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Monday, December 17, 11:10 AM
Rest, re-charge and refocus
For many of us working folk, this is the last week of the working year. Time to forget about the routine of getting up, dressed in our "uniforms", and fighting the traffic or overcrowded public to get to work. Say goodbye to deadlines, competing priorities, office politics and projects that go pear-shaped. For others, the holiday season is a rev up from the boredom and drudgery of work. Okay, so good stuff happens at work too, but by year, end exhaustion has set in for most of us and it's time for a break.
Whatever it is for you - a break from a great job that demands a lot or from a horrible job that you want to escape from - enjoy the holidays. Kick back, purge your mind of all those work worries and re-charge your batteries. You'll need it in 2008.
A study by the International Labour Organisation found one in five people in Australia were working at least 50 hours a week. An OECD report declared Australia second only to South Korea in the developed
world in terms of the working hours we clock up. Certainly, we are all working more intensely. Technology just allows us to do more. Mobile phones, Blackberries, the Internet. And is just me or does it seem like
most workplaces could do with a few extra people? Could be the skills shortage or tight budgets. Who knows?
Toward the end of your holiday season break take stock. Are you ready to go back and get stuck in, or are you dreading it? A break away from work can be very telling, so listen to your internal voice.
Also, let's spare a thought for those people who are never guaranteed a break at Christmas, like police, nurses, ambulance and fire crews, those who keep essential services going, transport and airline staff and many of our defence force personnel, particularly those overseas.
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Tuesday, December 4, 10:17 AM
Tis the season of itchy feet
It's that time of the year when industry folk start surveying the working population about their career plans for New Year. Personally, I think January is a better time to ask people if they plan a job change. By then we have all had a wee break and some time to recharge. In December we are all a little "over it". Is our end of year restlessness just exhaustion or is it a genuine desire to pursue a new career opportunity? Well, I will leave you to answer that one. In the meantime, from Brisbane comes research that shows high overall employee satisfaction ratings are no guarantee staff are not about to walk. HR consulting firm Astor Levin says its survey reveals that four out of 10 employees were about to seek work elsewhere. Even amongst those who claimed to be satisfied at work, a quarter were still planning to leave their job.
The managing director of Astor Levin says the labour market so strongly favours the employee that employers have to make the case for why staff should stay. "Our new survey shows that even if a company is able to attract the right people to work for it, retaining those people will be a constant challenge. It also shows that it's rarely just about the money and that simple 'satisfaction' is no guarantee that an employee will stay - the issues are more complex than that," he says.
The survey quizzed more than 1,000 people working in companies of all sizes across many industry sectors. Of those, 71 per cent were satisfied with the organisation overall but 40 per cent were planning to look for work elsewhere in the next six months. Nearly half felt there were better career opportunities outside their current employer. Only 26 per cent said the main reason for wanting to leave was pay. Other reasons for leaving included good leadership, work/life balance and career advancement.
A second survey - this time by recruiter Final Five - found 48.5 per cent of their survey pool was planning to quit their job in the New Year. However, those using a recruitment site generally are looking to make a move in the immediate future. Of the respondents aged 18-34 a massive 59.7 per cent were planning on changing jobs while 44.2 per cent of those aged 35-54 were planning to leave - still a good chunk of people. The main reasons for leaving were money, boredom and career advancement.
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Friday, November 30, 8:17AM
How to alienate your staff in 30 seconds
James Hardie is not the only employer to get a drubbing in the media this week. Channel Nine deserves a special mention for its breathtaking treatment of veteran reporter Christine Spiteri. Ms Spiteri has done an amazing job over more than a decade as a news reporter and foreign correspondent. Now at 40 she has finally put work aside to be a mother for the first time and instead of finding support at work she was reportedly told while on maternity leave that her contract would not be renewed. She is due to return from maternity leave in January. According to Fiona Connelly reporting for The Daily Telegraph Ms Spiteri's boss John Westacott allegedly told her, "with a surname like Spiteri you should try SBS". For that flippant remark Nine supremo David Gyngell is said to have blasted his news chief and called him a "a f...ing idiot" for making the comment. He does have a point there. Nine "sources" say the leaks are "mischief-making" by Spiteri who was "bitter to the core" after being denied her dream role in the news presenter's chair. Who knows? What we do know for sure is that it all this publicity reads really badly for Nine as a workplace. It wasn't that long ago we were hearing all the dirty laundry being aired about working at Nine when Mark Llewellyn hired John Laxon to represent him in an action against his former bosses. We have that court matter to thank for the famous "boning" Jessica Rowe saga. Ms Spiteri is now taking legal action against Nine and guess who she has hired? John Laxon.
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Wednesday, November 28, 8:30AM
State funeral for worker's rights campaigner
A state funeral will be held for workers' rights campaigner and asbestos victim Bernie Banton at Sydney's Superdome on Wednesday, December 5. Mr Banton died on November 27 aged 61 from asbestos-related mesothelioma.
