Workplace Leadership. A Review of Prior Research - 2014

Society is also changing rapidly. The working population is ageing, and the values and expectations of consumers, employees, and 

communities are shifting. The general public places greater emphasis on holding business to account for the consequences that their production and market choices have for the community and the environment. This, in turn, requires business to demonstrate transparency in their dealings—though accredited standards, benchmarking, and the sustainability and ethics of their business practices.

 

There are of course many ways for productivity and innovation to be improved. One important means is through the management and

leadership of our workplaces. Good leadership and skilled management have been shown to have significant positive effects on 

productivity, profitability, and the ability of organisations to adapt and change to meet emerging challenges.

 

These challenges require a different set of management skills and capabilities: they will require management to be flexible, adaptive, and transparent. They will require industry leaders to see innovation as a core priority at the board level. Innovation is also increasingly dependent on the creativity of individuals—managers, employees, stakeholder representatives—and their ability to work collaboratively. 

 

This implies that workplace leadership will not reside in senior management alone, but will come from interactions among managers, work teams, and employees, as well as employee representatives, all of whom bring new ideas and new ways of doing things to the task of improving workplace outcomes. This will involve new management approaches based on investments in skills, opportunities for employee voice and engagement in the workplace, and quality jobs that provide incentives for employees to contribute. 

 

Understanding these challenges and identifying ways of responding to them is the primary aspiration of the Centre for Workplace

Leadership. Established in June 2013, the Centre brings together efforts of industry, government, and academia in locating new ways of improving the competitiveness, innovation, and productivity of Australian workplaces. 

 

This review of research on the role of leadership in contributing to better workplace outcomes has been the first research task of the 

Centre. It is intended to inform future activities by identifying what is already known and the gaps in research. It also identifies opportunities for new and innovative leadership development programs that can assist Australian workplaces to develop management and leadership capabilities required to meet current and future challenges.