Peter Holland

Monash University (Australia) · Department of Management

Anti‐violence Human Resource Management (HRM) practices can be used as an organizational resource to buffer the effects of violence experienced by frontline workers. This research examines the process through which different forms of workplace violence (i.e., physical, verbal, and vicarious) impact how employees cope, and thereby their intentions t...

Purpose Paramedics have played a critical role in the health care system response to the COVID-19 pandemic as frontline responders. However, in comparison to other health care workers (i.e. nurses), less research has been conducted on how paramedic work has been undertaken and how they manage their resources in the context of high workloads. This s...

Background/Aims Low morale and burnout is a widely acknowledged problem among healthcare professionals, with implications for staffing levels and quality of care. This study aimed to provide insight into the wellbeing of nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers, and propose strategies to support a resilient workforce and organisational devel...

Background Ambulance services staff are under more pressure than ever. Inadequate numbers face unmanageable workloads. For the first time in more than three decades, these employees in England and Wales have taken industrial action over wages and working conditions. Aims This study aimed to understand the wellbeing and working environment of ambul...

Emotional labour (EL) is garnering increasing attention due to the potential negative consequences on employees and organisations. This is especially prevalent with front-line healthcare workers, resulting in high occupational turnover intention. Our study examines the use of high-involvement work practices (HIWPs), supervisor support and resilienc...

The purpose of this paper is to provide a mediation explanation of the relationship between HRM and nurse work engagement. The study contributes to understanding how high involvement work practices (HIWPs) relate to nurse work engagement by analysing the mediating role played by job crafting. The study also considers the importance of supervisor su...

This article examines the contested terrain of protecting or providing biometric data in the workplace. Through a major case study in Australia, a decision to terminate employment on the grounds of non-consent for biometric data to be collected was overturned through the legislative system. The case is important in that it highlights the increased...

Community-based tourism (CBT) is founded on the three dimensions of involvement, power and control, and outcomes. Mayaka, Croy, and Wolfram Cox argue that the more these dimensions are evident, the more idealised the form of CBT is. Nonetheless, they also argue that all CBT exists within a dynamic context, and it is continued efforts towards the id...

Background and aim: In the drive to make the health sector more economically efficient and effective, what is potentially being lost is the need to look after the well-being of those who work within this profession. Nurses are the largest group in the health sector workforce and the frontline of patient care. Workload perceptions are known to be i...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of nurses’ experience of the fulfilment of their psychological contract on their intention to leave the nursing profession and to consider employee engagement as a mediator between the fulfilment of the psychological contract of nurses and their intention to leave their profession. Design/...

Unlike the dominant discourse in employee voice, this chapter considers voice where the organisation, a subsidiary part of a global corporation, is actually going out of business. So the issue of voice is most important in maintaining employee commitment and engagement and maintaining employee well-being in a unique and difficult situation. This st...

In the workplace of the twenty-first century, social media cuts two ways. Increasingly there is evidence of the ways in which employers use it as a recruitment tool and use it as part of the process of selecting employees. However, employees can use it to discuss issues at work out of the control of management. Specifically, increasingly savvy empl...

This book addresses the contemporary aspects of employee voice through theoretical and practical analysis. In addition to case studies of employee voice in the workplace, it also looks at emerging forms of voice associated with the use of technology such as social media. Because of the breadth of the concept of employee voice, the focus of the book...

Cambridge Core - Management: General Interest - Australian Workplace Relations - edited by Julian Teicher

In this study, we examine the effects of two key variables associated with union effectiveness on the job performance of employees, and the mechanisms that explain such effects. More specifically, we investigate whether employees' perceptions that their union has a constructive relationship with management (industrial relations climate) and is able...

In this study, we examine the predictors of unmet demand for unions in non-union workplaces, using the Australian Worker Representation and Participation Survey ( AWRPS ). Unmet demand is defined here, as those employees in non-union workplaces who would be likely to join a union if one were available. We argue that this is the first study in Austr...

Understanding how adults learn is a critical aspect of successful training and development in the workplace. In the context of parliamentarians where there are no professional qualifications or standards, they are in a unique position. Awareness of how to address the development of knowledge and skills required for this professional role in a way t...

The twenty-first century has seen significant expansion in the use and availability of technology, which has created a paradigm shift in how we can work. The papers in this special issue explore different facets of the smart and dark side of technology and how new waves of technology also lead to significant changes in the way we work. The tensions...

