Overview
Background
Caroline Knight is a Senior Lecturer at The University of Queensland Business School. Caroline’s research focuses on understanding how we can design work which is optimally healthy for individuals and organisations. Her focus is on work design, remote and hybrid work, work redesign interventions, and well-being. She collaborates with researchers, practitioners and industry partners internationally and has attracted funding worth over AUD$1,000,000, most recently leading a successful Australian Research Council Discovery Grant worth over AUD$650,000. Caroline currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Organizational Behavior and has published in several leading top-tier academic journals including the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Relations, Human Resource Management, the Journal of Vocational Behavior, and Work & Stress, as well as practitioner journals such as Harvard Business Review, and MIT Sloan Management Review.
Availability
- Dr Caroline Knight is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Research interests
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Remote and hybrid work
A core stream of my research focuses on how remote and hybrid work impacts work design, wellbeing and performance. My research during Covid-19 showed that individuals who experienced high demands when working from home, such as close monitoring, were more likely to experience increasing distress over time. Those in hybrid jobs who experienced low support even when in the office were more likely to feel lonely when at home. Given that hybrid work looks set to stay and is highly prevalent, there is a need to better understand how we can design hybrid work which is optimal for individuals, teams, and organisations.
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Work redesign
A second core stream of my research focuses on work redesign. I am interested to understand how we can redesign work both top-down, by applying organisation wide, manager-led interventions (e.g., flexible working, training), and bottom-up, self-initiated interventions (e.g., job crafting), to enable individuals and organisations to thrive. I apply evidence-based research in practice to help organisations redesign work, and am also interested in the underlying mechanisms, processes, and boundary conditions. That is, I am particularly keen to understand under what conditions work redesign interventions are effective, why they are effective, and for whom they are effective.
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Future of Work
I am interested in exploring how the changing nature of work is impacting work design, wellbeing and performance. This includes investigating how the relational aspects of work are shaped by new technologies and working styles, and impact outcomes such as engagement, motivation, and wellbeing. It also includes unpacking the changing nature of work demands (e.g., close monitoring, pressure to be available beyond office hours), and relationships with coping responses (e.g., multitasking, detachment from work, recovery) and wellbeing.
Works
Search Professor Caroline Knight’s works on UQ eSpace
2023
Conference Publication
Can hybrid work really offer the best of both worlds? Hybrid work design profiles: Antecedents and wellbeing outcomes
Knight, C., Olaru, D., Lee, J., McLarnon, M. and Parker, S. (2023). Can hybrid work really offer the best of both worlds? Hybrid work design profiles: Antecedents and wellbeing outcomes. Australia and New Zealand Academy of Management Conference (ANZAM), Wellington, New Zealand, 5-7 December 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
Building and sustaining work engagement for wellbeing and safety
Knight, Caroline (2023). Building and sustaining work engagement for wellbeing and safety. National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Sector Council Meeting, National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH), Cincinnati, OH, United States and Online, 28-29 September 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
Hybrid work design profiles: antecedents and wellbeing outcomes
Knight, Caroline, Olaru, Doina, Lee, Julie and Parker, Sharon K. (2023). Hybrid work design profiles: antecedents and wellbeing outcomes. 21st European Association of Work & Organizational Psychology (EAWOP) Congress, Katowice, Poland, 24-27 May 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
Why leadership relates to employee well-being: A meta-analysis of the specific role of motivational job characteristics
Knight, Caroline, Andrei, Daniela, Holman, David, Epitropaki, Olga, Schwarz, Maximiliano and Parker, Sharon K. (2023). Why leadership relates to employee well-being: A meta-analysis of the specific role of motivational job characteristics. 21st European Association of Work & Organizational Psychology (EAWOP) Congress, Katowice, Poland, 24-27 May 2023.
2023
Other Outputs
Annual Report 2022: Planning and Transport Research Centre
Briermann, S., Olaru, D., Knight, C., Smith, B., Reed, T. and Lee, J. (2023). Annual Report 2022: Planning and Transport Research Centre. Crawley, WA, Australia: Planning and Transport Research Centre (PATREC).
2023
Journal Article
Job demands, not resources, predict worsening psychological distress during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic
Knight, Caroline, Keller, Anita C. and Parker, Sharon K. (2023). Job demands, not resources, predict worsening psychological distress during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Work and Stress, 37 (1), 1-23. doi: 10.1080/02678373.2022.2117879
2022
Book Chapter
Work Design in the Contemporary Era
Knight, Caroline, Kaur, Sabreen and Parker, Sharon K. (2022). Work Design in the Contemporary Era. The Oxford Research Encyclopedia. (pp. 1-1) Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.013.353
2022
Journal Article
The loneliness of the hybrid worker
Knight, Caroline, Olaru, Doina, Lee, Julie Anne and Parker, Sharon K. (2022). The loneliness of the hybrid worker. MIT Sloan Management Review, 63 (4), 10-12.
