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Flexibility - Just do it

Fri, 22/08/2008 - 14:39 — Juliet Bourke

Juliet BourkeImplementing 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. 

Combating the skills shortage means rebuilding from within

Wed, 14/05/2008 - 12:11 — Megan Motto

Megan Motto

We need to shift our organisational paradigm to measure our peers and ourselves based on results, not hours spent in the office.

We have to stop deluding ourselves. We have to let go of this baseless notion that the current skills shortage is somehow cyclical, and that someday soon we'll wake up to an economy where sourcing skilled staff is again a challenge but not an impossibility.

The problem is now critical. For the third year running a survey of our membership at the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia indicated that up to two thirds of projects are having to be delayed or put off indefinitely due to insufficient personnel to do the job.

How is Web 2.0 influencing and delivering e-recruitment and talent retention in Australia?

Tue, 22/04/2008 - 13:21 — gapadmin

Mike GiuffridaSocial networking will soon become an essential part of the recruitment arena, according to Mike Giuffrida.

How is Web 2.0 influencing and delivering e-recruitment and talent retention in Australia?

To answer this question we need to define what Web 2.0 means. Web 2.0 is an interesting term, and particularly hard to define.

In Australia, the internet gained momentum in 1995 and 1996, firstly with Web 1.0 and now with Web 2.0. These references relate to the accessibility of the internet. For example, in the early days internet access was slow and difficult and mainly via dial-up devices. I call this Web 1.0.

Today the internet is ‘always on' and speeds have increased by five to 10 times which enables people to deliver more functions and features - and to deliver them faster.  I call this Web 2.0.

Essentially, I see the internet as a platform for delivery.

Flexible work practices mean getting back to basics

Tue, 22/04/2008 - 13:00 — gapadmin

Penny Holt

With a skills shortage looming in some areas, and clear and present in others, there's only really one way out - change work practices, or lose business, says Penny Holt.

When it comes to flexible working conditions we're in a bit of a stalemate.  There are companies which need staff, but can't get them because they won't rethink the way they operate. On the other side we have highly qualified, highly skilled staff who can pick and choose who they work for, and who are opting for the roles that let them maintain their work life balance.

A lot has been said about the benefits of flexible work practices, in terms of productivity, staff morale, retention rates and growth. But the message simply isn't getting through.

The companies that are doing it, are doing extremely well and will continue to do well as the skills shortage worsens.

But most companies are simply not getting the message, and wondering why they can't recruit the skilled staff they need in a rapidly expanding economy.

Leading by example

Thu, 27/03/2008 - 10:27 — gapadmin

By Kerry Fallon Horgan

Better work/life balance needs to start at the top.

When I asked John McFarlane, then CEO of ANZ Bank, whether to create an enabling environment that supports work/life balance it is necessary for an organisational leader to model this balance, his response was illuminating.

"Get a full life and then have success at work!"

One of his key strategies being to follow a personal mission statement. This statement sets out the roles and pursuits on which he focuses all of his attention, avoiding "with good grace activities that are inconsistent, however appealing". He also takes very practical steps to ensure his time is managed well such as only having meetings in the mornings and if people are "high maintenance" he sends them away.

To create sustainable flexible workplaces managers must lead by example. Unfortunately all too often what we find in our organisations are "mega-managers". They are the people, who because of the long hours spent at work, have highly developed roles as managers at the expense of other life roles. When these "mega-managers" return home late at night, usually tired and stressed, the only role accessible to them is that of manager. And no partner, child or friend wants to be managed!

Mentors and role models

Mon, 29/09/2008 - 10:36 — Kate Rimer

Kate RimerFlexibility 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.

In my last two blogs on Open Forum I talked about some of the challenges and support I received as I navigated the straights of a challenging career and motherhood.

In this last piece, I would like to talk briefly about the roles of mentors in managing work/life issues and flexibility, which we will come back to later. I have managed to combine work and family through the support of some key people, especially the mentors I have had along the way.

The week I returned to work after having my first child, I had a visit from Prue, a senior legal counsel in my client group, who took time to connect with me about being a working mum (she also promised to let me know if I came to work with puke on my shoulder). Prue was always talking about her kids and showed me that it was OK to bring "the whole person to work" and seek out support from those who had traveled the path before me.

I also got great advice from my friend Debra, a mother of 3 and senior executive with a major industrial company, told me early on: "It is really hard making it all work. Each of us do it in different ways. You don't have to justify your way to anyone else. But when you work part-time you've got to be organised so you have to have Plan A, B and C to cover all eventualities with the kids".

I see mentors such as these as hugely powerful enablers to successful flexible work. They help provide the emotional resilience. They show how to minimise the road blocks and are the sounding board on the realities of childcare, chicken pox, homework, cakes stalls and vacation care.

Unfortunately, there are also some women; "the queen bees" who still don't get the need to support other women around work/life issues. Flexibility is not just a women's issue, but the lack of support, in fact outright antagonism from some senior women does not help the cause for change and continues to be a great disappointment. Perhaps I am just an old fashioned feminist and expect more.

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