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TAFE Queensland is committed to continuous improvement and to being recognised as an organisation consistently exhibiting 'best practice' goals and values. Consistent with these values, the organisation has conducted an Employee Opinion Benchmark Survey so that the views, ideas, and suggestions of its employees can be fully considered as an integral part of its commitment to continuous improvement. The outcomes have been benchmarked against a number of other organisations nationally. Show less

The concept of quality of work-life is not new but with the changing pace of life and increases in stress levels negatively affecting the quality of work, organisations have begun to think about the strategies for maintaining a work life balance. There is a strong link between quality of work-life and reduced absenteeism, increased productivity and job satisfaction. Other benefits include improved recruitment and retention rates with associated cost savings, reduced stress, greater levels of job satisfaction and loyalty, and an improved corporate image. The quality of work-life strategy offers a variety of ways to reduce stress levels and increase job satisfaction of employees. This study focuses on: comparing employees' perception towards quality of work-life variables in five different sectors (steel, power, banking, education, and mining); and finding out which factors contribute significantly to satisfaction of employees with reference to quality of work-life.

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This report introduces the American Working Conditions Survey (AWCS), a survey of individuals designed to collect detailed information on a broad range of working conditions in the American workplace. The AWCS was fielded in 2015 on the RAND American Life Panel, a nationally representative (when weighted) sample of individuals residing in the United States who have agreed to participate in regular online surveys. This report presents detailed findings about the prevalence and distribution of working conditions across the American workforce by age, gender, and education.

The AWCS findings indicate that the American workplace is very physically and emotionally taxing, both for workers themselves and their families. Most Americans (two-thirds) frequently work at high speeds or under tight deadlines, and one in four perceives that they have too little time to do their job. More than one-half of Americans report exposure to unpleasant and potentially hazardous working conditions, and nearly one in five American workers are exposed to a hostile or threatening social environment at work. Positive findings include that workers appear to have a certain degree of autonomy, most feel confident about their skill set, and many receive social support on the job. Four out of five American workers report that their job met at least one definition of 'meaningful' always or most of the time.

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This article examines cross-national differences and trends in perceived job quality, defined in terms of five dimensions - extrinsic rewards, intrinsic rewards, work intensity, working conditions and interpersonal relationships - as well as overall job satisfaction. We analyse country differences in 1989, 1997 and 2005, using data for four countries from the International Social Survey Programme. Job security, the ability to work independently and the quality of working conditions and interpersonal relationships tend to be greater in Norway and West Germany than in the USA and Great Britain; American workers tend to be most satisfied with advancement opportunities, intrinsic rewards and overall job quality. We find convergence in job security and work intensity over time, which may reflect increased market pressures that encourage a 'lean and mean' management strategy.

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During the next year, if given the choice, one in four millennials would quit his or her current employer to join a new organization or to do something different. That figure increases to 44 per cent when the time frame is expanded to two years. By the end of 2020, two of every three respondents hope to have moved on, while only 16 per cent of millennials see themselves with their current employers a decade from now. This remarkable absence of loyalty represents a serious challenge to any business employing a large number of millennials, especially those in markets - like the United States - where Millennials now represent the largest segment of the workforce. Businesses must adjust how they nurture loyalty among millennials or risk losing a large percentage of their workforces.

This survey collected the views of nearly 7,700 millennials representing 29 countries around the globe. All participants were born after 1982, have obtained a college or university degree, are employed fulltime, and predominantly work in large (100+ employees), private sector organizations. This summary explores the factors that underlie the loyalty challenge and offers suggestions, based on respondent responses, that could help earn that loyalty back.

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In-work training is generally regarded as beneficial for employees and in Britain it continues to offer significant gains in earnings. However, little previous research has tested whether training also leads to higher levels of job satisfaction or 'happiness'. Employers need to retain trained employees in order to make training cost-effective, but this may clash with employees' career aims if they view external job mobility as a better strategy, for instance because of reduced internal promotion opportunities. Using panel survey data for the 1990s and the 2000s, and considering four different aspects of job satisfaction, this research finds that job mobility, usually regarded as inimical to in-firm training provision, is associated consistently with gains in job satisfaction, while receipt of training has effects on satisfaction that are mostly close to zero. Further, job satisfaction is high in circumstances where financial returns to training are low, and vice versa. Finally, we find that training inhibits mobility, probably a good outcome for employers but not necessarily for employees.

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This report provides an overview of the physiotherapy workforce in Victoria in 2015-2016. It is based on survey responses from 1,037 individual physiotherapists (approximately 15 per cent of the physiotherapy workforce identified by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) or 15 per cent physiotherapists registered with the Physiotherapy Board of Australia), three focus groups involving 17 participants, and surveys from 73 organisations providing services across 299 different locations or sites. Female and older employees were over-represented in the survey sample compared to 2016 registration and 2015 workforce data.

The picture of workforce supply and demand for physiotherapy was mixed. As with other allied health (AH) professions, there has been a rapid growth in new graduates entering the physiotherapy profession, (AIHW, 2016) and increasing competition for jobs, particularly in the public sector. Despite this, there is anecdotal evidence of substantial unmet demand for physiotherapy services in the community. Some advertised physiotherapy positions receive more than 50 applications. Yet around 50 per cent of organisations said that they experience shortages of physiotherapists across lower and higher grades and vacant senior positions can take more than six months to fill. Indicators of workforce shortages include lack of services, service rationing, long waiting lists, increased delegation to [allied health assistants] AHAs and physiotherapists appointed at grades higher than their levels of skill or qualification.

