COVID-19 General

NZ COVID-19 Monthly Diary: This project began as a rapid-response research during the March 2020 lockdown, when we investigated how NZ employees were coping with the ongoing pandemic.

We discovered that those who were a) satisfied with their organisation's responses to the COVID-19 situation, b) felt like their job was secure, c) trusted their leaders, d) perceived to be supported by their organisation, and e) were communicated with effectively had higher levels of wellbeing. These can be considered as the key resources that organisations can invest in to maintain employee wellbeing during the pandemic.

COVID-19 Tertiary

"Employee Stress, Well-being & Workplace Climate in the Tertiary Education Sector"

This collaborative project, led by Dr Valerie Sotardi in UC's School of Educational Studies and Leadership, examined the impacts of extra demands on tertiary educators during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Preliminary findings indicate that tertiary employees experienced stress during the latter half of 2020, but also that degree of empowerment by the organisation mattered - those who experienced greater empowerment reported higher wellbeing. The findings point to the impact of organisational supports for employees to cope with the additional demands placed on them due to the pandemic.

Psychosocial response and recovery

Current research in this space includes work as part of an international team to understand business recovery and resilience. The Business Recovery through Innovative Disaster response and Governmental policy Efforts (BRIDGE) includes cases from 14 different locations globally to explore the effectiveness of government initiatives aimed at supporting business recovery and adaptation from the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this investigation, we are seeking to develop insights into how government policies can best support business recovery in ways that promote a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient post-pandemic reality.

"Updating a psychosocial response and recovery framework for Aotearoa New Zealand in a COVID-19 context" MBIE COVID-19 Innovation Acceleration Fund to the late Professor David Johnston, Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Massey University.

This project addressed current needs of organisations seeking to support psychosocial recovery in their communities during COVID-19. It provides guidance in the form of an updated framework (based on the 2015 report "A framework for exploring the role of business in community recovery following disasters", MacDonald et al.) of knowledge and resources about psychosocial support specific to COVID-19.

This updated framework provides organisations, such as Regional Councils, District Health Boards, and businesses, with relevant up-to-date information to inform psychosocial response and recovery planning and actions.