Mr Banton worked tirelessly to ensure those with illnesses resulting from exposure to asbestos would be properly compensated. He was instrumental in the setting up of a $4 billion compensation fund for victims after an incredible and very public battle with James Hardie. He also successfully campaigned for the cancer drug Alimta to be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. He was awarded an Order of Australia in 2005. In addition to the state funeral, the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute at Concord Hospital will be named the Bernie Banton Centre to honour his efforts.
Mr Banton worked at the Hardie-BI factory at Camellia in Sydney from 1968 to 1974, machining dry asbestos blocks as insulation. James Hardie was once Australia's largest manufacturer of asbestos pipes, sheeting and insulation material. Production stopped in 1987 due to health concerns about exposure to asbestos.
Mr Banton discovered he had asbestosis in the late 90s and was awarded compensation in 2000. In August this year doctors told him he had developed the incurable cancer, mesothelioma. Mr Banton made a claim against the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund in relation to his cancer, which was settled about two weeks ago.
Sadly, we now hear that James Hardie tried to deny Mr Banton his last compensation bid. In an exclusive report in The Daily Telegraph today, journalist Joe Hildebrand reveals that the Hardie Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund hoped to use a doctor's report from 2000
against Mr Banton.
The report referred to a 1973 X-ray showing Mr Banton had asbestos-related health problems before being diagnosed with mesothelioma. The hope was that this information would block Mr Banton's recent compensation bid. The fund failed because it had failed to introduce the doctor's report during Mr Banton's original compensation claim in 2000.
Hildebrand reports: "Before he died, Mr Banton said he was never told of the X-ray and had continued to work in Hardie's asbestos-caked factory for another 10 years after it was taken."
His lawyer Tanya Segelov said the company's behaviour was nothing short of disgraceful. A spokesman for James Hardie has since
denied the claims.
I remember being at an awards night a couple of years back when the husband of one of the award nominees bent my ear about the unfair treatment his employer, James Hardie, had received from the media. He loved his work and had such faith in his employer - or at least wanted to. The media and indeed, the legal storm only intensified from that night on, and James Hardie has not come out of it well. It is certainly not the fault of the media - or of victims like Mr Banton. I wonder what that fella thinks of his employer now.
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Monday, November 26, 8:30AM
Unions call on PM to free those on AWAs
Union officials have wasted no time in calling on the new Labor Government to get rid of Work Choices and make the laws abolishing Work Choices retrospective so those already on AWAs could "escape" from those agreements. Speaking to The Australian, John Robertson, head of Unions NSW, said some workers had signed Work Choices agreements lasting five years. He urged Labor to move quickly on drafting its new legislation to avoid many employees remaining on WorkChoices agreements well into 2008. In his acceptance speech, the new Prime Minister said his priorities for his "agenda for the future" included "our upcoming legislation on industrial relations." However, Julia Gillard, the new Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, has ruled out any retrospective treatment for Work Choices. According to The Australian, ACTU president Sharan Burrow said union priorities were the restoration of the award safety net; the right to collectively bargain; the return of an "independent umpire" and the abolition of AWAs. Victorian unions will meet on Friday to consider the unions' strategy for Labor's first term, with the ACTU executive due to meet next week. It will be interesting to watch. To read the detail of Labor's policy commitments for workers, visit our multi media special -Your future at work
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Wednesday, November 21, 2PM
Macho company named most female-friendly
The world's largest designer and manufacturer of diesel engines has become a trailblazer in engineering a female-friendly workplace. The CEO of Cummins South Pacific, Gino Butera, has been named Australia's most progressive corporate leader by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency in its annual awards. Policies that helped win Gino Butera the gong include promoting more women into senior roles by including female candidates in succession planning as well as actively getting more women to take on "non-traditional roles".
Griffith University's Heather Cameron was named Diversity Leader for the Advancement of Women. Ms Cameron's achievements include establishing a child-care working party at the uni that led to initiatives to help women, particularly those with children, aged care responsibilities and parents with disabled family members. She also developed a "Women in Leadership" program for female staff.
Other winning organisations and policies include:
The Cancer Council NSW
Generous parental leave; an active policy of promoting women (80 per cent of managerial appointments went to women in the last year.)
Eight weeks paid annual leave for permanent employees with cancer.
Eight weeks paid annual leave for primary caregivers of someone with cancer. Up to five days paid annual leave for casual staff with cancer or caring for someone with cancer.
A gradual return-to-work policy. Employer-funded cancer-specific counselling.
Law firm Mallesons Stephen Jacques
20 per cent of partners are women
50 per cent of executive directors and directors are women.
63 per cent of the firm's management roles (excluding partners) are held by women and of these, 20 per cent are working part-time.
It established women's networks including the senior mothers' network and the women's business network for women in senior roles.
A time in lieu system and an extended "Swap Pay for Leave" policy for all staff.
Rio Tinto's Hail Creek Mine
For its campaign to encourage women to apply for "non-traditional" roles including an extensive advertising campaign in local and regional press.
Busways
Adopted a strategy to access mature-aged women. Marketing material redesigned to include images of young and mature women in non-traditional, traditional and executive roles. This resulted in the hiring of 10 new female staff over 45 including one senior manager and eight bus drivers.
Campbell Arnott's
Flexible practices and redesigning some job roles to assist women at all levels of the organisation. Of the women at senior executive level, 35 per cent tap into flexible work arrangements.