The self-reported attrition rate from the physiotherapy workforce is 2 per cent in the next 12 months increasing to 27 per cent in five years. Approximately 15 per cent of physiotherapists propose to change their job within 12 months. The majority of participants said that they were moving to take up better job opportunities, better pay or better working conditions. Recruitment and retention of physiotherapists was more challenging in regional, rural and some outer metropolitan areas than in inner-metropolitan regions. Rural and regional employers face challenges including competition for staff with metropolitan employers, perceived lack of career development and continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities, as well as the more generalist nature of the work. Regional university training courses were seen to increase rural physiotherapy capacity and keep clinicians in regional/rural areas. Some organisations fund physiotherapy positions on short term, temporary or part-time contracts which are less attractive from a recruitment perspective.

Leadership from senior roles is necessary both to build advocacy on behalf of patients and the profession and to provide governance structures for more junior staff, regardless of their employment location. There are relatively few senior physiotherapy positions. Yet some organisations expressed challenges recruiting to senior physiotherapy roles, suggesting a lack of succession planning within the profession. Workforce capacity development and career advancement of the physiotherapy workforce requires access to CPD, particularly in rural areas. Other enablers include support from management, time, funding and availability of appropriate CPD. Failure to provide these enablers limits clinicians' ability to access further training which would provide career opportunities and advance the profession in its ability to meet community health need.

Physiotherapists have a high level of career satisfaction. While most are satisfied with the type of work they perform and the clients they work with, they would like to see improvements in their pay, professional development and career advancement opportunities. Physiotherapists are motivated by achieving a positive work/life balance, the type of work they do and clients they work with, and by having access to professional development opportunities. There was a suggestion that the physiotherapy profession should aim to attract students on the basis of their interpersonal skills and a desire to work with people, rather than academic ability. More appropriate marketing to prospective students may influence their ultimate career satisfaction and retention. There were no systemic skills gaps identified within physiotherapy, however several organisations identified specific skills that would be of benefit locally, including a mixture of clinical skills, knowledge of the health system, and supervision skills. Improved access to CPD may be a way to resolve several local skills gaps.

Key areas of consideration for the physiotherapy workforce going forward include: (1) Developing metrics of community need/demand for physiotherapy services; (2) Increasing evidence and knowledge base of the professions models of care to improve referrals and business cases for optimal staffing levels to improve patient outcomes; (3) Undertake modelling around AH, nursing and medical staffing numbers and mix that ensure optimal service capacity and health outcomes; (4) Improving health service workforce and succession planning to best meet community health need; (5) Improving clinical governance and support, particularly for private practitioners and those working for a large number of different employers; (6) Ensuring adequate supply and skills for growing areas of need, including acute and sub-acute areas, aged care, disability, complex patients and interdisciplinary roles; (7) Addressing attrition by providing support, flexibility and a career opportunities; (8) Developing business case's for areas in which physiotherapy can add value to the patient pathway including referral, diagnostic and treatment pathways, which are currently restricted by professional boundaries, funding models or organisational norms; and (9) Exploring workforce capacity opportunities such as skills that current physiotherapists bring from previous careers, current and potential interdisciplinary and advanced scope roles.

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This article uses national-level data to examine the benefits for workers of better skill utilisation and the question of how opportunities to use skills in the workplace can be enhanced. Analysis of the New Zealand data in the 2005 and 2015 rounds of the International Social Survey Programme confirms that better skill utilisation is generally associated with a broad range of beneficial outcomes, including higher employee income, better opportunities for career advancement, higher job satisfaction, greater organisational commitment and lower turnover intentions. In addition, skill utilisation serves as a significant mediator between work autonomy and employee outcomes, particularly in the 2015 survey. As a general rule, better utilisation of employee skills will occur in organisational climates in which employee autonomy is encouraged.

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This article considers the impact of flexible working arrangements (FWAs), using the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society, 2001-10/11. Results of panel logit, ANCOVA and change-score analysis are indicative of positive impacts from use of a number of FWAs, including homeworking having positive effects for men and women on job and leisure satisfaction. However, findings reveal gaps in availability and use of FWAs, and highlight the gendered nature of flexible employment. Flexi-time, the most common FWA among men, has positive effects as it facilitates management of household responsibilities while maintaining full-time employment. Part-time and homeworking are also positive, consistent with men using FWAs with a greater degree of choice. Women more often are constrained in their use of FWAs, often into working reduced hours. Consequently, FWAs have negative impacts for some women, on job (part-time when used for extended periods, flexi-time), leisure (job-share, flexi-time) and life satisfaction (job-share).

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This research report presents findings from a study of the New Deal program's Gateway function in Birmingham, and notified vacancies in the local labour market. The research aimed to determine and understand the barriers to successful matches between the notified vacancies and New Deal Gateway participants. The research was conducted over four weeks utilising information from a variety of sources including interviews, and focused in more detail on unsubsidised employment rather than New Deal subsidised jobs. The Birmingham labour market is found to be relatively active, however the number of New Deal clients attaining unsubsidised jobs is not satisfactory. Clients' level of 'job readiness' for the type of employment desired, and clients' unrealistic expectations of work act as barriers to employment. Mismanagement of job searching duties also contributes to the problem. The experience of employers with New Deal participants has generally not been positive. The study concludes that a number of factors act as barriers to the New Deal program's employment success, with fundamental problems occurring in the supply of participants.

The summary of progress report is indexed at TD/TNC 78.576. Show less