Identifying effective strategies to grow and sustain a professional early years workforce. The National Early Years Workforce Strategy (2012) identifies the imperative for a larger, more qualified, professional, responsive and collaborative childcare workforce. This need is urgent. By 2014, Commonwealth legislation specifies that all long day-care centres must have a qualified teacher and minimum staff qualification of Certificate III. Yet high turnover, skill loss and failure to meet existing q ....Identifying effective strategies to grow and sustain a professional early years workforce. The National Early Years Workforce Strategy (2012) identifies the imperative for a larger, more qualified, professional, responsive and collaborative childcare workforce. This need is urgent. By 2014, Commonwealth legislation specifies that all long day-care centres must have a qualified teacher and minimum staff qualification of Certificate III. Yet high turnover, skill loss and failure to meet existing qualification standards persist. Nationally, multiple strategies are being implemented to achieve the new qualification standards but there is scant evidence about their effectiveness. This project aims to identify the most effective strategies to reduce loss and increase professional engagement in the early years workforce.Read moreRead less
Organisational Readiness for Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation. An ERP implementation is a significant organisational intervention and its success is affected by many variables including the organisation's culture, decision-making strategies, risk taking orientation, leadership strategies and perceptions of the value of Information Technology. We seek to develop a organisational behaviour modification program in order to position the firm to succeed by overcoming barriers in these ele ....Organisational Readiness for Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation. An ERP implementation is a significant organisational intervention and its success is affected by many variables including the organisation's culture, decision-making strategies, risk taking orientation, leadership strategies and perceptions of the value of Information Technology. We seek to develop a organisational behaviour modification program in order to position the firm to succeed by overcoming barriers in these elements. We will (1) identify key variables that inhibit an ERP implementation; (2) develop strategies to orient the organisation to achieve business benefit from the ERP implementation; and (3) track the effectiveness of these strategies through a program of participative action research.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101060
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$323,000.00
Summary
Employer strategies for developing a skilled workforce. This project aims to discover why employers use particular strategies when sourcing skills and whether these strategies benefit their workers.Addressing employer skills needs expediently is imperative for productivity and national prosperity. Employers’ strategies have profound implications for the workforce and the Australian labour market, particularly at a time of rising unemployment. This project will study why employers increasingly ‘b ....Employer strategies for developing a skilled workforce. This project aims to discover why employers use particular strategies when sourcing skills and whether these strategies benefit their workers.Addressing employer skills needs expediently is imperative for productivity and national prosperity. Employers’ strategies have profound implications for the workforce and the Australian labour market, particularly at a time of rising unemployment. This project will study why employers increasingly ‘buy’ skills externally, through recruitment and sponsored immigration, rather than ‘build’ skills internally through employee development strategies. Understanding how immigration and domestic policy mechanisms addressing employer and labour market needs is expected to inform policy development on this vital issue.Read moreRead less
Unravelling Leadership Development: Evaluating outcomes, contrasting interventions, and exploring processes. This project investigates how leadership development interventions translate into effective outcomes for organizations. We compare how distinct interventions (transformational leadership vs. 360 degree feedback) and different modes of delivery (face-to-face vs. videoconferencing) lead to change in leader behavior. We investigate the cognitive/motivational mechanisms (e.g., self-efficacy, ....Unravelling Leadership Development: Evaluating outcomes, contrasting interventions, and exploring processes. This project investigates how leadership development interventions translate into effective outcomes for organizations. We compare how distinct interventions (transformational leadership vs. 360 degree feedback) and different modes of delivery (face-to-face vs. videoconferencing) lead to change in leader behavior. We investigate the cognitive/motivational mechanisms (e.g., self-efficacy, perspective-taking) by which these interventions affect leader behavior, as well as the multilevel processes by which change in leader behavior affects team performance and team well-being. The project will provide a more accurate assessment on the return of investment in leadership development, as well as guidance for enhancing the effectiveness of leadership development programs.
