It’s natural to feel cautious about changing jobs. But with more jobs on offer than ever, there’s never been a time like this for exploring new opportunities.  The number of advertised roles has steadily grown. The increased demand for employees means it could be a good time to consider changing jobs.

However, one in three Australians say it’s become much harder to assess new job opportunities compared to before the pandemic. Over half (56%) say they’ve been reluctant to change jobs because they feel secure in their current role.

Finding out about job security is hard, though, without inside information into the business or organisation. Asking the right questions during an interview can tell you a lot about the security of the role and the company, and how your potential new employer has adapted to change during the pandemic. I have suggested some specific, practical questions to ask during a job interview to find out about the security of a role and what it’s like to work for that business now.

Questions about the role
Part of assessing security includes working out whether the role is right for you, so that you don’t have to leave it just a few months in and find yourself back in the market for a job. Asking questions to better the role and the organisation will help you work out whether it’s the right fit.

1: What type of person usually succeeds in this role? Or what are the key skills and attributes someone needs to be successful in this role?

It’s nice to think we’re the right fit for a role we’re being interviewed for. Rather than assume this though, asking a question like this helps you discover whether you are a good fit for the role on offer. Is it what you expected it to be from the job description? Do you have the right personality, strengths, skills, and experience to be successful?

2: How do you measure success in this role?

This question will help you assess whether the expectations of the hiring manager or business are realistic, particularly given the challenges faced by many businesses now. This question will help you understand where the bar is set in terms of performance expectations, whether you think its realistic, and if it’s something you want to strive for.

3: What would be a typical career path for someone starting in this role?

4: What skills would someone usually develop working in this position, and what could this lead to?

5: What learning, and development opportunities are available in this role?

These questions will help you understand what the career path might look like and help to ensure you have a good sense of what the role may lead to on a longer-term basis. Organisations and managers who are clearly thinking about development and career progression can be a good indicator of job security.

Questions about the business or organisation
Plenty of industries and organisations have either directly or indirectly been affected by the pandemic. So asking some questions to get a better idea of those effects and what they’re doing to overcome those challenges may be useful.

6: What impact did the pandemic have on your revenue or profit (or business)?

This will help you understand how sustainable the company is, and whether they were able to adjust their business model quickly to the changing environment. This will also indicate how nimble the business is, and how resilient they are in difficult conditions.

7: What have you done to reduce risk and reposition you’re offering to customers?

This will show how the business is setting itself up to future-proof against future downturns and how forward-thinking and agile the business is. Have they learnt new and better ways to operate to protect themselves?

8: What is your medium-term strategy?

This will indicate whether the business is evolving and adapting to the new environment, or are they simply operating in the same way as before the pandemic and hoping for the best or not learning from the experience?

9: What headcount changes have you made in the last two years?

This will show how they have prioritised their staff and if they supported their key employees. Did they do what they could to retain people, or did they simply let them go as soon as the market was challenging, only to rehire again once the worst of the pandemic passed?

10: How have you adapted to flexible and remote working, including adopting new technologies?

This will help you understand if the organisation is looking to the future and learning how to evolve in the new world. Asking about technology will also reveal the options you have to continue working from flexible locations. If the business isn’t evolving, then its stagnating and in time could fail. Asking this question also provides you an opportunity to assess whether the organisation’s offering meets your expectations in terms of flexibility.

11: How do you feel you have performed compared to your competitors over the last two years?

Is the company taking market share or delivering on its objectives, creating opportunities for their employees? Or is it struggling to deliver and going backwards? This will give an indication of the future stability of the business.

It’s important to listen to responses to questions like these in the context of the past couple of years of the pandemic. Many businesses have struggled but kept their heads above water by being adaptable, innovative, and supporting their staff. Job security matters, of course, but it is important to note that being overly cautious can mean that a great opportunity might pass you by.

These key questions will reveal information about the business or organisation and potential level of job security. But asking them will also show that you have done your research and have put thought into the new role.

Thank you and congratulations to our wonderful temps of the month, we have received amazing feedback on your work performance and appreciate the work you have been putting in.

