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WORK/LIFE BALANCE

Five Ways to Flourish!

Clive Leach's picture

A presentation by Felicia Huppert from the University of Cambridge Well-being Institute was a highlight of the 2nd Australian Positive Psychology & Well-being Conference at Monash University.

It's back to work but is anybody there?!

Clive Leach's picture

Presenteeism, or lack of productive engagement at work, is prevalent at huge cost to both the public and private sectors. Research shows that well-being and resilience interventions can support sustained employee engagement and organisational success.

The Play of Life

Carlos Raimundo's picture

How to stop thinking like a crocodile & start feeling like a human being again.

Mentors and role models

Kate Rimer's picture

Flexibility is not just a women's issue, but the lack of support and outright antagonism from some senior women does not help the cause for change and continues to be a great disappointment.

Focused retention strategies key to attracting the workforce of the future

Kate Sykes's picture

Making flexibility work should not be the sole responsibility of the employer. Employees should be provided with a business case proposal that prompts them to think about issues such as work gaps as a result of reduced hours, and the impact it will have on clients, team members, and the organisation. 

Working smarter

msweeks@cisco.com's picture

With a rich mix of work tools and capabilities, you can be as productive in the office, at home, in hotel rooms and airport lounges all around the world. 

Flexibility - Just do it

Juliet Bourke's picture

Implementing flexibility is a challenge and may require some "hand-holding", especially for managers who have not gone through their own flexibility experience.

Workplace Flexibility

Juliet Bourke's picture

Implementing flexibility is a challenge and may require some "hand-holding", especially for managers who have not gone through their own flexibility experience.

Flexibility - just do it! That's the message I hear from the "converted".  As though managing a flexible workforce were the easiest thing to do, and not the challenge that it is. 

A little acknowledgement that flexible work practices require a new way of thinking about work, and some assistance with making practical changes, would go a long way. 

Yesterday I heard a senior leader express his commitment to embedding flexibility into his business (it was one of Australia's leading banks), his acknowledgement of the demographically driven economic imperatives of flexibility (read here: the increased number of women in the workforce and ageing population) AND an acknowledgement that managers may need some hand-holding when entering this brave new world. What a relief. Now managers in his business can ask for a helping hand. 

When we acknowledge that implementing flexibility is a challenge, especially for managers who have not gone through their own flexibility experience (eg working in a job-share - and frankly, how many people have done that?), we can create a space for a more open conversation about what managers need to implement flexible work practices. 

Tired old cliché's the greatest obstacles to flexible work practices

Kate Rimer's picture

Women can balance challenging interesting careers with motherhood so long as their employers are willing to look at different arrangements in terms of work practices.

Employee Engagement: A Worthwhile Investment

Relationship Capital cover"A person's passion for using their talents is the power source that drives an organisation" (Dr Carlos A. Raimundo).

A recent Gallup study suggested that approximately 74% of all employees are either "unengaged or actively disengaged."

Assuming the statistics are correct, that means the average business organisation is operating with a loss of about one third of its potential effectiveness.

That's not taking into account the cost of missed business opportunities or lost customers, and certainly doesn't include the cost of sabotage and other acts of revenge disengaged employees might undertake to "get even" with an organization.

According to Dr Carlos A. Raimundo, psychiatrist, MBA and researcher in behavioural modification and neurophysiology, even the most reliable employees, if not truly engaged, can become robots.

"A robot is someone who maintains the cultural standard without adding ‘new life'," he said at a recent Ten Minutes to Clarity workshop. "Every human needs to know he or she is making a difference; contributing something unique which ultimately inspires new style and growth."