Revolutionaries of Wellbeing: Breaking Burnout Culture

Episode 47: Case study - How NZTA Waka Kotahi tackles psychosocial safety

Psychosocial safety is the latest buzzword in health, safety, and wellbeing circles, and for a good reason. Australia has led the charge in bringing psychosocial hazards into the spotlight, sparking important conversations about why every business must address them.

But when it comes to understanding what psychosocial hazards are, and how to manage them, things can get confusing. There’s a lot of jargon and a lot to get your head around.

So, how do big organisations handle this? Today, we’ll explore a case study from the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) Waka Kotahi, looking at how they structured their approach to psychosocial hazards.

Our guests are Shelley Easton and Ryan Young from NZTA Waka Kotahi, who will walk us through how their organisation used ISO 45003 as a framework. They’ll share how they secured senior leader buy-in, implemented effective controls, and set up systems to continuously monitor their impact. It’s all about making real, meaningful progress - because perfect isn’t the goal.

If you’re a wellbeing champion, HR professional, or health and safety manager, you’ll want to stick around for this one. There’s so much to learn from Waka Kotahi’s experience and plenty of practical takeaways to bring back to your workplace.

 

Share your thoughts: We'd love to hear from you! Leave a review and let us know what you enjoyed most about this episode.

 

Get more: For episode chapters, transcript, highlights, and key takeaways, head to rowwellbeing.com/podcast

 

Be a champion for change in your workplace: Join ROW - together, we can break burnout culture for good.

Episode 46: Supporting team wellbeing with trust, psychological safety, and honest feedback

Imagine a workplace where giving feedback feels completely safe and normal - a place where you can share your ideas or concerns without worrying that things might go badly. Unfortunately, many of us hold back from speaking up because we’ve either felt dismissed before or experienced situations where it all went wrong. But what if we could change that?

In this episode, we’re diving into psychological safety with executive leadership coach and author Suzi McAlpine. She explains why it’s essential for team engagement and decision-making, and how to foster trust within your team to combat burnout and enhance wellbeing and performance.

We’ll also cover the telltale signs of low psychological safety, the role of vulnerability in leadership, and the simple shifts that can make feedback a natural part of your team’s culture. This one is great for people leaders!

 

Share your thoughts: We'd love to hear from you! Leave a review and let us know what you enjoyed most about this episode.

 

Get more: For episode chapters, transcript, highlights, and key takeaways, head to rowwellbeing.com/podcast

 

Be a champion for change in your workplace: Join ROW - together, we can break burnout culture for good.

Episode 45: Sleep easy - Understanding sleep, wellbeing and the workplace

Sleep is something we all do, and yet it’s a bit of a mystery. How much do we really need? What happens when we sleep? And why is it sometimes so hard to achieve, no matter how hard we try? These questions affect millions of people worldwide, impacting their health, life satisfaction, and productivity. 

In this episode, we explore sleep with Bernice Tuffery, a sleep health advocate and author of "Sleep Easy". Bernice's journey from struggling with insomnia to becoming a sleep health coach is both inspiring and full of useful insights for anyone looking to improve their sleep. We also discuss how workplaces can support their employees' sleep health, creating a more productive and healthier work environment.

Whether you're a night owl, an early bird, or somewhere in between, this episode is packed with practical strategies and interesting insights to help you rethink your approach to sleep. 

 

Share your thoughts: We'd love to hear from you! Leave a review and let us know what you enjoyed most about this episode.

 

Get more: For episode chapters, transcript, highlights, and key takeaways, head to rowwellbeing.com/podcast

 

Be a champion for change in your workplace: Join ROW - together, we can break burnout culture for good.

Episode 44: Trauma in the workplace - the silent challenge leaders need to address

In this episode, we’re exploring the profound impact trauma can have on people, teams, and organisations, and how workplaces can better respond and be more trauma-aware. We’ll unpack the difference between stress and trauma, and look at how events like the COVID-19 pandemic have reshaped our sense of wellbeing.

To better understand the effects of trauma, we’re joined by Ross Anderson, an Australian-based registered psychologist, executive coach, and leadership development expert. Ross has led complex change initiatives across sectors like Defence, Health, and Utilities, and formerly served as Director of MBS Mt Eliza executive education.

He brings extensive experience in trauma management, having served as Director of the National Trauma Clinic. Ross has been on the ground responding to critical incidents like the Queen St., Hoddle Street, and Port Arthur massacres, workplace injuries, and fatalities. His deep understanding offers invaluable insights into creating trauma-informed workplaces.

Here’s what you’ll take away from this episode:

• A better understanding of what trauma is and how it’s different from ongoing stress
• Key signs to look for in team members who may be experiencing trauma
• How different generations might respond to trauma
• The link between burnout and trauma—and why it’s important to recognize
• Practical steps for fostering a trauma-informed workplace

Whether you’re a leader, an HR professional, or simply looking to understand trauma in the workplace better, this episode provides valuable tools and insights to help you create a healthier, more supportive environment for your team, even during the toughest of times.

