Digital Commons Network^™

Supporting Healthy Lifestyles In The Mining Industry: A Focus On Nutrition, Physical Activity, Hydration And Heat Stress, Vinodkumar Gopaldasani

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

The high prevalence of overweight and obesity among workers in the mining industry in Australia poses a significant public health risk. There is a high burden associated with overweight and obesity among this cohort of workers to both the employer and the worker in terms of productivity loss, absenteeism, presenteeism (attending work while sick) and increasing risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer. Therefore, a workplace health promotion program was identified as important and worthy of further investigation. The aim of this thesis was to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a one year workplace health promotion …

Workplace Wellbeing Programs: If You Build It They May Not Come...Because It's Not What They Really Need!, Gordon B. Spence

Sydney Business School - Papers

Public and private sector interest in employee wellbeing has grown steadily in the past 20 years. Arguably the most visible manifestation of this interest is workplace health promotion and wellbeing (WorkWell) programs, which can be found in various guises within many contemporary organisations. Despite their recent proliferation, research in this area has focused mainly on how participation in these programs impacts upon a narrow range of factors related to finance (e.g. health care costs) and productivity (e.g. absenteeism). Whilst the focus of these programs is invariably positive (insofar as they aim to improve physical, psychological and social functioning), it cannot …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of Ielts As A Gateway To The Professional Workplace: The Case Of Employers Of Overseas Trained Teachers, Jill Murray, Judie Cross, Kenneth E. Cruickshank

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports on a qualitative study which explored stakeholder perceptions of the IELTS test as a gateway to the professional workplace for teachers in Australia and New Zealand. The goal of this study was to research perceptions of school principals as regards teachers who have entered the profession through IELTS or other English language proficiency test pathways and how the changing language demands of teaching may have impacted on these perceptions. Three research questions were addressed, with data for the study collected from 21 principals through their participation in one-to-one interviews and/or face-to-face focus groups. Five IELTS sample Speaking …

The Impact Of Ict, Workplace Relationships And Management Styles On The Quality Of Work Life: Insights From The Call Centre Front Line, Zeenobiyah Nadiyah Hannif, Anne Cox, Shamika Fernando

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Using a case study approach, this paper investigates how workplace relationships, management styles and information and communication technologies (ICT) shape and influence the quality of work life (QWL) in two Australian call centres: Govtcall and Marketplus. In many ways, call centres epitomise the shift towards technology-based work, with ICT defining and dictating both the work process and the management of performance. While call centres now represent a critical element of the business cycle of many organisations, the use of ICT in the work process has led to the emergence of various job quality issues. This paper argues that workplace relationships …

Value Congruence, Importance And Success In The Workplace: Links With Well-Being And Burnout Amongst Mental Health Practiticioners, Stephanie Veage, Joseph Ciarrochi, Frank Deane, Retta Andresen, Lindsay G. Oades, Trevor Crowe

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Living according to one׳s personal values has implications for wellbeing, and incongruence between personal and workplace values has been associated with burnout. Using the SGP Card Sorting Task (Ciarrochi & Bailey, 2008), this study explored mental health practitioners׳ personal life values and personal work-related values, and their relationships with wellbeing and burnout. Congruence between life and work-related values was related to wellbeing and perceived accomplishment at work. Those whose personal values were consistent with the commonly-shared values of a caring profession experienced lower burnout and higher personal wellbeing. Successfully pursuing one׳s work values predicted lower burnout and greater wellbeing. Honesty, …

The Australian Corporate Closet, Why It's Still So Full: A Review Of Incidence Rates For Sexual Orientation Discrimination Gender Identity Discrimination In The Workplace, Ian Smith, Lindsay G. Oades, Grace Mccarthy

Sydney Business School - Papers

The paper reviews the extant Australian literature on sexual orientation (SO) discrimination within the Australian workplace. In the research, there is variation in organisational workplace and a bias towards health and educational sectors as a research setting, which raises some methodological considerations such as poor generalisability to other organisational contexts. The small body of Australian research into SO discrimination encompasses; (i) varied methodological and theoretical approaches, (ii) disparate authors selecting a varied range of aspects of discrimination thus absenting a unifying framework to guide research and lacking as yet seminal authorship providing focus, iii) limited sampling of participants making comparisons …

Genders At Work: Exploring The Role Of Workplace Equality In Preventing Men’S Violence Against Women, Scott Holmes, Michael G. Flood

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

This report examines the role of workplaces, and men in workplaces in particular, in preventing men’s violence against women.

