The impact of High Performance Work Practices in Victorian workplaces. High Performance Work Practices (HPWPR) deliver competitive advantage by creating a motivated, committed and empowered workforce. Elements of HPWPR include human resource management practices and work systems that can be grouped into performance management, training, employee involvement, contingent pay and employee voice categories. HPWPR have been positively linked to organisational competitiveness. Research has found that they decrease employee turnover, and increase productivity and corporate financial performance. However, HPWPR are most effective when they are implemented together as ‘internally coherent’ bundles that deliver synergistic effects. In addition, other factors including organisational culture and type of industry influence the viability of HPWPR. Have Victorian workplaces adopted High Performance Work Practices? Less than one-third of workplaces have implemented job rotation, profit sharing, share ownership schemes, or offer a high number of training hours. More than two-thirds of workplaces have implemented disciplinary procedures, formal training programs, regular training programs, and regular staff-management meetings, and have senior management interacting with staff while they work. Practices that are the easiest to implement are the most likely to be adopted. For example, 96 per cent of workplaces had senior management approaching staff at their work, but only 36 per cent of workplaces had introduced staff surveys. Are there industry differences in the adoption of High Performance Work Practices? While there were some common trends across industries, there were substantial differences in their adoption of HPWPR. Use of a high average number of training hours, job rotation, and profit sharing or share ownership schemes was low across most industries. Use of disciplinary procedures, formal and regular training programs, and informal ‘employee voice’ practices was high across most industries. The construction industry had the lowest adoption levels of all HPWPR with the exception of senior management interacting with employees on the job. Is workplace size associated with the adoption of High Performance Work Practices? Large workplaces with over 100 employees were more likely to have HPWPR. Towards High Performance Workplaces The State of Working Victoria Project, Information Paper No. 7 Executive SummaryAre High Performance Work Practices associated with workplace competitiveness? Workplaces with the following practices were significantly more likely to experience an increase in profitability: formal and regular training programs, higher levels of employee training (training hours per employee), use of project teams, joint consultative and staff committees, regular and ad hoc staff-management meetings or committees, use of formal employee communication tools such as newsletters, staff bulletins or email updates, and/or staff surveys. Organisations with grievance handling procedures are significantly less likely to have had a profit increase. Capital investment plans were significantly more likely in workplaces that utilised the following practices: disciplinary procedures, performance assessment, formal and regular training programs, skill-based training for new employees, job rotation, use of work teams, performance-related pay, bonus payments, profit-sharing or share ownership schemes, occupational health and safety committees, joint consultative and staff committees, ad hoc management-employee committees, newsletters or staff bulletins and/or email updates. Those workplaces that reported an intention to increase employment were more likely to use the following workplace practices: formal disciplinary procedures, performance assessment, formal and regular training programs, performance-related pay, and email updates and/or staff surveys. Workplaces with practices such as disciplinary procedures, performance-related pay, joint consultative and staff committees, and/or email updates, formal and regular training programs and/or Quality Circles were significantly more likely to have downsized in the last 12 months. Are high performance workplaces associated with industry and organisation size? High performance workplaces were most likely present in the Human Services, Manufacturing and Infrastructure industries and least likely in Construction. Large workplaces were more likely to be high performance workplaces than small workplaces. Are high performance workplaces associated with workplace competitiveness? The State of Working Victoria Project identified those workplaces that bundled individual work practices as a high performance work system and compared these with workplaces that used more ‘traditional’ work practices. These ‘high performance workplaces’ were found to be different from traditional workplaces in a number of ways: High performance workplaces are more likely than traditional workplaces to have had a profit increase and significantly less likely to have experienced a decrease in profits in the last 12 months. Compared with traditional workplaces, high performance workplaces were found to be more likely to have the intention to make a significant capital investment during the 12-month period following the survey. High performance workplaces were more likely than traditional workplaces to have had plans for hiring in the 12-month period following the survey. High performance workplaces were less likely to have downsized in the last 12 months. They also experienced significantly lower levels of employee turnover when compared with traditional workplaces. The State of Working Victoria Project, Information Paper No. 7, 2005 Authorised by the Victorian Government, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne 3000