 

If anything in this episode feels a bit close to the bone, we encourage you to reach out to someone you trust or your national helpline. 

 

Share your thoughts: We'd love to hear from you! Leave a review and let us know what you enjoyed most about this episode.

 

Get more: For episode chapters, transcript, highlights, and key takeaways, head to rowwellbeing.com/podcast

 

Be a champion for change in your workplace: Join ROW - together, we can break burnout culture for good.

Episode 43: A Line in the Sand: A lived experience account of workplace trauma and PTSD

**We've had a name change! This podcast is now called Breaking Burnout Culture. It was Workplace Wellbeing, but we've made the change to better reflect our mission. It's still all the content you know and love.**

In this episode, ROW Alumni Chris Hewitt chats with Dean Yates, author of Line in the Sand. Dean Yates was the ideal warzone correspondent: courageous, compassionate, and dedicated. After years of facing the worst, including covering the Bali bombings and the Boxing Day tsunami, one final incident undid him. In this gritty and compelling interview, Dean shares his lived experience of trauma, PTSD, moral injury and his three admissions to the Ward 17 psych unit in Melbourne, Australia. There are lessons we can all learn from Dean’s story, and obvious actions for workplaces to ensure they protect their people.

 

If anything in this episode feels a bit close to the bone, we encourage you to reach out to someone you trust or your national helpline. 

 

Share your thoughts: We'd love to hear from you! Leave a review and let us know what you enjoyed most about this episode.

 

Get more: For episode chapters, transcript, highlights, and key takeaways, head to rowwellbeing.com/podcast

 

Be a champion for change in your workplace: Join ROW - together, we can break burnout culture for good.

Episode 42: The power of storytelling for mental health awareness

Humans have been sharing stories since the dawn of time to help us make sense of the world around us and to influence our thinking. Storytelling is one of the most powerful tools in a wellbeing leader’s toolkit. With it, you can normalise conversations about mental health and wellbeing, you can destigmatise, you can challenge and change beliefs and you can foster psychological safety.

In this episode, we’re delighted to be joined by Michelle Ortega, wellbeing advocate and Communications and Relationship Manager at Fonterra Brands. Join us as we explore how you can use storytelling to create an empathetic, psychologically safe work environment and shape a culture that supports mental health.

Michelle is a passionate advocate for mental health, using her own lived experience to reduce stigma and drive positive mental health conversations in the workplace. Because of her dedication to raising awareness of mental health at Fonterra through openly sharing her own story, Michelle took home the PWC New Zealand Lived Experience Leadership Award at the 2021 HeadFit Awards. Michelle has also presented and has been a keynote speaker at a number of national and international conferences. Most recently at the HR ANZ Summit in the Gold Coast, where she received a standing ovation for her presentation on The Power of Storytelling in Turning the Tide on Mental Health Awareness in Workplaces.

 

If anything in this episode feels a bit close to the bone, we encourage you to reach out to someone you trust or your national helpline. 

 

Share your thoughts: We'd love to hear from you! Leave a review and let us know what you enjoyed most about this episode.

 

Be a champion for change in your workplace: Join ROW - get started for free today!

Episode 41: Wellbeing from a senior leader’s perspective

Wellbeing starts at the top of an organisation, which means we need senior leaders to be committed and engaged. So how can you influence leaders in your workplace? In this episode, we talk to a leader who is more than walking the talk. Hugh Goddard, Managing Director at Pipeline & Civil, is a role model for embracing and leading a people-first culture. We’ll talk about the role of senior leaders in being a champion for wellbeing and we’ll explore how wellbeing advocates can influence up. We’ll also look at some of the challenges of wellbeing in the construction sector and how Hugh has tackled these head-on.

 

Share your thoughts: We'd love to hear from you! Leave a review and let us know what you enjoyed most about this episode.

 

Be a champion for change in your workplace: Join ROW - get started for free today!

Episode 40: Understanding financial wellbeing and its impact

While financial wellbeing has always been important, the current economic climate and cost of living crisis are causing stress and pressure for people across the board.

We explore some of the key financial wellbeing issues people face, shedding light on the various challenges people encounter when it comes to managing their finances effectively. We also examine how societal conditioning influences our relationship with money, impacting our overall wellbeing in ways we might not even realise. Finally, we'll also discuss actionable strategies and insights on what workplaces can do to foster and support better financial health for their people, ensuring employees feel empowered and equipped to navigate through these turbulent times with confidence. So, make sure you have a pen and paper handy, and get ready for an insight-packed conversation with practical tips for enhancing employee (and maybe your own?) financial wellbeing!

 

Share your thoughts: We'd love to hear from you! Leave a review and let us know what you enjoyed most about this episode.

 

Be a champion for change in your workplace. Join ROW - get started for free today!