Search

Little is known about how leaders view their role in managing employee mental health (MH). In response, interviews were conducted with 26 Australian CEOs and senior leaders from the private, public...

The definition of individual resilience remains ambiguous. This article responds to that ambiguity by first deriving a definition of individual resilience from conservation of resources (COR) theory. Accordingly, to the extent individuals have sufficient resources and behave according to two key principles of COR theory, they will exhibit resilience in response to significant adversity. A second development builds upon the COR distinction between resources deployed in response to adversity which are resource-preserving as distinct from resource-enhancing, which generate what are here labeled acceptance resilience and strategic resilience, respectively. It is proposed that behaviors associated with acceptance resilience support relative continuity of environments, relationships, and life goals, with strategic resilience behaviors often involving changing environments, relationships, or life goals. Acceptance resilience is related to earlier COR understandings of resilience and relevant resources, while strategic resilience requires distinct or additional resources. Individuals demonstrating the two types of resilience will diverge in terms of openness to new experiences, persistence, loss aversion, and the valuation of future resources. It is further proposed that acceptance resilience is more common than strategic resilience and that organizations which find resilience valuable will tend to support acceptance resilience, in part because strategic resilience may generate turnover in response to adversity. The analysis addresses related issues, including coping, career change, burnout, as well as teams and organizations. Implications for theory, practice, and future research conclude the work.

The medical workforce in Australia is rapidly feminizing, with general practice (GP) seen as an attractive career choice for female doctors looking for greater work flexibility. However, there is evidence of increased female GP turnover, particularly among younger GPs. Drawing on interviews with a sample of 26 Australian female GPs, this study explores how the embodied nature of GP work and gendered organizational processes create inequality regimes founded on gendered normative expectations of GP work, leading to turnover intentions. Then, considering the literature on job crafting, we problematize the notion of employees proactively optimizing their work environment to show how some female GPs work within gender constraints to craft a sustainable medical career, with others failing. These findings contribute to our understanding of the embodied nature of work and as such may better inform both individual decisions and workforce planning policy to reduce GP turnover and sustain Australia's medical workforce.

(1) Background: We apply the Total Leadership approach to better understand how employees allocate their time across the domains of work, family, community, and self at three points: pre-, during, and post-COVID-19 restrictions. (2) Methods: The study employed a mixed methods design with qualitative and quantitative survey data from 106 Australian employees who worked from home during the pandemic. (3) Findings: Three categories of participants emerged: work-centric, family-centric, and self-centric. The results showed a reduction in time allocated to work during restrictions, an anticipated further reduction post-restriction, and significant increases in the family and self domains. Qualitative analyses confirmed the shift away from work and a divergence between those who preferred the integration of domains verses those who preferred a segmentation approach. (4) Implications: The Total Leadership approach is relevant to this shift in values and priorities away from the work domain, since it encourages employees and employers to take a holistic perspective on their lives. This rethinking could help to reduce burnout and employee turnover—which are particularly salient due to the ‘great resignation’—and could contribute to the sustainability of workforces, as organisations strive to retain and recruit employees who increasingly value work–life balance and wellbeing. (5) Originality: The application of the Total Leadership approach provides a novel theoretical foundation to investigate how employees allocate time across different domains of their post-COVID-19 lives.

Since the 1990s, the scale and speed of cross-border academic mobility has notably increased. Universities around the world are recruiting across national boundaries and increasingly employ a diverse and transnational academic workforce. Ferdman argues that working toward inclusion in diverse organizations (such as universities) can present many challenges and tensions and is complex and multifaceted, because of issues concerning safety, voice, authenticity, equity, and equality for people across multiple identity groups. This chapter draws on 17 semi-structured interviews with transnational academics from 11 countries employed by eight different universities across Australia to explore the workplace experiences of diversity and inclusion in terms of their voice and/or silence. The findings indicate that although the respondents believe in having constructive forms of voice in their workplace, they often reported that they were reluctant to speak up.

Drawing from work-life theory and the police literature, this research explores police officers’ work-life challenges by: (1) examining the relationship between role demands (at work, at home) and ...