UBS AG, Australia Branch
"UBS Young Women's Leadership Academy", a four-day residential course run in conjunction with Women's College, Sydney University and the NSW Secondary Schools Association, to give 40 female students from public high schools in ACT, NSW and Victoria the chance to explore further education and a career in business.
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Wednesday, November 14, 10:30AM
Apprenticeships need more than an image makeover
A new report prepared by the University of New England's Centre of Applied Research in Social Science (CARSS) has found that wages for apprentices are only $20 more than the 'dole'. Wages for some first-year apprentices fell below poverty benchmarks such as the Henderson Poverty Line and Federal Government standards. The research was financed by Group Training Australia which represents both apprentices and employers. Its CEO Jim Barron said some employers were already supplementing apprenticeship wages to try and prevent young people dropping out of vocational careers before they had barely begun. He said the poor earnings explained the high drop-out rate of up to 40 per cent for young apprentices. Even allowances are not enough to create wages apprentices can actually live on, particularly in their first two years. Australia is facing a critical shortage of skilled workers. Indeed, according to ACTU research released in 2004, 170,000 tradespeople will have left the industry by 2009 while only 40,000 will have entered it - and many of those drop out. In the decade to 2009, the ACTU estimates there will be a national shortage of 250,000 traditional trade apprentices.
The GTA will use the CARSS research as part of its submission to the Australian Fair Pay Commission to press for a better wage deal for apprentices.
Other key findings of the CARSS report were:
- A first-year apprentice in the metal trades industry in Sydney receives an award wage of $13,0622 gross a year. That translates into an after-tax income of approximately $231 a week - almost $46 below the poverty line and just $20 more than the 'dole'.
- Allowances can boost income but tend to be confined just to the construction industry. For other sectors, allowances barely cover outlays on tools and costs.
- Even when mandatory allowances are taken into account, 40 of the 42 award categories of first-year apprentices studied in the report have disposable income below the poverty line.
- School leavers who engage directly in paid work are paid a junior wage, typically $40 - $70 a week higher than a first-year apprentice.
- A comparison with the unemployment benefit (Newstart) shows that when the value of its cash and non-cash components is taken into account, a first-year apprentice's standard of living is barely above that of the unemployed.
- Above-award payments add little to apprentice earnings. The typical above-award payment is 9% and varies by occupation.
The Coalition has pledged payment of a $1,000 tax-free bonus to 1st and 2nd year traditional trade apprentices as well as a $500 payment to help offset the cost of off-the-job training. Labor has put forward a proposal for the payment of 2nd and 4th year $1,000 completion bonuses as well as an $800 TAFE fee account.
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Monday, November 12, 7:30AM
Our Skillaroos take on the world
A team of 27 young Australians arrived in Japan this week to compete in the 39th World Skills event. The Olympic-style event will see young people from 48 countries compete in a wide range of different vocational skills areas. Held every two years in a different host city, this year the event takes place in Shizuoka - Japan's "Riviera". Not that the team will have much time for sightseeing until after the competition finishes. The Opening Ceremony takes place on November 14 and the main competition takes place over four eight-hour days from November 15 to November 18. The medal winners are not announced until November 21.
I met the Australian team before they flew to Japan. Dubbed the Skillaroos they are an amazing bunch - confident, passionate and very hopeful about their futures.
The Skillaroos will compete in hairdressing, refrigeration, auto mechanics, floristry, cabinet-making, sheetmetal work, IT software applications, web design, landscaping, restaurant service, painting & decorating, plumbing, detailed joinery & shop fitting, bricklaying, cookery, vehicle painting, manufacturing, auto body repair, welding, electrical installation, wall & floor tiling, beauty care and jewellery.
We are creating a special multi-media area to track their progress, so check it out.
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Wednesday, November 7, 10:01AM
Pay + performance = productivity?
Research by recruitment firm Hays has found 37 per cent of employee pay in Australia is now link to work performance. Of that 37 per cent, 15 per cent have pay directly linked to monthly performance and 22 per cent to quarterly or other performance. In 2001 only 11 per cent of employee pay was linked to monthly performance and 16 per cent to quarterly or other performance. Director of Hays, Grahame Doyle reckons the increase is based on the belief that linking pay to performance improves productivity. A sort of carrot and stick package - you don't hit target, you don't get all that promised dosh. "This form of pay is often based on achieving or exceeding set Key Performance Indicators, targets or productivity increases. It is often structured through commission, financial participation or bonus schemes and can be based on individual and/or team performance," according to Mr Doyle. "Historically it was mainly the executive team that shared in a company's success through performance-related pay, but the increased usage of performance-related pay shows more employees now benefit," he said. The latest research I could find in the US dates back to 2005. That research showed 43 per cent of employee pay was then linked to performance. According to consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide the trend is set to continue until at least 2015. Meanwhile "performance" is a term under the spotlight for our top executives right now. How is performance defined for those at the helm? Is it the sustainable growth of our companies or just the performance of their share price that counts? Is executive pay linked more to real or imagined fears that we can't attract high calibre executives to the helms of local companies without ridiculously large pay packets? Or is it because the salaries are made so public that there is an element of us-too driving the pay packet decisions being made? Today, shareholders were deciding if Telstra CEO Sol 's salary package should jump as high as $17 million and things were expected to be stormy. The Herald Sun reports today that "So far this annual meeting season, the biggest shareholder backlash over executive pay occurred last week at Suncorp Metway's annual meeting. A massive 44 per cent of shareholders failed to back the remuneration report after the company dumped performance hurdles for millions of dollars in shares for executives. The insurer's chairman, John Story, indicated he would step down as head of the remuneration committee following a review. Becton Property Group was also on the receiving end of shareholder discontent last week, with 33 per cent of investors failing to endorse the company's remuneration report." There but there will be plenty more such meetings to come as salaries for top execs and also board directors are reviewed.
