A new fascinating study by the Centre for Work + Life (University of South Australia) sheds light on the link between home, work and community. The study is a comprehensive (four separate reports) look at how decisions about work are influenced by what happens at home and the wider community. As Dr Pip Williams, Project manager of the report, says: “Planning decisions about work and housing cannot be expressed independently of each other.”

Some interesting tidbits from the study:

“Not working‟ does not mean that you are not linked to the labour market. Firstly, people currently not in  paid work – for example, new mothers, full-time students or retired grandparents – are in close relationship to people who are in work: their partners, friends and adult children”

Work affects life through more than just having a job‟. For good work, home and community outcomes, people need access to a labour market that has depth: that is, offers a variety of job choices, and preferably some occupational depth and breadth.

The growth in participation in paid work is – by definition – accompanied by growth in commuting. Patterns of travel, concern about time wasted in commuting, the cost, quality and accessibility of public transport, not surprisingly, emerge as important concerns.

What makes a good job?
The report also looked at what makes a good job. 

• A good boss: who listens and responds to request for flexibility;
• Working conditions and policies that make flexibility accessible to workers;
• Good leave arrangements;
• Support for learning and education;
• Work arrangements that fit well with care options;
• Jobs that do not demand long hours, and do not overload workers;
• Partners who do not work long hours;
• Partners who share domestic work and care;
• Being married to a tradesman (who has contained hours) rather than a chef, engineer, manager or IT professional;
• Travelling to work with kids or partner;
• Jobs that do not involve long commutes.

The study is rich in data and offer lot of insights into how decisions about a job is shaped.

Dr. Pip Williams interview on ABC (Podcast)

Average job tenure is seven years in Australia, easily the lowest amongst developed economies.

Why is this so?

The author of a new report – Australia at Work – highlighted various likely factors, but honed in one factor:

“In terms of an employee deciding to leave, the critical determinant will be whether they think they can get a better job elsewhere; and their concept of ‘better’ might relate to, among other things: job security, pay, relations with colleagues, working arrangements, geographical location, use of skills, and development opportunities. Many of these things can be addressed in the employee’s current job if they have a ‘voice’ to bring attention to the issue and have it addressed. Freeman and Medoff’s (1984) ‘exit-voice’ asserts that employees who do not have a ‘voice’ in having their complaints redressed, either by themselves or someone else, end up leaving the workplace altogether.”

For an employee, it’s not surprising, that having a ‘voice’ is important. Being heard is part and parcel of being human. For an employer, no doubt, listening is paramount.

(On another note, low job tenure explains to a degree the high penetration rate of recruitment firms in Australia. The more fluid the labour market, the more the demand for third-party recruiters. Opponents of contingency style of recruitment failed to realised that much of its demand is driven by clients)

A new research by Australia Institute revealed the nature and extent of overtime work in Australia.

Some of the highlights of the research:

• A typical full-time employee works 70 minutes of unpaid overtime a day, amounting to 2.14 billion hours annually and gifting $72 billion to employers.
• Full-time employees work more unpaid overtime then anyone else (table 2)
• 50% of white-collared workers experienced unpaid overtime, compared to 24.2% for blue collared workers. (table 2)
• Male employees (49.7%) worked more unpaid overtime than their female counterparts (41%)
• Older and high-income earners work more unpaid overtime (table 5)
• Workplace culture is a contributing factor with 44% who work unpaid overtime saying that it is ‘compulsory’ or ‘expected’ (table 6)

What’s interesting is the fact that majority of workers (63.4%) would choose to work overtime because they have a strong sense of commitment and duty to their job (table 8).  In other words, many Australians are happy to work overtime without getting paid. Most companies focus a lot on remuneration to motivate staff, perhaps altruism is underestimated.

The report (pdf) is a worthy read.

It’s common knowledge that workplace disengagement is rife in organisations across Australia. What can an employer do?

Gallup recommends employees be asked 12 questions, as follows: 

• Do you know what is expected of you at work?
• Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?
• At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
• In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
• Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
• Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
• At work, do your opinions seem to count?
• Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
• Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
• Do you have a best friend at work?
• In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
• In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

The argument goes – the higher an employee score on the 12 questions the better the performance.

The real meat of the argument is that questions be asked in the first place (‘how are you?’ works well with me). The act of asking encourage two-way interactions; any day that is better than a rigid ‘do as I say’ style. 

It seems to me that the answer to many workplace problems begins with asking questions and listening.

Are you asking questions?

Australians are a busy lot.

Majority (69%) admit to leading busy professional lives (second only to Americans).

As advances in technology continues unabated, the ‘always on’ lifestyle becomes more and more entrenched in our every day lives. Which, one would thought, would be viewed as a negative development. Surprisingly, a study by Frost & Sullivan found Australians professionals do not mind the 24/7 lifestyle. In fact, tools which rendered them to be always connected are credited for enhancing work-life balance, freedom, time-management and getting things done.

Titled ‘Meetings Around the World II”, the Frost & Sullivan study also found that Australian organisations adopt technology quickly in work environments. In fact, 59% indicated they are open to trying new ways to communicate. If you can read beyond the fact that the study is sponsored by CISCO and Verizon , two organisations who stands to benefit from increasing adoption of new collaboration tools, the study is actually a very insightful look at rapidly changing workplaces and individual work styles.

How has technology changed your work lifestyle?