“Bernard is a reliable and dedicated worker who thinks outside the box to ensure our supporters are receiving exceptional customer service every single time. Bernard is also an amazing support to not only myself as his manager but also the rest of the customer service team”

“Tahlea’s attention to detail and kind nature is everything you would ever look for in a customer care/support role. Tahl has gone over and above in supporting the campaign and has taken all obstacles in her stride”

The rights of all Australian workers are protected in law, but the benefits and conditions of your next job depend on how you’re employed. If you’re considering a part-time or casual role, what are you entitled to?

Part-time versus casual
The key differences between part-time and casual come down to:

• Hours worked
• Leave entitlements
• Payment terms
• The way employment can be terminated

Hours
While part-time employees work a set number of hours per week (fewer than 38 hours), the hours that casuals work may vary-and the number of hours is not guaranteed. Casual employment has flexible hours which change according to a roster, while part-time employment involves set shifts.

If you work PT, your hours are generally the same from week to week. If you’re a casual worker, you’re not obliged to work the hours you’re offered, but you also can’t demand hours. Most modern employment awards include the minimum or maximum number of hours for a casual shift. For instance, if you’re a casual worker in a restaurant, can work a maximum of 12 hours per day or per shift, according to the Restaurant Industry Award 2020. Part time employees work set hours and there must be agreement to amend these, while casual employees work to rosters which can change in accordance with the roster period.

Wages
PT employees earn a consistent wage based on their ordinary hours of work and they usually don’t receive additional pay for reasonable overtime. Casual employees are paid on an hourly basis and the rate may be higher than part-time employees due to a “casual loading”, which is an additional payment on top of the higher hourly rate. Casual employees generally receive a casual loading of 25%, while part-time employees do not. Both casual and PT employees receive superannuation on their earnings.

Businesses are required to pay superannuation contributions to employees aged over 18, and to employees aged under 18 who work more than 30 hours in a week.

Benefits and entitlements
PT employees receive the whole suite of benefits under the Fair Work Act, such as paid annual leave and paid personal/carers leave. While casual workers don’t receive paid leave, they have entitlements under the National Employment Standards. These include two days unpaid carers leave and two days unpaid compassionate leave per occasion, as well as five days unpaid family and domestic violence leave (in a 12month period) and unpaid community service leave. Casual employees do not accrue annual or personal leave, but part-time employees do.

Dismissal
CAS employment can generally be ended with one days’ notice, while PT employees are owed notice under the National Employment Standards. The notice period for PT work starts the day after an employer says that they are ending the employment. The minimum notice periods generally depend on the length of continuous service, but employees aged over 45 years old who have worked for the employer for at least two years receive an extra week of notice.

PT employees may also receive a redundancy payout from their employers and have greater protection from unfair dismissal. The Fair Work Act regards a dismissal to be unfair if it is “harsh, unjust or unreasonable”. For instance, if an employer dismisses a PT employee without reason it may be considered unfair under the Fair Work Act. Employees must be afforded procedural fairness when being dismissed.

In general, casual employees are not protected from unfair dismissal. However, if a CAS employee has been employed for at least six months on a regular and systematic basis and has reasonable expectation of continuing employment on that basis, they’ll be protected. Whether this is the case will depend on the individual circumstances of the casual employee’s employment.

Legal Rights
All workers in Australia are legally entitled to safe and fair employment. These rights are covered in work health and safety (WHS), workers compensation and equal opportunity legislations.

For instance, your employer is required to provide adequate training and information to make sure that you’re safe from injury and risks to your health. The model WHS Act defines “health” as both physical and psychological health. This means your employer must manage the health and safety risks of workplace bullying, as well as risks associated with your physical work environment.

Work Cover schemes, which are also known as WorkSafe or Return To Work in some states, ensure that workers can make a claim for compensation if they are injured at work. Employers also have a legal responsibility to ensure that everyone who works for them is treated fairly and with respect.

If a part time or casual employee is discriminated against, they can make a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission.

