...Challenges faced by Australian organisations and employees due to the pervasiveness of family friendly work policies. An explanation, using real organisations to illustrate the implications, of family friendly work policies for Strategic Human Resource Management and Recruitment Practices. Australian organisations and employees are faced by many different challenges in today’s modern society. Australian organisations have set out family friendly work policies in order to adapt and cope with these challenges. The external environment of an organisation has led to the increased need for the implementation of family friendly policies within the workplace, issues such as an ageing population and skills shortages need to be addressed by specific policies. The growth and demand placed on employees to increase their working hours, means that there is an increased conflict with their family, work and life choices, this has resulted in the work/life balance being dramatically one-sided. The need to implement family friendly policies into the work environment has significant implications for the strategic human resource management teams. There are many internal and external factors which affect the organisations strategy when making decisions in relation to its policies. ANZ, Telstra and Westpac are just three of the major organisations within Australia who have implemented family friendly work policies. These policies have significant implications for recruitment practices within...
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...SOCIETY FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SHRM Research ❶y❸❹ 2003 SHRM®Research Quarterly Abstract In organizations and on the home front, the challenge of work/life balance is rising to the top of many employers’ and employees’ consciousness. In today’s fast-paced society, human resource professionals seek options to positively impact the bottom line of their companies, improve employee morale, retain employees with valuable company knowledge, and keep pace with workplace trends. This article provides human resource professionals with an historical perspective, data and possible solutions—for organizations and employees alike—to work/life balance. Three factors—global competition, personal lives/family values, and an aging workforce— present challenges that exacerbate work/life balance. This article offers the perspective that human resource professionals can assist their companies to capitalize on these factors by using work/life initiatives to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Work/Life Balance: Challenges and Solutions I n a society filled with conflicting responsibilities and commitments, work/life balance has become a predominant issue in the workplace. Three major factors contribute to the interest in, and the importance of, serious consideration of work/life balance: 1) global competition; 2) renewed interest in personal lives/ family values; and 3) an aging workforce. Research suggests that forward-thinking human resource professionals...
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...International Journal of Hospitality Management 29 (2010) 720–728 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Hospitality Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhosman Does workplace fun matter? Developing a useable typology of workplace fun in a qualitative study Simon C.H. Chan ∗ Department of Management and Marketing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong a r t i c l e Keywords: Workplace fun Useable typology Qualitative study Hospitality industry i n f o a b s t r a c t A fun work environment is a positive atmosphere for organizations to attract and retain employees. This study identifies the significant factors of workplace fun and develops a useable typology of workplace fun activities in the hospitality industry. A qualitative case study with grounded theory approach was used by conducting interviews with ten hotel human resource (HR) practitioners in the People’s Republic of China. The results identified four “S”s of workplace fun factors, namely: (1) Staff-oriented workplace fun, (2) Supervisor-oriented workplace fun, (3) Social-oriented workplace fun, and (4) Strategy-oriented workplace fun. This study provides a roadmap to guide future hospitality management research in workplace fun domain. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction As the jargon goes, “Happy Employees Produce Happy Customers.” (Wong and Ko, 2009, p. 196) There is a great challenge for organizations to attract...
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...Program | Overview The following is a proposal to conduct a feasibility study into the need for, and the benefits of, instituting an employee work/life balance program for Brahm Industries. This proposal contains background on the importance of employee work/life balance on productivity, my qualifications, costs associated with the study, and a schedule for completion of the feasibility study. Attracting and retaining talent is crucial to an organisation's success and with the current trends in the labour market, retaining talent and ensuring business continuity is an ongoing challenge that requires careful human resource management. Need for a Work/Life Balance Program Research shows that to maintain a healthy lifestyle balance, a 24 hour day should be divided into thirds: one third for sleep, one third for work and one third for play. The trend in today’s workplace is for employees to work longer hours and as a result, when they arrive home they do not feel like exercising or cooking quality meals. As well, many employees are not taking their holidays. These two issues result in lethargy and absenteeism due to health issues and impact on employee productivity. A healthy staff will reduce costs to the organisation and assist in meeting budget requirements. Research also shows that work-life balance is an area that has been increasingly recognised as strategically important in attracting the best possible candidates and also retaining high quality staff. Benefits of a Work/life...
