A Fair Go: Australian Bosses Beat Poms
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday August 27, 2008
IF GOLD medals were awarded to workplace managers, Australia would beat Britain hands down. An international study has found Australian managers are more accessible, and less bureaucratic and secretive, than their British counterparts.
And words such as "innovative, entrepreneurial, trusting and consensual" were more likely to be applied to the Australian bosses. In the Quality of Working Life Survey, 2500 private and public sector managers in Australia and Britain were asked about the management culture in their organisations. Conducted last year by three universities - Monash in Australia, and Coventry and Lancaster in England - the survey was released yesterday by the Australian Institute of Management.It reveals similarities and differences among managers in both countries. Australian and British managers were equally concerned about the impact of long working hours on their health and relationships. About half the managers in both countries linked their working hours to health problems, and half reported a negative effect on the relationship with their spouses. More than 40 per cent suffered insomnia and headaches, and about 60 per cent reported constant tiredness because of their working hours. About a quarter in both countries reported feeling "unable to cope".But there were also unexpected contrasts in management style, said Susan Heron, a member of the institute's management committee. "We expected comparable results for management style but cultural impact has turned out to be critical," she said.For example, only 18 per cent of private sector managers in Australia described their bosses as authoritarian, compared with 27 per cent in Britain, and 21.6 per cent of the Australians described the management style in their organisation as entrepreneurial, compared with only 16.8 per cent in Britain. In the public sector, the gap was even more flattering to Australian managers. Sixty-two per cent of them expressed "trust and confidence" in senior managers, compared with 46 per cent in Britain. More Australians thought their managers were doing a good job, described their own morale as good, felt fairly treated and thought their organisation was a good employer. Australian executives were more likely than their British counterparts to be proud of their organisations (76.5 per cent, compared with 67.4 per cent) and more satisfied with their jobs (71.2 per cent, compared with 62.2 per cent). Yet Australian managers suffered somewhat more stress and depression, more ill health, and were more likely to take time off. John Buchanan, the director of the Workplace Research Centre at the University of Sydney, said the results were positive but there was room for improvement. While marginally more Australian than British private sector managers said the leadership style of their organisation was "consensual", this was only 15 per cent of the Australians surveyed. While significantly more Australians said management was "trusting", this was only a fifth of those surveyed. Ms Heron said organisations that were serious about keeping staff needed to address working hours and health.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald