RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Scott-Ladd, B., Travaglione, A., Perryer, C. & Pick, D. (2010). Attracting and
Retaining Talent: Social Organisational Support as An Emergent Concept,
Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 18(2), 1-14.

Attracting and Retaining Talent: Social

Organisational Support as An Emergent
Concept
Brenda Scott-Ladd, Antonio Travaglione, Chris Perryer & David Pick
ABSTRACT
Similar to other developed nations the cultural and social
demographic profile of Australia has changed considerably in
the past three decades. This is likely to accelerate into the
twenty first century. Employee expectations and social needs
have changed and these changes impinge on organisations,
which is resulting in an increasingly complex and demanding
workplace environment that has implications for the attraction
and retention of talent. This paper discusses an exploratory
focus group study involving 35 managers from varying
backgrounds. The paper identifies practical issues that concern
managers and identifies they feel ill equipped to manage the
social issues arising from changes in the workforce, with
argument for a reevaluation of the role human resource
practitioners and managers need to adopt to assist
organisations in providing social support to employees.
Implementing social organisational support will help define
the more employee friendly workplaces and aid attraction and
retention to assist organisations become employers of choice.

INTRODUCTION
The 2010 Intergenerational Report, commissioned by the Australian
Government, highlights that Australia faces real challenges for maintaining its
work force into the future (Australian Government 2010) and halting declining
productivity (Tanner 2010). An ageing population and increased diversity
through migration will constrain living standards unless ways are found to keep
older workers in the workforce longer and manage diversity (Australian
Government 2010). So far researchers have failed to fully investigate what is
needed (Bardoel, De Cieri & Santos 2008), but Burgess, Strachan and French
(2010: 271) warn that “… more extensive and sophisticated …” responses are
needed.
This paper has two purposes. The first is to report on the findings of a study
conducted (OECD 2009) into the key social issues within organisations and the
community that are likely to affect employee attraction and retention in the
coming decade. The second purpose is to explore whether managers believed
they were effective in supporting their organisation as an employer of choice.
Australia, similar to other developed countries in needing to deal with more
culturally diverse workforces, employs migration to fill both skilled and
unskilled gaps in labour forces (OECD 2009). There is also the added stress of
flexible labour markets, where some workers have good prospects and others,
especially the poorly educated, have limited prospects (Australian Psychological
Society 2009, WHO 2010). For other institutions and community groups,
improved education and technology exposure has led to changing values,
particularly among different generational cohorts (Twenge 2010).
These employment related issues raise concerns regarding workforce diversity.
In addition, there are serious questions about work and family balance (Pocock
2005, Sheehan, Holland & DeCieri 2006) and how these can be managed in
countries that are experiencing low birthrates and increasingly aging
populations (OECD 2005, Verworn, Schwarz & Herstatt 2009). Early research
into meeting diversity needs have taken a limited focus, and found considerable
variation in terms of equity and implementation (Hall & Atkinson 2006). These
and other relevant studies, into work and family balance, and gender, for
example, have led to a call for improved communication in organisations and
better training of managers based on an understanding of what employees need
and value. Within the new world order the changing environments poses
challenges for organisations and human resource management practitioners in
attracting and retaining employees of choice. An Australian Human Resources
Institute survey reported in 2006 that 76 per cent of over 1300 human resource
managers saw the need for improved attraction and retention strategies
(Sheehan, et al. 2006). The evidence was many companies were already working
on improving recruitment processes and practice, however, retention strategies
such as job design, employee engagement, diversity management and work life
balance were receiving less attention, despite being considered important
(Sheehan, et al. 2006). In addition, a recent benchmarking study commissioned
by the Australian Government found many companies lacked “… people
management skills …” (Green 2009: 12) and that “…effective people
management is paramount, and is achieved when companies follow a structured
and focused approach to the attraction, retention and development of talent …”
(Green 2009: 12).
This paper reports on a focus group study where 35 practicing managers
discussed and rated the issues and challenges they believe will accelerate in the
coming decades. The paper starts by reviewing the importance of attracting and
retaining quality employees and then discusses the theoretical frameworks that
currently underpin the employer employee relationship. How the makeup of the
workforce is changing, and the affects of changing values and expectations, as
well as the challenges this creates for managers are discussed. The methodology
details the qualitative approach before the results are explained. This section of
the paper is followed by a discussion of the findings and the implications of
these for practitioners and theoreticians. Finally, the paper proposes that
organisations need to redefine the way they manage their social obligations to
employees.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Organisations need to attract and retain effective employees for the good of the
organisation (Cascio 2006). While this notion fits within the human resource
management (HRM) role, more recent literature has focused on the importance
of talent management. In its simplest form, talent management is the“…
strategic management of the flow of talent through an organisation.”
(Duttagupta, 2005: 2). It is about ensuring the organisation not only attracts
quality employees but their potential is developed and these high performing
employees are retained for the organisation‟s benefit (Iles, Preece & Chuai
2010).However, employees also have expectations of organisations as the
relationship is one of mutual obligation.
The belief that building and maintaining relationships benefits both the
organisation and individual is the essence of social capital theory (Andriessen &
Gubbins 2009). On the one hand, organisations need to address the conflicting
expectations of various stakeholders (Donaldson & Preston 1995, Carroll &
Buchholtz 2008), but they need to do so in a way that recognises the very strong
ties that are part of the employee employer relationship. There is some debate
about how this social relationship is defined. For example, Lin, Ensel and
Vaughan (1981) claim it is related to relationships with shared content, activities
or resources member‟s value. Alternatively, Granovetter (1973) focuses more on
the strength of the ties in the relationship, with greater social capital being
associated with stronger ties. This analogy can be applied to a wider societal or
communal setting, but social capital theory is focused on the bonds linking
individuals (Adler & Kwon 2002). Cooperation and trust underpin and are
fundamental for a reciprocal relationship and social exchange (Putnam 2000).