Global work-life initiatives present unique challenges for HR departments in multinational enterprises (MNEs) because of the complexity of implementing policies that require sensitivity to local issues such as cultural traditions and legislation (e.g., Bardoel and De Cieri 2007; Scullion et al. 2007; Sumelius et al. 2008). However, discussion specific to work-life management in a global context is limited (e.g., Allen et al. 2010; Lewis et al. 2007). Amid unprecedented levels of global mergers, acquisitions and international growth, the challenge for HR professionals working in multinational enterprises is to define a global work/life strategy that establishes shared guidelines while allowing for local differences. Although there are a number of common issues faced by working women and men and their families, a global work-life strategy needs to reflect a course of action that is appropriate to the local environment. According to Spinks (2003) an effective family friendly strategy requires managers to be cognizant of a number of local factors that influence employees’ work and personal lives. These factors include the culture and tradition, the role of key stake-holders, public policies, community resources and infrastructure, and workplace practices and demo-graphics (Bardoel and De Cieri 2007).

Hybrid work models have rapidly become the most common work arrangement for many knowledge workers, affording them with improved work–life balance and greater levels of job satisfaction, but little research has been conducted to identify the different hybrid work models that are emerging, and the appropriate supports needed to drive sustainable improvement. This paper utilises primary data from a series of semi-structured interviews with senior Australian human resource (HR) managers, to identify a range of different approaches to hybrid work design, applying the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. Analyses of these findings have resulted in five key contributions: one being the identification of the most popular current hybrid work arrangements; the second being the key supporting pillars that are required to support successful hybrid work; the third identifies the infrastructure required to support these pillars; the fourth being a theoretic contribution that extends the existing academic literature in this field; and with the final contribution being an interpretation of the findings via COR theory. These contributions have significant implications for both scholars and human resource professionals, as organisations and academics strive to learn from the recent period of turbulence and develop sustainable improvements in performance and working conditions (SDG8), with improved support for employee health and wellbeing (SDG3), and gender equality (SDG5).

Background Implementing evidence into clinical practice is a key focus of healthcare improvements to reduce unwarranted variation. Dissemination of evidence-based recommendations and knowledge brokering have emerged as potential strategies to achieve evidence implementation by influencing resource allocation decisions. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of these two research implementation strategies to facilitate evidence-informed healthcare management decisions for the provision of inpatient weekend allied health services. Methods and findings This multicentre, single-blinded (data collection and analysis), three-group parallel cluster randomised controlled trial with concealed allocation was conducted in Australian and New Zealand hospitals between February 2018 and January 2020. Clustering and randomisation took place at the organisation level where weekend allied health staffing decisions were made (e.g., network of hospitals or single hospital). Hospital wards were nested within these decision-making structures. Three conditions were compared over a 12-month period: (1) usual practice waitlist control; (2) dissemination of written evidence-based practice recommendations; and (3) access to a webinar-based knowledge broker in addition to the recommendations. The primary outcome was the alignment of weekend allied health provision with practice recommendations at the cluster and ward levels, addressing the adoption, penetration, and fidelity to the recommendations. The secondary outcome was mean hospital length of stay at the ward level. Outcomes were collected at baseline and 12 months later. A total of 45 clusters (n = 833 wards) were randomised to either control (n = 15), recommendation (n = 16), or knowledge broker (n = 14) conditions. Four (9%) did not provide follow-up data, and no adverse events were recorded. No significant effect was found with either implementation strategy for the primary outcome at the cluster level (recommendation versus control β 18.11 [95% CI −8,721.81 to 8,758.02] p = 0.997; knowledge broker versus control β 1.24 [95% CI −6,992.60 to 6,995.07] p = 1.000; recommendation versus knowledge broker β −9.12 [95% CI −3,878.39 to 3,860.16] p = 0.996) or ward level (recommendation versus control β 0.01 [95% CI 0.74 to 0.75] p = 0.983; knowledge broker versus control β −0.12 [95% CI −0.54 to 0.30] p = 0.581; recommendation versus knowledge broker β −0.19 [−1.04 to 0.65] p = 0.651). There was no significant effect between strategies for the secondary outcome at ward level (recommendation versus control β 2.19 [95% CI −1.36 to 5.74] p = 0.219; knowledge broker versus control β −0.55 [95% CI −1.16 to 0.06] p = 0.075; recommendation versus knowledge broker β −3.75 [95% CI −8.33 to 0.82] p = 0.102). None of the control or knowledge broker clusters transitioned to partial or full alignment with the recommendations. Three (20%) of the clusters who only received the written recommendations transitioned from nonalignment to partial alignment. Limitations include underpowering at the cluster level sample due to the grouping of multiple geographically distinct hospitals to avoid contamination. Conclusions Owing to a lack of power at the cluster level, this trial was unable to identify a difference between the knowledge broker strategy and dissemination of recommendations compared with usual practice for the promotion of evidence-informed resource allocation to inpatient weekend allied health services. Future research is needed to determine the interactions between different implementation strategies and healthcare contexts when translating evidence into healthcare practice. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12618000029291., In a cluster randomized controlled implementation trial, Dr. Mitchell N Sarkies and colleagues examine the effectiveness of knowledge brokering and recommendation dissemination in influencing healthcare resource allocation decisions in Australia and New Zealand., Author summary Why was this study done? Healthcare delivery does not always reflect the most up-to-date research evidence. There are high levels of evidence to suggest that inpatient allied health services provided during weekends achieve greatest benefits in subacute rehabilitation wards. Most weekend allied health services are provided to acute general medical and surgical wards, where there is uncertain evidence of impact. Translation of evidence into practice is constrained by a limited understanding of which implementation strategies are most effective for specific settings. What did the researchers do and find? We conducted a cluster randomised controlled implementation trial to compare the effectiveness of two research implementation strategies across 132 hospitals in Australia and New Zealand. We provided hospital managers with either evidence-based weekend allied health practice recommendations or access to a knowledge broker in addition to the recommendations, over a 12-month period. Neither implementation strategy was able to be shown effective for ensuring better alignment of weekend allied health provision with practice recommendations; no impacts on hospital length of stay were identified. What do the findings mean? Evidence dissemination and knowledge brokering are thought to facilitate the translation of research evidence into practice. Our study was unable to find whether either of these strategies substantially influenced weekend allied health service decision-making by hospital managers. It is possible to study the impact of research implementation using robust trial designs; however, challenges achieving adequate statistical power are a barrier to these evaluations.