Are top executives really worth that much? Executive pay review season has started with some interesting showdowns as shareholders say "enough".
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Friday, 2 November, 10:01 AM
Gender bias hurts employers
SHL has declared a draw in the battle of the sexes - at least when it comes to who makes the best boss. SHL, which specialises in psychometric testing, analysed the results of 38,000 questionnaires designed specifically for the workplace" and completed over five years to determine that the way people behave in the Australian workplace is not determined by gender.
"For example, in relation to control and leadership, some men stated they strongly dislike taking charge and prefer other team members to lead, just as some women stated they strongly like to direct and manage people," explains SHL's Dr Ray Glennon.
"The results challenge stereotypes, such as women dislike working with numbers, and reiterate the importance of assessing every individual fairly and objectively. There is no such thing as an 'average' male or 'average' female," he says.
Dr Glennon says the research is a "wake-up call" for industries dominated by one gender, such as the mining and minerals sector, where 82 percent of the industry is male, or human resources and PR, which are dominated by women [based on research by the Minerals Council of Australia*].
"Sometimes employers are reluctant to recruit a woman for a stereotypically male role, or vice versa. By relying on stereotypes instead of considering the individual's strengths, employers risk missing out on high performers," Dr Glennon says.
Good stuff. Now to the UK and a story in The Guardian paying tribute to the Girl Scouts movement.
Lucy Ward writes: "Two-thirds of women in top roles across [UK] politics, the media, business and sport are former girl guides or brownies and say their childhood days acquiring an armful of badges contributed to their career success, according to a survey."
Famous former girl scouts include Cherie Booth QC also known as Cherie Blair, wife of former UK PM Tony Blair.
Read the story
It makes sense really. All that team work, sense of community service and achievement - good lessons learnt early in life.
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October
Not a word about the Job Network
Monday, 22 October, 10:05 AM
Have I missed something or has no political party mentioned the Job Network so far in this election campaign? Along with Work Choices, doing away with the old Commonwealth Employment Office and replacing it with Centrelink and the Job Network was the other major change the Coalition introduced since coming to power more than 11 years ago. While I am all for the hardest to place people getting extra attention, I do agree with bodies like the Brotherhood of St Lawrence that claim the Job Network needs review and updating. What do you think?
By the way, my colleague Claire Pryde has done another one of her fabulous multi media features - this one on unusual jobs. Claire meets a psychic healer, a funeral director, a tattoo artist and a pyrotechnican. Go to www.news.com.au and select Odd Jobs from the rotating slide presentation on the top right side of the Home Page or cut and paste this short cut into an open browser - http://media.news.com.au/multimedia/2007/10/09_jobs
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What polly is going to deliver candidates?
Tuesday, 16 October, 10:10 AM
It's interesting that the PM touted record low unemployment as one of the reasons that people in Australia should vote for the Coalition on November 24. After calling the election he said, "There is no reason why the current unemployment rate in Australia should not be markedly lower than it is and certainly with a three in front of it." How interesting. Many economists view three per cent "unemployment" as full employment, which means employers will find it even harder to get the people they need to keep ticking along. Good news for candidates with skill sets in demand but bad news for the Recruitment & Consulting Services Association whose members are already finding it hard to keep up with client demand for new staff. The RCSA is also still smarting about changes to the 457 visa rules on October 1 that make it much more difficult for on-hire labour companies to bring in overseas labour. Some employers have abused the 457 system but while the RCSA acknowledges this, it says the abusers were not its members. "Minister for Immigration Kevin Andrews is trying to create barriers for an industry that has been instrumental in addressing the nation's skills crisis, and which has never been found to be abusing the 457 system. It simply doesn't make sense," says RCSA CEO Julie Mills. She says the changes had thrown the on hire sector into disarray and put in jeopardy valuable projects across a number of sectors including energy, mining and resources. The supply of IT, healthcare, energy and resources workers would be particularly badly hit, with WA and Queensland suffering the most. Also, nurses would have to stay with one employer for four years and "for a nurse keen to see the diversity of Australia's cities and regions, that is not an attractive option," Ms Mills said. "Two of Australia's largest companies, Santos and Comalco, are scheduled to start major projects in Gladstone in early 2008. Due to a lack of Australian candidates, this on-hire company has sourced around 70 overseas staff (both trade and professional) to meet the labour demands of the projects, but their 457 visas are now at risk." No doubt we will be hearing more on this. Hey, all those tradies I hear from with ambitions to get into mining in WA should look at Gladstone, Queensland, instead!