Social exchange theory (Blau 1964) predicts that, given certain conditions,
people seek to respond positively to those who bring benefit to them (Bateman &
Organ 1983). Applying this to the workplace, an organisation that acts in a
positive way towards employees creates reciprocity so employees generally
respond in positive ways that are beneficial to the organisation (Eder 2008)
thus, establishing an exchange relationship (Settoon, Bennett & Liden 1996).
Given that employees, especially in a booming economy, have more power,
options and discretion over whether they stay with an organisation, it seems
likely that employees, who feel the organisation has acted positively towards
them, are more likely to be committed and remain with the organisation (Van
Knippenberg 2006). Conversely, if the organisation has not acted positively
towards an employee, the employee is less likely to want to remain (Chiu, et al.
2005, Maertz, et al. 2007).
One aspect of a positive and supportive organisational environment is an
employee‟s perceived organisational support (POS). This employee attitude is
deemed by many organisations as valuable, as is evidenced by the many
programmes they invest in to develop the POS of their employees (Riggle,
Edmondson & Hansen 2009). POS can be defined as the overall extent to which
employees believe that their organisation values their contribution and cares
about their wellbeing (Eisenberger, et al. 1986). This aspect of an organisational
environment can have a strong influence on an employee‟s organisational
commitment and trust (Perryer & Jordan 2005). The concepts of social
exchange and the norm of reciprocity are often used by researchers to describe
the motivation for employees to display positive behaviours, such as loyalty,
which are not formally rewarded or contractually required by the organisation
(Settoon, et al. 1996, Rhoades & Eisenberger 2002).
The authors of this paper suggest these theories do not go far enough. While
they do highlight the importance of developing a relationship of mutual respect,
this can only thrive if employees believe their needs are understood and met.
The listed theories, which underpin the employer and employee social
relationship, tend to focus on what happens within the organisation and fail to
recognise that employee satisfaction and commitment can be eroded by events
external to the organisation. It may be as simple as knowing that a single parent
may need to start work at 9:15 am and finish at 3:15 pm every day, so that the
parent can transport the children to and from school. It could also extend to
more complex issues, such as, understanding a particular employees
performance has declined because of a depressive episode or a personal struggle
with drug abuse. A recent study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity in the
US identified that line managers play the most critical role in facilitating and
developing employees (Pace 2010). To do this effectively managers also need the
skills to be able to handle the more complex issues, which underpins provision
of social organisational support (SOS). Clearly, organisations need to
understand the needs of, and the benefits desired, by an individual employee.
Therefore, the authors define SOS as the organisation‟s ability to support
managers in responding appropriately to the multiple demands of an employee‟s
social needs and obligations to foster a beneficial, reciprocal relationship. HRM
practitioners clearly have a role in facilitating SOS, but it seems imperative for
good on the job relationships that these phenomena are fostered between
managers and the staff they supervise.

The Changing workforce

Managers at all levels have to deal with changing organisational structures, work
patterns and diversity management strategies if they are to retain „top talent‟and
become employers of choice. Even if current strategies, such as child are and
family friendly work practices apply to a significant number of employees, will
these strategies remain adequate for the future? Burgess, et al. (2010) argue that
“… more extensive and sophisticated …” (Burgess, et al. 2010: 271) responses are
required, but insufficient attention is being paid to this need, particularly as
evidence already shows that work life balance initiatives boost an employee
reputation as an employer of choice (Lansbury & Baird 2004, Pocock 2005).
Other issues that need to be considered are the changes that are emerging in the
workforce. There are generational differences, increasing diversity through
migration and labour market differences, all of which are expected to grow. Beck
and Beck-Gernsheim (2009) argue that globalisation has seen the breakdown of
individuals‟lives into functional components, such as being a worker, voter,
taxpayer and parent, and these functions then become part of our social identity.
In this sense, social identity allows individuals to categorise themselves into
many different „in groups‟ as distinct from „out groups‟ to help create a positive
sense of belonging (George & Chattopadhyay 2002). Work forms a large part of
this identity. An example of this is how intergenerational differences in attitudes
towards such factors as work, authority, relationships, and behavioural
standards (Loomis 2000,Twenge 2010) affect motivation, interests and reward
expectations. For instance, baby boomers (born from 1945 to the 1965) are
portrayed as being idealistic, optimistic and inner directed (Kupperschmidt
2000, Loomis 2000). Contexts have been advanced,for this and hence, these
cohorts have attitudes and values that were shaped by such events as the
assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr, the ColdWar, the
VietnamWar, the first lunar landing and the availability of the contraceptive pill.
Generation X people (born between the mid 1960s and the early 1980s) are
described as adaptable, team oriented, technologically competent and
entrepreneurial, but at the same time, as cynical, sullen, contemptuous, naïve
and arrogant (Jurkiewicz 2000, Ferres, Travaglione & Firns 2001). While
exposed to extraordinary technological, economic and social change, this later
born group were scarred by the restructuring and downsizing that occurred as
they entered the workforce in the 1990s. GenerationY (born after the early
1980s) are generally described as smart, informal and view work as less central
to their lives than previous generations.
