Attracting and retaining talent: exploring human resources development trends in Australia

Drawing from the resource based view of the firm (RBV) the argument developed in the paper is that in an environment characterized by increasing levels of skilled labour shortages organisations need to design employment systems that prioritize human resource development to enable competitive advantage. The literature review examines the issues associated with the attraction, retention and development of human resources, and the major contextual issues and debates underpinning skill and labour shortages. A research question is then framed to capture the HR priorities of Australian organisations. We examine responses from 1372 Australian human resources (HR) professionals who participated in an online survey of a national HR professional association and results are interpreted with respect to HR efforts to attract, develop and retain talent.

Our findings suggest that employers are addressing issues related to attraction - recruitment and selection. However, in critical HR development areas associated with retention such as training, job design, skill development, careers management and team building, results indicate a lower level of resource allocation. We conclude that this lack of resource allocation is of concern for Australian organisations that are struggling to compete both domestically and internationally for skilled workers.     

An Examination of Risky Drinking Behaviors and Motivations for Alcohol Use in a College Sample

Abstract

Objective: The current study examined (1) drinking motives as a mediator of risky drinking behaviors (ie, pregaming and drinking games) and alcohol-related problems and (2) whether gender moderates the association between risky drinking behaviors and negative consequences. Participants: Participants (N = 368; 68% female) were drinkers aged 18 to 25. Data were collected from September to November 2010 and January to May 2011. Methods: Participants completed measures regarding typical pregaming and drinking game alcohol consumption, drinking motives, and alcohol-related consequences. Results: Social, coping, and enhancement motives partially explained relationships, with enhancement motives explaining the most variance for pregaming (31%) and drinking games (44%). Relationships between risky drinking and consequences were not moderated by gender. Conclusions: Drinking to enhance positive affect may be the most salient motivation for drinking related to pregaming and drinking games for college drinkers. Findings have implications for interventions tailored to students engaging in various heavy drinking practices.     

The Risk of MTBE Relative to Other VOCs in Public Drinking Water in California

Ongoing publicity about methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) suggests that this chemical is of greater concern than other contaminants commonly found in drinking water. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the available MTBE data in context with other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are detected in public drinking water sources in California. We find that of the 28 VOCs with a primary maximum contaminant level (MCL) in California, 21 were found in 50 or more drinking water sources from 1985 to 2002. Over the last 10 years, the most frequently detected VOCs were chloroform, tetrachloroethylene (PCE), and trichloroethylene (TCE), which were found in about 9-15% of all sampled drinking water sources. These same chemicals were found to have the highest mean detected concentrations over the last 5 years, ranging from 13 to 15 microg/L. Many VOCs were also found to routinely exceed state and federal drinking water standards, including benzene and carbon tetrachloride. By comparison, MTBE was found in approximately 1% of sampled drinking water sources for most years, and of those drinking water sources found to contain MTBE from 1998 to 2002, over 90% had detected concentrations below California's primary MCL of 13 microg/L. Relative to the other VOCs evaluated, MTBE has the lowest estimated California cancer potency value, and was found to pose one of the least cancer risks from household exposures to contaminated drinking water. These findings suggest that MTBE poses an insignificant threat to public drinking water supplies and public health in California, particularly when compared to other common drinking water contaminants.     

The Elusive Market: Privatization, Politics and State–Enterprise Reform in China

Although China's largest state–owned enterprises (SOEs) are destined to remain state–owned for the immediate future, recent reforms have affected these SOEs' property rights and ownership structures. Moreover, the government's insistence that privatization is not implied by present reform programmes is increasingly contradicted by actual developments and managers' attitudes at the enterprise level. This article explores some of the political and organizational tensions created by this present phase of SOE reform.     

Labour Market Flexibility,Human Resource Management and Corporate Performance

Labour market flexibility is often portrayed as a key to the competitive success of the UK and US economies. We surveyed several hundred firms in the UK, and using the resulting data (on over 200 manufacturing firms) this paper investigates the relationships between firms’ use of flexible work practices, human resource systems and industrial relations on the one hand, and corporate performance on the other hand. The results suggest that ‘low‐road’ practices – short‐term contracts, a lack of employer commitment to job security, low levels of training and low levels of human resource sophistication – are negatively correlated with corporate performance. In contrast, it is found that ‘high‐road’ work practices –‘high commitment’ organizations or ‘transformed’ workplaces – are positively correlated with good corporate performance. It is also found that human resource management practices are more likely to contribute to competitive success where they are introduced as a comprehensive package, or ‘bundle’ of practices. Significant interaction effects between human resource systems, trade unions and flexible work practices add further support to the bundling hypothesis.