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The role of women in workplace democracy

Constructing Workplace Democracy Women’s Voice in New Zealand Public Services Dr Sarah Proctor-Thomson Dr Noelle Donnelly Dr Geoff Plimmer. Constructing jobs. Influencing organisations & institutions. The role of women in workplace democracy. Constructing careers. Methodology.

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The role of women in workplace democracy

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  1. Constructing Workplace DemocracyWomen’s Voice in New Zealand Public ServicesDr Sarah Proctor-ThomsonDr Noelle DonnellyDr Geoff Plimmer

  2. Constructing jobs Influencing organisations & institutions The role of women in workplace democracy Constructing careers

  3. Methodology • National on-line survey of 33,304 women members of the Public Services Association (PSA) • 7,292 responses (21.9% response rate) • Respondents: average 46 years, highly educated, work full-time, majority Pakeha, married, highly active in their communities. • Topics: caring responsibilities, working time arrangements, overtime working, influence in daily work, barriers to FWAs, familiarity with the Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Act 2007.

  4. Flexibility at work? 54.4% uptake of flexi-time 12.2% home working 1.9% job sharing

  5. Barriers to accessing flexible work options

  6. Overtime working? 84.1% received no financial compensation for additional hours worked 44% have no opportunity to bank the additional time worked 18% work additional hours for no compensation or opportunity to ‘bank’

  7. Influence at work Table 6.1 Degree of influence over work (in percentages)

  8. Reported victimisation rates were high • Bullying 43% • Discrimination 33% main reasons were gender, employment status, age and ethnicity • Victimisation 51.4% (bullying or discrimination combined) “Individual’s perception of having been exposed, either momentarily or repeatedly, to the aggressive acts of one or more other persons” (Aquino et al. 1999, p. 260).

  9. Risk and protective factors Organisation Protective factors • Supervisors know how to appraise performance • Promotion decisions are fair • Express views freely in org • Management support Risk factors • Pressure to work extra hrs • Systemic work pressure • Anxiety, frown , denial of flexible wrk • Discuss serious work problems with manager or PSA rep Individual Protective factors • Management status • Part time work • Less than 1 year in job • Belief in on-job training Risk factors • Health, social, educational wrk • Applying for another job • Importance of career break • Volunteer health related wrk • Long health problem • Multiple PSA priorities

  10. Key findings • Decent but pressured work: Workload & managing flexible work arrangements need to be a shared responsibility between workers and their employers • Widespread culture of bullying and discrimination: Individual and organisational risk factors. • Limited opportunities for advancement: managerial support varied. Career pathways and opportunities need to be transparent.

  11. Takeaways • Systemic workload pressures, limited management capability, limited career opportunities and bullying culture need to be addressed in combination • Line management is the fulcrum where rhetoric becomes reality or not. How line managers act on policies makes a big difference. Need for management development, and ‘management of managers’. • Facilitating collective voice is an important pathway to change

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