This longitudinal qualitative study examines staff experience of disinvestment from a service they are accustomed to providing to their patients. It took place alongside a disinvestment trial that measured the impact of the removal of weekend allied health services from acute wards at two hospitals. Data were gathered from repeated interviews and focus groups with 450 health care staff. We developed a grounded theory, which explains changes in staff perceptions over time and the key modifying factors. Staff appeared to experience disinvestment as loss; a key difference to other operational changes. Early staff experiences of disinvestment were primarily negative, but evolved with time and change-management strategies such as the provision of data, clear and persistent communication approaches, and forums where the big picture context of the disinvestment was robustly discussed. These allowed the disinvestment trial to be successfully implemented at two health services, with high compliance with the research protocol.

Aim The current study aimed to identify and understand the reasons why allied health professionals think certain areas of healthcare service provision are a high priority for implementation of evidence into practice. Methods A cross-sectional online survey using open-ended questions was conducted between April and May 2018 to identify potential areas for practice change and characterize how participants justified identified areas of priority. Eligible participants were invited by email and included allied health professionals from public or private health services, governance agencies and universities across Australia. Responses were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results There were 149 surveys commenced with 146 respondents completing the survey. Of the 146 respondents, 128 were female, 17 male and one unknown. Most of the respondents were between 40 and 49 years old and had a master's degree. In total respondents from more than 13 different professions completed the survey with 110 respondents having more than 10 years of experience in allied health. Ten themes emerged outlining the main reasons respondents felt that their nominated areas of practice change were a high priority for action. These included closing gaps between practice and policy/recommendation/guideline; closing research evidence to practice gaps; improving access to services; perceived cost-effectiveness of service delivery; improving effectiveness of allied health services; current imbalance between service supply and demand; amount of resources involved in service delivery; extent of the health problem; areas of allied health care futility; and equality of workload across allied health professionals. Conclusion The current research provides insights into the decision-making processes of allied health professionals when prioritizing areas of clinical practice for implementation of evidence into practice. Despite an appetite for evidence-based practice, behaviour change was not always implemented in a consistent and systematic manner. There was variability in the type and application of evidence used by allied health professionals to support clinical practice. Whether a more systematic approach to research translation fosters evidence uptake awaits confirmation. Also awaiting investigation are the economic and societal impacts of consistently implementing research-informed clinical decision-making.