Another social dimension is increased total diversity. Similar to other OECD
countries Australia faces an ageing population and increasing migration
(Australian Government 2010). Migration to fill labour shortages, and
particularly high skilled shortages, is a common policy response in many
developed countries (OECD 2009). Quite apart from the cultural differences,
migrants are often also economically disadvantaged and so become socially
disadvantaged by being located in poorer areas, which compounds other
disadvantages such as limited language skills or support networks. Australia
already relies heavily on overseas workers, such as backpackers, skilled migrants
and short term visa holders (Australian Government 2010). Their diverse
cultural heritages mean different values, language and communication barriers,
lack of social and community support, and the possible increase in workplace
discrimination and prejudice are more challenges for managers.
Another issue of increasing concern relates to psychological issues in the
workplace. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2007b) estimated that one in
five Australians suffer from some form of mental disorder, which can range from
stress, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder and depression, to drug and
alcohol abuse. An Australian Psychological Society (2009) survey into the
impact of the global economic downturn on the currently employed revealed
that 37 per cent reported being under financial strain, 20 per cent reported an
increase to their workload and 27 per cent indicated moderate to extreme
concern about job security. Work related factors, such as performance
investigations, complaints, exposure to aggressive clients, conflict with
colleagues, high workloads, poor management/supervisory skills, transfers and
poor person-job fit all place psychological wellbeing at risk (Jackson & Clements
2006).
An additional compounding factor is the increased labour force flexibility.
Australia has a core workforce, supplemented by a peripheral casual or contract
labour market that makes up 27 per cent of the Australian workforce (ABS
2009a). The Survey of Employment Arrangements, Retirement and
Superannuation (ABS 2007a), shows that one in four Australians are employed
on a casual basis and 56 per cent of casual employees are women. This survey
identified that some actively want the flexibility provided by part-time or casual
work, whereas others would prefer more hours or certainty of work. Currently,
approximately six per cent of all workers hold more than one job (ABS 2009a).
The downside for casual employees is reduced benefits and entitlements, such as
sick leave and annual leave, and in general, these workers have reduced job
security and limited, or reduced, career opportunities. Organisations are being
challenged to respond to these by instituting HRM policies and processes that
allow managers to confidently deal with these complex issues that can negatively
affect contemporary work settings.
What is needed is a construct that clearly focuses on the key skills a manager
must develop to be considered relevant for an ever changing workforce. These
skills centre on understanding the drivers of social engagement for employees in
the modern workplace. As Burgess, et al. (2010), and Hicks, Basu and Sappey
(2010) point out, greater acceptance is needed for the differing social drivers
that facilitate employee engagement. There is merit in developing a role and
definition for how managers can provide SOS, based on them understanding
that generic problems can form the foundation for understanding the workplace
they confront. SOS needs to capture the basic concept that managers must
manage. By contrast, POS refers to employees‟perceptions of the support that
their organisation provides. Therefore, SOS refers to the organisation‟s ability to
support managers in responding appropriately to the multiple demands of
employee social needs and obligations to foster a beneficial, reciprocal
relationship. So what do we mean when we say managers must manage? This
means that managers must be sufficiently self aware to recognise and
understand how to manage the critical issues in an employee‟s life that can
impact their performance at work.There are many ways an organisation can
display positive actions toward an employee to facilitate a positive reciprocation
(Eisenberger, et al. 2001). The problem is that although there is anecdotal
evidence and theoretical arguments surrounding these challenges and the
changes being made, particularly in relation to work life balance, researchers
have yet to substantiate the veracity of many of the responses being
implemented (OECD 2005, Burgess, et al. 2010, Hicks, et al. 2010). One way of
starting to unravel how managers can respond to these challenges is to explore
the extent of these issues with practicing managers.
What skills and development will human resource practitioners enable in
managers to develop to meet these competing needs and expectations and better
operationalise retention strategies? Accepting that social drivers differ,
organisations will need to develop an understanding of what drives social
engagement if they really do want to retain their talent. Therefore, the purpose
of this preliminary study was to identify some of the changes taking place, and
whether managers felt they, or indeed their organisations, were equipped to deal
with these in ways that maximised attraction and retention levers.

METHODOLOGY
The first step was to identify the key internal and external social issues that are
likely to affect attraction and retention levers in the coming decade. The second
was to explore where managers believe they lacked skills to deal with these. The
aim was not to test understanding, but to allow the respondents to surface issues
of concern to them based on their understanding, experiences and the
challenges they believe they face. Therefore, a constructivist approach was best
as it allows knowledge to be drawn from the multiple realities of the various
respondents (Denzin & Lincoln 2005). This in turn provides a rich foundation
for building understanding (Cavana, Delahaye & Sekaran 2001, Sobh & Perry
2006). By utilising an interpretist ontology, understanding is developed based
on the subjects‟ understanding of reality (Ticehurst & Veal 2000) and can then
be linked to the understanding drawn from the literature (Hesse-Biber & Leavy
2006).

Participants
Data were gathered from a focus group interview with 35 participants in an MBA
programme in November 2009, which forms a preliminary step to a larger
study. The participants were from a range of backgrounds; seven were general
managers, 14 were departmental or line managers, three were supervisors, eight
were professionals or consultants and three were waged employees, 24 were
male and 11 were female. The group had a mixed ethnic background (Japan 1,
South Africa 2, Central Africa 1, Caribbean 2, Europe 3, the Middle East 2, China
6, India 1, and Australia 17) and worked in a range of different industries, from
mining to health and the public and service sectors. The age range included six
from the baby boomer generation, 16 from generation X, and 13 from generation
Y. This group was particularly suited to the study because of their diverse ages,
work experiences and cultural backgrounds and because the majority worked
full time and needed to juggle work, family, social and study commitments.