If a PT or CAS employee believes they have been unfairly dismissed, they can make a claim to the Fair Work Commission. However, in the case of a CAS employee they would need to be a regular and Systematic casual employee.

Before you accept FT, PT or CAS work, its important to know what’s involved in terms of your rights, benefits, and the flexibility you have. If you’re unsure about or need help with any of these issues, its best to contact a specialist employment lawyer.

Understanding your employment rights can give you an extra layer of confidence at work. Your benefits and entitlements will differ depending on how you’re employed. Before you accept your next role, consider the conditions that matter most to you.

“Information provided in this article is general only and it does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Before taking any course of action related to this article you should make your own enquiries and seek independent advice on whether it is suitable for your circumstances”.

Does the “rank-and-yank” system of measuring employees against each other boost performance? Researchers say yes it can, (I say No) as the negatives outweigh the benefits. The idea is that the “fear” of losing a job due to poor performance can help motivate employees to work harder?

I dislike that this method is rearing its ugly head again as I’d hoped this “Management by Fear” (which is what it was referred to when I was commencing my training in HR some 27 years ago) had long died off. Nope, still alive, and well! Known now as ‘rank-and-yank’ the performance review system sees employers rank their workers and “yank” or fire those who are underperforming. It is used by companies such as Yahoo, Amazon, and IBM.

Research has found that when job insecurity is extremely high, employees increased their performance and took on extra tasks. However, motivating effects were very weak and far outweighed by negative impacts on employee attitudes, organisational commitment, health, and wellbeing.

While increasing employee performance was important, job insecurity was unlikely to achieve it, the researchers said, particularly considering the low unemployment rate. Instead, employers should offer better wages, opportunities for training and career advancement, autonomy over their work, and more decision-making opportunities.

Nicole says she is loving her assignment. “Everyone is lovely. I wish I could work the longer hours however how lucky that they can work around my family commitments, you do not often find that kind of flexibility”

Client feedback on Nicole

Nicole is a brilliant and efficient worker and is an enormous asset to the customer service team, she always goes over and above in assisting all supporters (donors and participants) and is an amazing team player!

Karen shares that her role is all coming together and is fun now she is on the phones and getting through the tickets and it is a great environment to be a part of.

Client feedback on Karen

Kaz has been wonderfully supportive since day dot and makes a brilliant team leader. Kaz takes everything in her stride, is patient, kind and a brilliant support and as it turns out a real lifesaver as recently a member of staff suffered an anaphylactic reaction while at work, Karen calmly jumped in to assist, called the ambulance & read through the anaphylactic response to take care of the situation, very impressive.

#tempofmonth #tempaward #teamwork #recruitment #customerservice #northernbeaches #peninsulapersonnel #tempwork #casualwork

Do you find it confusing when people talk about median and average incomes? It’s easy to do. When the Australian Taxation Office released new data on the typical income a few weeks ago, you may have looked at the data and struggled to relate to it. Perhaps it’s because the word “average” was thrown around a lot, and averages can be misleading.

If you want to compare your income to everyone else’s, the “median” income is a much better place to start. According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the average taxable income in the 2019-20 financial year was $63,882. But the median was much lower at $48,381.

Why averages can be so misleading
The big difference between the two reveals because averages can be so misleading. The “median” is better because it refers to the middle of the income distribution.

It marks the spot where half of all workers have a taxable income higher than that number, and half have a taxable income lower. Why is the average taxable income so much higher than the median? It’s because the income of some exceptionally well-paid people drags the average up.

For example, imagine there are 10 people in a room: nine of them earn $10,000 a year, and one of them earns $500,000 a year. What’s the average? Altogether, they earn $590,000 in a year so the average income in that room would be $59,000 ($590,000 divided by 10 people).

Notice how, because of the very high income of a single person, the average income for the group is much higher than the typical income of 90 per cent of people in the group?

That’s how averages can mislead.
And here’s another thing to remember: The median and average taxable incomes cover all full-time, part-time, and casual wages, and they’re the amount that’s left over after accountants have helped you remove any deductions you’re entitled to. That’s why they’re called your “taxable” income.