BACKGROUND Health care services must deliver high-quality, evidence-based care that represents sound value. Disinvestment is the process of withdrawing resources from any existing health care practices that deliver low gain for their cost and reallocating these toward practices that are more effective, efficient, and cost-effective, thus benefiting patients and the community. PURPOSE This is the first review to examine the responses of health care staff to disinvestment and investigate the factors that increase the likelihood of these staff accepting disinvestment or reallocation of resources from the health services they provide. METHODS We conducted a systematic search of five electronic databases using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) framework. A critical appraisal process of the quality of the included studies was performed by two authors. We undertook a thematic synthesis of the qualitative data to develop an overarching narrative. RESULTS Twelve studies were identified for synthesis and all found that the disinvestment process was challenging and controversial for those health care staff involved. Negative staff reactions to disinvestment identified were anxiety, disempowerment, distrust, and feelings of being dismissed and disrespected. Engagement with disinvestment was observed when staff were invited to participate in a process they considered transparent and in the best interests of the community. PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS Health care staff have a strong professional identity associated with autonomy in their decision making in the provision of health care services. Disinvestment from a service that health care staff can usually choose to provide threatens this identity. Engaging clinical champions to lead change, using rigorous patient outcome data, and transparent decision-making processes may assist health care staff to embrace a new identity as innovators and accept disinvestment in low-value health care.

BackgroundLittle is known about gender differences in general practitioner (GP) turnover. It is important to understand potential divergence given both the feminization of the Australian GP workforce and projected shortages of GPs.ObjectiveThere is increasing evidence that national health outcomes are related to the extent to which health care systems incorporate high quality primary care. Quality primary care is, in turn reliant on a stable general practice (GP) workforce. With the increasing feminization of medical schools, we sought to identify correlates of turnover in the GP workforce, separately for women and men, focusing particularly on part-time employment and child-rearing, and distinguishing effects related to either planned or unplanned turnover.MethodsAnnual responses from cohorts of at least 1900 women GPs and 2000 men GPs are used for up to eight waves of the Medicine in Australia—Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) longitudinal survey of doctors. Descriptive and bivariate correlations are provided. Random effects ordered logit is applied to dependent variables for turnover intentions measuring intent to “leave direct care” or “leave medicine”. A behavioral measure of turnover is used in random effects logit regressions, with the exclusion or inclusion of the confounding intentions variables revealing correlates of unplanned or planned turnover.ResultsPart-time employment is associated with turnover intentions among both women (84% or 94% increase in the odds ratios or ORs) and particularly men (414% or 672%), and with actual turnover for women (150% or 49%) and for men (160% or 107%). Women GPs engage in more unplanned turnover than men: they are 85% more likely to engage in turnover after controlling for intentions. Unplanned turnover is concentrated among women below 40 years of age and with young children, even though both groups report below average turnover intentions.ConclusionAlthough further studies are needed to identify specific factors associated with GP turnover among women, the analysis highlights the need to focus on women GPs who are either young or have young children. Given the substantial personal and social investment required to produce GPs, it is wasteful to lose so many young women early in their careers.

Background Implementation research is increasingly being recognised for optimising the outcomes of clinical practice. Frequently, the benefits of new evidence are not implemented due to the difficulties applying traditional research methodologies to implementation settings. Randomised controlled trials are not always practical for the implementation phase of knowledge transfer, as differences between individual and organisational readiness for change combined with small sample sizes can lead to imbalances in factors that impede or facilitate change between intervention and control groups. Within-cluster repeated measure designs could control for variance between intervention and control groups by allowing the same clusters to receive a sequence of conditions. Although in implementation settings, they can contaminate the intervention and control groups after the initial exposure to interventions. We propose the novel application of counterbalanced design to implementation research where repeated measures are employed through crossover, but contamination is averted by counterbalancing different health contexts in which to test the implementation strategy. Methods In a counterbalanced implementation study, the implementation strategy (independent variable) has two or more levels evaluated across an equivalent number of health contexts (e.g. community-acquired pneumonia and nutrition for critically ill patients) using the same outcome (dependent variable). This design limits each cluster to one distinct strategy related to one specific context, and therefore does not overburden any cluster to more than one focussed implementation strategy for a particular outcome, and provides a ready-made control comparison, holding fixed. The different levels of the independent variable can be delivered concurrently because each level uses a different health context within each cluster to avoid the effect of treatment contamination from exposure to the intervention or control condition. Results An example application of the counterbalanced implementation design is presented in a hypothetical study to demonstrate the comparison of ‘video-based’ and ‘written-based’ evidence summary research implementation strategies for changing clinical practice in community-acquired pneumonia and nutrition in critically ill patient health contexts. Conclusion A counterbalanced implementation study design provides a promising model for concurrently investigating the success of research implementation strategies across multiple health context areas such as community-acquired pneumonia and nutrition for critically ill patients. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13012-019-0896-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