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"Staff wanted signs" a state symbol for WA
Thursday, 11 October, 4:40 PM
I'm in Perth CBD and can see a building taking shape right outside my hotel window. Construction is a common sight around Perth as the city is growing in all directions. About 2000 people a week are moving to WA as the resources boom continues to create jobs. Not all jobs are in the resources sector, of course, but that prosperity has led to more of pretty much everything - more restaurants, more housing, more retail outlets, more children to teach and a higher demand for health services - and much higher rents and house prices. Perhaps the new state symbol could be the often seen "Help Wanted" ads plastered around the place. Sue Menon heads hospitality recruitment specialist Pinnacle in WA. She told me that she had one client who asked for 200 staff in one go. Sue doesn't work that way. She knows everyone is short handed and so prefers to share the candidates she does have with as many clients as possible to help them keep going. "I cannot keep up with the demand for chefs - actually hospitality workers across the board from five star hotels to the corner café - we have clients across that range," she said. ICT staff are also in very short supply - particularly grads, so if you are an IT grad looking for that first role, check out Perth. Other sectors suffering include trades, health and government. I am here to get the low down on all this in preparation for a CareerOne.com.au special series in a couple of weeks. For all of you who have emailed me about mining, I will definitely explore the opportunities available to both those with and without experience. In the meantime, the weather is beautiful in Perth after months of rain and the city is so clean and fresh compared with the pollution in Sydney. I am going to check out Fremantle next. I hear it has lots of cool cafes and book shops.
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Decline in IT enrolments
Wednesday, 19 September, 10:05 AM
New research shows enrolments in IT courses have dropped by 20 per cent over the last five years. Interest from Australian-based students, as opposed to overseas students coming here to study, has been particularly depressed. John Rice, president of the Australian Council of Deans of Science, told the ABC that the drop off impacted on Australia's future IT capability, as well as raising questions about why people felt there were no career prospects in IT. Perhaps there are clues in the Australian Computer Society's annual employment survey. Out today, it reveals that 28 per cent of female respondents felt they had been discriminated against in the workforce compared with only 1.5 per cent of men taking part in the survey. Women were also more likely to be contractors or casual staff. "Mature age" men felt they were being ignored, despite employers not being able to find enough candidates to fill jobs. The unemployment rate for IT is 3.84 per cent compared with the national rate of 4.2 per cent and 75 per cent of the survey's respondents had been fully employed for the last five years. Gender and age discrimination appears to be worse in Queensland and Western Australia. Read the full story.
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A fair system makes economic sense
Friday, 14 September, 5:05 PMI went to the free public lecture on Work Choices given by world renowned economist Professor Richard Freeman of Harvard University organised by the University of Sydney. As expected, Professor Freeman was fascinating and a great speaker - easy to understand and very persuasive. Basically, labour protection does not spell economic disaster - quite the opposite. Quoting research only from conservative economists and think tanks around the globe, Professor Freeman suggested that Work Choices actually went against conservative economic values as it favoured big government over small government and even over business itself. He said the legislation created "control and command" from Canberra and prohibited employers from doing what was best for their own organisations. "It's filled with unbelievable micro-management restrictions on bargaining," he said. He also believes it is blatantly unfair to workers. "It fails basic economic principles and doesn't address the problems of the work force economy," he said adding that it was "far away" from the systems of any other economic democracy. Professor Freeman was brought to Australia by the Queensland, NSW and Victorian state governments to speak to groups including the Reserve Bank. His visit coincided with the release of major research on the work agreements of employees in retail and hospitality from 330 workplaces. Click here to read the results of research carried out by a team from the Workplace Research Centre. Please note that Workplace Minister Joe Hockey points out the research was carried out before the amendments introducing the "fairness test" for work agreements - something Professor Freeman describes as an admission that the original law was unfair. He also is concerned about the longer term economic impact of Work Choices suggesting it could transform a "down turn" into a "meltdown". Other highlights of Professor Freeman's lecture include the fact that 30-50 per cent more women than men globally are university educated and Australia is no different. Yet, we still do not have a system that offers the flexibility/family friendly work arrangements needed to make full use of this valuable resource.
For more detail, read Professor Freeman's interview with Emma Alberici of the ABC.
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Work Choices under the microscope
Tuesday, September 11, 10.05AM
This is to be a very interesting week as the Federal Government's Work Choices legislation is put under the microscope by a range of academics. The Queensland, NSW and Victorian governments commissioned extensive research on WorkChoices and the report will be released by the Workplace Research Centre at the University of Sydney this week. A team of four researchers and 17 research assistants looked at "the enforceable rights of sales assistants and food and beverage workers at over 330 workplaces" before and after Work Choices and it appears the news is not good but I can't say too much as the report is embargoed until 1pm on Thursday. Also out and about this week is world renowned economist Professor Richard Freeman of Harvard University (currently visiting Professor at the London School of Economics). Actually Professor Freeman is "currently" here giving a series of lectures and talks up and down Australia's East Coast of Australia starting today with an industrial relations conference in Brisbane. He will also give two public lectures - on Wednesday at CEDA's offices in Exhibition Street - 12.30pm until 2pm and at Sydney University on Thursday evening at 6pm in the Eastern Auditorium. He will be joined on stage by Dr John Buchanan who heads the Workplace Research Centre and Professor Ron McCallum of the Sydney Law School.