It’s also why the national median and average figures are much lower than the average full-time pre-tax wage. 

You can break it down further
So, knowing why the median is a better guide to the “typical” income is a good starting point. But you might look at that median national income of $48,381 and think it still doesn’t match your reality. So, let’s take another step. The ATO publishes more granular data on the topic, starting with a breakdown for men and women.

In 2019-20, the average taxable income for men was $74,559, and the median was $56,746. But the average taxable income for women was $52,798 while the median was $41,724.

What about different occupations?
The ATO publishes the taxable incomes of hundreds of occupations every year, and it breaks them down by their average and median incomes for men and women. If you would like to find out how your occupation compares copy the link and paste in your browser and have a looksie, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-28/whats-the-typical-income-in-australia-list-of-occupations/101330740

What about superannuation?
And finally, there may come a time when you start to think about your superannuation savings. How does your super compare to everybody else’s? This is an area when medians and averages make a big difference, as well as age and gender.

There are quite a few people who have enormous amounts of money stashed away in their super accounts, and it drags the national average up in a misleading way. Men also have much bigger super balances than women, overall, because they typically take less time off work to care for children or loved ones, and male-dominated occupations typically pay more, among a whole list of other reasons.

In 2019-20, the average super balance in Australia was $145,388, but the median super balance was only $49,374. For men, the average super balance was $161,834 and the median was $56,425. For women, the average was $129,506 and the median was $44,634.

But note this. When looking at your super balance, it’s worth comparing yourself to people in your age group, because super is so reliant on the life cycle. See the graph below. It shows the median super balance for men and women in different age groups.

If you’ve been finding your pay packet isn’t going as far as it once did-you’re not the only one. The cost of living is soaring, and wages are effectively going backwards.

So, should you ask your boss to boost your salary to keep up with inflation?
When it comes to negotiating inflation pay rises, for a long time there’s been a simple rule: don’t mention inflation. The reasoning has been simple yet ruthless in that, basically, most bosses don’t care how you’re doing financially, and whether you can make ends meet.

But with inflation now at its highest rate since 1990, and most Australians are worse off, some experts are tweaking their advice. Many workers are sharing stories of asking their boss for a pay rise.

Emma from Melbourne reports: “I told my boss that with the cost of everything going up, my salary wasn’t viable anymore”, I didn’t want to leave, but I was willing to go somewhere closer to home that offered a bit more”. And it worked, after a few days her employer agreed to a 7% pay rise.

Amy, 24, a designer in regional NSW, had a very different experience. She also brought up inflation with her boss-and got knocked back. “They said they couldn’t justify paying me more”, she said.

How To Have the Chat
Mentioning inflation in her negotiation worked well for Emma from Melbourne, but expert opinion here is divided. “Don’t mention inflation”, says one HR Specialist Karen Gately.

“Employers are thinking about their own books and the growing costs of their business”.

That is, if you go to your boss saying you need more money because of inflation, they may say the company’s costs have gone up too, and it can’t afford a pay rise. Emily Barnes, a professional mediator, agreed that “traditionally” an employee’s financial pressures haven’t been “the company’s problem”. But that’s not always the case. Workers in sectors with a labour shortage are in a stronger position to negotiate a pay rise, in which case referring to inflation can be helpful.

Be Prepared
Whether it’s researching the average pay range for a similar role or making a list of reasons why you’re good at your job, it pays to be prepared. Write out what you want to say. Even if you don’t use this in the conversation, the process will help.

Some questions to ask yourself:

• What do you want to achieve?
• What are you willing to accept?
• What are you willing to do if your pay rise request is refused?
• Are you willing to quit, even if you otherwise like your job?

“Unless you have a really clear idea around at least three of those things, then you don’t have a clear view regarding your approach in terms of the negotiations”.

How Much to Ask For
John Buchanan, a labour market expert from the university of Sydney’s Health and Work Research Network, recommends asking for a pay increase of between 4.6% and 5.2%. these are the amounts the Fair Work Commission (FWC) increased minimum and award wages this year. “If any worker can achieve that increase in the current situation that is a good result”.

