Flexibility in Australia: implications for employees and managers
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425459810238738 |
| Published date | 01 October 1998 |
| Pages | 453-460 |
| Date | 01 October 1998 |
| Author | Robin Kramar |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Flexibility in
Australia
453
Flexibility in Australia:
implications for employees
and managers
Robin Kramar
Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University,
New South Wales, Australia
Since the early 1980s there has been a continuing debate in Australia about the
need to reform working practices so they promote efficiency and productivity.
Employers, governments and many trade unions argued international
competitiveness and improved organisational performance would be achieved
through greater flexibility in work practices. These flexible work practices
included broader job structures, a range of employment contracts rather than
permanent employment and greater variety in both working hours and the place
of work.
There is evidence that the use of these flexible work practices has been
increasing during the 1990s. The adoption of these practices has been encouraged
through industrial relations changes, a more strategic approach to employment
practices in individual firms and in some circumstances attempts to develop work
patterns which facilitate employees combining work and family responsibilities.
However, employees hold conflicting views of these changes, frequently finding
them detrimental to their work and non-work life.
This article examines the recent changes in employment practices in Australia
and their impact on employees. The first section presents evidence on the increase
in flexibility in employment and the second section explores the impact of the
changes in employment practices on employees and discusses the implications of
these changes for the role of human resource practitioners.
Developments in flexible employment practices in Australia
There are extensive reports of major changes in methods of management and
employment policies throughout industrialized countries during the 1980s and the
1990s. Intense international competition and the internationalization of labour
markets have reportedly encouraged innovations in the way work is organized
and the way people are deployed and managed (Blyton and Turnbull (Eds), 1992;
Brewster et al., 1997; Centre for European Human Resource Management, 1997;
Kitay and Lansbury, 1994; Locke et al., 1995; Mayne et al., 1996; Sisson, 1989;
Sparrow et al., 1994; Storey, 1992). These changes include the development of more
flexible organisational structures and forms of work organisation, participative
decision-making structures, explicit building of organisational cultures and the
integration of employment policies with broader organisational strategy (Legge
1995).
These changes have occurred in Australia (Affirmative Action Agency, 1992;
Callus et al., 1991; CCH, 1995; Department of of Industrial Relations, 1995; Dunphy Employee Relations,
Vol. 20 No. 5, 1998, pp. 453-460,
© MCBUniversity Press, 0142-5455
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