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An investigation of supervisory practices for improving occupational health and safety behaviour in construction teams: a cross-level experimental analysis. Construction workers, comprising 8% of the Australian workforce, are a high risk group for occupational fatality, injury and disease. Almost 10% of all injury and death claims in Australia are attributed to construction, creating a significant social and economic burden. The research addresses the previously neglected issue of how first-line ....An investigation of supervisory practices for improving occupational health and safety behaviour in construction teams: a cross-level experimental analysis. Construction workers, comprising 8% of the Australian workforce, are a high risk group for occupational fatality, injury and disease. Almost 10% of all injury and death claims in Australia are attributed to construction, creating a significant social and economic burden. The research addresses the previously neglected issue of how first-line supervisors shape subordinates' safety behaviour. The research makes a significant contribution by identifying and encouraging supervisory behaviours that: (i) create strong, positive safety climates in sub-contracted work crews; (ii) support the translation of organizational OHS policies/procedures into safe practices; and (iii) improve the OHS performance of the construction industry.Read moreRead less
Assessing the effectiveness of the ageing workforce in regional organisations of Western Australia: A biopsychosocial analysis. This project will identify key organisational, management and occupational health and safety factors affecting ageing workforces in regional industries. By 2016, demographic estimates indicate a significant reduction of the young labour force while people aged 45 years and over will account for more than 80 per cent of the labour force growth (ABS, 2003). Consequently, ....Assessing the effectiveness of the ageing workforce in regional organisations of Western Australia: A biopsychosocial analysis. This project will identify key organisational, management and occupational health and safety factors affecting ageing workforces in regional industries. By 2016, demographic estimates indicate a significant reduction of the young labour force while people aged 45 years and over will account for more than 80 per cent of the labour force growth (ABS, 2003). Consequently, the productivity and viability of labour-intensive industries everywhere but especially in regional Australia, will be severely affected. We will develop a novel intervention model to maximise the effectiveness of the ageing workforce. This will provide an important decision-making tool for many states, regional and local employers and bodies concerned.Read moreRead less
Facilitating Capacity Building in the Australian Not-For-Profit Sector through Improved Work Learning. This project aims to investigate how both formal and informal work learning can improve the governance, leadership, and management capacity of not-for-profit organisations (NFPs). The research aims to identify key competencies, and chart the needs, opportunities, preferences, and barriers to develop them on a national scale. Organisational mechanisms under managerial control are further examine ....Facilitating Capacity Building in the Australian Not-For-Profit Sector through Improved Work Learning. This project aims to investigate how both formal and informal work learning can improve the governance, leadership, and management capacity of not-for-profit organisations (NFPs). The research aims to identify key competencies, and chart the needs, opportunities, preferences, and barriers to develop them on a national scale. Organisational mechanisms under managerial control are further examined to understand what facilitates work learning within NFPs. Findings aims to inform theory, practice and policy about professional development and capacity building to enhance NFPs’ ability to make a strong social impact. Outcomes aim to significantly strengthen Australia’s social and economic fabric by building effectiveness within the critical NFP sector.Read moreRead less
Workplace participatory practices: Learning through and for work. The project aims to examine the relationship between individuals? participation in and their learning through paid work. This is warranted because current conceptions of learning throughout working lives fail to fully account for the reciprocal processes of workplace affordances and individual engagement that together shape participation in and learning from work. The study seeks to illuminate participatory practices across differ ....Workplace participatory practices: Learning through and for work. The project aims to examine the relationship between individuals? participation in and their learning through paid work. This is warranted because current conceptions of learning throughout working lives fail to fully account for the reciprocal processes of workplace affordances and individual engagement that together shape participation in and learning from work. The study seeks to illuminate participatory practices across different kinds of workplaces and also those within workplaces for different categories of workers. The procedures comprise an investigation of the participation in and learning of 6 groups of workers employed in distinct kinds of work over an eighteen month period.Read moreRead less
An empirical evaluation of an innovative occupational stress intervention to improve the health and retention of high-risk employees. Occupational stress costs Australian organisations $105.5m, accounts for 6.5% of workplace injuries and 18.4 weeks absenteeism, per annum. This project introduces an occupational stress intervention in a State Government Department to improve the health and retention of employees who have experienced stress or who are a high risk for submitting a stress claim. The ....An empirical evaluation of an innovative occupational stress intervention to improve the health and retention of high-risk employees. Occupational stress costs Australian organisations $105.5m, accounts for 6.5% of workplace injuries and 18.4 weeks absenteeism, per annum. This project introduces an occupational stress intervention in a State Government Department to improve the health and retention of employees who have experienced stress or who are a high risk for submitting a stress claim. The intervention will reduce occupational stress costs by 40% and will be generalisable to other public and private organisations. The project will demonstrate how Australian employers can meet their legal and ethical obligations to protect employee's psychological health, with a view to ultimately reducing the occurrence and financial consequences of occupational stress claims.Read moreRead less
Team processes, identification, and reliable performance: Implementing the Balanced Scorecard in health service teams. The aims of this research are to examine factors that enhance the reliability of performance of health service teams. These teams are required to deliver outcomes with a high degree of consistency and reliability. We draw on social identity theory and research on high reliability organisations (HROs) to identify the factors that contribute to improved reliability in teams. Secon ....Team processes, identification, and reliable performance: Implementing the Balanced Scorecard in health service teams. The aims of this research are to examine factors that enhance the reliability of performance of health service teams. These teams are required to deliver outcomes with a high degree of consistency and reliability. We draw on social identity theory and research on high reliability organisations (HROs) to identify the factors that contribute to improved reliability in teams. Second, we explore whether organisational strategy processes such as the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) infiltrate work processes and influence team outcomes. Our aim is to examine whether the implementation of the BSC interacts with team dynamics to enhance the reliability of performance in teams.Read moreRead less