Digital Communication and Work Stress in Universities:
A Multilevel Study

In the Australian higher education sector, high email volumes and increasing levels of psychological strain (work stress) can affect employees' health and well-being. These pressures are likely to have additional direct consequences on the recruitment and retention of high quality academic staff and the teaching of future professionals with implications for future GDP. ​As Australia’s public university sector contributes nearly $25 billion per year to the national economy,  its workforce is vital for the sector to contribute effectively to the national innovation and science agenda and deliver high quality research and teaching to over one million enrolled students.

Digital communication facilitates contact and collaboration between academic staff, students and industry. However, digital communication also encompasses negative and pervasive elements to workers and organisations which  include interruption to concentration, work flow disruption, 24/7 connectivity, and work-family conflict. In turn, digital communication is often associated with work-related stress. 

The project uses a multilevel approach to examine how organisational factors such as university digital communication protocols and the climate for psychological health (Psychosocial Safety Climate [PSC]) influence individual email load and work pressure, health, sleep and recovery using a national longitudinal design and innovative diary research. The project will also examine how university employees proactively shape their own digital communication activities (job crafting) to improve their health and work engagement. It will address a gap in research by including casual employees, so that the findings benefit all occupational groups within universities. Expected outcomes include policy frameworks to manage digital communication practices within the Australian public university sector and other knowledge intensive industries.

Aims
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  1. Investigate university protocols (policies, practices, and procedures) in relation to digital communication (including email load) and expectations regarding communication (e.g., frequency, response time) and staff availability.
  2. Determine whether the development of these university protocols are related to the organisational climate (specifically Psychosocial Safety Climate [PSC]).
  3. Determine the impact of university protocols on email load.
  4. Ascertain impact of email load and work stress on emotional exhaustion, sleep, occupational fatigue, recovery, and work engagement, and identify factors that reduce its impact (e.g., job crafting).
  5. Assess PSC levels in Australian universities against national Australian Workplace Barometer (AWB) benchmarks.

If you work in an Australian University,
WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Our national project on the impact of digital communication is looking for university employees to take an online survey.
We’d like you to answer questions about your work, including email load, work engagement, work-home conflict so that we can learn about your experiences at work and its impact on your well-being.
Please use the link below to access our survey. This project has been approved by the University of South Australia’s Human Research Ethics Committee (202315).
Link to the Survey online
​​QR Code:
For more info, contact our Research Fellow Dr Amy Zadow (amy.zadow@unisa.edu.au).

PLEASE SHARE THIS POST TO HELP OUR RESEARCH.
​
THANK YOU.

Conceptual Framework

Studies
  1. 2019 Interview Human Resources Directors to investigate university protocols relating to digital communication
  2. 2020-2021 Survey university staff (including casuals) in a four-wave multi-level online survey to measure emotional exhaustion, sleep, occupational fatigue, recovery, and work engagement; and identify factors that reduce the impact of work stress (e.g., job crafting)
  3. 2022 Employ diary studies via smartphones to incorporate a real time measure of email load, email volume, and reports of spill-over impact in the non-work domain by significant others in the home domain.
  4. 2022 Assess PSC levels in universities against national AWB benchmarks.

Impact
The lost productivity cost of depression among employees is estimated to cost Australian employers $6.3 billion per year. In addition to assisting university management to attain healthier work environments, the project is likely to have translational importance for other Australian workers, communities and industries in three ways:

1. Benefits to workers
​Provide empirical evidence of current levels of PSC experienced by personnel across universities which can be compared against national surveillance standards.  

2. Benefits and significance to Australia’s higher education sector
Provide participating HR Directors with statistical information that compares their university across universities which will facilitate the translation of this new information into new protocols and practices to advocate for effective digital communication policies, stronger PSC, and higher levels of employee well-being.

3. Benefits to industry and value for money
Supply new insights for industries, particularly sectors that employ knowledge workers, so that best practices can be implemented.

Research Team
Chief Investigators ​Researchers
​Advisory Group
  • ​Kathy Harrington, Division Industrial Officer, National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)
  • Rickie Kelly, Manager: Work Health and Safety People, Talent and Culture, University of South Australia | Mawson Lakes Campus
  • Associate Professor Steve Milanese, Director of the International Centre for Allied Health Evidence, Sansom Institute, University of South Australia    
  • Scott Burnell, AUSA President, Health, Safety & Wellbeing | Corporate Services, Griffith University | Gold Coast Campus 
  • Paul Sherlock, Chief Information Officer (Library and IT), Information Strategy and Technology Services, University of South Australia
  • Alan Brideson, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, University of South Australia | City West Campus

Publications

Pignata, S. (in press). 'Stress and well-being in Australian Universities', in In R. J. Burke & S Pignata, Handbook of Research on Stress and Well-being in the Public Sector. London: Edward Elgar.

Pignata, S., Winefield, A., Boyd, C., & Provis, C. (2018). A qualitative study of HR/OHS stress interventions in Australian universities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15, 103–119. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15010103

Pignata, S., Lushington, K., Sloan, J., & Buchanan, F. (2015). Employees’ perceptions of email communication, volume and management strategies in an Australian university. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37, 159–171. DOI: 10.1080/1360080X.2015.1019121
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Burke, R. J. & Pignata, S. (2020). Handbook of Research on Stress and Well-being in the Public Sector. UK: Edward Elgar.
 
Pignata, S. ‘Stress in universities: Initiatives to enhance well-being’ In R. J. Burke & S. Pignata (2020). Handbook of Research on Stress and Well-being in the Public Sector. UK: Edward Elgar.

Conference Presentations
Pignata, S. (2019). 'Improving work environments in Australian universities'. Paper presented in a symposium on Quality of working life in universities: The contribution of EWOP psychologists, EAWOP Congress, Turin, Italy, 29 May - 1 June.
"Understanding and reducing the shackles of digital communication
should yield benefits for employees and organisations through
reducing the negative aspects of digital communication and
creating more time to achieve substantive work goals"

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How to cite this website: 
Centre for Workplace Excellence (CWeX) (2019) StressCafé [Promoting healthier, happier, safer, and more productive work environments]. Retrieved from https://www.stresscafe.com.au/
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Website Editor: Prof. Maureen Dollard
​Publication officer: Dr Ali Afsharian
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