Employee Gender Characteristics Among Retail Sectors

Employee gender characteristics vary among different retail sectors. For example, male dominated retail sectors such as hardware employ more male staff, while female dominated retail sectors such as cosmetics employ more female staff. The purpose of this paper is to explain such gender differences in retail employment. The data used for this study is a subset of the ‘Australia at Work’ survey, which is a longitudinal survey tracking the experiences of the Australian labour force via telephone interviews. In answering the research questions, a subset of telephone interview data from the ‘Australia at Work’ survey consisting of 702 respondents employed in the retail industry will be analysed. The results indicate that retail employment in Australia is dominated by females, and that certain retail sectors were found to have different employee gender characteristics. Managerial positions in retail were found to have only a slightly larger proportion of males, implying that there is little gender discrimination in retail managerial positions in Australia as compared to findings from the United Kingdom and the United States. Customers are likely to have preferences as to who they are being served by when shopping for specific products, affecting their purchase decisions and consequently the business performance of stores. Hence, managers can use such information in employment decision making to create a competitive advantage and increase profitability

A demographic analysis of breadwinner and domestic childcare roles in Australia's employment structure

A relatively high level of part-time employment exists in Australia, with part-time workers having little incentive to move into full-time work due to a lack of work and family provisions in industrial agreements. This engenders the need to understand how the demographic structure of employment is shaped by such policy. This study seeks to investigate the breadwinner and childcare roles within Australia's employment structure by analysing employment status and relevant demographic variables using data from the 'Australia at Work' survey. We found that among households with dependent children, men dominated breadwinner roles, possibly to coutervail the partial employment of their female partners who were found to trade-off employment for child-caring roles within the household. This study shows how industrial agreements have influenced work and family roles in the employment structure, and serves as a basis for measuring the impact of recent policy reforms such as more flexible working arrangements for parents

How can gender signal employee qualities in retailing?

The occupational structure in retail employment is known to be gendered, such that women tend to occupy ‘softer’ social roles, while men tend to occupy ‘harder’ physical and technical roles. This article presents an integrative model that illustrates the balance of KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other personality characteristics) and retail sectors between male and female retail employees, and explains how gender can signal employee qualities in the retail sector. The empirical analysis uses data from a survey of 702 respondents employed across 40 ANZSIC (Australian New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification) retail categories. Based on signalling theory, the findings suggest that an employee's gender can be an unintentional signal for unobservable qualities in retail employment, which has implications for customer service, human resource management, and gender discrimination

Gender wage gaps in Australian workplaces: are policy responses working?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the implications of the gender wage gap in Australia, before considering policy responses and their effectiveness at both the government and workplace levels. Design/methodology/approach – The method concerns an extensive literature review and an examination of secondary data and reports relating to workplace gender equality and data. Findings – While the gender wage gap in most OECD countries has decreased over time, in Australia the gap has increased, with the largest contributory factor identified as gender discrimination. Consequently it is proposed that current policy responses supporting women in the workplace appear to be ineffective in closing gender wage gaps. Research limitations/implications – Further research is recommended to identify the impact of gender equality policies on hiring decisions and whether such decisions include an unwillingness to hire or promote women. As findings were based on secondary data, it is recommended that future research include workplace surveys and case studies. Practical implications – It is suggested that articles such as this one can assist in guiding public policy and workplace decisions on gender wage equality issues, in addition to providing human resource leaders with the information to make better decisions relating to gender equality. Originality/value – This paper suggests that current policy responses may not only be ineffective in closing the gender wage gap, but may even exacerbate it as employers may avoid hiring women or continue to pay them less than men, due to costs incurred when attempting to meet policy directives

The times they are a-changing: who will stay and who will go in a downsizing organization?

The recent growth in the trust literature indicates that both researchers and practitioners are continuing to recognise its importance as a factor for determining organisational success and the well‐being of employees. Trust is, however, a complex, multidimensional construct that has generated much debate concerning how trusting relationships might be created. The aim of this paper is to add to current debates by reporting on a study concerning trust within manager‐subordinate relationships within a large Australian organisation. The annual staff survey for this organisation indicated that levels of trust in managers were very low, leading the authors to investigate the predictors and outcomes of this situation. Focus group and survey questionnaire results led to the finding that perceived organisational support, procedural justice and transformational leadership were significant predictors of trust in managers and that turnover intent and commitment were significant outcomes. The implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners are discussed

Towards an industry-tailored management approach: A study of retail employee attitudes

The ubiquity of retail employment makes it one of the most important sectors in the economy but economic downturn, foreign competition, and looming technological developments threaten to diminish the employment opportunities it offers. In consideration of the workforce- related adjustments that retail businesses are likely to experience from changes in the sector, this study examines attitudinal differences between retail employees and the general workforce. The theoretical perspective of this study is that employees from different industries have unique attitudes toward the work environment, given industry-specific environmental and situational influences. The empirical analysis uses data obtained from a survey of over 6000 Australian workers to test attitudinal work environment variables between retail employees and non-retail employees. The findings reveal that retail employee attitudes are dissimilar from that of the general workforce, which implies that employee attitudinal profiles differ between industries, and general management programmes and practices should therefore be tailored accordingly

When does global mindset affect headquarters-subsidiary relationship?

Drawing on the dynamic managerial capabilities perspective, we examine the effects of the global mindset of frontline managers on headquarters-subsidiary relationships and the moderating effects of their cognitive flexibility, overseas study experience, and exchanges with headquarters managers on the relationship. The analysis of dyadic data collected from managers at headquarters and subsidiaries of 312 Chinese multinational enterprises reveals that the frontline managers’ global mindset positively affects headquarters-subsidiary relationships. This effect is stronger when frontline managers exhibit higher cognitive personality flexibility and more overseas study experience but weaker when exchanges with headquarters managers become more frequent