Procedure
Respondents were asked to consider the social issues they were aware of, or
anticipated in the workforce and then list these using a nominal group
technique. This technique required each person to write down their thoughts
before these were discussed among the group. An approach was taken to ensure
that all individuals contributed from their own perspective in the initial stage
and their views would not be contaminated or withheld because of other
viewpoints. The next phase included collating all the items and inviting
discussion among the group to allocate and condense all the issues into themes.
The aim was to identify and explore commonalities across the group and
encourage further discussion, rather than seek consensus or downplay the
importance of individual concerns. Once the themes were identified, the group
anonymously ranked the themes to identify which was considered of most
concern. This was achieved by each respondent voting for the three items they
considered most important using a technology based audience response system
called „clickers‟. The highest number of votes within each theme were counted to
return a percentage allocation for each theme.

RESULTS
Participants expressed a range of concerns, many of which are interrelated and
these are shown in Table 1. The themes viewed as the most important challenges
needing addressing were ranked as follows. A total of 40 per cent of the
respondents identified the need to address the balance between work and family
as most important. Next, was the need to improve flexibility (20 per cent),
followed by being time poor (17 per cent), cultural diversity (nine per cent),
dealing with stress and health problems (both at seven per cent) and responding
to an ageing workforce was rated lowest, with only three per cent viewing it as
most important. This was surprising given concerns about the aging workforce,
which is admittedly a less severe problem than in other developed countries.
This finding may well reflect the age cohort of respondents and an expectation
that people will continue working as they grow older.
There was considerable crossover between the themes and many of these are
broadly related to work life balance. Clearly, however, the findings go well
beyond provisions for flexibility in the Work Care Act of 2010 (Fair Work
Ombudsman 2010). For example, being time poor affected the time spent with
 family, added to stress, reduced opportunities for eating healthily, and increased
the pressure and need for greater flexibility. The examples cited ranged from
being able to attend school functions and afterschool activities with children, to
maintaining family and social obligations of visiting parents, meeting friends
and having time for a „social life‟. It became very clear that the respondents
believed employees expectations were changing. As one Generation X male said,
I can‟t imagine my father asking for time off during the day to go and see a
school play.
Table 1
Social challenges facing managers in the coming decade
Themes - Rated by
Comments related to each theme
importance (%)
Work can go on for 24/7 hours and interferes with personal life.
Dual careers makes it difficult to manage work life balance
There is conflict between work and personal commitments
Work means you have to give up personal time (family or leisure
balance)
Dual careers makes it difficult to manage work and leisure
Dealing with short term or changing careers creates stress on the
family
Work-life balance 40
Continuing with fly in and fly out arrangements interferes with work
life balance
Perceived importance of spending time with family has increased
Increasing telecommuting – reduces interaction with colleagues and
interferes with home life – so affects both.
The need for increased domestic support to help balance work life
Working at a high pace 24/7 can be challenging and stimulating if you
love the job (comment from a Gen X female participant).
Need for increased Increased demand the flexibility (to meet juggle work, family and
20
flexibility leisure and meet customer needs – also related to globalisation)
Time Poor – the “rat race” carries into our personal life
Time poor 17 Time Poor means a reduction in healthy eating
Dual careers (more demands on time)
Increased cultural diversity / languages / culture /expectations
The need for greater indigenous integration and acceptance
Increasing pressure to retain skill as competition increases
Increased decentralisation as the population grows
Diversity and
9 Dual economy – haves & have-nots – (i.e., W.A. resources versus
globalisation
services sector)
Competition raises safety issues – particularly for small work
environments
Lack of daylight saving still interferes with national businesses
Stress related to lifestyle (European lifestyle not so stressed)
Increasing stress 7
Health problems related to stress.
Health problems 7 Health problems related to stress, diet, lifestyle and ageing
The retirement age likely to increase further – with many older
workers and associated health and flexibility needs
Ageing workforce 3
Increased need for Elder Care support
Increased desire for part time work by older workers.

The respondents were then asked to consider the themes and identify and rank
what they perceived as the primary drivers for changing employee expectations.
A total of 64 per cent indicated that changing cultural values was the most
significant driver, and that this was leading to associated changes in
expectations. Also, 32 per cent believed change was driven by the need for
greater flexibility by organisations and individuals, and five per cent believed it
was because employees expected a better balance between work and family
needs, even if they were unable to achieve this outcome. All respondents agreed
that the current work environment was dynamic and societal expectations were
changing and that managers would continue to face dealing with an escalation in
complex and difficult issues. As an example, one general manager cited needing
to deal with an employee who was suffering psychotic episodes in the workplace
at the same time as being subjected to abuse and denigration on Facebook by a
former employer who had an unfair dismissal claim rejected by the courts.

DISCUSSION
Some of the changing issues confronting workforces are being addressed with
varying degrees of success, even though, as mentioned previously, the efficacy of
the solutions being implemented have not been tested. The respondents rated
balancing work and life as their highest concern, which substantiates previous
findings in the literature (OECD 2005, Hicks, et al. 2010). This is consistent with
OECD findings from 30 countries that suggests many working parents are not
satisfied with the work and care balance; either because they financially cannot
afford more children, have limited career prospects or have less flexibility than
they would like (OECD 2007). Although flexibility has increased, the OECD
research identifies considerable variation exists when in addressing the many
factors that influence work family conflict and that overall substantial progress
still needs to be made.