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CEO salaries set their feet soaring off the ground
Wednesday, August 29, 5:05PM
UK executives have seen their salaries skyrocket by a massive 37% with "average" CEO salaries now sitting at 2.9 millions pounds [more than $7 million]. According to British news site The Guardian, CEO salaries equate to "more than 11 times the increase in average earnings and nearly 20 times the rate of inflation as measured by the consumer price index. The ratio between bosses' rewards and employees' pay has risen to 98:1, up from 93:1 a year ago - meaning that the work of a chief executive is valued almost 100 times more highly than that of their employees." The salary hike was reveal by The Guardian's own research into the top FTSE 100 companies. The top executive pay was 23 million pounds [nearly $55 million] but the highest paid woman made 2.1 million pounds - okay, that's still more than $5 million. Not surprisingly one commentator in the UK said the top executives had "lost touch with reality". Well, you would. It wasn't that long ago Australia's Prime Minister criticised our own local top dogs for paying themselves. Macquarie Bank chief Allan Moss is our top earner with a pay packet of $33 million. Telstra boss Sol Trujillo reportedly earns an annual salary of $11.8-million while the PM earns Mr. Howard, who earns $357,656, "up 63 per cent since he came to power in 1996" according to a piece by Reuters. Small change really compared to the UK.
Monday, August 27, 2:04PM
A 'work' scandal that should shame us
I really admire the courage of Dee McLachlan, the director/writer of the new Australian film The Jammed. I saw her interviewed on the ABC's Movie Show and she said she couldn't get funding or distribution for her film but she went ahead anyway on a low budget and a strong belief that her film should be made to draw attention to a horrifying problem. The movie is about the illegal sex trade - women conned or smuggled into Australia and put to work as prostitutes to pay off fabricated "debts". I wish the illegal sex slave issue could receive the public attention generated by Kevin Rudd's trip to a strip club in New York in 2003. In the meantime, go see Ms McLachlan's film. It's on at the Nova in Melbourne and will be screening in Sydney at the Palace Verona and the Palace Norton Street, Leichhardt between August 30 and September 12. It's already screened in Brisbane. Quoting from Arclight Films website here are some sobering facts: In May 2003, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) named Australia as the 10th most used destination by traffickers of young exploited women. Project Respect estimates 1000 women are trafficked into Australia each year. The conditions these women live in are dire. They are constantly monitored, live in constant fear of disease and violence and are locked in when not "working". If they are "liberated" by Australian authorities then they are then regarded as illegal immigrants and sent to detention centres until deported. It's estimated that between 700,000 to 4 million people are trafficked around the world annually for sexual exploitation. As I said, go see the film!
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Monday, August 20, 9:26AM
First up, who would have thought an accounting type could be so funny, but Bernard Salt's column in The Australian last thursday could prove just the tonic for overworked HR managers everywhere. I don't want to give the game away but it is about that overworked subject - Gen Y. Personally, I am a bit over all this Gen Y this and Gen Y that but Salt's piece did make me laugh. On the upside - younger workers have been taking a beating lately - research reported via an Australian Federal Parliamentary committee says that they do not want to work for unethical employers. According to another article in The Australian - this time by Matthew Franklin - using suppliers who employ child labour overseas to make products, and not giving back to the community, could land companies on the personal blacklist of young people. Franklin wrote: "Macquarie Bank Melbourne executive chairman Simon McKeon, who chairs the Business for Poverty Relief Alliance, told parliament's joint committee for foreign affairs and trade that the trend was one of the reasons companies that scored well on community responsibility indices were more profitable than those less concerned about ethics." They attract the good staff! And the last bit of upbeat news, the busy mother of a sizeable brood that includes triplets is hotly tipped to become the first woman to head a major bank in Australia. According to Sky News, Gail Kelly, who now heads St George Bank , will take over from David Morgan as the head of the Westpac Banking Corp later this year.
PS - There are quite a few new Your Say posts on subjects from salaries not being included in job ads to working in the mining industry and the value of PhDs.
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Monday, August 13, 12:33PM
Digital goofing off
There is a whole new array of ways to get under the skin of your co-workers according to a new global survey of employees in Australia and 15 other countries by Robert Walters.
Topping the list of Aussie office irritants were "talkative colleagues" - nominated by 44 percent of survey respondents - (39 per cent globally) followed by idle web surfers - nominated by 27 per cent of respondents in Oz and 28 per cent around the globe. Spending time on personal emails also grated with 19 per cent of respondents in Australia versus 22 per cent globally. So what has happened to the old irritants like excessive personal phone calls and "smokos""?
Only seven percent of survey respondents here and overseas were irritated by colleagues ducking out for a smoko. And personal calls were nominated by only 3 per cent of Aussie respondents and 4 per cent of those overseas. I guess people are now too busy on web updating their pages on social networking sites, doing online banking or even shopping to have time for personal calls.
