Sustainable Development Goals

The effective management of work/life balance (WLB) is an issue increasingly recognized as of strategic importance to organizations and of significance to employees. We argue that an organization's need to attract and retain valued employees in a highly competitive labour market is a strong motivating factor for increased organizational awareness and action with regard to implementation and management of WLB strategies. In this paper, we report the findings of three surveys conducted annually from 1997 to 2000 with organizations in Australia. We explore the range and usage of WLB strategies in Australian organizations and identify the barriers to those strategies. It is evident that, while some achievements have been made over the years, there remain substantial challenges for the uptake and management of WLB strategies.

Achievements and challenges for work/life balance strategies in Australian organizations

Foreword This IMI publication is the first output from the IMI Bizlab on Cultural Diversity. This is a joint initiative of the IMI, the National Action Plan Against Racism and the Equality Authority. The Bizlab seeks to stimulate and support a practice and learning environment of creativity and innovation in the management of cultural diversity in the workplace. The Bizlab will make use of research, training, business networking and enterprise level innovation in establishing this practice and learning environment. This publication provides an informed and expert foundation for the work of the Bizlab. We are grateful to Déirdre Crowe, Mary Hogan and the IMI Knowledge Centre for their work in researching and preparing this publication. It provides a range of starting points for developing a new practice in the management of cultural diversity in the workplace and establishes a strong business case for enterprise to invest and innovate in the management of cultural diversity. It valuably emphasises the need for a particular approach to cultural diversity if the benefits of this cultural diversity are to be realised for employers and employees. ■ the contribution of workplace cultural diversity to business success, ■ the challenge to manage cultural diversity effectively for the mutual benefit of employers and employees, ■ the positive impact intercultural workplaces have on a wider society characterised by growing cultural diversity. The National Action Plan Against Racism brings valuable resources to the Bizlab through its commitment to promote the development of workplaces in which diversity is valued. The Equality Authority brings its experience and expertise to the Bizlab from implementing a mandate to promote equality of opportunity and to combat discrimination in the areas covered by the equality legislation. The IMI provides the ideal location for a Bizlab on cultural diversity with its capacity for training, research and business networking. We look forward to the success of this Bizlab on cultural diversity based on a pooling of this experience, expertise, resources and capacity.

Cultural diversity in the workplace.

Addressing the recent debate on corporate social performance (CSP) credibility, our study seeks to provide a differentiated understanding of CSP advertisement effects on organizational attractivene

Practice as You Preach: Corporate Social Performance and Organizational Attractiveness

Clinical significance: The study findings are important for occupational health practice in terms of employers establishing policies and practices to assist employees to better manage conflict employees may experience when attempting to combine the work and non-work domains, particularly in the context of mandated/recommended WFH. Objective The aim of the study is to investigate whether work-family conflict and/or family-work conflict mediated the relationship between workplace characteristics and general health and job satisfaction in a sample of workers working from home in a recommended/mandatory context due to COVID-19 measures. Methods Data were collected via online questionnaire as part of the Employees Working from Home study. Analyses in this article used data collected at 2 time points 6 months apart, including 965 complete responses from the first questionnaire and 451 complete responses from the second questionnaire. Results Relationships between predictor and outcome variables were in the directions expected, and both work-family conflict and family-work conflict mediated these relationships. Conclusions Work-life interaction partly explains the relationship between work characteristics and general health and job satisfaction health in a population undertaking involuntary working from home.

https://journals.lww.com/joem/Abstract/9900/Working_from_home_during_COVID_19__Does.80.aspx

Working From Home During COVID-19

Purpose – Diversity management is gaining attention in the organisations. This study theorizes and tests a model linking efforts to support diversity and organizational value of diversity with job satisfaction and organizational identification and proposes that these relationships are mediated by an organization’s diversity climate. Design/methodology/approach – Employee survey was used to collect data from employees at an Australian manufacturing organisation. Structural equation modelling in AMOS was performed for the proposed model, controlling for age and gender. Findings – The mediating role of diversity climate in the relationship of organizational value of diversity and outcomes (job satisfaction and organizational identification) is significant. We discuss theoretical, research, and practical contributions. Originality – The present study extends the literature by testing a mediation model derived from signaling theory and social exchange theory. Keywords: Diversity climate, efforts to support diversity, organizational value of diversity, job satisfaction, organizational identification

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Employee outcomes of supporting and valuing diversity: mediating role of diversity climate

Derived from leader–member exchange theory, this study hypothesises the relationships between work–family related managerial support and affective commitment and job satisfaction, and advocates that these relationships are mediated by work–family conflict.,The model was tested in an Australian manufacturing organisation using survey data from employees, using structural equation modelling in Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS).,The findings suggest that enhanced work–family related managerial support will decrease work–family conflict, eventually enhancing employees' affective commitment and job satisfaction.,This study provides important insights into the impact of managerial support on improvements in employees' work–family conflict, and, in turn, its impact on affective commitment and job satisfaction, in the Australian context.,源自領導者-成員交換理論，本研究就與工作、家庭有關的管理支援與情感承諾和工作滿足感之間的關係提出假設，並主張工作家庭衝突是引發這些關係的媒介。,有關的模型使用來自員工的調查數據，並使用AMOS內的結構方程式模式，在澳洲一個製造業組織內被測試。,研究結果暗示、若加強與工作家庭有關的管理支援，則工作家庭衝突便會減少，而這最後將會增加員工的情感承諾和工作滿足感。,本研究提出了重要的見解，使我們更了解在澳洲的背景下，管理支援對改善僱員工作家庭衝突之作用，進而更明白管理支援對情感承諾和工作滿足感的影響。

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Phuong Anh Tran

Papers

Employee outcomes of supporting and valuing diversity: mediating role of diversity climate

Managerial support, work–family conflict and employee outcomes: an Australian study

Boundary-Scattering Induced Seebeck Coefficient Enhancement in Thin Films within Relaxation Time Approximation