This Working Life

Hosted by ABC Australia

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Episodes

248

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

You spend so much time on work, why accept the status quo, when there are ways to do it better? Get expert advice, research and hacks that will crush your inertia. Join Lisa Leong and other This Working Lifers as we experiment and explore the latest in the world of work. We cover policy issues, like hybrid workplaces and remote work, employee wellbeing and organisational culture, the use of AI, employee surveillance, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion. We talk about progress on wider issues that relate to work, like work life balance, organisational change, restructures, and casualisation. On This Working Life our focus is on everything related to the people in a workplace too, including culture, individual experiences, performance management and career advice.

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60 recent

June 14, 202625 min

What your boss is getting wrong about AI

AI usage is on the rise, but its implementation within jobs and workflows is causing problems. Research shows there is a capability gap amongst Australian workers, and a lack of AI fluency and context-poor AI use is creating job strain. What can leaders do to turn this around?Guests: Dr Rebecca Hinds, head of the Work AI Institute at Glean Dr Sean Gallagher, founder of Humanova and the former Director of Swinburne University's Centre for the New Workforce

June 7, 202625 min

Don't be left out in the cold: why you should care about your organisation’s strategy

Tying together what your team does within your organisation’s strategy is a key skill for middle managers and something workers at all levels can benefit from. Learn how a strategy is put together and ways you can work towards it. Guests:Brandon Lee, Associate Professor at Melbourne Business School, consultant, researcher and executive educator Rebecca Murray, principal of strategy consultancy, Marlborough and Ferdinand

May 31, 202625 min

Tackle overwhelm with the 'Teamwork Doctor'

If you’re always busy but feel as though you’re not getting on top of things, you may be experiencing cognitive and emotional overload. Liane Davey, the ‘Teamwork Doctor’, calls this “thoughtload” and offers ways to manage overwhelm and focus attention, to improve productivity and wellbeing in individuals and teams. Guest:Liane Davey PhD organisational psychologist and author Thoughtload: Manage the Madness and free your Team to do great Work

May 26, 202616 min

Try This: how to quit

Once you’ve made the decision to quit your job, it’s worth considering how to do it in a way that fits the situation. The researcher who coined the term, “The Great Resignation” shares his insights on different resignation styles, from the “grateful goodbye” to “bridge burning” and what managers can learn from the way employees quit. Guest:Professor Anthony C. Klotz, UCL School of Management, author Jolted, Why we Quit, When to Stay and Why it MattersCheck out our companion episode Should you really quit your job?

May 24, 202625 min

Should you really quit your job, like Oprah?

The researcher who coined the term, "The Great Resignation", says most of us are only one event away from quitting our jobs. He calls them “jolts” and describes the one that led Oprah to quit her new job at 60 Minutes, and Jürgen Klopp to give up his successful role as manager of Liverpool FC. What motivates us to quit, what should we consider before we do it? Guest:Professor Anthony C. Klotz, UCL School of Management, author Jolted, Why we Quit, When to Stay and Why it MattersLook out for our companion episode Try This: how to quit in your podcast feed.

May 17, 202625 min

AI will change your job. Here’s the SMART way to redesign it.

The narrative around AI at work is moving away from “job apocalypse” towards jobs transforming. So how do you redesign roles to improve productivity and take care of the psychosocial safety and wellbeing of workers?Guests:John Curtin Distinguished Professor Sharon Parker, Director of Centre for Transformative Work Design, Curtin University If you’d like to try the S.M.A.R.T. job design assessment, the link is here.

May 10, 202625 min

Nir Eyal on how to stop sabotaging your career

Have you struggled to make lasting behaviour change at work, and wondered why you can’t get to the next level? The author of bestsellers Hooked and Indistractable, spoke with readers who loved his books but couldn’t nail the change part. He spent the next five years researching what was missing, Beyond Belief is the result. Nir Eyal, behavioural design expert, author, Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Extraordinary results

May 3, 202627 min

Sir David Attenborough is doing it, what about you? How to work until you're 100

Working for longer can help you financially, as well as giving you purpose, a social life and a healthier brain. We speak with three Australians working past retirement age, and an expert coach who helps individuals and organisations achieve longevity goals.Guests:Ronni Kahn AO, social entrepreneur, Founder and Visionary in Residence, OzHarvest Brian James, co-founder, The Copper Doctors Alison Hernandez, co-founder, Re-create 100 Scientia Professor Henry Brodaty, co-director of Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, UNSW, 2026 Senior Australian of the YearYou can find Professor Henry’s Brodaty’s healthy brain ageing tips at the end of this episode.

April 26, 202624 min

Why 9am meetings might be failing your team

Circadian rhythms dictate our peak times or chronotypes and they vary across the workforce, so why does everything start so early? Learn how these biological rhythms interact with cognitive and emotional performance and how practicing circadian-influenced leadership can help get the best out of your team. Guest:Stefan Volk, Professor of Management at the University of Sydney Business School

April 19, 202625 min

Kyle and Jackie O safety complaint heads to Federal Court

Jackie O’s lawyers claim ARN breached workplace health and safety obligations by failing to protect her psychosocial health while she was working with co-host Kyle Sandilands. As the case heads to court this week, find out how leaders should manage psychological safety at work, and learn the potential consequences if they fail to do so. Guests:Martyn Campbell, former Chief Executive of SafeWork SA and Secretary-General of the International Association of Labour inspection. Fay Calderone, employment lawyer and partner, Hall and Willcox and author, Broken to Safe: tackling toxic workplace cultures and burnout