Social media such as Twitter and Facebook have become some of the most powerful communication tools both inside and outside of the workplace. While much of the focus has been on the potential negative and destructive (‘dark’) consequences of social media at work, less attention has been given to the harnessing of social media in a constructive (‘sm...

Developing employee engagement has been one of the major areas of interest in the field of human resource management (HRM), and research identifies the positive effect that engagement has on both employee and organizational performance. However, while research on engagement has been substantial, there have been limited studies on key variables such...

This article examines ongoing issues associated with workplace drug testing through a recent case which has resulted in revaluation of the customs, practices and standards around the use of illicit drugs inside and outside the workplace. These changes have seen the issue of workplace drug testing remain a contentious issue in the Australian employe...

Purpose – Electronic monitoring and surveillance (EMS) practices provide new challenges in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between EMS in the workplace on employees’ trust in management. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based upon data from the 2012 Australian Electronic Workplace Survey of 500 ra...

AimsThe aim of the study was to examine the relationship between bullying and burnout and the potential buffering effect psychological detachment might have on this relationship.Background There is evidence to suggest that bullying is relatively widespread in the nursing profession, with previous studies indicating that bullying is associated with...

As a consequence of the global economic crises of the 1970s, in Australia, micro-economic reform of the economy, and in particular the labour market, was seen as a key catalyst in providing a more competitive industrial base for the country. Underpinning this was a fundamental change in the conflictual industrial relations structure that had framed...

Burnout is a continuing concern for human resource management, as it affects not only employee well-being but also organisational performance. In particular, the nursing profession is widely recognised as a stressful occupation that leads to burnout. The present study examines the significance of employee voice and managerial responsiveness in redu...

This article analyses a campaign led by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, against James Hardie Industries Limited, concerning their responsibility and liability to fully fund asbestos compensation claims. Across the Anglo-American world, trade unions are faced with increasingly hostile legislative and political environments and a declining me...

This study examines the relationship between employee voice arrangements and employees' trust in management using data from the 2007 Australian Worker Representation and Participation Survey of 1,022 employees. Drawing on social exchange theory and employee relations literature, we test hypotheses concerning the relationships between direct and uni...

The functions of parliaments have been variously described by scholars and in parliamentary documents but there have been few, if any, reported studies of how parliamentary practitioners see their own institutions. This paper reports practitioner perceptions of contemporary functions of fifteen selected national legislatures. The research is embedd...

This study examines the relationship between employee voice and job satisfaction using data from the 2007 Australian Workplace Representation Survey (AWRPS) of 1,022 employees. Drawing on human resource management and industrial relations literature, we test hypotheses concerning the relationship between direct and union voice arrangements and job...

This article examines how employee voice arrangements and managerial attitudes to unions shape employees' perceptions of the industrial relations climate, using data from the 2007 Australian Worker Representation and Participation Survey (AWRPS) of 1,022 employees. Controlling for a range of personal, job and workplace characteristics, regression a...

This article reports original research which built on conceptual issues previously identified by the authors. A survey of national parliaments sought information on orientation and induction programmes offered to first term members and on members' perceptions of those programmes. An overview of findings is presented and significant issues identifie...

Unmet demand for union membership is defined as employees in non-union workplaces who would join a union if given the opportunity. Unmet demand is a significant issue for Australian unions as union density continues to decline and the current legislative environment remains hostile. This article gauges the contours of unmet demand for union members...

The Australian industrial relations landscape has changed significantly. An increasingly hostile political environment and the emergence of human resource management (HRM) have seen the role of union voice decline significantly. Drawing on responses from the 2004 Australian Worker Representation and Participation Survey (AWRPS), this article examin...

This paper analyses free-riding on Australian unions. It draws on the Australian Worker Representation and Participation Survey 2004. We find high levels of free-riding in Australian workplaces and the motives of non-members to be mixed. Of the 39.2% of workers eligible to join a union who are not members, 51.7% may be characterised as deliberately...

Parliamentarians are engaged in various activities requiring special expertise. The development of relevant skills is a legitimate responsibility of parliamentary administrations as they affect not only individuals but also the performance of the institution. Review of the scholarly literature, publications by a wide range of parliaments and books...

This article explores the relationship between the human resource management function's access to avenues of political influence and perceived organizational performance. We examine responses from 441 Australian senior HRM managers who participated in an online survey of a national HRM professional association. Drawing from political influence theo...

Drawing from the resource based view of the firm (RBV) the argument developed in the paper is that in an environment characterized by increasing levels of skilled labour shortages organisations need to design employment systems that prioritize human resource development to enable competitive advantage. The literature review examines the issues asso...

