S4 E7 - Good Stress, Bad Stress

Thank you for listening to But I'm a Professional! I'm pleased to have researched, written, recorded, edited, and produced each and every episode.I'm currently working on two other projects:1. A new podcast called The Problem With Work, due out later this month. I'll put a link here after the launch of episode one.2. Professional Development Dialogues for Women. This is a learning series I've designed for small groups. The first set of input sessions is called "I've Got the Power!" Read more about it here and enroll! My other long term projects continue:Writing on SubstackCareer Coaching for Women - email [email protected] for more informationGood luck out there, Professionals!

In this episode, I attempt to cut through the AI hype and focus instead on practical workplace applications. I explore how professionals can actively incorporate AI into their workflow to reduce hindrance stressors rather than create new ones. Neither 'doomerist' nor overly optimistic, this episode examines the concept of "Human-AI Task Fit" through an Organisational & Occupational Psychology lens. Learn a three-step approach for evaluating where AI can enhance your work: Tools Assessment Task AssessmentCollaborative Effort I'll discuss the research behind successful AI implementation, common pitfalls including bias, errors, and allure - and how to ensure these technologies serve as resources rather than demands in your work. Join me to discover how mindful AI integration can free you up for what makes work meaningful: autonomy, collaboration, and demonstrating your uniquely human competence. Good luck, Professionals! Buy Me a Coffee if you found this useful. Works Cited:Bondanini, G., Giorgi, G., Ariza-Montes, A., Vega-Muñoz, A., & Andreucci-Annunziata, P. (2020).Mollick, E. (n.d.). 15 Times to Use AI - and 5 Not To. One Useful Thing.Raisch, S., & Krakowski, S. (2021)Scholze, L., & Hecker, S. (2024).Wang, Y., & Siau, K. (2019).

What EDI initiative will produce meaningful change in your organisation? Good question. "Of the hundreds of studies we examine, a small fraction speak convincingly to the questions of whether, why, and under what conditions a given type of intervention works," (Paluck and Green, 2009, p.339). That was a review published 15 years ago. Surely, things are different now! "The past decade has seen rapid growth in research that evaluates methods for reducing prejudice," (Paluck et al., 2021, p. 533). Yay! "However, 76% of all studies evaluate light touch interventions, the long-term impact of which remains unclear," (ibid. p. 533). Oh. So, what does work? For practical (middle-manager layer) applications of a recent meta-analysis by Costa (2024), listen to this episode. Read my Substack for more links to interventions! References Costa, E. (2024). Examining the effectiveness of interventions to reduce discriminatory behavior at work: An attitude dimension consistency perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001215 Guillaume, Y. R., Dawson, J. F., Otaye‐Ebede, L., Woods, S. A., & West, M. A. (2015). Harnessing demographic differences in organizations: What moderates the effects of workplace diversity? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(2), 276–303. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2040 Shea, C.M., Malone, M.F.F.T., Young, J.R. and Graham, K.J. (2019), "Interactive theater: an effective tool to reduce gender bias in faculty searches", Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Vol. 38 No. 2, pp. 178-187.  https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-09-2017-0187

Normally stress is something we try to avoid at work. In fairness, some days it feels everlasting. However, are all stressors made alike? Is there any use in some? Does it ever help in our work function? In this episode, I highlight some of the research on something called 'hindrance stressors' and 'challenge stressors'. I give you examples of both, and discuss how challenge can be helpful in our professional development. As always, I highlight some practical actions that may put those challenge stressors to good use - for managers and for individuals. References in this episode include: Laying the Foundation for the Challenge-Hindrance Stressor Framework 2.0 Oliver Burkeman's Inconvenient Truth Bob Sutton, Huggy Rao - The Friction Project Prof Arnold B. Bakker - various publications Differences among a satisfied, a meaningful, and a psychologically rich working life Dispositional effects on job and life satisfaction: The role of core evaluations Bad is Stronger Than Good Evaluation of the “rethink stress” mindset intervention: A metacognitive approach to changing mindsets Rethinking Stress Toolkit My Substack version of this episode Good luck, Professionals!

How can you, dear manager, notice performance gains, increase learning, engagement, information sharing, and improve commitment? I'll give you a hint... the answer does not involve shouts, rants, rages, screams, humiliation, nor punishment. It happens in spaces where a team feels safe enough to share problems, mistakes, and concerns - and rely on interpersonal exchanges to overcome them. Tune in to define Psychological Safety beyond the buzzword (buzzphrase?) and back to the brainstorming session, where it belongs. References in this episode include: Personal and Organizational Change Through Group Methods: The Laboratory Approach (Schein & Bennis, 1965). Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work (Kahn, 1990) The Fearless Organization (Edmondson, 2018) Psychological Safety survey Substack version

