Organisational Culture
Research, Analysis & Consulting
Dr Anna Kiaos analysed a large New South Wales public sector organisation, Service NSW, its espoused culture as well as various subcultures that emerged during and after a time of immense structural change that occurred concurrently with the COVID-19 pandemic. The structural changes responded to the decision by NSW Treasury in 2018-19 to produce a budget saving of $5.373 million (35% reduction), which resulted in the reorganisation of several NSW government agencies and their incorporation into the Department of Customer Service, as well as the introduction of the Shared Corporate Services cluster model, including Service NSW.
To investigate the impact of these changes, Dr Anna Kiaos developed an interpretative conceptual framework and adopted an ethnographic case study and qualitative methods approach for the collection and analysis of empirical data on the Service NSW ‘DNA’ culture, its various subcultures, forms of normative control and how staff members across the occupational community performed their work during times of change. In this way, Dr Anna Kiaos’ work addressed a gap in the literature on the impact of neoliberal ideology on Post New Public Management practice and public sector organisational culture from the perspective of the employee experience.
In order to understand the organisation’s employees from their point of view, her work drew on data collected during the course of 2020 with employees from the Department of Customer Service and Service NSW. To provide additional research context, Dr Anna Kiaos incorporated auxiliary data as captured through annual reports, various organisational publications and website resources. The findings of her study has advanced knowledge on Post New Public Management practice during a period of immense change in policy, public sector resourcing, machinery of government changes as well as the impact to employees arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Kiaos’s work found that the combined effect of internal and external changes placed enormous, uncommon demands on employees across Service NSW’s occupational units, which were experienced in different ways and to varying degrees of severity. Accordingly, her work highlights the nuances of these changes, not only in relation to the impact upon Service NSW’s operational activities, but also, the subjective experience of employees across the organisation’s various membership groups. Dr Kiaos work argues that Post New Public Management theory and practice must consider the implications for public service employees in relation to work pressures which impact their subjective experience when operating in alignment with a customer centric model of culture in an effort to achieve goals that are underpinned by public policy.
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Choose Mind Culture Life Australia as Your Culture Partner
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Mind Culture Life Australia works with various professionals in organisations who are experiencing cultural challenges, not limited to Call Centre staff who experience burnout leading to customer dissatisfaction or business units which are experiencing chronic workplace conflict. Cultural issues left unchecked often result in reputational and business continuity risk, under-performance along with an increased risk of psychological workers' compensation claims.
Employees generally feel more at ease speaking candidly and honestly to external specialists, including workplace psychologists who generally possess deep sensibility and sensitivity concerning workplace matters, and who offer confidentiality and objective independence that might not otherwise be available to them within the workplace.
Dr Kiaos is both a trained organisational culture expert and mental health expert. Dr Kiaos completed her Ph.D. under Professor Gideon Kunda, who studied under Emeritus Professor Edgar Schein (MIT), both leading organisational culture experts. Dr Kiaos completed her PhD in Management at MQU and has published extensively on the topic of organisational culture and mental health. A list of her academic publications can be viewed here. Moreover, Dr Kiaos publishes her research through the University of New South Wales, School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health.
Dr Kiaos is a highly experienced workplace professional who partners with businesses in responding to cultural issues to provide rare and very worthwhile insights into the workplace environment, including drivers contributing to workplace disharmony, poor workplace behaviour and inefficiency in combination with conditions which may produce mental health challenges for employees, including how to mitigate against them.
Dr Kiaos takes a confidential and thorough review, researching and investigating cultural workplace issues from an interpersonal perspective intertwined with a highly objective approach to workplace knowledge generation which includes an analysis of environmental factors, procedural and or policy implications as well as considerations for internal and external stakeholders.
Dr Kiaos' objective is to identify factors that contribute to workplace vulnerability by providing a comprehensive report based on her academic research. Dr Kiaos' comprehensive reporting methodologies document her findings and recommendations whilst ensuring high degrees of confidentiality to employees during the formal and informal stages of the review.
For a confidential discussion, please call +61 02 8114 4454