Ever heard of the term “quiet quitting” (neither had I) it may sound like the act of someone silently resigning, but it refers to the rejection of the “hustle culture” – the expectation to go “above and beyond” in your job, rather than simply just performing the requirements of the job.

So naturally I put my obsession with “cop shows” to the test and “investigated” immediately! Since the pandemic, people’s relationships with work have been widely studied (and even more so when relating it to the job market) and in a recent survey that highlighted this “phenomenon” and its link to a noticeable decline in employees job satisfaction. People are asking themselves “what should work mean for me”? “How can I find a role that is more aligned with my values”?

Going above and beyond instead of simply meeting the bare minimum requirements of a job has long been the working norm. This supercharged work ethic — dubbed hustle culture — has been a way a worker has made themselves stand out to their employers, and over time has become standard.

But like most things in the world of work — this too is now being upended. It might be because of the great resignation trend, which empowered employees to demand more from their work experiences and work-like balance. But it’s also likely a by-product of the psychological fallout from living through the coronavirus pandemic, and the subsequent burnout that affected millions.

Regardless, giving 110% is out the door because workers want to avoid exhaustion and ditch stressful jobs that expect them to do more than what’s in their job description. And its Generation Z workers — those aged up to 24 years old — who seem the keenest to embrace it, but I have noticed a similar “trend” in people’s responses (of all ages) who are in discussion with me on finding another role and what they’re looking for.

It’s an important message to amplify that we’re all deserving of having a work-life balance and for work to not be all consuming and inflicting so much stress upon us. Going above and beyond at a company, they won’t remember the effort you put in a few years down the line, but what you will remember is those sleepless nights you had. Why can’t you shift that focus to prioritizing your life and your hobbies and nurturing more of the things that matter?

Deloitte Global’s “2022 Gen Z and Millennials” survey found that these generations are striving for balance and advocating for change like never before. The report revealed that good work-life balance, learning, and development opportunities were the top priorities for respondents when choosing an employer. It also showed that 45% of Gen Zers feel burned out due to their work environment and 44% have left jobs due to workload pressure.

“Your worth as a person is not defined by your labour.”

The Deloitte survey found that 40% of Gen Zers would like to leave their job within two years, and 35% would leave without having another job lined up.

Cathy Acratopulo, co-founder of HR consultancy Lace Partners, said that “given the hiring challenges most businesses are facing, employers may find it’s easier to take the productivity hit and retain someone who’s operating at minimum levels than carry the cost of job vacancies”.

That said, it’s not something employees are likely to be rewarded for either. While an employee may feel quietly quitting helps them to achieve a better balance in the short term by not going the extra mile at work, the likelihood is they will be impacted by lower performance-related incentives and reduced opportunities for alternative roles and progression.

So, is quiet quitting a new concept?
Not entirely, but it’s only now gaining real steam. The pandemic has shifted how people — across all generations — think about their work-life balance. According to PwC’s “Global Workforce Hopes and Fears” survey one in five workers worldwide plans to quit their job in 2022, the report found there is a 21% global employee engagement rate. However, 50% of workers experience daily stress and 41% experience daily worry, only 9% surveyed are engaged or enthusiastic about work.

While all generations have reassessed their work-life balance, Gen Zers are known to have radically different views from all older generations when it comes to careers and how to define success in life and in the workforce. So, the quiet quitting movement is likely to take hold in this generation especially.

What is Gen Z saying?
Gen Z is less afraid to speak up and be vocal about this, Generation X and Millennials are realizing that our overworking is not leading us down the same fruitful path as it did for older generations.

Gen Z have this fire under their bellies that something needs to change. Twenty-four-year-old Rebecca who works at an environmental consultancy reported to the survey that she now only does what her job description outlined after she spent her first year there doing tasks that weren’t discussed during the interview process.

“The most important thing for me is work-life balance,” she said. “If they expect me to not have a life outside of work or lose sleep or sacrifice my breaks or free time or have my hair fall out from stress it will never be worth it.”

