Work Life Balance Case of QUT

Question: Discuss about theWork Life Balancefor Case of QUT. Answer: Introduction Empowering everyone has an overarching objective and principle of achieving the workplace inclusion and diversity strategy. With the workplace inclusion and diversity strategy, the human resources department should reflect on how to harness the potential of the workplace by ensuring that all workers understand the backgrounds of others in the Australian community (Pocock, Charlesworth, Chapman, 2013). Like other organizations in Australia, QUT must know that everyone brings a unique and immense skills and knowledge to the institution. According to Chapman, Skinner, and Pocock (2014), the skills are critical in enabling an individual to adopt the citizen-centric approach in delivering quality services to the Australian community. Given the social obligations of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, QUT should provide the staff with an opportunity to meet the balance work and life responsibilities and social obligations. Background Work Life Balance is a common theory with endless possibilities and rich in meaning. Everyone in Australia including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders appreciates the significance of industrialization, especially the separation of homes from work thus becoming the genesis of the question of this theory. ILO (2004) reported that life before industrialization seemed to have been hard, but the question never arose because for anyone who never worked, perished thus forgetting about balance. The campaign to protect the conditions of workers stemmed from the time of the Wilberforces anti-slavery campaign and every leader in Australia has acknowledged the movement in improving the working conditions of minorities such as the Aboriginal Australians (Fairfax, 2015). Today, the social contract is irreplaceable because the majority of the population are in paid work. Both mothers and fathers alike spend most of their time away from the family thus diminishing the family responsibilitie s. Undeniably, the working parents experience pressure and stress on how to balance work and life. Work/Life Balance Issue QUT should invest in a work-life balance so that it can decrease stress; help attracts and retain employees, increase productivity, reduce absenteeism, and improve the working relationships and morale as demonstrated by Chapman et al. (2014). The cumulative effects of this situation are unfortunate to the Australian workers. The work-related stress is costing the country millions, while the human costs are beyond the national costs. The solution lies in practicing a healthy work-life balance (Disclaimer, n.d). With the organization reducing the head counts by attrition and layoffs, the few workers left have felt the need to work extremely hard and extra hours to save their jobs. The workers fear that the failure to push would surmount to losing their jobs. Without a balance causes poor health due to stress that has proved expensive to the institution. For instance, when the employees get burnout, meeting the organizational goals becomes involved thus cause conflicts. In fact, these w orkers can rarely help the firm to grow because they have problems with their personal lives thus putting them under strain. Advice to QUT The institution must go its way and implement its traditional strategy to hire new employees. However, this is possible if the HR and the executive team are aware of the problem because issues relating to work/life balance are important and personal. At the initial stage, it would be prudent to consult the employees by sending questionnaires to them and ask how they think the organization can overcome the workload burden facing them. Some of the questions that should be included in the surveys would be to seek the number of hours an employee is willing to work per week, whether from home or in the workplace, ask the time they spend thinking about vacations. It would also be necessary for the organization to ask them what causes them frustrations at QUT. The HR manager should adjust the questions to fit the firms objectives and the environment. The institution can improve the work/life balance by introducing the job-sharing opportunities options. For example, by increasing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the workplace, it would be possible to enhance the job-sharing opportunities. In fact, the institution is within this populations community, and thus they will find it easy to adjust and accommodate their private lives. Additionally, the organization should introduce the work-from-home policy or telecommuting so that the workers can work in the comfort of their homes as provided under the Fair Work Act (ILO, 2004). Telecommuting will best serve the Aboriginal people because they rarely want to lose their family contacts and events. QUT can also improve the work/life balance by adjusting the working hours, such that people can start later or earlier than usual. QUT stands to benefit from introducing the host-get-together parties for staff, especially during the working hours. Such opportunities would allow them to socialize as work and learn more about the cultures of the Aboriginal Australians. With the aging population, the country and by extension, QUT will suffer. The solution to the impending crisis is to plan on how the institution can hire new staff from the Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginals. Through the buy-in and support initiatives, the company will match its production needs (Heathfield, 2016). Government Response In Australia, the Fair Work Act and the National Employment Standards provide different supports to help workers manage their work-life responsibilities as explained by Zubrick, Silburn, Lawrence, Mitrou, Blair, and Griffin (2005). For example, the collective enterprise agreements contain the flexibility class and minimum annual leave provisions. In fact, the parental leave is inevitable for all parents. The company should thus guarantee all workers including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to have a 12-month unpaid leave, and 18 weeks paid parental leave. The Australian government expects businesses to consider parental rights to requesting flexible working conditions, community service leave, and personal leave (Managing Work /Life Balance International, 2010). The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders require compassionate leaves and community service leave because they value their communities. In most cases, this group appreciates the community ceremonies and family m eetings. In avoiding the cultural clash, it would be prudent to offer them community service leave and compassionate leave. Conclusion The profession has many people who have found the capacity to achieve a balance that has worked for them, such as providing personal fulfilment and career satisfaction. The information captured in this article provides techniques and advice for maintaining and finding a healthy work/life balance. As professionals, the inclusion of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders will ensure the institution pay attention to the jobs and allow the management to accomplish the expectations to make the expectations and requirements realistic without excessive compromises. References Chapman, J., Skinner, N., Pocock, B. (2014). Work-life interaction in the twenty first century Australian workforce: Five years of the Australian Work and Life Index. Labour and Industry, 24(2), 87-102. Retrieved from https://web.b.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=trueprofile=ehostscope=siteauthtype=crawlerjrnl=10301763AN=97025007h=hcgECN5LR81xIoVgtTraZJd2V2N5ext1a5fc6SZh0EATwL1V6lHjUoS1HV4wJb0l38kC%2bFJjwa6j%2fp4MUIUISA%3d%3dcrl=fresultNs=AdminWebAuthresultLocal=ErrCrlNotAuthcrlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d10301763%26AN%3d97025007 Disclaimer. (n.d). Workplaces that work. HRCOUNCIL.CA. Retrieved from https://hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/workplaces-health-safety.cfm. Fairfax, T. (2015). The annual report 2015 and financial statements for QUT. Brisbane: QUT Marketing and Communication. Retrieved from https://www.qut.edu.au/about/the-university/annual-report. Heathfield, S. M. (2016, Aug 26). Work-life balance. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/work-life-balance-1918292. ILO. (2004).The family-friendly workplace. Information Sheet No. WF-3. Geneva: ILO. Retrieved from https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/publication/wcms_170721.pdf. Managing Work /Life Balance International. (2010). Work life initiatives the way ahead report on the year 2010 survey. Retrieved from https://www.worklifebalance.com.au/images/stories/Results_of_Flexible_Work_in_2010_Pulse_Survey.pdf. Pocock, B. (2014). The state of work-life interaction in Australia in 2014. Presentation to Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing, Griffith University, 16 September 2014. Pocock, B., Charlesworth, S., Chapman, J. (2013). Work-family and work-life pressures in Australia: Advancing gender equality in good times. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 33(9/10): 594-612. Retrieved from https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/IJSSP-11-2012-0100. Zubrick, S., Silburn, S., Lawrence, D., Mitrou, R., Blair, E. Griffin, J.A. (2005). The Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey: The social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal children and young people. Perth: Curtin University of Technology and Telethon Institute for Child Health Research. Retrieved from https://aboriginal.telethonkids.org.au/media/399793/measuring_social_and_emotional_wellbeing.pdf.