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...and suppliers. Agape Boutique assures that the only way to be successful is with a variety of core values like trust, integrity, and the basic principles of ethical standards. Each employee and person representing Agape Boutique is accountable for living up to high standards set forth by any of our actions. It is imperative that we always make the right decisions in the work place and that is why this Code of Ethics is in effect to avoid any future mishaps in regards to ethical procedures or requirements. This Code of Ethics is a useful resource to use to make wise decisions in the workplace and keeping the boutique with appropriate representation. Please review the Code of Ethics and read thoroughly to ensure proper understanding of every situation that can or may arise in the boutique. Be aware that not every situation or scenario can be documented on this Code of Ethics but if any questions may arise, please contact our Human Resources representative Sincerely, Gaby Robles Founder Statement of Our Core Values Agape Boutique’s core values stand highly on quality with affordable prices. Customers are to expect great customer service by our highly trained employees. We are your reliable source for any of your quality accessory needs. Honesty, fairness, and being ethical are what we believe in when it comes to our pricing and any of our products. Company Vision Our boutique will encourage you to dress your best everyday with our variety of products. With excellent...
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...Introduction to Flextime Flextime is defined by businessdictionary.com as the non-traditional work scheduling practice which allows full-time employees to choose their individual starting and ending times within certain limits (such as 'not earlier than 5 a.m.' and 'not later than 9 p.m.'). Flextime periods usually precede or follow a core time during which all employees must be present. According to history records, flextime was first suggested by Christel Kaemmerevback back in the year 1956 and was first implemented in West German businesses in 1967. Flextime was introduced as an intervention to reduce tardiness and absenteeism which resulted in 40% reduction in absenteeism, along with decreased overtime expense, decreased turnover rates, decreased tardiness, and increased morale. The practice of flextime spread quickly through Western Europe due to a high demand from workers and less governmental restrictions on work schedules. At the present time, due to the advancement of information technology and information system, this has further maximize the flexibility of work during the core hours to be stretched to working during non-core time like the weekends by enabling employees to work remotely from home instead of being physically present at the office. Flextime is no longer just considered as a benefit or privilege for the employees, but is able to provide competitive advantage for the organization over its rivals by being more flexible as a whole by providing quicker and...
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...into the workplace policy and guidelines of any job is important. There are also many opinions on why this policy is unnecessary, and can give the vibe of invading one’s personal space. Implementing such a policy will allow for the company to have a surety in place, so that the company is safe from lawsuits, and being solely liable for any mishappenings of those involved. Implementing these types of policies may also convey the sense of fairness to all. There are two ethical principles: sexual harassment, and stakeholder responsibility, that I feel are major aspects on the whys and the hows of the Consensual Relationship Agreement. There has been endless episodes of romance and dating at the workplace. Most businesses were off-hands when it came to the matters of love and dating on the job. “The issue is not going away”, says Helaine Olen, coauthor of Office Mate: The Employee Handbook for Finding --- and Managing--- Romance on the job (Adams Media, 2007). It is really vital for those in leadership positions to accept the likelihood of romance and dating at the workplace. It is also crucial for there to be some sort of policy and procedure in place, to be prepared to deal with any happenings, dealing with the aftermath of these said relationships. If they tried to forbid the dating it was like using reverse psychology. The more it is forbidden, the more likely, one is to partake in it, just to be vindictive. Organizations that discourage or prohibit workplace romances...