Contemporary careers come with a lot of change. Sometimes we seek out the change ourselves when, for example, we pursue promotion and are successful. Sometimes change happens to us - we're made redundant or the organisation shifts direction and is no longer a good fit. Changes, shifts, and transitions in a career are challenging. So how do we cope? How do we remain that captain of our ship even in stormy weather? In this episode I'll take you through three areas of focus: Career mapping Network crafting Resilience building Cited work in this episode include: - Protean Careers at Work: Self-Direction and Values Orientation in Psychological Success (Hall, Yip & Doiron, 2018) - Online identities in and around organizations: A critical exploration and way forward (Barros, Alcadipani, Coupland & Brown, 2022) - Crafting networks: A self-training intervention (Wang, Demerouti, Rispens & van Gool, 2024) - Enhancing job seeker self-efficacy, use, and benefits: Effects of an online training program (Wanberg, Van Hooft, Liu & Csillag, 2020) - Cultivate Self-Efficacy for Personal and Organizational Effectiveness (Bandura, in "Principles of Organizational Behavior: The Handbook of Evidence‐Based Management 3rd Ed., 2023) - Building Relationships and Improving Opportunities (BRIO) online course - Goal setting frameworks - Developing Career Resilience Open Uni course Good luck, Professionals! Substack version

According to a recently published report in McKinsey on Women in the Workplace (2024), men continue to significantly outnumber women at the manager level, making it difficult for companies to support sustained progress at more senior levels like the C-Suite. In a bizarre twist, research tells us that Organisations with women in leadership positions are more likely to be innovative and to have improved firm performance (Joecks et al., 2023; Sieweke et al., 2023). How do we make changes to shift away from this illogical incongruity in order to bask in fulfilling our potential? What are some practices we can put into place to evolve our future and current space for Women in Leadership? This episode features references to: - "Which organisational context factors help women to obtain and retain leadership positions in the 21st century?" (Gierke, Schlamp & Gerpott, 2024) - "Validation and Measurement Invariance of the German and Spanish Gender Bias Scale for Women Leaders" (Algner, Fay & Lorenz, 2024) - Gender Bias Scale for Women Leaders by Amy Diehl, PhD - World Economic Forum - Global Gender Gap Report 2022 - "How Women Manage the Gendered Norms of Leadership" (Zheng, Kark & Meister, 2018) - Guardian article on Eindhoven University of Technology - A meta-analysis on gender and leadership with findings on agentic traits (Bandura et al., 2018) - The Authenticity Paradox (Ibarra, 2015) Don't worry, there is no management guru snake oil here. This is a broad topic with many facets. It also turns out it's a topic rife with paradox. Not a great surprise, I will say. I imagine this is not the final episode I shall create on Women in Leadership. Good luck out there, Professionals! p.s. 1943 Guide to Hiring Women Substack version

Employees working later into life (and as a result, teams becoming more age-diverse) may be something you're seeing more of in your Organisation. If you haven't yet, you will before too long. So, how do we create environments and improve teamwork to benefit the best from this diversity? In this episode, I'll take you through some practical ways you can help an inter-generational team thrive. Some of the following are referenced: - A Multimethod Examination of the Benefits and Detriments of Intragroup Conflict (Jehn, 1995) - Fostering intergenerational harmony: Can good quality contact between older and younger employees reduce workplace conflict? (Drury & Fasbender, 2024) - Knowledge Sharing in Times of a Pandemic: An intergenerational learning approach (Singh, Thomas & Numbudiri, 2021) - Age Diversity Training Good luck, Professionals!

How is it that so much resource is spent on training, and yet behaviour remains unchanged? We can look to the extensive research done on the topic of training transfer and find several reasons why. And, even better, find recommendations for potential ways to make that transfer have more of an impact. If you would like to read some of the academic articles referenced in this episode, here they are: - Making soft skills stick: a systematic scoping review and integrated training transfer framework grounded in behavioural science - 100 Years of Training and Development Research: What We Know and Where We Should Go - Work factors influencing the transfer stages of soft skill training: A literature review - The differences between hard and soft skills and their relative impact on training transfer - Transfer of Training: A Review and Directions for Future Research Also, here's a way to improve the interactive nature of your online check-ins with your team -> Mentimeter Good luck, Professionals!

The relationship between attitudes and behaviours is complex. Perhaps you can immediately bring to mind some examples of how attempts to implement change at work were a major flop. So. How do we engage in the process so that change does in fact come? How do we avoid putting good resources in bad places and then have a collective panic when the same old problems persist? This episode features references to the following: - The Role of Attitudes in Work Behavior - Intervention Preparedness Tool - VIA Character Strengths Survey - Reflected Best Self exercises - Feedforward Interviews (follow Table 1 for instructions) Getting people to change their behaviour(s) is difficult - but communicating well, creating a space for concerns, identifying shared goals, promoting autonomy, and having a Before, During, and After plan for the change will greatly improve its viability. Good luck, Professionals!