With increased participation in telework expected to continue, to support emerging hybrid work models in the aftermath of the Covid-19, it is important to consider the long-term impact this practice could have on sustainability outcomes. This paper describes a systematic review of 113 academic journal articles and identifies associations between telework and sustainability, explored by previous researchers. Those associations were categorized and discussed, based on their contributions to different United Nations Social Development Goals. Most of research was found to focus on countries classified as having a very high human development index status, and regions with a low, medium or high human development index, largely ignored. The SWOT matrix technique was used to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses identified in the current literature as well as threats and opportunities for future work. This can help to ensure policy coherence and that strategies to promote one outcome, such as economic productivity improvements, does not undermine another, such as improved health. Practical implications and potential research opportunities were identified across a range of SDG impact areas, including good health and well-being, gender equality, reduced inequality, climate mitigation, sustainable cities and resilient communities. On the whole, our impression is that increased rates of telework present an important opportunity to improve sustainability outcomes, however, it will be important that integrated and holistic policy is developed that mitigates key risks.

In this paper we describe how a mid-sized business faculty in Australia relaunched its Master’s in Human Resource Management program in 2019. In a bid to create a niche for its program, the faculty...

Background Disinvestment from inefficient health services may be a potential solution to rising healthcare costs, but there has been poor uptake of disinvestment recommendations. This Australian study aims to understand how health professionals react when confronted with a plan to disinvest from a health service they previously provided to their patients. Methods This qualitative study took place prior to the disinvestment phase of a trial which removed weekend allied health services from acute hospital wards, to evaluate the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of the service. Observations and focus groups were used to collect data from 156 participants which was analysed thematically. Results Initial reactions to the disinvestment were almost universally negative, with staff extremely concerned about the impact on the safety and quality of patient care and planning ways to circumvent the trial. Removal of existing services was perceived as a loss and created a direct threat to some clinicians’ professional identity. With time, discussion, and understanding of the project’s context, some staff moved towards acceptance and perceived the trial as an opportunity, particularly given the service was to be reinstated after the disinvestment. Conclusion Clinicians and health service managers are protective of the services they deliver and can create barriers to disinvestment. Even when services are removed to ascertain their value, health professionals may continue to provide services to their patients. Measuring the impact of the disinvestment may assist staff to accept the removal of a service.

Background It is widely acknowledged that health policy and practice do not always reflect current research evidence. Whether knowledge transfer from research to practice is more successful when specific implementation approaches are used remains unclear. A model to assist engagement of allied health managers and clinicians with research implementation could involve disseminating evidence-based policy recommendations, along with the use of knowledge brokers. We developed such a model to aid decision-making for the provision of weekend allied health services. This protocol outlines the design and methods for a multi-centre cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate the success of research implementation strategies to promote evidence-informed weekend allied health resource allocation decisions, especially in hospital managers. Methods This multi-centre study will be a three-group parallel cluster randomised controlled trial. Allied health managers from Australian and New Zealand hospitals will be randomised to receive either (1) an evidence-based policy recommendation document to guide weekend allied health resource allocation decisions, (2) the same policy recommendation document with support from a knowledge broker to help implement weekend allied health policy recommendations, or (3) a usual practice control group. The primary outcome will be alignment of weekend allied health service provision with policy recommendations. This will be measured by the number of allied health service events (occasions of service) occurring on weekends as a proportion of total allied health service events for the relevant hospital wards at baseline and 12-month follow-up. Discussion Evidence-based policy recommendation documents communicate key research findings in an accessible format. This comparatively low-cost research implementation strategy could be combined with using a knowledge broker to work collaboratively with decision-makers to promote knowledge transfer. The results will assist managers to make decisions on resource allocation, based on evidence. More generally, the findings will inform the development of an allied health model for translating research into practice. Trial registration This trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) (ACTRN12618000029291). Universal Trial Number (UTN): U1111-1205-2621. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13012-018-0752-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Contains fulltext : 166168.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) This study investigates how nation-level cultural values (‘individualism’ and ‘collectivism’) and intra-organizational task control mechanisms influence the level of organizations’ use of formal telework practices. Employing a multi-level analysis on survey data (2009/10), including 1577 organizations within 18 nations, we found that ‘high use of formal telework practices in organizations’ was more likely when: (1) organizations operated in nations characterized by strong national values; and when they employed (2) ‘hard’ indirect controls (i.e. individual performance-related pay and 360º performance-evaluations). High telework use was less likely when organizations employed direct controls (i.e. higher proportions of managers) and ‘soft’ indirect controls (i.e. higher proportions of professionals). ‘Low use of formal telework practices’ was more likely when organizations employed ‘soft’ indirect controls. Our findings suggest that national cultural values can function as ‘soft’ indirect controls to mitigate the ‘telework risk’ of high levels of telework practices. Internal ‘soft’ task controls only sufficed for managing low levels of telework practices. We discuss the smart and dark sides of telework and how these relate to the management of telework practice. Implications for future telework research and practices are discussed.

