TWENTY-FIVE per cent of Australians find it very difficult to juggle work and children during the December/January holiday period, a survey of more than 700 people has found
TWENTY-FIVE per cent of Australians find it very difficult to juggle work and children during the December/January holiday period, a survey of more than 700 people has found. A further 17 per cent said they have to take holidays at a different time to their partners to ensure their children were looked after during the break. The industries in which it was most difficult to juggle children and work were:
Law 60%
Manufacturing/engineering 29%
IT 26%
In addition, 33 per cent of employees said their employers were flexible around taking extra time off during the school holiday period.
Source: Talent2
UK employees the least engaged
ONLY twelve per cent of UK employees could be described as fully engaged with their business, compared with 36 per cent of Swiss employees, 24 per cent of Irish workers and 18 per cent of German staff. A survey of more than 8,500 private sector workers also found only 9 per cent of Italian employees were less engaged than their UK counterparts.
Source: Watson Wyatt
Finance directors looking overseas
SIXTY-THREE per cent of finance directors currently working in Australia would like to work overseas in the future. Interesting/motivating work was the major career concern for 61 per cent of finance directors, while the most preferred overseas destinations for work were:
North America 20%
Europe 51%
Asia 17%
Personal reasons were the primary motivator for working overseas, followed by the desire to acquire new skills and get a higher position than those available in Australia.
Source: Robert Half Finance & Accounting
Fuel price hikes contentious for business
FOURTEEN per cent of Australian businesses have already made changes to their motor vehicle benefits policies as a result of rising fuel prices and/or employee pressure to compensate for increased fuel costs. In addition, 42 per cent of organisations were currently considering whether or not motor vehicle benefits policy changes were necessary, while 21 per cent of organisations were under strong pressure from employees to compensate for the rise in fuels prices.
Source: Classified Salary Information
Leadership forecast cloudy
TWO-THIRDS of organisations believe it will only get harder to find senior leaders, according to an international leadership survey. With fewer younger workers rising through the ranks to step into leadership positions, many organisations haven’t identified the sources for replacements. Furthermore, the survey found strong leadership could increase the successful implementation of business strategies by 22 per cent.
Source: Development Dimensions International
Super choice slow on uptake
JUST SEVEN per cent of eligible Australians have changed superannuation funds since choice of fund was introduced. Of those, only 4 per cent actively decided to change, 2 per cent did so because they changed jobs and a further 1 per cent changed because of closure of the old employer fund. Furthermore, of the increased majority who have decided to stay with their current fund, almost half said they were doing so because of loyalty and a positive commitment and satisfaction with that fund.
Source: The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia
CEO turnover on the rise
SIXTY per cent of Australian CEOs are recruited from outside the business – up from 57 per cent in 2003. Research has also found the average tenure of Australian CEOs is 4.9 years, down from 5.4 years in 2003. Several long-serving bosses who have or are departing for retirement unduly lengthened the overall average of 7.5 years tenure in 2004, including: Ansell’s Harry Boon (15 years); Crane Group’s John Ingram (13 years) and Spotless Group’s Brian Blyth (26 years).
Source: Booz Allen Hamilton
Inconsiderate colleagues the most irritating
THIRTY per cent of Australian workers claimed they get upset when their colleagues arrive late for work, a survey of 766 people has found. Other pet colleague behaviour peeves were:
Being inconsiderate 51%
Sucking up to the boss 41%
Gossiping 37%
Blue-collar workers in particular hated co-workers sucking up to the boss, while obscene noises were another extreme irritant, along with listening to the radio full blast whilst at work, using the loudspeaker function to phone customers, swearing at computers and laziness.
Source: LinkMe.com.au
Graduate recruitment working well
THE MAJORITY of graduate employers were happy with the success of their 2005 recruitment campaign, while a large proportion of employers also plan to increase the size of their graduate intake for 2006. Of graduate employers in larger organisations, 85 per cent said the number and quality of candidate applications received were good or excellent, compared to 71 per cent for smaller organisations.
Source: Graduate Careers Australia
UK employees keen to change jobs
FORTY per cent of UK employees were likely to consider leaving their employer in the next 12 months – five per cent more than the European average. A survey covering nearly 600 employers and more than 8,500 employees from 10 European countries also found German and Swiss employees were the least likely to consider a change of employer, while Swedes and Spaniards were the most likely. Across Europe, the main reasons given by employees for finding a new job were:
Poor job satisfaction 77%
Poor relationship with their manager 64%
Poor job security 61%
Below average base pay also rated highly at 53 per cent, followed by poor training and development at 52 per cent.
Source: Watson Wyatt