Increasing flexibility was suggested as a strategy that would address being time
poor, although there were two sides to this argument. On the one hand,
increasing flexibility was about giving individual employees more control over
when and how they worked. However, the downside of this was that increased
flexibility for the employer often limited flexibility for the employee as working
hours expanded. Greater flexibility for employees can be seen in the increasing
reliance on new forms of employment, such as telecommuting, virtual
connections and teamwork. Telecommuting was not an issue for the group in
this study, most likely because of their management roles and the work
pressures placed on them. Their part time studies no doubt add to these as was
evident in their concern with being time poor and stressed. What was of more
concern was the expansion of working hours well beyond the traditional five
days. Shift work, the compressed workweek, or working in remote regions, for
example, in Australia where fly in, fly out (FIFO) arrangements also include time
away from the family, affect many more people and a number in this group. This
meant that flexibility had many different impacts, and even when flexibility was
positive, there were often associated negative impacts.
Flexibility means individuals can work from many locations, within and across
national boundaries (Sarkar & Singh 2006, Lee, Chu & Tseng 2009). This work
arrangement increases diversity in the workforce. However, the respondents
acknowledged this impinges on work life balance and creates added stress, and
is in line with concerns about stress and other psychosocial being a major, and
inadequately addressed, concern for organisations and societies in general
(WHO 2010). Similarly, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(2005b) is concerned that changed work arrangements have blurred the
boundaries between work and non work, which has seen more of these type of
occupational health and safety, becoming the employer‟s responsibility.
The findings also identified concern about stress and the impact of stress on
psychological wellbeing. This concern, in part, matches the ABS evidence
presented earlier regarding the extent of psychological ill health prevalent in
Australia. Medibank Private (2008) research identified that stress related illness
costs $14.81 billion annually and $10.11 billion of that is borne by employers in
direct costs and productivity losses. This pattern is similar in other developed
nations and a WHO (2010) report claims that 90 per cent of respondents across
the European Union member states consider stress and its associated problems
and causes is a major cause of disease and more appropriate responses need to
be instituted to manage the associated occupational health risks. Providing
social support is one strategy that does assist employees. For example, a recent
Australian study into stress among police and public sector workers found that
social exchange variables, like perceptions of fairness and peer support, were
positive mitigating factors (Noblett & Rodwell 2009). To foster this type of
support organisations must support changes in the skill levels and competence
of managers so they can better manage the associated issues of bullying, stress,
depression, sickness and other health problems (Noblett & Rodwell 2009).
Another group that is vulnerable to these risks are migrant workers because they
have the added complexity of cultural and language differences, isolation and
skill deficits (WHO 2010).
Concerns about cultural differences were a concern for a small number of the
group. Globalisation has lead to increased diversity in workforces in all
developed countries and Australia is no exception, as was evident in population
participating in the study. The ABS (2009b) reported that Australia‟s population
grew by 439,100 over the previous year, with over half (63 per cent) of this
increase resulting from overseas migration, which is the highest influx of
migrants since after the Second World War. Adding to the cultural mix was the
generally acknowledgement among respondents that workplace attitudes are
also changing as workplace diversity, generational differences and cultural
differences make the workplace more complex. Managers in the study expressed
concern that they lacked the repertoire of specific skills and knowledge to
accommodate increasing numbers of staff who were struggling with
acculturation. The extent to which employees engage in „ethical‟behaviour does
not simply depend on the values of the employees or the norms of the
organisation. Evidence from the past decade involving high profile cases of
corporations flagrantly ignoring their clear legal obligations demonstrate that
this is also about values and culture (Howard 2010). Redefining what this means
in a multicultural environment should be fundamental to considerations of SOS.
Respondents generally agreed that few organisations had effective policies for
responding to the changing needs of an ageing workforce. On the other hand,
one respondent provided the example of working in an organisation that had
negotiated an agreement that allowed long term employees to access up to two
years of fully paid sick leave for serious illnesses. This surprised many others in
the group and while it was deemed a positive response to maintaining older
workers, is clearly an exception to the usual benefits offered. Currently,
Australian laws are based on the British „Roben‟s Model‟(ACCI 2005a) and
employers are required to take all reasonable or practicable steps to ensure the
health and safety of workers affected by the employers undertakings. Drug and
alcohol problems are already built into the duty of care (DICH 2009) and while
these were not of concern to the group, it was mentioned that the use of
stringent measures and enforceable policies had reduced their use and improved
safety on mine sites. Concern was expressed among the respondents about
substance abuse in association with other workplace and community issues,
such as perceived high stress levels, fatigue, work overload, working hours and
the associated risks these bring, as has been identified as increasing risk factors
by the ACCI (2005b). Respondents posed the question of why someone would
choose to work, particularly older workers who may not need to work for
financial reasons, unless specific strategies were implemented to make the work
environment more conducive to retention.
These examples indicate new forms of management that are more socially
responsive are needed, which backs up the claim by Burgess, et al. (2010), and
the more responsive employers who adopt strategies to manage the broad range
of issues, just as those who demonstrate other initiatives to balance work and
family demands (Lansbury & Baird 2004) will become employers of choice. This
link between effective human resources strategies and performance was borne
out in a meta analysis of 65 studies that examined the relationships between
motivation, skill enhancement and empowerment (Subramony 2009). Arguably,
being able to better meet employees needs would enhance all of these. Another
rationale for attracting and retaining the best talent is the financial imperatives.
One argument that could be advanced, and surfaces in the Chamber of
Commerce‟s comments, is that responses may increase costs to employers.
