1. No category

How does fatigue impact on
Australian organisations.
April 2015
Page 2
Executive Summary
The 2014 OECD’s Economic Survey of Australia found that
Australian’s work an average of 1,728 hours a year.1 That’s
less than most people in the OECD, who work 1,765 hours per
year.
On the surface, this supports the generalisation that
’Australians are lazy workers’.
However, the OCED report goes on to look at the actual
hours worked per day. About 14% of employees work very
long hours; much higher than the OECD average of 9%. With
21% of men working long hours compared to only 9% of
women.
65% of Australian
businesses believe
that their employees
are more fatigued
than in previous
years
These longer hours result in Australian workers spending just
14.4 hours per day on personal care, including sleep. A study
in 2014 by the Global Corporate Challenge found that 1 in
every 5 workers is sleep deprived, and that those who sleep
poorly are 54% more likely to experience stress in their job.
A lack of sleep is a major contributing factor to fatigue.
A new Navigo Research study looking at Fatigue in the
Australian workplace supports the OCED figures. The survey
reveals that 65% of Australian businesses believe that their
employees are more fatigued or overworked than in previous
years. Over 60% of businesses believe that fatigue has a
major or moderate impact on both employee performance
and the organisation’s financial performance.
Given these statistics it is surprising that almost 80% of
organisation have no formal fatigue management policy.
Summary of Key Findings
• 65% of Australian businesses believe that their
employees are more fatigued than in previous years
• Eight out of ten organisations have specific strategies
in place to mitigate employee fatigue
• Organisations are showing just as much concern for
employee morale and mental health, as well as safety,
when it comes to managing fatigue
• Budget constraints is the number one barrier to
organisations improving fatigue management
• Only 6% of organisations use technology to assist in
fatigue management
1
Economic Survey of Australia 2014 http://www.oecd.org/australia/economic-surveyaustralia.htm
Navigo Research
Phone: +61 3 9879 4060
Page 3
Impact on employees and the
organisation
Over the last few years there have been many
studies on the impact of fatigue and stress in
the workplace.
In 2000, a report by the House of
Representatives Standing Committee on
Communications, Transport and the Arts
found that fatigue was costing the Australian
economy at least $3 billion. Fast forward a
few years and we find that, according to a
Safe Work Australia report2, stress alone was
costing us $10 billion per year!
Almost 70% of respondents to our Fatigue
Management Survey stated that they felt
fatigue had a major or moderate impact on
the performance of their employees. In
addition, 61% of the respondents felt that
this translated to a negative impact on the
financial side of their business.
The situation is getting worse: 65% of
respondents stated that employees within
their organisations are currently more
fatigued than in previous years. Without
substantial changes in management practices
this is likely to worsen in the near future.
The most recent OECD’s Economic Survey of
Australia supports the view that the situation
is getting worse.
EMPLOYEES AT MY ORGANISATION ARE MORE
FATIGUED/OVERWORKED TODAY THAN IN PREVIOUS
YEARS?
Strongly
agree
15%
Agree
50%
16%
Neutral
13%
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
6%
0%
20%
40%
60%
Figure 1
WHAT IMPACT DOES FATIGUE HAVE ON PERFORMANCE
AT YOUR ORGANISATION?
61%
Major/Moderate
Impact
69%
26%
While fatigue is a major safety issue, it’s also
costing the Australian economy billions every
year.
Minor impact
26%
13%
No significant
impact
5%
0%
20% 40% 60% 80%
Financial
Employee
Figure 2
2
Mental stress costs Australian businesses
http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/SWA/media-events/mediareleases/Documents/2013%20Media%20Releases/MR08042013-MentalStress-Cost-Australian-Businesses.pdf
Navigo Research
Phone: +61 3 9879 4060
Page 4
Strategic view on fatigue
Managers in the workplace agree fatigue is
impacting business.
Across the board respondents to the survey
stated that their top concerns with fatigue
were directly centred on the employee.
Equally, 41% of respondents were concerned
about employee performance and their
morale.
Employee morale is a key indicator of how
engaged they are in the workplace. Engaged
workforces will deliver 147% higher earnings
per share than those that are not engaged3.
There has also been extensive research into
the link between employee engagement and
safety outcomes that shows that engaged
employees are five times less likely to have a
safety incident and seven times less like to be
absent due to an accident.4
Ensuring employees are as engaged as
possible is critical to business success. One part
of maintaining engagement is morale and
how stressed employees feel in the
workplace.
WHAT ARE THE TOP CONCERNS ABOUT FATIGUE IN THE
WORKPLACE?
Employee
performance
41%
Employee
morale
41%
Employee
mental health
40%
Safety
39%
Employee
engagement
39%
Business
outcomes
24%
Other
2%
No concerns
1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Figure 3
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING DO YOU CURRENTLY
MONITOR TO WATCH FOR SIGNS OF EMPLOYEE FATIGUE
AND/OR UNPLANNED ATTRITION?
34%
Absence patterns
Managers in Australia are not letting lapses in
morale go unnoticed; they are using a variety
of methods to monitor employee fatigue. The
number one method is absence patterns,
followed by tracking the quality of work.
Recording absence patterns is a good method
of monitoring fatigue – it’s estimated that 88
million days per annum are lost due to
absenteeism, at a cost of $27.5 billion! –
however it is reactive, meaning that the
impact to the organisation has already
happened. 5
29%
Quality of work
Hours worked
24%
Reduction in
20%
18%
Lost time injuries
Workers'
16%
None we don't
14%
12%
Extended leave
Shift changes
7%
Other
3%
0%
10% 20% 30% 40%
Figure 4
3
State of the American Workforce Gallup Research
4
ibid
5
2013 Absence Management and Well-being Report, Direct Health
Solutions
Navigo Research
Phone: +61 3 9879 4060
Page 5
What are organisations doing
about fatigue?
