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Dr Connie Zheng School of Management & Information Systems FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND INFORMATICS

Are Work-life Balance (WLB) Programs Used as Effective Attraction and Retention Strategies in CQ's Coalmines?. Dr Connie Zheng School of Management & Information Systems FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND INFORMATICS.

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Dr Connie Zheng School of Management & Information Systems FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND INFORMATICS

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  1. Are Work-life Balance (WLB) Programs Used as Effective Attraction and Retention Strategies in CQ's Coalmines? Dr Connie Zheng School of Management & Information Systems FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND INFORMATICS Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  2. WLB.... ‘has gradually emerged as ‘a strategic issue and a key element of an organization’s employee attraction and retention strategies’.... (De Cieri et al., 2005, p. 91) WLB = Attraction & Retention ? Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  3. Can work-life balance programs also be used as attraction and retention strategies in CQ's coalmines? Is there a set of work-life balance policies and programs in the coal industry? if so, what are they? Are they effective in attracting and retaining skilled labour, which are largely in short? If yes, how? If not? Why not? Research Questions Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  4. Review of the relevant WFL (work-family life) literature Research findings Implications To answer these questions….. Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  5. Boom of the resource industry Tighten labour market conditions - shortage of skills Changing lifestyle of workforce Community demands for health and wellbeing of the society WLB in the context of the regional coal industry Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  6. Study of WLB from different angels Study of WLB at different levels Study of WLB using different methods Literature Review Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  7. The influence of WLB/C on...... • Absenteeism (eg. Goff et al., 1990) • Citizenship behaviour (eg. Lambert, 2000) • Organisational commitment (eg. Perry-Smith & Blum, 2000; Casper et al, 2002) • Withdrawal behaviour (Greenhaus et al. 1997; 2001; Hammer et al., 2003) • Organisational attraction & branding (eg. Honeycutt & Rosen, 1997; Drago et al., 2001; Lievens & Highhouse, 2003) Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  8. Economic/managerial efficiency, productivity and profits Political/legal/institutional public goods, positive externality, lobbying and legislation Social/cultural/ethical social interface bw WIF & FIW, cultural barriers, value-ethic systems and CSR Study WLB from different perspectives Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  9. Demographic characteristics Gender Age Race Life cycles Health and wellbeing Managerial approach Top-down Bottom-up Other streams of studies based on…. Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  10. 1. Flexible working arrangement 2. Health and wellness programs 3. Family responsibility leaves 4. Childcare benefits, subsidies or services 5. Organisational understanding and general support Five main categories of WLB policies and programs Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  11. Level Individual Organizational Multi-level (individual, group and organization) Research method Quantitative v. qualitative Levels & methods of study on WLB Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  12. Research Findings Table 1 – Coal companies participating in this research project Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  13. Interview/survey questions:Have you done anything in particular to attract and retain quality employees? do you have any work-life balance programs in place? how have they helped attract and retain employees?A summary Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  14. The use of flexible working hours did not imply that coal workers could choose any hours that they want to work, but that they might be able to pick the preferred shifts in the rostering system. Flexibility about the place to work and part-time working arrangements was applied mostly to those working as support roles in the office, not miners or contractors on-site. Identifying the gaps.... Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  15. Regular health check-up and medical support Emphasis on statutory leave provision, not particularly referencing to family leaves, but leave for community service or sport event Access to organisational support in the areas of accommodation, shiftwork arrangement, DIDO/FIFO. Identifying the gaps.... Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  16. ‘We have 7-day on and 7-day off. We have a number of people living on site. We bring in health professionals, physiotherapists periodically..... People also work 4-hour on, 4-hour off in a 12-hour shift, so they have sufficient rest….We also try to rotate people, but we do not have another mine to go, so we rotate the roles within the company. I think we must have done something right. We have a very low staff turnover rate. We have significantly grown the staff number for the past two years, we only lost two people within two years’. Can these WLB help attract and retain the skilled workforce? Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  17. ‘in essence, we still have this belief that if we do the right things, people will flow to us. However, this is not necessarily so in our situation. We have programs, we have policies, they are all there, but people still leave, regardless’. Can these WLB help attract and retain the skilled workforce? Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  18. ‘I told you about what we have done in terms of taking care of our people. But let’s get real. Under the current environment, PAY is the key to reduce the high turnover rate. We used to have 60% staff turnover rate, consecutively for a number of years. Last year, we started offering better remuneration, we brought that down to 6% - a huge reduction. Perhaps this is also due to our easy roster system?’ Can these WLB help attract and retain the skilled workforce? Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  19. The coal industry has a set of specific WLB balance programs that may address better the needs of those male-dominated workforce; Gender appears differentiating the needs for WLB; It appears that coal companies may be under intensive institutional pressure, so they tend to strategically respond to WLB demands without considerable evaluation of the programs effects; Conclusions & Implications Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

  20. Some forms of WLB programs may help attract and retain people, notwithstanding, this might be more effective with other HR measures, such as compensation; There might be a tendency to address more of WLB needs for people at supervisor level or at corporate/office level. The WLB needs for ground miners could be largely ignored, or compensated by monetary rewards. Conclusions & Implications Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum, Mackay, 20-21 August 2007

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