However, a significant proportion of social organisational support expenditure
is„built in‟to managerial wages and payments, which are deductible, although
admittedly not always easy to attribute these proportionally. Nonetheless,
financial benefits are likely to accrue from productivity improvements and other
benefits such as allowable tax deductions associated with labour costs (Millitzer
2007) or training (Flamholtz 1999). In addition, it seems reasonable that these
benefits to employers should provide some return to employees. Deductible SOS
oriented expenses include leave entitlements, disability benefits, entertainment
and fitness, gratuities and sickness and accident premiums. If the community as
a whole will benefit from improved management practices it seems reasonable to
argue that other expenses, like sanctioned employee assistance programsme,
could be allowable deductions.
Further research into the international arena has demonstrated that some
countries have developed initiatives that partially address social support in the
workplace. In the United Kingdom, the Department of Health and devolved
administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland have funded the Social Care
Institute for Excellence (SCIE), to deal with what they refer to as„social
care‟(SCIE 2009). The Institute‟s brief is to“… identify and spread knowledge
about good practice to the large and diverse social care workforce and support
the delivery of transformed, personalised social care services” (SCIE 2009) and
this program extends to offering support and training for managers in the
broader workforce. The Institute has a„people management website‟(SCIE 2009)
which includes links to a comprehensive database of resources to inform
managers of good practice. Although, as elsewhere, employee assistance
programme providers are available and used in Australia, they fail to go beyond
providing external counselling support to individual workers away from the
workplace and do not extend to providing SOS. This finding clearly aligns with
the OECD 2005 report.
Based on the evidence more needs to be done to address the impact of personal
and social issues in the workplace. The managers in this study generally agreed
that this was a neglected area of the managers‟role and an area where they felt
vulnerable. This raises the question: what skills do managers require to meet
these competing needs and expectations? In line with the evidence, the
approaches currently being taken are grounded in the past. Even if the strategies
being applied, such as child care and family friendly work practices do apply to a
significant number of employees, another question is how well current strategies
will apply into the future. The respondents in this study agreed that
demographic changes to the workforce mean that benefits desired by employees
are changing over time and a better understanding of the social needs and the
benefits desired by individual employees will improve talent attraction and
retention. This goes beyond the concept of POS proposed by Eisenberger, et al.
(1986). Organisations need to think beyond their boundaries and recognise the
value of understanding the needs of the society and communities they operate
within. Meeting this challenge will help them present as an employer of choice.

CONCLUSION
The study has some boundary conditions. Nonetheless, it also raises the very
pertinent issue that a reevaluation of the role of organisations in providing social
support to employees is long overdue. Human resources practitioners and
theorists need to be ahead of the game and start thinking more seriously about
how they will deal with the challenges posed by workforce diversity and work
and family balance, as well as what this means for managers. Managers believe
they will need to confront an increasing range of challenges in the coming
decade. Firstly, a number of the respondents indicated they were ill equipped to
deal with the changing expectations of employees and the blurring of boundaries
between work and non work stresses. Secondly, the managers also believed that
in many instances there is an inadequate balance between work and family
needs and more needs to be done to redress the impact that this is having on
communities and society as a whole. These findings have implications for
attraction and retention of employees as resolving this conflict can help to make
an organisation an employer of choice as skill shortages reemerge in the coming
decade. Arguably, contemporary managers have significant workplace pressures
placed on them and extensive complexities with which to deal. This study has
important implications. Academically, it offers new directions for future
research that will help fill some of the gaps in the diversity and talent
management literature. It also serves as a wake up call for human resource
managers and organisation‟s to reconsider the aims of management training, the
role of managers and the practical strategies they can implement to facilitate
retention of talent. Implementing practices that smooth the way for employees
to be more effective at work can only be good for employers, employees and the
community.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The valuable comments from the Editors of RPHRM and constructive feedback
from the anonymous reviewers on earlier drafts of this paper are gratefully
acknowledged.

AUTHORS
Brenda Scott-Ladd is an Associate Professor at the School of Management,
Curtin University. She has published in the areas of change management,
emotional intelligence, participation in decision making, gender issues and
organisational learning.
Email: b.scott-ladd@curtin.edu.au
Antonio Travaglione holds the position of Professor and Head of the School
of Management at Curtin University. He is recognised internationally as an
expert in the area of leadership research. His current research on values driven
leadership is funded by the Australian Research Council.
Email: t.travaglione@cbs.curtin.edu.au
Chris Perryer is an Assistant Professor at the University of Western Australia.
He has published in the areas of leadership, perceived organisational support,
organisational commitment, ethics, and generational cohorts.
Email: chris.perryer@uwa.edu.au
David Pick is an Associate Professor in the School of Management, Curtin
University. His research interests include teaching and learning, and examining
 the effects of neoliberalism and globalisation on policy and practice in the public
and private sectors.
Email: D.Pick@curtin.edu.au

REFERENCES
Adler, P. S., & Kwon, S. W. (2002). Social capital: Prospects for a new concept.
Academy of Management Review, 27(1), 17-40.
Andriessen, D., & Gubbins, C. (2009). Metaphor analysis as an approach for
exploring theoretical concepts: The case of social capital. Organization Studies,
30(8), 845-863.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2009b). Australia continues to experience
high population growth. Available
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/3101.0Media
Release1Mar
2009?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3101.0&issue=Mar
2009&num=&view=. [2009, November 11th].
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2009a). Labour force, Australia. Available
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/6202.0Feb
2009?OpenDocument. [2009, October 26th].
