Whenever a workplace issue emerges (such as bullying, harassment, toxic leadership, just to name a few), Heather* in HR says ‘let’s do a survey, that will give us all the answers to our problems and how we can fix these problems’. But will it, really? Some things Heather and her team need to consider when thinking about surveying their organisation: What are they looking for? How is the data going to be collected; face to face, telephone, email? Anonymous vs Confidential? How are the results going to be distributed; newsletter or annual reporting? Is action going to be taken? How will this be funded? Have the staff been over surveyed? What are you looking for? Surveys are a great tool for ob
The search for ‘good leadership’ may be a defining characteristic of our time. A 2016 Deloitte survey found that leadership was among the top ranked priorities of participating companies. Of Australian participants, 94% rated leadership as ‘important’ or ‘very important’. According to the same Deloitte article, in 2015, companies spent $31 billion on leadership programs. With all this focus on leaders, less attention is given to ‘followers’. And less analysis still on whether people whose work does not involve an explicit leadership role think of themselves as ‘followers’ or as something else entirely. Despite the persistent focus on leaders, as Robert E Kelley wrote as early as 1988, ‘not a
Today organisations are not only concerned to embrace diversity and inclusion but increasingly see doing so as fundamental to their business success. But it’s not possible to talk about diversity and inclusion without talking about difference. And this brings up an important question – how should we think about difference? Should we think about difference as relational? As attributional? Or should we think about difference as the manifestation of something that comes from deep within – an innate essence that expresses our truest selves? While these might seem like esoteric questions, taking a moment to ask them might just make the difference between success or otherwise of your diversity ini
If you want to explore how a group of people think, online discussion boards or forums can be a fantastic resource. Easy to access and full of insights, they provide a researcher with uninhibited access to the thoughts, beliefs, and interactions of a particular group. Who uses them and how With 4.39 billion individual internet users in 2019, an increase of 9% from the previous year, and 3.48 billion of those users engaging with social media, it is clear that online interaction is rising rapidly. Discussion boards are places where communities of people will go to discuss a particular topic, interest or activity. They are organised into tree like structures, with different sections, subsection
An Australian survey found that 48% of respondents who had experienced domestic violence disclosed it to a manager or supervisor, and only 10% found their response helpful. Workplaces play a significant role when it comes to the support of women and men who are experiencing or escaping violence. They can be key to enabling women and men to remain safe, stay in work and to access specialist support services. Yet there is much work to be done to ensure that workplaces are trained to provide the support that is needed. For decades feminists have challenged the traditional sociological notion of a public/private divide – the ideological Western demarcation of the public sphere (work and politics
