Helena Nguyen

Professor and Co-Director
The University of Sydney Business School

Helena Nguyen is a Professor and Co-Director of the Body, Heart and Mind in Business Research Group at the University of Sydney Business School. She is also Associate Editor of the Australian Journal of Management. Helena’s major area of research expertise is in the area of emotions at work and employees’ health and wellbeing. Her research aims to improve the lives of employees and the effectiveness of organisations by examining the factors that facilitate well-being and job performance. She has over 15 years of experience conducting high quality research with organisations at all levels – federal, state, and local (e.g., NSW Ministry of Health; National Mental Health Commission; Waverley Council; North Sydney Council), across industries (aviation, health care, law), publicly listed, private business (e.g., DDI Consulting, DLA Piper), and non-for-profit (e.g., Schizophrenia Foundation). Since 2005, she has collaborated with over 20 healthcare facilities in NSW conducting over 25 action research projects involving over 10,000 participants. Her research findings have been translated to inform significant workplace change, including ongoing investments in new role creations, staff well-being programs, leadership development and work redesign. She is the recipient of several prestigious national and international awards and grants, such as Australian Research Council, NHMRC, NSW Health, St Louis Templeton Foundation, the University of Sydney Business School Early Career Researcher Award (2015), University of Sydney Business School Research Engagement Award (2016), the University of Sydney Brown Prize (2019), and most recently (as part of a team including Professor Sharon Parker and A/Professor Anya Johnson), the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) 2020 Award for Innovation and Excellence in Research.

From this author

Inclusive and workplace acceptance of refugees
Partnering for refugee employment

When considering their talent pipelines, few companies think outside-of-the-box. Most refugees flourish in the workplace, and so do the businesses that hire them.

SDG 16
Institutional investors demand a more sustainable capitalism

Honey gathering is a solitary job in Indigenous communities. The collector then shares the honey with their community but refrains from joining in the honey feast themself. The idea is that the gathering is not about their gratification, it’s about their contribution to the collective.  

SDG15 Bushfires
Optimisation model as a guide to burning forests to save forests

Setting fire to parts of a forest to save it might seem counterintuitive to urban communities. There is no equivalent of torching a few streets to protect a suburb. However, amongst First Nations people in Australia, hazard reduction burning is a well-established practice.

SDG13 - coal mining
Net zero now – it’s the economy AND the planet

In Australia, as elsewhere, the climate wars have focused on the climate versus jobs dichotomy. Yet while Australia remains highly dependent on fossil fuel extraction for its national economic prosperity it has also become increasingly unequal in its distribution of that wealth.