Work life balance (WLB) is a crucial issue for Local Government. City of Gosnells CEO Stuart Jardine says the City’s proactive approach to work life balance has had a significant impact on staff retention rates.
“Figures show the City of Gosnells average staff turnover rate is remarkably low – and dropping further – from 12 per cent last year to around nine per cent for the first six months of this year, as compared with an average of 20 per cent in the Perth Metropolitan area,” Stuart Jardine said. “We also benefit from the ‘boomerang effect’. Basically, staff leave to take up other positions only to come back to us a short time later.
“The world of work is changing. There are more parents with school age children in the workforce, more single parents, more people with responsibilities for elderly family members, more two income families and a decline in fertility rates. Combine these with the fact that Australia has an aging population and it’s abundantly clear that the employer/employee relationship has to change.
“It’s a challenge the City of Gosnells has responded to proactively. Our WLB has been structured to respond to the ever changing needs of employees in a climate of increasing demand and diminishing timelines.”
Winner of an innovation award in last year’s National Awards for Local Government, the City’s WLB has initiatives that help employees maintain a balance between their responsibilities at work and in caring for their family. WLB includes flexible working arrangements, child and dependent care, and family and parental leave.
“The City has moved to give employees the certain knowledge they can rely on a sympathetic hearing, reassurance and support in times of crisis,” he said. “This is about imagination, not legislation Our goal is to ensure that the way the organisation works today reflects the present and the future, not the past. WLB is about common sense and good practice in management. Building a culture of WLB can make a real difference; a more flexible, competitive and respected organisation – and a better quality of life for those who work at the City.
“By putting WLB at the heart of our corporate culture, we can improve morale, reduce absenteeism and employee turnover and increase productivity. WLB can be as much about improved communication, understanding, clearer job roles and job descriptions and better training and development, as changes in actual working patterns. For the initiative to work, it has to be about all parties working together to seek the advantages of implementing more imaginative ways of working.
“The City recognises that by accepting the employees’ need for life outside work whether for sport, recreation, relaxation or to spend more time with families – they will realise benefits all round for the employee, the City and customers.”
Further details of the City’s WLB programme are available on Council’s web site at www.gosnells.wa.gov.au