James Nicholson, Director of Robert Walters in Sydney is more generous citing increased work pressure and hours as a reason people spend more time on the Net doing non-work stuff although he recognises lines do need to be drawn.
"Using online channels to communicate and complete personal tasks just makes it less detectable to managers and employers. These days you can appear to be engulfed in your work, when in fact you are surfing the web for a holiday or chatting with friends or even colleagues across the office." He recommends employers "agree upon clear and reasonable parameters for personal time" if they want to keep "staff happy and productivity up."
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Tuesday, August 7, 9:39AM
Boss reflects in his own likeness
We have all heard how people like to hire recruits most like themselves. Thankfully, there are many, many exceptions to this but it appears new Victorian Premier John Brumby is not one of those. According to a report in The Age Mr Brumby snubbed "the young Finance Minister" Tim Holding for a Treasury portfolio because he is unmarried and has no children. The move conjures up memories of Senator Bill Heffernan's gaff when he said Julia Gillard was unsuited to high political office because she was unmarried and childless. He argued that politicians have to understand their "community". Oh, if only they did - then they would know that their "community" does not only consist only of myopic white blokes with wives and kids. Back to Mr Brumby ... he has missed his chance to have another view represented in his team - another way to indeed represent the broad cross of people out there in the real world. And who is to say that those without children don't have siblings or close friends with children and so therefore are in touch with the issues impacting on families? It is 2007 but it sometimes doesn't feel like we are making much progress.
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Tuesday, July 31, 9:43AM
Breaking a 'taboo'
One of the hardest "resume gaps" to tackle is time away from work due to a mental illness. A survey of GPs carried out a while back by - "the national depression initiative" - found the majority advised their patients against "disclosure" at job interviews. Can you blame them? I remember one candidate writing to me about his brush with honesty. A well qualified marketing professional he said he "could feel the temperature drop in the room" when he said his year out of the workforce was spent recovering from depression. I have also known fantastic people who had time out due to schizophrenia in one case and severe depression and anxiety in another. Both people are today thriving and making wonderful contributions in their respective fields. Their current employers do not know about their "past" - it's really irrelevant. This week the Wesley Mission released a major report about the prevalence of mental illness in our society. According to the charity organisation up to 36 per of Australians will have first hand experience of a mental illness and 85 per cent will experience mental illness through a family member or friend. The report follows six months of research, which included a survey of the attitudes of 600 people in NSW spread over Sydney and Newcastle. Of those surveyed, only 46 per cent said they would trust work done by someone with schizophrenia while 55 per cent said they would feel comfortable working alongside someone with the condition. Yet 77 per cent of the survey group believed patients with schizophrenia would improve if treated. When asked about people with anxiety, 81 per cent of respondents said they were happy to work alongside them and 67 per cent would have confidence in their work. As part of its final report on the research project, Wesley Mission makes 21 recommendations for fostering greater understanding and reducing stigma for the mentally ill. One of those recommendations is to introduce financial incentives such as tax breaks to organisations that employ people with a mental illness. The Wesley Mission is on the frontline and I do applaud their efforts. However, there are many people out there who - with the support of family and friends - have championed their own recovery and returned to work without being able to explain. I'm sure they would prefer employers take them on because they can do the job - although some understanding would be great.
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Friday, July 27, 8:55AM
Wrongs and rights - your rights
Wow, there are a few amazing emails following my Blog post on workplace bullying. I really think more needs to be done to make such behaviour easier to punish. I have asked many HR people and the area of bullying is so fraught, bullies seem to get away with their bad ways more often than not. A little while back I wrote about Psychotherapist Dr John Clarke's book The Pocket Psycho. During our interview he told me how a senior manager had called him up after reading his first book, Working with Monsters to make an appointment. Dr Clarke went along thinking the man wanted help managing a bully but no, the man wanted to know more techniques for torturing his staff. Dr Clarke reported this to the man's CEO who responded - not by firing him - but by transferring him overseas.
By the way, you should be getting an update from your employer regarding your rights at work. The Workplace Authority is delivering letters to over a million workplaces along with Workplace Relations Fact Sheet designed for employees.
Under new rules, employers MUST provide the fact sheet to every existing employee within the next three months and to new employees within 7 days of them starting work. Any questions, go to www.workplace.gov.au or call the Workplace Infoline on 1300 363 264.
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Friday, July 20, 9:21AM
More on bullies
After my recent story on bullies CareerOne.com.au conducted a survey with specialists CoreData. More than 1,518 people were asked what was going on at their workplace and sadly 74 per cent said bullying. Of those, 65 per cent reported being intimidated, threatened and verbally abused by a colleague or manager More than 70 per cent of bullying victims dreaded going to work and a low 1 per cent had either taken legal action or confronted the bully. A significant 22 per cent had just quit rather than put up with the torment. People who dominate and intimidate are sadly too often seen as go getters. However, employers are missing out big time. Talented people with much to contribute can easily be silenced by a bully who scoffs at their ideas and undermines their confidence. A bit like school really. I remember a teacher telling me about the impact a bully in his Year 11 class had on her fellow students. When he asked the class a question she would dominate and make faces and verbally ridicule any other students who attempted to answer. Her marks were high while the rest of the class trailed in her wake. He took her to task and even sent her from the room and kept doing so until she modified her behaviour. Her hold over the other students lessened and as a result, their marks all increased. She was no longer the highest achieving students but one of a number of students doing well. Why wouldn't employers want a number of employees achieving good results rather than allowing just one or two to rule the roost and suppress everyone else? Stupid really.