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...Brown HMR 530 October 27, 2011 Discuss how human resource professionals can ensure that top organizational leaders encourage managers and employees to follow laws and guidelines. Human resource professionals can communicate to the top leaders about the consequences of not abiding by the federal laws, and explain to them how it does have an effect on the bottom line (Wagner, 2011). When human resource professional include top organizational leaders on training and how organizational profits can be sheltered it will make top organizational leaders think twice about not following laws and rules that are set before them. A basic awareness of what is expected of leaders will motivate them to implement programs and policies that will demonstrate that the organization has a strong working relationship in place to protect workers. Discuss how hiring women and minorities improved Xerox’s profitability. The CEO of Xerox David Kearns knew that hiring women and minorities would allow Xerox to select from a larger labor pool; this would allow Xerox to be in an improved position to beat out the competition. Being in a better position to compete increased Xerox’s profitability and gave employees something to strive for. Xerox also received large government contracts because of their plans to hire women and minorities. Another reason for Xerox’s profit increase is the fact that, because women and minorities found Xerox to be a friendly, family, and fun place to work the retention rate is...
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...Regarding Work Organization and Maternity Leave Recently, a few of our employees announced they were pregnant and will be taking their entitled 15 weeks of maternity leave in addition to 35 weeks of parental leave to care for their newborn. Due to the added cost to the company in hiring cover-off employees and the redistribution in work, it has been suggested that HR propose changes that will reduce the number of maternity leaves in the company. Legally, we cannot control when and how many employees choose to take their maternity leaves. And, if we avoid recruiting women who are in their childbearing years we would be underutilizing the tremendous talent that women have to offer. It would also be a violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code. ("Guidelines on developing," 2008) It may even set us back further financially if we find ourselves in litigation over discrimination suits. The future labour force will be increasingly made up of women as they now account for over half of the post-secondary graduates in Canada. ("Education indicators in," 2011) Approximately 57% of our new hires are females with a post-secondary degree. Thus, our selection process is in proportion with the current labour market. If more women continue to become educated than we can expect that the amount of maternity leave will only increase in coming years. However, it is important to recognize that social norms are changing and these issues are no longer exclusive to working mothers...
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...enhance the autonomy of workers in the process of coordinating and integrating work and non work aspects of their lives (Felstead et al, 2002). From an employees perspectives it is the maintenance of a balance between work and family responsibilities. This definition allows for a wide range of policies to be included under the guise of WLB initiatives. WLB policies in an organizational setting include, but are not limited to, flexible working arrangements, child and dependent care and family and parental leave (Bardoel, 1998). Importance Many Human Resource Professionals, employers associations, government departments, trade unions, academics and voluntary organizations around the world are currently debating and often enacting, policies and practices designed to promote work life balance (Fleetwood, S., 2007). The effective management of WLB is an issue increasingly recognized as of strategic importance to organizations and of significance to employees (Cieri, H., Holmes, B., Abbott, J., Pettit, T., 2005). In more recent years there has been an exponential growth in WLB practices (Chandra, V., 2012) due to globalization, organizational reorganization and efficiency drives, increasingly sophisticated technology responsible for bringing about 24/7 workplaces; blurring the distinction between work and home...
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...INTRODUCTION Training and development is the main part in Human Resource Management (HRM). It is very significant for employees to enhance their performance and productivity, which leads to employee and customer satisfaction and an increase in the profitability of the organization.This report will be discussed by Australian public organization that named Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)in several aspects. 1. Introduce the background of DFAT, including background of the organization, the organization goals and strategy; 2. Link with DFAT to analyze five theories about training and development, which are cross-culture training, training design, development and managing diversity; 3. Summarize the performance in training and development and make a result that whether DFAT has a good performance in HRM; 4. Make some recommendations to promote the organization. BACKGROUND Background of the organization The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is a department of the government of Australia charged with advancing the Australian interests and the international representation of Australians. DFAT employs over 2000 permanent employees including 1140 of which were policy officers. In these policy offers, 49 per cent were working with the department in Australia, 35 per cent were overseas and 16 per cent were off-line (DFAT 2012, P4).In order to provide the Australian community and the government with the high quality foreign and trade policy results, the department...
