Managing Down Under
Is there much difference between working in Australia and the UK?
The Quality of Working Life survey was based on over 2,500 respondents and found that:
Australian managers are more optimistic about their organisations performance as 65.5 per cent felt that their organisation was growing whilst only 48.7 per cent in the UK were as positive; and
71.2 per cent of Australian managers are satisfied with their job against 62.2 per cent of managers in the UK.
This may be as a result of the countries differing economic cycles and that the current economic slowdown had not impacted on Australia when the research was collected. It may also reflect the different age profiles of the respondents as 17.2 per cent of the Australian sample were under 30, compared to 8.3 per cent in the UK.
Management styles
The research shows that UK and Australian managers have reactive and bureaucratic as two of their top three prevailing management styles. Australian managers, however, are seen as more accessible and innovative compared to their UK counterparts.
UK research has demonstrated that accessible and empowering managerial styles were most associated with growing businesses and these styles are clearly yielding very positive results in Australia. These findings are further endorsed by this report, which found that Australian managers have substantially more trust and confidence in their senior managers – 62.3 per cent to the UK’s 46 per cent. Furthermore 73.4 per cent of Australians felt they were fairly treated by their organisation, whereas only 59.6 per cent of UK managers felt the same way.
Australian managers are seen as more accessible and innovative compared to their UK counterparts.
However, the work-life balance seems to be stronger in the UK as managers work fewer hours and have fewer health problems. The Australian manager has a longer working week (averaging 46.4 hours per week to the average UK manager’s 45.6 hours). Both sets of managers felt the long hours culture had a range of impacts on their health and Australian managers suffered more ill-health, including back pain, stomach bugs, influenza and viral infections, than UK managers. UK managers (41.2 per cent) are far more likely to be offered healthcare insurance than their Australian counterparts (17.2 per cent) and more likely to be offered sabbaticals, subsidised gym/sports facilities and health screenings/personal evaluation of health risks.
Ruth Spellman, Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute, says “Clearly management styles have a significant impact on morale and business performance. This report demonstrates how managers and leaders are viewed differently in the UK and in Australia with the Australians being more positive about senior management and enjoying higher levels of job satisfaction. The importance of accessible and empowering working environments is demonstrated by this survey.”
Joanne Webster, a professor of parasitic diseases at the RVC, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).