Global work–life initiatives present unique challenges for HR departments in multinational enterprises (MNEs) because of the complexity of implementing policies that require sensitivity to local issues such as cultural traditions and legislation. A tension-centered approach to analyzing these complexities, not utilized in previous research on the topic, is applied here. Three generic sources of tensions are developed: strategic/policy versus operational considerations, centralization versus decentralization and contextual/institutional versus organizational demands. Earlier research yields four potential responses to tensions: opposition, spatial separation, temporal separation and synthesis, with a fifth option added for no recognition of tension. The framework is applied to global work–life initiatives using data from 27 qualitative interviews with regional and global HR managers employed by 13 MNEs. There is evidence supporting the prevalence of each of the three generic sources of and five responses t...

This chapter outlines the major contextual conditions affecting the work-family (W-F) interface in Australia, including demographics and the household, women and work, the intersection of work and family, and legal changes over time. It also outlines that Australian research pertinent to work and family conflict (WFC) is summarized in terms of antecedents and various causal models, as well as limited studies of W-F enhancement. By the turn of the 21st century, the Australian government had put in place few explicit legislative mechanisms to reduce WFC. In terms of industry, H. Lingard and V. Francis, found that men construction employees working on-site reported significantly higher levels of WIF conflict than those located at a regional or head office, but that no such differences exist for women. Relatedly, Lingard et al. found that the combination of high work time demands and work time control in the construction industry contributed to W-F enrichment.

This chapter overviews the key findings from recent cross-national work-life research and then introduces the cultural, institutional, and labor force variables used for contextualizing cross-national comparisons in the present study. It provides the multidimensional information about the national contexts in each country. The chapter identifies important similarities and differences between countries in the study and determines the utility of clustering countries based on global composite measures of human development, gender inequality, individualism-collectivism, and observed patterns of female employment. It examines how these factors, embedded in cross-national comparisons, are related to employees' use of employer-provided work-life policies and programs; measures of WFC, job satisfaction, and intent to turnover; and to employees' satisfaction with government and organizational supports. Among those who used these policies, women were significantly more likely to say that flexible scheduling, reduced work hours, telecommuting, emergency absence policies, extended maternity/parental leave, and access to on-site or near-site health facilities were helpful for improving their work-family (W-F) balance.

Recently there has been growing attention paid by practitioners to the need for effective measurement of the contribution of work-life management initiatives to both financial and nonfinancial performance objectives and to organizational effectiveness overall. We review a range of performance indicators, criteria, and indices that are used in a variety of countries to measure the performance of work-life initiatives. Using insights from research as a theoretical foundation, we present a framework for organizations to use when developing metrics for work-life measurement that comprise the four dimensions of planning and alignment, customization, supportive culture, and demonstrated value. Finally, we offer recommendations for research and practice related to measurement of work-life initiatives to assist scholars, managers, employees, and communities

Given turbulent economic times, the concept of employee resilience is receiving increasing attention in many organisations. This paper brings the discussion of employee resilience into the field of human resource management (HRM). We explore the foundations of resilience in theories of positive psychology and the conservation of resources (COR); we discuss its relevance for HRM and develop a set of testable hypotheses to guide future research. The first key finding of this paper is that the concept of resilience can be developed from strong theoretical foundations. Second, a coherent set of resilience-enhancing HR practices have the potential to contribute to employees’ psychological capital, attitudes and behaviour, and to organisational performance not only in turbulent circumstances but also during periods of relative calm. Given the theoretical framing, formal resilience training should be viewed as a single component of a broader, coherent set of resilience-enhancing HR practices.

