy
- Communicating the importance of good work design
- Leveraging examples of successful work design in other organisations
- Emphasising positive impacts of good work design on productivity and wellbeing
- Maximising the effectiveness of resource spend on work design initiatives
- Demonstrating the success of work design strategies for ongoing leadership buy-in
Megan Clark, Associate Director Wellbeing Health and Safety, University of Newcastle
11.25 Rewarding excellence and task mastery in your workforce
- Identifying key contributors to ongoing achievement in your organisation
- Acknowledging leadership and teamwork in addition to technical achievement
- Ensuring your workforce feels appreciated for their achievement
- Designing effective work interventions when performance falters
Vanessa Trower, Chief Learning Officer, Nexperk
12.10 Lunch
13.10 Interactive Session:
Creating effective and sustainable work design changes in your organisation
This session is an essential part of transforming your conference learnings into practical action. Facilitated by an experienced safety professional and subject matter expert, you will work collaboratively to design and pressure-test a hypothetical work design strategy, accounting for all of the major steps and roadblocks you might expect to face in your own organisation.
Marc McLaren, Safety Director (Infrastructure), John Holland Group
14.40 Academic Case Study:
Embedding your work design strategy within effective change management
- Managing the typical change management pain points in work design
- Preparing for the particular challenges for change management around work design
- Evaluating success of change management strategies after redesigning work
- Involving all relevant stakeholders in any work design changes
Dr Lucinda Iles, Research Associate, Future of Work Institute, Curtin University
15.25 Closing remarks from Chair
15.30 Afternoon Tea and end of conference