Healthy workgroups for healthy work places.

New research has identified that employees feel more supported and in control at work the more they identify with their workgroup and their supervisor. The research is being conducted by Suzi Keser from the Department of Psychology. The results were based on survey responses from over 600 employees, including managers, professionals, and administrative clerks, from a large workplace based in the ACT. The research identified that supervisor support as well as work demands and control were key workplace factors in stress and depression risk. Ms Keser said that supportive supervisors were rated as being effective at promoting team work while being attentive and responsive to the needs of individual employees. "The study also found that employees were more likely to rate their supervisor as supportive if the supervisor was seen as representing the team's identity and being a 'part of the team', rather than a unique or different from team members," she said. "Employees' experience of this identity-based leadership was not only linked to higher ratings of support, but also to lower ratings of stress.