Background Health services that operate 7 days per week are under pressure to show the increased cost of providing weekend services can be measured in improved patient outcomes. The evidence for weekend allied health services in acute medical and surgical wards is weak and there is wide variation between the services offered at different hospitals. Methods This qualitative study was undertaken during a multi-site stepped wedge randomised controlled trial involving twelve acute medical and surgical wards from two Australian hospitals, in which weekend allied health services were removed before being reinstated with a stakeholder driven model. In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-two staff responsible for managing weekend services at the involved hospitals. Participants were asked about their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of providing a weekend allied health service. Results Managers perceive the services improve patient flow and quality of care and reduce adverse incidents, such as falls and intensive care admissions. They also highlighted the challenges involved in planning, staffing and managing these services and the uncertainties about how to provide it most effectively. Conclusions Rising healthcare costs provide opportunity for public and professional debate about the most effective way of providing weekend allied health care services, particularly when health services provide limited other weekend services. Some managers perceived weekend allied health services to improve patient quality of care, but without studies which show these services on acute medical and surgical wards clearly change patient outcomes or provide health economic gains, these resources may need to be redirected. The resources may be better spent in areas with clear evidence to show the addition of weekend allied health services improves patient outcomes, such as on acute assess units and rehabilitation wards.

Background: An aging population has increased the prevalence of multigenerational caregiving (MGC), defined as unpaid care for an adult while having a dependent child in the household. Policymakers are simultaneously promoting labor force attachment in response to population aging, which may conflict with MGC status. Objective: This research provides estimates of the probability of MGC status and its relationship to labor force attachment. Methods: A balanced panel of respondents from nine waves (2005−2013) of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey data has been used to estimate point-in-time and lifetime probabilities of MGC status for women and for men, and rates of labor force participation and part-time employment prior to, during, and after MGC status. Results: Few adult women (2.3Š) and men (1.1Š) report MGC status at any point in time. Estimated lifetime probabilities of MGC status are 57.1Š for women and 34.6Š for men, and rates are higher for women and men out of the labor force pre-MGC status. Comparing pre- and post-MGC periods, women's labor force participation rises by an estimated 9 percentage points, mainly due to an increase in part-time employment. Conclusions: A majority of Australian women and many Australian men can expect to take on multigenerational caregiving responsibilities during their lifetime. While long-term labor force participation is not reduced by these responsibilities, they may increase the concentration of women in part-time employment. Contribution: Prior studies capturing MGC status are limited by age, gender, or are not longitudinal and our research note attempts to broaden our understanding of the impact of carer status.

This study uses the ‘family time economies’ concept for a nuanced investigation of family work-care experiences in 20 Australian nursing families. The family time economy captures information on the management and coordination of work and care responsibilities in families. Our study investigates how nurses were utilizing nursing flexibility to support time for caring for their families. We report on couple interview research which offered important insights into how shift work and family time are described and negotiated between partners caring for children. The study shows that the complex work schedules generated by shift work are reflected in domestic life, as nurses and their partners use available employment flexibility to ensure they have time for family care. The ‘taylorized’ allotment of time within the family competed with the desire to make, and preserve, free and unstructured family time, reflecting the incursion of, and resistance to, industrial temporalities in the familial sphere.

Translating global policy into local practice presents a substantial challenge for the human resource (HR) function in many multinational corporations (MNCs). We present the findings of interviews conducted with HR and Diversity managers to explore the ways in which eight MNCs manage work–life issues, with particular focus on the dynamic markets in China and Southeast Asia. Further, we explore how the competing global and local demands for work–life initiatives are managed in MNCs operating in Asia and identify themes that have important implications for managers and employees. We conclude that the competition for talent in Asia highlights the potential for work–life policies to serve as a tool to attract and retain employees.