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2007b). National survey of mental health
and wellbeing: Summary of results. Available
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mediareleasesbyCatalogue/DA6169F
7642069A8CA2574EA001A160C? [2009, October 26th].
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2007a). Survey of employment
arrangements, retirement and superannuation (SEARS). Available
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/0B04C672AB686B37CA25
7566000CA8A6?opendocument. [2009, October 26th].
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI). (2005b). Modern
workplace: Safer workplace - An industry blueprint for improving OHS in
Australia. Available
http://www.acci.asn.au/text_files/issues_papers/OH_S/May 05 - OHS
Blueprint.pdf. [2009, November 16th].
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI). (2005a). Occupational
health and safety system in dire need of reform: Launch of OHS blueprint
modern workplace: Safer workplace. 2005-2015. Available
http://www.acci.asn.au/text_files/speeches_transcripts/2005/April/OHS_200
5-04_ PH Speech Final.pdf. [2009, November 17th].
Australian Government, The Treasury. (2010). The 2010 Intergenerational Report.
Available http://www.treasury.gov.au/igr/igr2010/default.asp. [2010, February
17th].
Australian Psychological Society. (2009). Australians report increased levels of
anxiety. Available http://www.psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/NPW-MR-
Anxiety-2009.pdf [2009, November 12th].
Bardoel, E. A., De Cieri, H., & Santos, C. (2008). A review of work life research in
Australia and New Zealand. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 46(3),
316-333.
Bateman, T. S., & Organ, D. W. (1983). Job satisfaction and the good soldier: The
relationship between affect and employee „citizenship‟. Academy of
Management Journal, 26(4), 587-595.
Blau, P. M. (1964), Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley.
Beck, U., & Beck-Gernstein, E. (2009). Global generations and the trap of
methodological nationalism for a cosmopolitan turn in the sociology of youth
and generation. European Sociological Review, 25(1), 25-36.
Burgess, J., Strachan, G., & French, E. L. (2010). The future of managing diversity
in Australia. In G. Strachan, E. L. French, & J. Burgess (Eds.), Managing
diversity in Australia: Theory and practice (269-274). Sydney, Australia:
McGraw-Hill.
Carroll, A. B., & Buchholtz, A. K. (2008). Business & society: Ethics and
stakeholder Management (7th ed.). Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage
Learning.
Cascio, W. F. (2006). Managing human resources: Productivity, quality of work
life, profits (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Cavana, R. Y., Delahaye, B. L., & Sekaran, U. (2001). Applied business research:
Qualitative and quantitative methods. Queensland: John Wiley & Sons
Australia Ltd.
Chiu, C. K., Lin, C. P., Tsai, Y. H., & Hsiao, C. Y. (2005). Modeling turnover
intentions and their antecedents using the locus of control as a moderator: A
case of customer service employees. Human Resource Development Quarterly,
16(4), 481-499.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). The discipline and practice of qualitative
research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln, (Eds.), The Sage handbook of
qualitative research (1-32). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Donaldson, T., & Preston, L. E. (1995). The stakeholder theory of the corporation:
Concepts, evidence, and implications. The Academy of Management Review,
20(1), 65-92.
Drug Information Clearing House (DICH). (2009). Alcohol and the workplace: the
rights and responsibilities of employers. Available
http://www.druginfo.adf.org.au/downloads/fact_sheets/FS_8.2_rightsresponsi
bilities.pdf. [2009, November 17th].
Duttagupta, R. (2005). Identifying and managing your assets: Talent
management. London: Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
Eder, P. (2008). Perceived organisational support: Reducing the negative influence
of coworker withdrawal behavior. Journal of Management, 34(1), 55-68.
Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R., Hutchison, S., & Sowa, D. (1986). Perceived
organisational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3), 500-507.
Eisenberger, R., Ameli, S., Rexwinkel, B., Lynch, P. D., & Rhoades, L. (2001).
Reciprocation of perceived organisational support. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 86(1), 42-51.
Fair Work Ombudsman. (2010). The Fair work System. Available
http://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/thefairwork-system/pages/default.aspx
[2010, October 17th].
Ferres, N., Travaglione, A., & Firns, I. (2003). Attitudinal differences between
Generation X and older employees. International Journal of Organisational
Behavior, 6(3), 320-333.
Flamholtz, E. G, (1999). Human resource accounting. Netherlands: Kluwer
Academic Publishers.
George, E., & Chattopadhyay, P. (2002). Do differences matter? Understanding
demography related effects in organisations. Australian Journal of
Management, 27(1), 47-55.
Granovetter, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology,
78(6), 1360-1380.
Green, R. (2009). Management matters in Australia: Just how productive are we?
The findings from the Australian Management Practices and Productivity Global
Benchmarking Project. Available
http://www.enterpriseconnect.gov.au/media/Documents/DIISR_Final_Report
_091109_FINAL.pdf. [2010, July 25th].
Hall, L., & Atkinson, C. (2006). Improving working lives: Flexible working and the
role of employee control. Employee Relations, 28(4), 374-386.
Hesse-Biber, S. N., & Leavy, P. (2006). The practice of qualitative research.
California: Sage Publications.
Hicks, J., Basu, P. K., & Sappey, R. E. (2010). Managing the aging workforce:
Getting on. In G. Strachan, E. French, & J. Burgess (Eds.), Managing diversity
in Australia: Theory and practice (255-268). Sydney, Australia: McGraw Hill.
Howard, A. (2010). A new global ethic. The Journal of Management Development,
29(5), 506-517.
