Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the Society for Knowledge Economics announce innovative new research study.

The SKE announced a major Federal Government funded two year project examining Leadership, Culture and Management (LCM) Practices for High Performing Workplaces. The project is a key element of the Federal Government's further consideration of a "Workplace of the Future" agenda.

Why should you and your firm get involved?
How do I get invited to take part in the second stage?
Background to the project
Register to take part, click here

Why should you and your firm get involved?

Is your organisation a High Performing Workplace? Which leadership, culture and management practices result in high performance? And what do you need to do to lift the performance of your workplace? Would you like to know for sure? A recently announced major Federal Government funded project allows you to find out, for free!

The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations has provided funding for the Society for Knowledge Economics to undertake a major project on High Performing Workplaces in Australia. The multi-disciplinary research team is led by Dr Christina Boedker from the Australian School of Business at the University of New South Wales. You can take part (and find out how good you and your firm really are) by registering here.

The project has two phases, the first (which is free) is a simple diagnostic stage that obtains information about your firm's leadership, culture and management practices. In return, you get a report that provides you with an indication of your firm's benchmark performance. (Please note: all firm information is kept 100% confidential as per University Ethics Clearance and not shared with anyone except you). The time commitment required for this stage is around two hours from your CFO and your Head of Human Resources, and minimal time (around fifteen minutes) from your employees.

The second stage (if you are invited to take part) will involve you working with a top tier consulting organisation and a UNSW research team over a period of twelve months to implement a series of high performing workplace strategies designed to lift firm performance (this will involve a small nominal fee). You and your top management team will have the opportunity to work side by side with the other firms - implementing the high performing workplace strategies.

To register, complete the form by clicking here.

How do I get invited to take part in the second stage?

The only way to receive an invitation to work with the consulting team is to complete the diagnostic tool. Once your results are analysed, the team invites a total of 20 firms to work with us for a period of 12 months. You will receive practical, relevant and targeted advice and strategies that you and your firm can use in your business. After the 12 months is up, the team does a reassessment to measure the performance improvements that have taken place in your firm. This is also a great opportunity to network with other leadership teams from service companies, to work with a top tier consulting company, and to set your firm on the road to greater productivity both during the initial 12 month period and in the years afterward.

To take part, and find out how good you and your company really are, please complete the registration form by clicking here.

Background to the Project

"...to truly unlock the productivity of our nation … we need workplace leadership and the requisite cultures and skills that will build upon the foundations of the Fair Work Act to encourage innovation, employee engagement and cooperation in our workplaces."

Leadership, culture and management practices have a critical impact on workplace productivity and innovation. This was identified by the Hon Julia Gillard's at her Workplaces of the Future Forum, in July, 2009. In a subsequent interview, the Deputy Prime Minister explained that "last month's forum acknowledged the need to unlock the final piece of the productivity puzzle, and that "over the coming months and years we will be looking at ways of embedding change through workplace relations, innovation and leadership practices in workplaces" .

To lift Australian productivity in forthcoming decades, policy makers and others need to direct much more policy focus and effort at the workplace level, including the leadership, culture and management practices that affect each worker every day.

The Treasury Department's most recent Intergenerational Report (2010) projects that Australia's rate of growth will average 2.7 per cent a year over the next 40 years, down from 3.3 per cent a year over the past 40 years. National growth rates are determined by three supply side factors, population, participation and productivity, also known as the 3 Ps.

Whilst over the past 40 years, the first two Ps made a net positive contribution to growth, over the coming 40 years they are projected to make a net negative contribution to growth. Population growth, for example, expected to slow slightly (with birth rates forecasted at 1.9 babies per female), and participation rate is expected to fall along with an ageing population, meaning that demand for labour will outstrip supply. Therefore, what happens to the 3rd P, productivity, will have a much greater impact on the rate at which Australian grows and Australians get richer in future decades.

Traditionally, the levers of intervention into workplace productivity have been directed towards: 1) investments into training and skills development; and 2) regulatory interventions (such as industrial relations reform, tax incentives etc.) that strive to make companies more competitive and fair(er) places to work.

At the Workplaces of the Future Forum, research was identified as a first important step to unlocking the "productivity puzzle" and opening up the "black box of management". Evidence based policy needs to be grounded in reliable and robust data about workplace performance, including the leadership, culture and management practices that prevail in Australian firms and the productivity impacts these practices produce.

Not since the 1990s has Australia paid co-ordinated attention to work system designs and management practice. Government initiatives in the 1990s included the Karpin Commission Report (1995), the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Surveys (1995, 1990), and the Best Practice Demonstration Program. Yet, into the 21st century, little attention has been paid to this important area of productivity enhancement. As an example, Australia has not conducted a national workplace survey for the past 15 years.

This two year project is an initial step towards (re)starting a national discussion about the leadership, culture and management practices that prevail in Australian firms. Recent research commissioned by the Department of Innovation, Industry Science and Research shows that management practices matter to workplace productivity. This current study seeks to deepen our understandings of the intricate linkages between workplace productivity and such practices. Specifically, this project identifies the attributes of high performing workplaces and tracks the culture, leadership and management practices that result in higher firm performance (as measured by workplace productivity, innovation, fairness and employee engagement).

In short, the project objectives are to:

1. Identify the attributes of a high performing workplace;
2. Assess, via a diagnostic tool, 150 Australian firms, to assess which are high performing (and which are not), and why;
3. Implement a series of high performing workplace strategies with 20 of the 150 firms over a 12 months with a view to lift firm performance;
4. Measure the impacts of the high performing workplace strategies, including any changes in workplace productivity and innovation resulting from the introduction of new leadership, culture and management practices.

Over the two year period, the project will produce three publications:

1. A report that outlines the diagnostic tool and a literature review to inform the development of the diagnostic tool. Once approved by DEEWR, the survey instrument will be piloted with 150 firms in the Property and Business Services industry sector. This will run from March 1 till June 1, 2010;
2. A report that the results of the survey (forthcoming in November, 2010). The report will identify the percentage of firms within the sample population that are high performing (and which are not) and the types of leadership, culture and management practices that high performing firms deploy and benefit from;
3. A Guideline for High Performing Workplaces (forthcoming in February, 2012). The Guideline will track and report on the effects of the implementation of the high performing workplace strategies. It will also revisit the 20 firms and measure any changes in productivity and innovation at end of the 12 months period.