Changing work design to improve the mental health of staff

A better understanding of how work can be improved with the goal of better employee wellbeing is critical for the sustainability of the disability sector, and practical guidance is much needed.

This presentation will focus on the positive impacts of the Design for Care research project with Macarthur Disability Services (MDS).

The Design for Care research applies the SMART Work Design Model (Parker and Knight, 2023) in MDS to guide a participatory work redesign process, which involved assessing work design, empowering employees to redesign aspects of their own/their team’s jobs, and evaluating how work design and wellbeing changed after the interventions.

In this event, we will showcase the key learnings of the work redesign process in MDS and highlight how other disability organisations can use the SMART work design model as a tool for innovative ways to improve work and wellbeing.

About the Speakers:

Jeff Scobie

Jeff has a Masters in Management and is the current CEO of Macarthur Disability Services (MDS). His passion for working with people with a disability started when working as a Registered Nurse in the early 1980s.

Since then, he has worked in a variety of disability related areas including, direct support, staff training, behaviour intervention and support and senior leadership positions. His passion for this work has seen him gain a wealth of experience in both government and the not-for-profit sectors and now has over 40 years’ experience working to improve and deliver services for people with a disability.

Amanda Mesa

Amanda holds a number of qualifications in the HR/ WHS and compliance fields and most recently completed her Graduate course for Company Directors. Having worked in the Community Sector since 1992 while completing University studies Amanda currently holds the role of General Manager People, Quality and Culture within MDS, working with the CEO, Senior Leadership team and MDS Board to deliver the Organisation’s Strategic Directions and purpose.

The Design for Care project is led by Professor Sharon Parker at Curtin University’s Centre for Transformative Work Design, with Professors Anya Johnson and Helena Nguyen at the University of Sydney, and Professor Alex Collie at Monash University. The project is supported by a team of research and professional staff across the three universities, and is funded by icareNSW.

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