While work—family conflict has received much attention in the literature, there is a dearth of empirical evidence about work—family positive spillover. Further, we have little understanding of positive spillover in an Australian setting. Using structural equation modelling, we tested positive spillover on 420 Australian public and private sector employees, and found work—family positive spillover was negatively associated with psychological distress and turnover intentions, while family—work positive spillover was negatively linked with psychological distress, and positively linked with family satisfaction. The findings indicated that positive spillover had the greatest influence on outcomes associated with the same domain, for example positive spillover from the workplace and turnover intentions. The findings support the notion that not all work and family experiences are negative, and experiences from the work and from the home can improve outcomes both inside and outside the workplace.

As many organisations and employees seek ways to better manage the tensions between work and other life demands, there has been a growing body of research in the area of work—family conflict and work—life issues. Despite the recent surge in research and practice addressing work—life issues, there has been no comprehensive review identifying where Australia and New Zealand stand in terms of work—life research. This paper addresses this issue with a review of research conducted in Australia and New Zealand between 2004 and 2007. Our review identifies the major themes and research methods that have dominated this research and discusses the implications for future research, policy and management in this field.

Research in human resource management has advocated the development of a systematic process of measurement that enables managers to obtain and evaluate evidence about the performance of work–life initiatives, in both financial and non-financial terms. We apply the resource-based view of the firm, within the context of strategic human resource management literature, and conduct qualitative research in focus groups with human resource professionals and managers from 27 medium to large organisations operating in Australia. Our research explores what organisations are currently measuring with regard to work–life outcomes, how they are measuring it, and what they would like to measure. Integrating the practitioners' perspective with academic literature, we develop a framework of measurement for work–life initiatives.

Part-time work is an international phenomenon. Many western countries show similar patterns to Australia, with a significant increase in part-time work in the last twenty to twenty-five years. In Australia, part-time work has developed some unique features, particularly as it often involves lower wages and poor conditions. Part-time employees in Australia are often excluded from human resource development (HRD) activities such as training and career tracks provided to full-time workers. The experience of particular Australian organizations illustrates possible avenues for quality part-time work. This paper examines practical examples of quality part-time work in eight Australian organizations across five industries (nursing, hospitality, retail, local government and the legal profession). Using case study research, the paper discusses the dimensions of quality part-time work in different industry and occupational contexts from an HRD perspective.

This study uses qualitative data gathered from focus group interviews of 76 participants to investigate the factors that influence employees' decisions to use or not use work–family policies in an Australian university. The focus group data identified a number of barriers that limit the use of work–family policies including lack of communication about the policies, high workloads, management attitudes, career repercussions, influence of peers, and administrative processes. This study reinforces the notion that organisational commitment to an environment that supports work and family is not merely about providing policies for their symbolic value, but is also about creating a workplace culture that supports and encourages the use of the policies.

This article demonstrates how the system archetype “drifting goals” can be used in the classroom to explore ethical dilemmas. System archetypes provide a framework that shifts the focus from seeing ethical dilemmas as stemming solely from the acts of individuals to exploring the systemic structures that are responsible for generic patterns of behavior over time. The use of a system archetype in the classroom is an important pedagogical approach and communication device to encourage systemic thinking. The drifting goals archetype exposes students to new ways of thinking about ethical problems and the structures that create them.

This paper discusses the use of an experiential pedagogy based on two systems thinking tools that can be incorporated in the teaching of organizational behavior (OB) concepts and case studies. It is contended that combining causal loop diagramming techniques and the application of Senge's archetypes provides useful tools in assisting students to understand interdependencies, difficulties of implementation, impacts of assumptions, and provide further insights into OB concepts. This paper demonstrates the insights that these systems thinking tools can provide by using the “Success to the successful” archetype as an example.

Worklife balance: The agency and capabilities gap edited by Barbara Hobson uses Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach as a conceptual framework to apply theoretical insights into a range of issues re...

Work-life issues are a substantial concern for managers and employees in many multinational corporations (MNCs), as there are many challenges related to the need for MNCs to balance global policy guidelines with responsiveness to regional and local differences. Drawing on recent empirical advances, we offer a framework and a set of broad research questions to guide future scholarship in work-life management in MNCs. The framework identifies important external and organisational factors that influence the HRM function and specifically work-life policies and practices, in MNCs. Employee responses to work-life practices are proposed to mediate the relationship with the organisation’s social and financial performance. Avenues for future research are discussed.