24 Jan 2018
Loughborough University PhD student to deliver keynote at international work performance and wellbeing conference
James Hewitt, a PhD student at the University, will be presenting a keynote at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting later this month.
Hewitt is currently researching for a PhD titled: ‘Exponential work: Wellbeing and performance in the digitally disrupted workplace. Could the same technologies that contribute to problems, also be part of the solution?’ supervised by Dr Stephan Bandelow and Dr Dale Esliger from the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences.
The study focuses on workers’ lifestyles, work patterns and their wellbeing and performance. It also considers how their use of digital technology influences their lives and what digital tools could be used to improve their wellbeing and work productivity.
He will be leading a session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on 25 January. The session will be about leading under pressure which will relate to Hewitt’s research and work with Hintsa Performance – a company that provides services to improve wellbeing and performance across a range of organisations including Formula 1.
In his keynote, Hewitt will propose the view that wellbeing is an essential resource for addressing the challenges of the hyper-connected world we live in. His research also suggests that in order to influence the wellbeing of others, leaders of organisations need to prioritise a culture of wellbeing in the workplace that is implemented from the top.
Of the keynote, James said:
“The aim of my keynote is to build on the growing body of evidence that suggests that knowledge workers need to look after themselves to perform at their best, and encourage the audience that they need to consider how to improve wellbeing. It also looks at how these workers can develop more sustainable approaches to performance, to position themselves and their organisations, to address the world’s biggest challenges.”
James will also be part of an interactive panel discussion at the event that will analyse and reflect on the different experiences of maintaining control and managing distractions in a high-pressure environment.