- Jun 17, 2019
The Centre for Transformative Work Design is pleased to announce the launch of our Early Career Visiting Award. Applications are now open for Early Career Researchers wishing to visit the Centre in 2020.
Purpose of award
To promote links between CTWD and high-flying/ promising early career researchers that can help further CTWD networks and international reputation in the short-term and long-term future
To further strengthen the research culture of CTWD through the presence of (additional) dynamic, enthusiastic, and well-trained early career researchers
To promote CTWD’s reputation as an international research institution
To provide networking opportunities and mentoring to CTWD PhD students
To learn about practices of other research institutions and business schools that might be relevant to CTWD
Criteria for applicants
High potential/ outstanding post-doctorates/ early career researchers that are interested in advancing work design research
Quality, fit, and feasibility of proposed research during the visit (see 2019/2020 topics below)
Ideally completed PhD or almost completed PhD, and less than 6 years post PhD (For PhD students, ensure you have your supervisor’s agreement to visit before applying).
International candidates (i.e., outside of Australia)
Award level
Return economy flight & accommodation for up to one month. (Note: Candidates can stay beyond one month with their own funding).
Small stipend of $500 towards additional research/ travel expenses
Topics for 2019/2020 visits
Antecedents of work design e.g., detailed studies of new technologies affect work design and outcomes; extensions of the ‘poor work design begets poor work design’ study (Parker, Andrei, Van Den Broeck, Journal of Applied Psychology, 2019)
New outcomes of work design e.g., personality change studies using existing large-scale studies; experiments on cognitive consequences; neuroscience studies (see Parker, 2017 work design growth model focusing on cognitive, identity/personality, moral outcomes)
Duration
Minimum visit: 3 weeks; Maximum – subject to discussion
Process
Candidates should submit their CV and a 4-5 page proposal outlining their intended topic by 31st July, 2019 to Sana Arslan. Candidates should propose what research they would like to do on the topic of work design during their visit, how they intend to do the research, and an approximate time scale.
Expectations During Visit
Collaborate on at least one paper or project on work design, working with at least one CTWD member as a co-author.
Give a research seminar whilst at CTWD
Being part of the every-day life of the Centre e.g., regular attendance at research seminars & research discussions
Providing informal mentoring to PhD students (e.g., informally discuss their research with them)
Further information
For any questions about logistics, please contact Sana Arslan. For questions about topics, please contact one of the CTWD post-docs or Sharon Parker.
We hope to see you in 2020!
- Jun 17, 2019
Updated: Oct 22, 2019
Sharon Parker, Caroline Knight, and Sandra Ohly have just published a new book chapter which highlights how work design research has changed over the years and important avenues for future research.
Contemporary workplace settings are often characterised by change and instability and it is important to understand how work can be designed optimally for individual and organisational outcomes including well-being and performance.
In our chapter, we identify three important avenues for future research which have thus far been relatively neglected:
To think about organisations in terms of ever changing, dynamic processes, rather than static entities. Understanding how work characteristics might relate to processes such as the development and sustainment of trust, communication and collaboration is important for organisations to achieve optimal outcomes.
To focus work design research on knowledge workers and professionals rather than the typically researched contexts of manufacturing and call centres. Work is characterised more and more by these former types of workers and new questions have to be answered, such as how work can be designed to promote effective performance in challenging contexts.
The role of work design interventions for improving work design, well-being and performance. Current reviews investigating work design interventions and well-being are inconsistent, and performance in the context of interventions has been little assessed, partly owing to difficulty measuring it and comparing different measures across organisations. Nevertheless, some studies show promising results, such as job crafting interventions on performance, but more research is needed to find out what works and why.
To find out more about this research, and how work design is changing, please read the chapter!
New book chapter! The changing face of work design research: Past, present, and future directions
To appear in:
Wilkinson, A., Bacon, N., Lepak, D., & Snell. S. (Eds.). The Sage Handbook of Human Resource Management, (2nd Ed). Sage, London.