No Yes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether the concept of psychological contracts underpinned by relational/transactional exchanges provides an adequate description of knowledge workers' contracts. Design/methodology/approach The research approach uses interviews with ten scientists from within a pre‐eminent Australian scientific rese...

The incidence and effectiveness of different forms of employee voice were compared across three measures: perceived managerial responsiveness to employee needs, job control and influence over job rewards. Multiple regression analyses revealed that voice was perceived as most effective when an amalgam of different forms was present. The effective co...

The aim of this paper is to report on current developments in the area of human resource management (HRM) in Australia. The study analyses 1372 on-line responses to a survey of Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) members. Results of the research indicate that although human resources (HR) has strengthened its strategic positioning, HR profe...

Alcohol and illicit substance abuse in the workplace is an important human resource and industrial relations issue. Although more sophisticated measures have been developed to test and monitor drug use in the workplace, and despite tacit union support on occupational health and safety grounds, the implementation of drug testing procedures remains c...

Australia has witnessed a rapid growth in outsourcing over the past decade with the public sector being the clear leader in these initiatives. Explanations of the rise of outsourcing tend to emphasize economic and human resources management factors and neglect the political dimension. In particular, unions and collective labour relations have been...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider the extent to which the concept of the corporate university is emerging as a simple re‐labelling of the functional training area or a key strategic platform in developing organisational competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach was taken to provide an in‐depth understa...

The development of the call centre sector as a significant area of employment growth and organisational support service has been phenomenal in the last decade. Equally, the globalisation and outsourcing of this industry has also continued at pace. To this extent academic research has struggled to keep up with a sector that does not fit the traditio...

This paper explores whether the concept of psychological contracts underpinned by relational/transactional exchanges provides an adequate description of knowledge workers' contracts. Interviews were conducted with scientists from the CSIRO. The analysis identified content of the psychological contract for the knowledge worker best understood by ref...

This paper explores the endeavours of five small firms to develop Web-based commerce capabilities within their existing operations. The focus is on the strategic acquisition and exploitation of knowledge which underpins new value creating activities related to Web-based commerce. A normative Web-based commerce adoption model developed from a review...

Fundamental to the development of new customer value offerings via web-based commerce is a small firm's ability to strategically acquire and exploit knowledge. The focus of this paper is the empirical testing of a normative web-based commerce adoption model developed from a review of the extant literature related to electronic marketing, the Intern...

Alcohol and illicit substance abuse in the workplace is increasingly becoming a major human resource and employee relations issue. Whilst more sophisticated measures have been developed to test and monitor drug use in the workplace, and despite tacit union support on the grounds of occupational health and safety, the implementation of drug testing...

During 2001 the minister in control of industrial relations in Australia changed from Peter Reith to Tony Abbott, and it was expected that a strong legislative agenda would follow. However, the year turned out to be relatively uneventful in respect of legislative change and the expected `second wave' of industrial reform did not eventuate. Neverthe...

Australia has witnessed a rapid growth in outsourcing over the last decade. Explanations of the rise of outsourcing tend to emphasise economic and human resource management factors and neglect the collective dimension. However, outsourcing has been identified as a means of individualising the employment relationship and reducing union influence. Th...

Since the mid-1980s Australia has progressively moved towards a more decentralised industrial relations framework underpinned by the process of enterprise bargaining. This environment has created the opportunity to develop more flexible and enterprise specific patterns of work so as to enhance productivity. Whilst change has been gradual, one of th...

Alcohol and illicit substance abuse in the workplace is increasingly becoming a major human resource and employee relations issue. Whilst more sophisticated measures have been developed to test and monitor drug use in the workplace, and despite tacit union support on the grounds of occupational health and safety (OH&S), the implementation of drug t...

Within the development of a human resource (HR) philosophy, the HR function has been elevated to take an active role in business strategic planning processes. It should be co-ordinated and integrated to support the notion of human resources as a source of competitive advantage, and these changes should be accompanied by greater involvement in HR ma...

*Author for correspondence Australia has recorded unparalleled economic expansion for more than a decade. One of the consequences of this has been an increasing skilled labour shortage which has the potential to inhibit further growth. However, Australia is not unique in this situation with many countries also forecasting significant labour and ski...

Since the mid-1980s the Australian trade union movement has started to confront the issue of declining union membership. This issue, as much as any other, has the potential to threaten the labour movement's long-term future and influence in both the economic and political arenas. To this end, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has develo...