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Monday, July 16, 10:45AM
Clean air on tap pulls pub staff
Despite the dire warnings of the death of pubs once smoking was banned it appears all that fuss about clean air was just hot air. Publicans report that the smoke-free environment was pulling in a new breed of patron - lots more women. And where there are women, men will surely follow. Applications to work have also shot up. Mark Alexander-Erber owns 22 pubs in NSW. He told The Daily Telegraph: "...the number of people wanting to work has gone through the roof, we normally have about 20 applications a month and since the beginning of the month I have already got 80." Registered clubs also report a spike in patronage with particular demand coming from families as the clubs are an affordable outing. Panania East Hills RSL Club marketing manager Gina Skinner told the Tele the club had had "73 per cent rise in 18 to 25-year-old memberships and 83 per cent rise in the 26-to-35 age bracket." "It has been a big shift, in the past they would not have thought to come to a club to eat with the family but now we are having kids with birthday parties and people with children who would have normally entertained at home," she said. Makes you wonder why they didn't do this years ago.
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Tuesday, July 10, 9:55AM
Dire job figures clouding the issue
Unemployment in Australia is expected to drop to below 4 per cent in the very near future. Experts have told me that when unemployment reaches levels below 4 per cent it is read pretty much as zero - there are no people left out there to fill the jobs. Economists are warning that the lack of skilled labour could well push up wages and inflation along with it. Employers are desperate to keep wage growth down so if you are going to use the economic climate to push for a pay rise, do your homework first. How hard would you really be to replace? On the flip side, I hear from plenty of candidates who lay claim to good skill sets and plenty of enthusiasm but who cannot find a job. They question these dire unemployment figures and wonder if it is not really short sightedness on the part of employers and recruiters driving the shortage. Candidates argue that if more employers were willing to look outside their perfect square and provide a bit of training or accept a little age and cultural diversity in their workplace they may well hire some good people. There are also questions about the definition of "employment". If you work as little as a few hours a week you are "employed". They really need to bring out three sets of figures - employed, underemployed and unemployed.
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Monday, July 9, 9:05AM
'Would you like a job with that ticket?'
Trying to find bus drivers in Sydney has apparently become so hard that a job ad - "Driver's Wanted" - is being included on passenger ticket receipts when they pay for their fare. According to news reports, Sydney bus drivers are quitting after as little as a week -Rail, Tram and Bus Union divisional secretary Raul Baonza told one newspaper that 225 bus drivers resigned last year. To attract more, State Transit in NSW is using the job pitch on bus tickets but also claims of generous part time salaries and even flashing signs near transport hubs. State Transit denied media reports that large scale bus service cancellations were a problem or that cancellations were trigged by staff shortages.
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Friday, July 6, 8:40AM
Workers made to pay
What an outrageous idea! Making staff pay costs when business is quiet or worse, making them cough up if clients fail to pay their bill. That is what a NSW restaurant has been accused of doing to its young wait staff. The new Workplace Ombudsman is looking into the allegation. According to a report in The Daily Telegraph , Chili's Restaurant in Wollongong has admitted that it did operate a penalty scheme where staff were asked to pay up if patrons left the restaurant without paying their bill. Some unpaid bills were reportedly more than $100. A restaurant spokesman claimed the penalty was only enforced if staff failed to inform their manager about errant diners immediately and even then the penalty was only a percentage. Full price, small percentage. Whatever. It is not a fair price for staff to pay.
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Monday, July 2, 8:40AM
The Workplace Ombudsman
Australia's first Workplace Ombudsman (WO) started work yesterday - Sunday. An odd time to start a new job but the inaugural WO, Nicholas Wilson, describes his unit as "independent" with "more resources, more powers and greater focus on vulnerable workers".
The Workplace Ombudsman takes over from the former Office of Workplace Services. The media statement claimed "recovery of over $14.2 million in unpaid worker entitlements and successful litigations winning penalties of over $400 000 from employers found in breach of the law."
In a media statement Mr Wilson says: "The WO is where workers and employers should always turn to get independent, impartial and professional help with their workplace rights and obligations."
The Workplace Ombudsman was created as part of the recent amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996. Its "almost" 400 staff includes Workplace Inspectors based at 26 shopfront locations in regional and metropolitan Australia. Check the website for location details - http://www.wo.gov.au/. The website also includes a "For workers" and "For employers" section; info on how to make a claim against an employer over unfair wages
"I want to hear from any worker worried they may be unfairly treated in relation to receiving or agreeing their workplace entitlements," Mr Wilson said.
To ask for a hard copy of the Guide for Workers call 1300 363 264. Questions about a situation you are in right now should be directed to the help line - 1300 724 200.