This paper provides a review of the contextual factors that are associated with levels of morale and job satisfaction in academic institutions. It argues that universities can purposefully create workplace environments that support employee well-being by measuring, attending to, and addressing levels of collegiality; designing policies that…

This article considers the difficulty of implementing change in a university workplace and discusses the popularity of 'the Valley of Despair' change curve as a way of predicting and managing resistance to change. The Valley of Despair is based on Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's (1970; 2005) work with the dying and bereaved, and posits that people going…

Inter-professional perspective-taking (the ability to take the perspective of colleagues with whom one is working, but who work in a different context or role type) is an aspect of empathy, with substantial benefits in the workplace, including environments where inter-professional collaboration is required, such as clinicians and administrators.…

This study considered how hybrid working impacts the management of menopause symptoms in HE Professional Services (PS) employees. The evidence suggested that work was affected by menopause symptoms and poor workplace control increased symptom severity. Participants adapted their working environment and employed compensatory actions to perform…

A growing body of literature is encouraging academics to slow down their academic work as a way of managing the acceleration of university life. Little attention, however, has been paid to the important differences in temporalities among different sorts of higher education institutions, and the effect this is likely to have upon the sense of…

The article explores the role of the Registrar (Chief Operating Officer) in a university, and the ways in which we value the contributions of professional, managerial and administrative (PMA) staff. It assesses the conditions in which PMA staff work and describes the professional development opportunities they enjoy. The article goes on to analyse…

Everyone has a personal brand. To ensure success at work you need to manage your personal brand which is made up of your tangible and intangible attributes. This paper reviews the literature around personal branding, looks at some of the attributes and discusses ways you can reflect and begin to build your personal brand in a higher education…

It is well known that bullying and work-related stress are real issues. "Bullying Survey 2005" revealed a number of insights into bullying at work. Much of this is down to lack of managerial skills. Individuals who have previously not been recruited or trained as managers have become managers but without the necessary skills set to carry out their…

Much has been written about the glass ceiling and pay differentials in higher and further education (HE, FE) for women academics (McTavish and Miller 2009, Rees 2007) but very little about discrepancies for women "professional managers" within UK higher education. Professional managers as a term needs to be defined as universities call…