While organisations are concerned about
fatigue in the workplace, 80% did not have a
formal Fatigue Management Plan. Instead,
they rely on managers, supervisors and
employees themselves to manage fatigue in
the workplace.
Given the significant risks, both financial and
safety, this is alarming.
Flexi-time was listed as the number one
strategy used by organisation to manage
fatigue. Industries such as Manufacturing,
Transportation and Logistics were more likely
to adjust rostering practices than allow
employees flexibility in managing fatigue.
Construction, Government and Military have
the most flexible strategies for managing
fatigue by offering employees the greatest
choice of options.
Allowing employees a ‘say’ in how they are
rostered can be a very effective strategy for
managing fatigue. Unfortunately, only 13%
of organisations provide employees the
option all the time. Only 3% of organisations
allow employees input into their roster, and
that privilege is based on seniority!
Workforce management practices affect
every employee, contractor and casual across
various part of your organisation. Due to the
day to day nature of fatigue, ownership of
workforce management practices should be
as close to the front line as possible.
Unfortunately, 58% of organisations have
pushed ownership to HR or Payroll. This is
almost identical to the results of Workforce
Software’s Workforce Management Trends
Survey where 55% of HR departments
owned workforce management compared to
29% of operations.
WHAT STRATEGIES DOES YOUR ORGANISATION USE
TO MITIGATE EMPLOYEE FATIGUE?
27%
Flexi-time
Telecommuting/Work
from home
19%
Adjusting rostering
practices
15%
Use of contingent
labour
13%
Time management
training
13%
Stress management
training
13%
Education 0%
12%
10%
20%
30%
Figure 5
WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS TO IMPROVING THE
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYEE FATIGUE AT YOUR
ORGANISATION?
Budget constraints
26%
Poor understanding
of the impact of
fatigue
20%
Not a management
priority
18%
Other
8%
0%
10%
20%
30%
Figure 6
Navigo Research
Phone: +61 3 9879 4060
Page 6
Use of technology to manage
fatigue
The 4th Australian HR Technology Report
found that 72% of organisations said they
used a technology solution to deliver time,
attendance and rostering solutions. This is
similar to Fatigue Management results, as
60% of respondents said they used
technology to support at least one area of
workforce management.
While 65% of respondents stated that
fatigue was a major or moderate concern,
barely 6% said they used technology to help
manage fatigue! Given the significant impact
fatigue has on organisations we are surprised
by the low level of technology usage. As on
the 4th Australian HR Technology Report 18%
of organisations plan to spend more on
workforce management solutions over the
next 12 months there is hope that the level
of adoption for Fatigue Management
increases.
The low level of technology used to support
the management of fatigue might be due to
the limited functionality historically offered
within traditional solutions.
DO YOU USE SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING
WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS?
Absence &
Leave Mgmt
44%
Time &
Attendance
36%
Rostering
Labour Analytics
Fatigue
Mgmt
21%
8%
6%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Figure 7
But there is significant growth in newer,
cloud-based solutions offering fatigue
management options. With 24% of
organisation now preferring cloud for their
HR Technology purchases6 we could see a rise
in technology adoption.
Given the sensitive nature of the data being
stored in workforce management solutions,
purchasers will need to overcome their
biggest fears cloud adoption: data security
and privacy. The way around these concerns
is vendors who provide solutions that are
hosted in Australia and have been ISO27001
certified.
6
4th Australian HR Technology Report
Navigo Research
Phone: +61 3 9879 4060
Page 7
Demographic Information
Research for this report was conducted in the form of an online survey. The survey was carried
out between December 2014 and January 2015.
RESPONDENT PROFILE
Total number of respondents: 105
•
•
•
•
CXO/Director/Manager: 55 percent
Professionals/Technical: 26 percent
Clerical and Administrative: 11 percent
Other: 8 percent
LOCATION
• Australia: 85 percent
• New Zealand: 9 percent
• Other: 6 percent
INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Business/Professional Services: 11 percent Energy and Utilities: 4 percent Finance/Insurance: 5 percent Health Care: 13 percent Manufacturing: 7 percent Public Sector: 16 percent Education: 15 percent Retail and Hospitality: 4 percent Other: 26 percent Navigo Research
Phone: +61 3 9879 4060
Page 8
About Navigo Research
Navigo Research is an independent research and advisory arm operating under the Navigo
Group, a HR software solutions and consulting company operating since 2007.
Navigo Research provides HR and payroll technology advisory services that are tightly integrated
with industry-based research data. This research data is sourced and maintained by us, from our
own field activities and is specifically focused on the Australian and New Zealand market.
We proudly maintain our independence from all HR-related solutions vendors, ensuring a totally
unbiased, reputable view of the industry.
Our purpose is to provide advice and guidance to customers regarding the best possible use of
HR technology and how to leverage investments to create great organisations.
Our team consists of research analysts and consultants who are experts in HR related technology
solutions in the Australian market.
Our research covers technology relating to all areas of the employee life-cycle, with particular
focus on HRIS (payroll, core HR) and talent management.
http://www.navigoresearch.com.au
About Michael Specht
Michael brings over 20 years’ experience to the Navigo Research team as a result of his varied
roles within the HR technology space. He has experience as a vendor, customer and consultant;
however, his most recent role as a business owner completed the equation. His niche areas of
expertise include HR technology systems, project management, development
and implementation of HR/payroll solutions, enterprise social networks and social media.
Michael’s knowledge and first-hand experience allows him to objectively identify pain points for
managers then recommend the right solution to align business strategy and people.
Specialties: Talent Management, Recruitment, Social Recruiting, Learning and Development.
Navigo Research
Phone: +61 3 9879 4060