DoctorAlbert Amankwaa

His research demonstrates that work quality is foundational to organisational performance and employee wellbeing, highlighting the role of leadership, psychological processes, and organisational embeddedness in shaping outcomes such as engagement, retention, and innovative behaviour. It also engages contemporary challenges including labour market inequities and emerging technological change, showing how inclusive work practices support sustained productivity and workforce participation while safeguarding employee wellbeing. Through multiple publications in UTAS Top Journal List outlets, SCImago Q1 journals, and ABDC A/A* ranked journals, his work advances foundational scholarship and policy-relevant agendas that foreground job quality, inclusion, and labour market equity, particularly in underrepresented regions. His empirical research demonstrates how leadership, psychological wellbeing, and organisational embeddedness shape employee outcomes—such as retention, engagement, and innovation—showing that productivity gains are strongest when grounded in positive employee experiences. Complementary research on workplace mistreatment and emerging challenges, including AI-driven labour disruption, provides practical, evidence-based strategies to improve working conditions, strengthen organisational resilience, and support workforce adaptation. This research program reflects UTAS’ productivity transition by demonstrating how inclusive, high-quality work supports sustainable economic growth, innovation, and workforce participation, particularly through reducing inequality and strengthening job quality. It also reflects the health transition by positioning employee wellbeing, dignity, and safe work environments as critical social determinants of health, contributing to healthier and more resilient individuals and communities. In addition, the program reflects the education transition by informing curriculum and skill development that prepares graduates to design inclusive, innovative, and productive workplaces, while supporting lifelong learning and workforce readiness. Collectively, this work advances SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and connects employee experience, organisational performance, and broader societal outcomes.

Dr Amankwaa's research also engages with policy and practice, addressing workforce participation, inclusion, and organisational conditions affecting employees, particularly in underrepresented contexts. In 2023, this work led to securing a AUD $148,379 Volunteering Australia commissioned project, through a multi-institutional collaboration with researchers from the University of Canberra and the University of Technology Sydney, to investigate barriers to volunteering among underrepresented groups, including First Nations peoples, people with disability, and newly arrived migrants. Within this project, he led the newly arrived migrants stream, overseeing research design, stakeholder engagement, and the delivery of applied outcomes. The project generated actionable, policy-relevant insights that informed inclusive volunteering strategies, organisational practice, and sector-wide frameworks. Findings were disseminated through sector reports, briefings, and practitioner-focused channels, including Volunteering Victoria, Community Work Australia, and the University of Canberra. This work directly advances UTAS’ productivity transition through improved workforce participation and inclusive economic engagement, the health transition by strengthening social connection and wellbeing, and the education transition through evidence-based practice and capacity building among community and sector stakeholders.