Iles, P., Preece, D., & Chuai, X. (2010). Talent management as a management
fashion in HRD: Towards a research agenda. Human Resource Development
International, 13(2), 125-145.
Jackson, E., & Clements, R. (2006). Workplace stress: What‟s causing it and what
can be done? The Australian Psychological Society. Available
http://www.psychology.org.au/publications/inpsych/stress_work/. [2009,
November 11th].
Jurkiewicz, C. L. (2000). Generation X and the public employee. Public Personnel
Management, 29(1), 55-74.
Kupperschmidt, B. R. (2000). Multigeneration employees: Strategies for effective
management. Health Care Manager, 19(1), 65-76.
Lansbury, R., & Baird, M. (2004). Broadening the horizons of HRM: Lessons for
Australia from the US experience. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources,
42(2), 147-55.
Lee, Y. C., Chu, P. Y., & Tseng, H. L. (2009). Exploring the relationships between
information technology adoption and business process reengineering. Journal of
Management and Organization, 15(2), 170-185.
Lin, N., Ensel, W., & Vaughan, J. (1981). Social resources and strengths of ties:
Structural factors in occupational status attainment. American Sociological
Review, 46, 393-405.
Loomis, J. E. (2000). Generation X. Rough Notes, 143(9), 52-54.
Maertz, C. P. J. Jr., Griffeth, R. W., Campbell, N. S., & Allen, D. G. (2007). The
effects of perceived organisational support and perceived supervisor support on
employee turnover. Journal of Organisational Behavior, 28(8), 1059-1075.
Medibank Private (2008). The cost of workplace stress in Australia. Available
http://www.medibank.com.au/Client/Documents/Pdfs/The-Cost-of-
Workplace-Stress.pdf. [2010, September 8th].
Millitzer, T. (2007). Everyone‟s favourite subject … Capitalised labour. Available
http://www.thewhir.com/blog/Tom_Millitzer/bEveryones-Favorite-
SubjectCapitalized-Laborb. [2009, November 17th].
Noblet, A. J., & Rodwell, J. J. (2009). Integrating job stress and social exchange
theories to predict employee strain in reformed public sector contexts. Journal
of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(3), 555-578.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (2009).
Migration, employment and integration towards responsive, effective and fair
migration policies. Available
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/38/9/43124357.pdf. [2009, October 26th].
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (2007). Babies
and bosses - reconciling work and family life: A synthesis of findings for OECD
Countries. Available
http://www.oecd.org/document/45/0,3343,en_2649_34819_39651501_1_1_1
_1,00.html. [2010, January 5th].
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (2005). Ageing
and employment policies. Synthesis report. Paris: OECD. Available
http://www.oecd.org/home/0,3305,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html.
[2010, January 5th].
Pace, A. (2010). Talent management gaining inches? Training and Development,
64(8), 18.
Perryer, C., & Jordan, C. (2005). The influence of leader behaviours on
organisational commitment: A study in the Australian public sector.
International Journal of Public Administration, 28(5&6), 379-396.
Pocock, B. (2005). Work life „balance‟ in Australia: Limited progress, dim
prospects. Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 43(2), 198-209.
Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American
community. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Rhoades, L., & Eisenberger, R. (2002). Perceived organisational support: A review
of the literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 698-714.
Riggle, R. J., Edmondson, D. R., & Hansen, J. D. (2009). A meta analysis of the
relationship between perceived organisational support and job outcomes: 20
years of research. Journal of Business Research, 62(10), 1027-1030.
Sarkar, A. N., & Singh, J. (2006). E-enabled BPR applications in industries
banking and cooperative sector. Journal of Management Research, 6(1), 18-34.
Settoon, R. P., Bennett, N., & Liden, R. C. (1996). Social exchange in organisations:
Perceived organisational support, leader member exchange, and employee
reciprocity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81(3), 219-227.
Sheehan, C. S., Holland, P., & DeCieri, H. (2006). Current developments in HRM
in Australian organisations. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 44(2),
132-152.
Sobh, R., & Perry, C. (2006). Research design and data analysis in realism
research. European Journal of Marketing, 11(12), 1194-1209.
Social Care Institute of Excellence. (SCIE). (2009). Our Mission. Available
http://www.scie.org.uk/about/index.asp. Accessed on 25 October 2009.
Subramony, M. (2009). A meta analytic investigation of the relationship between
HRM bundles and firm performance. Human Resource Management, 48(5),
745-768.
Tanner, L. (2010). Better regulation: Driving productivity and growth. Response to
OECD Review of regulatory reform in Australia. Address to Australian Business
Foundation, 15 February. Sydney. Available
http://www.financeminister.gov.au/speeches/2010/sp_20100215.html. [2010,
February 17th].
Ticehurst, G. W., & Veal, A. J. (2000). Business research methods: A managerial
approach. New South Wales, Australia: Pearson Education Pty Ltd.
Twenge, J. M. (2010). A review of the empirical evidence on generational
differences in work attitudes. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), 201-
210.
Van Knippenberg, D. (2006). Organisational identification versus organisational
commitment: Self-definition, social exchange, and job attitudes. Journal of
Organisational Behavior, 27(5), 571-584.
Verworn, B., Schwarz, D., & Herstatt, C. (2009). Changing workforce
demographics: Strategies derived from the resource based view of HRM.
International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management,
9(2/3), 149-161.
World Health Organisation (WHO). (2010). Occupational health: Stress at work.
Available http://www.euro.who.int/occhealth/stress/20050405_1. [2010,
January 5th].