The positive and negative impacts of constant change to the wellbeing of academic staff at a Polytechnic over an 8yr period (2012-2020): Exploring the value of a benchmarking approach to wellbeing in the Aotearoa/New Zealand context
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Authors
Baker, Natalie
Author ORCID Profiles (clickable)
Degree
Master of Applied Practice (Social Practice)
Grantor
Unitec, Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology
Date
2025
Supervisors
Bridgman, Geoff
Type
Masters Thesis
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
Aotearoa
New Zealand
institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs)
academics
well being
workplace stress
organisational restructuring
educational change
organisational change
COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-
New Zealand. Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
benchmarking
New Zealand
institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs)
academics
well being
workplace stress
organisational restructuring
educational change
organisational change
COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-
New Zealand. Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
benchmarking
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Baker, N. (2025). The positive and negative impacts of constant change to the wellbeing of academic staff at a Polytechnic over an 8yr period (2012-2020): Exploring the value of a benchmarking approach to wellbeing in the Aotearoa/New Zealand context (Unpublished document submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Practice (Social Practice)). Unitec, Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology.
https://hdl.handle.net/10652/7165
Abstract
BACKGROUND/INTRODUCTION
This study investigates the positive and negative effects of continuous change to the wellbeing of ten academics at a Polytechnic in Aotearoa/New Zealand over an eight year period (2012-2020). Notable changes include leadership changes, organisational restructuring, redundancies, internal and external transformation initiatives, including a national educational reform, political and legal changes, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Managing and coping with change is the principal challenge for organisations during Industry 4.0 (the fourth industrial revolution characterised by rapid digitalisation, automation, and data-driven systems), with online teaching, programme integration, and an 'information explosion' (the rapid growth in the volume and speed of information and communication). It follows therefore that monitoring employee wellbeing is essential to ensure the staff concerns in times of change are appropriately and ethically addressed. Employers have a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work 2015 Act to safeguard the wellbeing of staff, but two critical gaps are identified a) no national tool for wellbeing assessment in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and b) no benchmarking approach to bio-psycho-social hazards. This research addresses these gaps and proposes a solution.
METHODS
A mixed-method approach was employed to collect wellbeing data from a small, purposively selected sample of 10 academics from two departments with a diversity of gender, age, and cultural background who have been engaged by the Polytechnic over an eight-years from 2012 to 2020. One department provides a range of certificate and re-employment programmes, while the other department offers degrees ranging up to the master's level. Each participant completed the Management Stress Indicator Tool (MSIT) twice, firstly, reflecting on a period of “transformation” (ending in 2017) and secondly on the period of “rebuild” (2017-2020). These were followed by a semi structured narrative interview. The MSIT was used to explore psychosocial dimensions, and the study captured participants’ evaluations of the positive and negative impacts of continuous change.
FINDINGS
Continuous change adversely affected academic wellbeing to a considerable degree, with reports of conflict, increased workloads, and uncertainty about the future. Change was as much a feature of rebuild as it was in the transformation. Compared with UK academic benchmarks (Kinman, 2014) our participants struggled more with MSIT relationships (harassment and bullying), but share a similar challenge with MSIT change where academics have a much greater stress levels than the general population. Compared with 2024 Saudi general MSIT benchmarks (Shubayr & Alashban, 2024), the only material difference was that our participants’ average MSIT Change score fell below the 20th percentile threshold (indicative of the need for urgent action), while other scale averages were broadly similar. Relationship scores improved between transformation and rebuild periods, due to much lower levels of harassment and bullying.
[Mention made of Te Whare Tapa Whā wellbeing model compared to Management Stress Indicator Tool (MSIT)]
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