NINETY per cent of Australian employees judge their bosses on their performance, according to a survey of 1,200 workers
NINETY per cent of Australian employees judge their bosses on their performance, according to a survey of 1,200 workers. It also found that employees:
Aren’t afraid to offer their advice 76%
Believe their boss listens to what they say 76%
Think mid/junior level managers listen best 71%
The survey also found that the most judgmental employees are those in the over 55 year old bracket, with 93 per cent regularly telling the boss a thing or two.
Source: Talent2
Workers’ bee in work/life balance bonnet
FORTY-SIX per cent of employees believe their managers don’t have the competence required to manage the demands of business along with work/life issues, according to a survey of Australian workers. It also found that only 34 per cent said leaders in their organisation provide a positive role model for employees, while employee dissatisfaction with work/life balance in the legal sector deteriorated by 56 per cent, compared to 36 per cent overall for other sectors.
Source: Managing Work/Life Balance
Wanted: senior compliance contractors
SEVENTY-SEVEN per cent of senior compliance contractors reported an increase in demands for their skills over the past 12 months, with firms competing for talent to deal with regulatory reforms including Sarbanes-Oxley and CLERP 9. A survey of 78 senior project professionals also found that 55 per cent reported an increase in their remuneration rates, while the most popular benefits associated with contracting include:
Exposure to a variety of industries 41%
Flexibility 36%
Financial rewards 6%
Source: Resources Global Professionals
HR ranks low on CFO agenda
SIXTY-SIX per cent of CFOs rank operations as the top function they need to collaborate with in order to execute their agenda, according to a global survey of 1,600 senior financial executives. It also found that HR was one of the lowest collaboration priorities at 20 per cent, along with product development (29 per cent) and external stakeholders (24 per cent).
Source: Booz Allen Hamilton/CFO Research Services
UK: Inefficiency wastes 80 days a year
OFFICE workers waste up to 80 working days a year due to inefficient office practices. The biggest time waster was technology, with crashing or slow computers and printer jams causing workers to lose an average of 48 minutes each day, while other time wasters include dealing with colleagues (34 minutes per day), unnecessary phone and conference calls (26 minutes per day) and unnecessary meetings (23 minutes per day).
Source: BACS Payment Schemes
CEO pay cops a spray
SIXTY-FOUR per cent of employees believe that CEOs are paid too much, while a further 57 per cent say profits should be evenly distributed amongst workers. The survey of more than 1,200 employees also found that 73 per cent believe their salaries should rise in conjunction with their bosses’, but only 35 per cent of CEOs agreed with this sentiment.
Source: Talent2
US workers: Show me the money!
ALMOST half of HR professionals in the US believe that monetary rewards programs are very effective when it comes to motivating and boosting the morale of top-performing employees. Furthermore, 44 per cent of practitioners review reward programs annually to ensure an accurate reflection of an organisation’s strategic direction while non-managerial employees are more likely to be eligible for new hire referral bonuses and spot bonuses.
Source: Society for Human Resource Management
Vietnam vets struggle with civilian work
FORTY-FOUR per cent of Vietnam War veterans experience extreme difficulty in settling down and fitting into civilian workplaces, according to a Queensland study of 40 soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War. It also found that 19 per cent experienced problems in landing a job, while many change jobs frequently because of workplace backlash to their involvement in war, a sensitivity about their past, battlefield injuries or difficulties in translating military skills into civilian life.
Source: James Cook University
US: Time flies for older workers
SIXTY-ONE per cent of workers aged 55 or over believe that time seems to pass quickly for them at work, according to a US survey of more than 5,000 employees. It also found that only 36 per cent of employees aged 18–34 felt the same way, while workers who were most optimistic about the future of their current job were those aged:
35–54 36%
18–34 35%
55 or over 19%
Source: The Concours Group/Age Wave
Commuting brings family challenges
MORE than 10 per cent of parents in paid employment spend more time commuting than they do with their children, according to a study of 5,898 Australian workers. For example, it found that 30 per cent of working fathers in Melbourne spend an average of almost eight hours per week commuting to and from work, while the quality time they spend with their children stands at only 3.75 hours per week.
Source: Australia Institute
Swiss top European salary stakes
SENIOR managers in Switzerland earn 200,524 euros a year, closely followed by senior managers in the UK, who pull in 195,879 euros. A survey of more than 2,700 European companies found that Norwegian, Greek and Portuguese senior managers are among the lowest paid in Europe, while the salaries of senior managers in 2005 are expected to rise the fastest in:
Greece 5.4%
The UK 3.7%
Germany 3.1%
Source: Watson Wyatt
