Making Fair Work FlexWork
Hybrid Working Industrial Relations Report
Employees now want more than fair pay – and have more leverage than ever. Drive your hybrid working industrial relations strategy with world-class data and insights from Swinburne Edge and Deloitte.
Reset, Restore, Reframe
The rise in flexible location working has led to a fundamental shift in employees’ values. For the first time, Australian workers value wellbeing and choice at least as highly as pay. And around two in three are prepared to forgo some level of pay increase to achieve flexible working.
Our Fair Work System is not yet equipped to enable this employee-led flexible working (FlexWork) revolution. Meanwhile, employers whose strategy is ‘revert’ rather than ‘reframe’ risk a disengaged workforce and losing the war for talent.
It is time for employers to respond with a FlexWork value proposition that respects and empowers employees – and makes flexible working more sustainable for everyone.
Key findings
Work-life balance and wellbeing
are workers’ leading motivations for flexible working arrangements.
Employee value propositions
need to be transformed around flexibility.
Regulations
have not yet evolved to recognise the FlexWork revolution and its implications.
Connection
between employees and their organisation must be an employer’s focus.
Making FlexWork work for all of us
This 2022 national research report, jointly led by Deloitte and Swinburne Edge (powered by the Centre for the New Workforce), explores the industrial impact of hybrid working. It identifies the flexible working challenges facing employers today, including the implications of flexibility for our Fair Work System.
Over 2000 Australian workers across all industries – including retail, banking and finance, health services and pharmaceuticals, construction, education, and IT telecommunications – provided insights concerning:
- hybrid work
- their experiences of work during the pandemic
- the importance of flexibility in their lives.
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“Employers have an opportunity to engage with their workforce around this fundamental reframe and redesign of work – where, when, and how it’s done – while aligning to their organisation’s values, social licence, and mission.”
Dr Sean Gallagher , Director, Centre for the New Workforce
Grasp the findings – know how to reframe
The survey, conducted in late January 2022, reveals how workers’ preferences, motivations, expectations and habits have changed due to the rise of flexible location working.
It also shines a spotlight on how the Fair Work System and employers need to respond.
Packed with detailed findings and critical insights, this report provides a roadmap for navigating FlexWork’s challenges – and harnessing its full scope of opportunities.
Empower your organisation to navigate FlexWork’s unique challenges
This report investigates the industrial impact of hybrid working, providing data and insights to drive strategy.
The road ahead
In Australia, ‘a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work’ is at the heart of our Fair Work System – but employees now want more from their jobs than fair pay.
Reset
We need to reset our idea of normal work to be flexible work. Our research shows big shifts in employee expectations and values coming out of the pandemic. Flexible location workers want flexibility embedded in their value proposition to support wellbeing.
Restore
We need to restore worker wellbeing and bring workers back from the brink of burnout. Workers see flexible working as enabling their wellbeing – and are signalling they need to immediately restore through improved wellbeing and better work-life balance.
Reframe
Organisations need to reframe their flexibility value proposition to reflect what’s important to workers. It’s now critical that employers have a clear industrial relations strategy that is aligned to their business and fosters employee flexibility and engagement.
Access the full report
Reset, Restore, Reframe – Making Fair Work FlexWork
To download the report, please complete the following form.
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Contact the Centre for the New Workforce
Contact us to discuss how we can work together to determine new approaches to learning and knowledge creation.
Call +61 3 9214 3398 or email new-workforce@swinburne.edu.au.