2022
Journal Article
Understanding and shaping the future of work with self-determination theory
Gagné, Marylène, Parker, Sharon K., Griffin, Mark A., Dunlop, Patrick D., Knight, Caroline, Klonek, Florian E. and Parent-Rocheleau, Xavier (2022). Understanding and shaping the future of work with self-determination theory. Nature Reviews Psychology, 1 (7), 378-392. doi: 10.1038/s44159-022-00056-w
2022
Journal Article
The importance of relational work design characteristics: a person-centred approach
Knight, Caroline, McLarnon, Matthew J. W., Wenzel, Ramon and Parker, Sharon (2022). The importance of relational work design characteristics: a person-centred approach. Australian Journal of Management, 47 (4) 03128962211073021, 705-728. doi: 10.1177/03128962211073021
2021
Journal Article
When do job crafting interventions work? The moderating roles of workload, intervention intensity, and participation
Knight, Caroline, Tims, Maria, Gawke, Jason and Parker, Sharon K. (2021). When do job crafting interventions work? The moderating roles of workload, intervention intensity, and participation. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 124 103522, 1-20. doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103522
2021
Journal Article
How work redesign interventions affect performance: an evidence-based model from a systematic review
Knight, Caroline and Parker, Sharon K. (2021). How work redesign interventions affect performance: an evidence-based model from a systematic review. Human Relations, 74 (1), 69-104. doi: 10.1177/0018726719865604
2020
Other Outputs
How to Lead Flexible Work: A Guide to Successful Policy and Practice for Managers
Neumeier, L., Parker, S., Jorritsma, K. and Knight, C. (2020). How to Lead Flexible Work: A Guide to Successful Policy and Practice for Managers. Perth, WA Australia: Future of Work Insitute, Curtin University.
2020
Journal Article
Remote managers are having trust issues
Parker, Sharon K., Knight, Caroline and Keller, Anita (2020). Remote managers are having trust issues. Harvard Business Review.
2020
Journal Article
Servant leadership: a meta-analytic examination of incremental contribution, moderation, and mediation
Lee, Allan, Lyubovnikova, Joanne, Tian, Amy Wei and Knight, Caroline (2020). Servant leadership: a meta-analytic examination of incremental contribution, moderation, and mediation. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 93 (1), 1-44. doi: 10.1111/joop.12265
2020
Journal Article
Leadership, creativity and innovation: a meta-analytic review
Lee, Allan, Legood, Alison, Hughes, David, Tian, Amy Wei, Newman, Alexander and Knight, Caroline (2020). Leadership, creativity and innovation: a meta-analytic review. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 29 (1), 1-35. doi: 10.1080/1359432X.2019.1661837
2019
Journal Article
Work engagement interventions can be effective: a systematic review
Knight, Caroline, Patterson, Malcolm and Dawson, Jeremy (2019). Work engagement interventions can be effective: a systematic review. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 28 (3), 348-372. doi: 10.1080/1359432X.2019.1588887
2019
Journal Article
Selling volunteering or developing volunteers? Approaches to promoting sports volunteering
Nichols, Geoff, Hogg, Eddy, Knight, Caroline and Storr, Ryan (2019). Selling volunteering or developing volunteers? Approaches to promoting sports volunteering. Voluntary Sector Review, 10 (1), 3-18. doi: 10.1332/204080519X15478200125132
2019
Book Chapter
Job crafting: an individual strategy to develop oneself
Tims, Maria and Knight, Caroline (2019). Job crafting: an individual strategy to develop oneself. Creating psychologically healthy workplaces. (pp. 152-170) edited by Ronald J. Burke and Astrid M. Richardsen. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781788113427.00015
2019
Book Chapter
The changing face of work design research: Past, present, and future directions
Parker, Sharon K., Knight, Caroline and Ohly, Sandra (2019). The changing face of work design research: Past, present, and future directions. The Sage Handbook of Human Resource Management. (pp. 402-419) edited by Adrian Wilkinson, Nicolas Bacon, Scott Snell and David Lepak. London, United Kingdom: SAGE Publications. doi: 10.4135/9781529714852
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Caroline Knight is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
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Optimising hybrid work for improved wellbeing and performance
Examine how, why, and for whom hybrid work impacts wellbeing and performance, and evaluate workplace interventions to increase the effectiveness and beneficial outcomes of hybrid work
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Caroline Knight directly for media enquiries about:
- Flexible work
- Hybrid work
- Job quality
- Quality of work
- Remote work
- Wellbeing at work
- Working from home
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