Quality of Working Life 2008 (August 2008)

Comparisions of the perceptions of UK managers and managers in Victoria, Australia, on organisational health and well-being.

Authors: Professor Les Worrall, Associate Professor Margaret Lindorff, Professor Cary Cooper

Published: August 2008 

Cost: free to download

The latest project in the Quality of Working Life series, which began in the UK in 1997, puts the views of UK managers on organisational health and well-being in an international context.

Exploring the responses of more than 2,500 managers in the UK and Victoria, Australia, the results show that Australian managers are more optimistic about their organisations' performance - and report greater job satisfation.

Alarmingly high levels of concern about the impact of long working hours on managers' health are also revealed by the study. Around half of the managers involved in the survey linked personal health problems to the long hours they worked, with Australian managers suffering more ill-health including back pain, stomach bugs, influenza and viral infections.  Managers also report a detrimental impact on their productivity at work, as well as their social lives and personal relationships. The close alignment between the response outcomes of Australian and UK managers on how the long working week was affecting their health confirms the seriousness of the work-life balance issue.