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...Emerging Trends Case Study Nicole Lopez De Victoria Amanda Vincent Ivey Harless Brandi Stone HCS 341 March 16, 2015 Michael Sawyer Emerging Trends Case Study In this article, Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch founded New Belgium Brewing Company with hopes to create a thriving business that caused minimum pollution and damage to our environment and planet. By involving their employees and setting a good example that their employees could follow, it has helped them achieve what they set out to do 20 years prior. By using green business practices, the right communication and HR practices, and introducing fun into the workplace they have been able to keep positive employee relations and their business running strong. First, Belgium’s green business practices contribute to positive employee relations in many ways. The company has many programs that allow the employees to actively participate in keeping with the green ethics of the company. The employees are encouraged to bicycle to work daily. Since nearly half of the employees do bike into work, the company has a Toyota Prius that the employees use to travel to meetings outside the office. At the end of their first year of employment new employees are given a cruiser bike. They also host an annual bike tour where employees dress in costume and take local residents on a bike tour. This all encourages a good team ethic. They also offer onsite recycling for things such as car batteries and oil. These things are not easily recycled...
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...Abstract This paper reviewed the literature on the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and the issue of diversity. Presently, there is a growing need to introduce diversity in the work place for the benefit of varying organizations and their human resource needs. Doing so would help them build up creative ideas and experiences, while mingling with people from diverse backgrounds. However, diversity could have negative effects as well in terms of conflicts among employees, and in several other instances. HRM is responsible for providing equal opportunities, and resolving the issues that arise due to diversity. Positive impacts were observed where organizations promoted learning environment. It also highlights different strategies that could be applied for effective diversity management. On the other hand, a need to act sensitively towards employees of diverse background was discussed, while providing them with growth opportunities could help in increasing productivity. Issue statement Human Resource Management (HRM) covers different aspects of an organization, from the recruitment of its employees, to the management of all works, and the problem solving issues that are directly affecting the organizations’ employees. Employees are an asset to an organization, and HRM is responsible for providing them with opportunities to learn and acknowledge their achievements especially in an organization with diverse employees. On the other hand...
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...Legal Compliance "Xerox" Strayer University Strategic Human Resources Management 530 Zaccheus Jackson-Stegall Dr. Jack Huddleston March 18, 2011 “Xerox” Discuss how human resource professionals can ensure that top organizational leaders encourage managers and employees to follow laws and guidelines. The role of the human resources professional has long evolved from being a glorified administrative position to the “safe haven” that both company management, (all levels of hierarchy), and employees look to for guidance in career development and / or resolution or mediation when needed. Therefore, the human resources professional must indeed be one of integrity, fair judgment, and able to keep matters of a sensitive nature – confidential (Stewart & Brown, 2010). The human resources professional operates in dual capacities, in some instances as the liaison and in others as the advocate. To ensure that top leaders set an accurate professional practice for management, it is vital that human resources professionals develop a trustworthy relationship with them; while facilitating trainings and best practices that promote safety and ensures the implementation of company policy and procedures. Following organizational rules, regulations, policies and state laws is absolutely essential. It may be the difference in someone being hurt on company time and even resulting in an employee having to receive workman’s compensation or at worse a law-suit. Moreover, not following laws...
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...This chapter was excerpted from Dayle M. Smith (2000). Women At Work: Leadership for the Next Century. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Cynthia A. Thompson and Laura L. Beauvais I love my life! My husband and I have arranged our work lives so that we can spend as much time as possible with our kids, and still feel like we’re making a difference at work. —JESSICA DEGROOT, FOUNDER. THE THIRD PATH INSTITUTE It just got to be too much. Monday through Friday I caught the 6:30 train for the city, and didn’t return until 6 P.M. . I loved my job, the money was good, but there was no flexibility, no possibility for part-time work. And I really missed my kids. My husband was making more than I did and we finally decided we could live on his salary. So I quit. —LISA CELONA. FORMER NASDAQ EQUITY TRADER. CURRENT AT-HOME MOM I spent four years working for an insurance company as director of media services. Because my wife was a performer in New York City and had to work evenings; I was the primary caregiver for our two children. That meant I had to leave work earlier than any of the other managers, and that caused a lot of friction and resentment... The tension it created for me at work was instrumental in my eventually having to leave the company. —MICHAEL KERLEY, PRESIDENT, CREATIVE DIALOGUES Chapter Overview This chapter focuses on how women (and, increasingly, men) attempt to balance the multiple competing...
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