“I think Gen Z has realized that our time outside of work and our mental health will always take priority and going above and beyond for a company that doesn’t do that for you is not worth it,” Rebecca said.

The power that Gen Z holds in the workforce could be the same reason that they’re able to partake in quiet quitting to steer clear of burnout and ensure they have a work-life balance. Gen Z will account for 30% of the workforce by 2030.

More boomers every day our stepping out of the workforce, fewer [generation] Xs [born between 1965 and 1980] ready to step up, and the millennials and the Zs are now the dominant numbers in the workforce.

So rather than adopting this quiet quitting, should an employee just talk to their employer about how they feel? YES! In theory, if an employee is quietly quitting it’s likely a sign that they should appeal to their boss or move on from their role. However, the young workforce is overall increasingly disengaged.

This is where the cultural fit really plays a part on a person’s longevity to find people that are a good cultural fit who are motivated to learn, and an organisation can do this by taking the “employee pulse” regularly to understand how people are feeling and to track engagement. By doing this, an employer could either encourage the employee who is quiet quitting, or ensure they move on to a role that they really want to do.

Human Resource departments can focus on how to empower managers with data and tools to identify issues early and deal with underperformance effectively.

Employee engagement is more than routine one-to-ones and work-focused check-ins; it’s about making employees feel valued and recognized for who they are so that they have a more emotional connection to the organization. Enabling managers to focus on building more personal relationships and empathy with their teams should help to avoid widespread issues of employee disengagement.

The shake-up of COVID has changed so much about the way we work, as well as what people expect from their workplace. Half of people surveyed expect more from their employer this year that they did before the COVID outbreak, research from SEEK reveals.

How workplace expectations have changed
65% of people say that what matters to them in workplaces now, has changed since the start of the pandemic. With the shear volume of open jobs right now candidates expect employers to move with pace during the recruitment process. People are identifying what their goals are and what is important to them-and they expect that work will now support these goals.

What people expect now

1: Work/life balance- this is the top must have for many people, with 48% saying its more important to them now than before the pandemic. People used to be grateful to be able to do a school drop off once a week. That doesn’t hold the weight that it used to.

2: Flexible hours/schedule- flexibility is the hybrid work model and it should be well ingrained into organisations by now. Having flexibility is important for 50% of people surveyed.

3: Salary & Compensation-financial benefits are still most important for two in five people. They’re expecting salary increases and offering fair and reasonable will attract and retain talent.

4: Job security-over two in five people say that job security is more important to them now than before COVID. So, this is not a time for employers to rest on their laurels, now people will be more hesitant to take a job that doesn’t feel secure. People want to hear more about career progression/ascension planning, training, and development options.

5: Options to work from home-over a third of Australians, want the option to work from home some of the time but only 26% of employers provide this.  (So, buyer beware you might want WFH but not a lot of businesses are set up for it yet) so hold your horse’s people with WFH demands 😊 we’re not quite there yet.

6: Working Conditions/environment-many people know that they can be productive and make a meaningful contribution working from home, so the physical working space needs to provide a complimentary offering on top of that. For example, this could include plenty of natural light, an even temperature, spaces to connect with colleagues and clients, and get-away hubs for quite work or solitude.

7: Good working relationships- many employers now face the challenge of how to keep workplace culture and engagement in a hybrid working space. Hybrid work is not an excuse to save money on all the great cultural events that bring people together. Employers need to help people keep connected with their peers within the new Hybrid work model.

8: Mental Health Support-Wellness and wellbeing are still big topics and I think they will continue to be a topic of focus as we still navigate through COVID. People are mentally fatigued from the challenges they’ve faced and continue to face. Resilience is at an all-time low, and workplaces need to offer wellness initiatives to support their team.

Congratulations Sue it’s a pleasure having you on the team in such a long term flexible role, even allowing you to work from the UK on your recent trip, we know the company is thrilled with you and you go above and beyond for them, with them telling us, “Sue is reliable, proactive, diligent and attentive to detail and such a cheery person to work with and considered a most valuable member of our team”