The report begins by noting that men’s violence against women is a widespread social problem which requires urgent action. It highlights the need for preventative measures oriented to changing the social and structural conditions at the root of this violence, including through settings such as workplaces.

Men’s violence against women is a workplace issue. As well as being a blunt infringement of women’s rights, this violence imposes very substantial health and economic costs on workplaces and organisations.

Encourage. Support. Act! Bystander Approaches To Sexual Harassment In The Workplace, Paula Mcdonald, Michael G. Flood

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Workplace sexual harassment is a persistent and pervasive problem in Australia and elsewhere, demanding new and creative responses. One promising area which may inform prevention and response strategies is bystander approaches. In broad terms, bystander approaches focus on the ways in which individuals who are not the targets of the conduct can intervene in violence, harassment or other anti-social behaviour in order to prevent and reduce harm to others.40 Although bystander approaches have a long history in relation to intervening in emergencies, they have recently been translated to efforts to engage men and boys in the prevention of sexual violence. …

A Cross-Cultural Evaluation Of The Contemporary Workplace And Its Managerial Implications, Flevy Lasrado, Tapan Bagchi

University of Wollongong in Dubai - Papers

Of many recent interventions to improve the workplace, Information and communications technology (ICT) is referred to as a major enrichment. Admittedly, ICT has impacted the worker's responsiveness, her interaction with colleagues or the boss, communication, and even QWL. However, diversity of the workplace appears to be now a strategic issue in organizations that employ a global workforce. Implicating diversity are culture- and gender- related factors that would also impact job design and productivity-aspects of great interest to management. This study has explored the associated perceptions prevailing among UAE's white collar diaspora that now comprises 70% expatriates. However, unlike other attitudinal …

Transformational Leadership, Workplace Engagement And The Mediating Influence Of Meaningful Work: Building A Conceptual Framework, Mohammed Ghadi, Mario Fernando, Peter Caputi

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of the relationship betweentransformational leadership, meaningful work and workplace engagement. Although there isconsensus that better engaged employees help organizations to perform better, industry reportsindicate that only one fifth of employees are engaged in their work. While there is some evidence inthe literature to suggest a link between transformational leadership factors such as idealizedinfluence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration, and thecomponents of workplace engagement such as vigor, dedication and absorption, little is known aboutthe nature of this relationship. This paper proposes a conceptual framework supporting an indirectrelationship between transformational …

Colouring The Workplace Green: Considering The Shade Employees See, Stacey D'Souza, Donelda S. Mckechnie, Jim Grant

University of Wollongong in Dubai - Papers

Sustainability, such as green initiatives, may be considered from two perspectives: (1) social marketing whereby societal value is a priority and (2) financial viability wherein stakeholder value is a concern. However, equally important to companies who seek to colour the workplace green is employee buy-in. This research, set in Dubai, UAE, sought answers about the support for green measures in the workplace. It was guided by three objectives: (1) to what extent are employees willing to contribute to an energy and/or environmentally friendly workplace; (2) to what extent do employees perceive company commitment towards a green workplace, and (3) what …

Innovative Workplace Change: Social Well-Being And Health, Patrick M. Dawson, Michael Zanko

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Since the industrial revolution a chief concern of business organizations has been how best to organise work to maximise productivity and minimise costs. Securing and maintaining competitive advantage through new methods of work organization and systems of operation have largely centred around commercial and financial concerns rather than on the well-being of employees. Issues of occupational health and safety (OHS) have arisen in a range of working environments and legislative change has sought to ensure that safe and secure working conditions are a mandatory requirement of modern business. However, implementation of these mandates generally rests with management and whilst procedural …

Salarymen Doing Queer: Gay Men And The Heterosexual Public Sphere In Japan, Mark J. Mclelland

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

This paper looks at the difficulties gay men in Japan experience in discussing their sexuality in the Japanese workplace.