Kiwi managers work harder than the Irish

Kiwi managers work harder than the Irish

Kiwi managers don’t work as hard as their Australian counterparts, but much harder than the economically booming Irish, according to a new international survey by recruitment company Robert Half.

In its 2007 Workplace Survey, Robert Half asked 5098 managers across 17 countries about their working hours, and found 17% of New Zealand managers worked three weekends or more a month.

Across the Tasman, 21% of managers said they worked three weekends or more a month, while the Celtic Tiger’s managers were more laid-back, with only 5% giving up their weekends that often.

Indeed, 58% of Ireland’s managers said they never worked at the weekend, compared with 51% of Kiwis and just 37% of Australians.

New Zealanders and Australians also weren’t as good at switching off from phone calls and email during the weekend. Only 20% of Australians and 26% of New Zealanders always switched off their work phones and emails during the weekend - the Irish maintained a much firmer boundary between work and home, with 55% of managers always doing so.

The Irish also worked fewer hours during the week, with only 3% saying they worked more than 55 hours a week, compared with 13% of Kiwi managers working these hours and 11% of Australians doing so.

Even holidays weren’t sacrosanct for Australasian managers: 41% of Australian managers and 39% of Kiwi managers always or sometimes take their PDAs or laptops on holidays with them.

However, when the Irish go on holiday, they don’t want to know about work - 83% of them never take their PDA or laptop, even if their team has a heavy workload or there are major changes at work.

Of the three countries, New Zealand managers reported the largest increase in working hours over the past five years, with 46% of managers saying they were working at least five hours more a week, compared with 45% of Australians and just 22% of Irish managers.

The main reason for working longer hours was the same in all three countries - the managers had taken on more responsibility and felt more pressure. The second most common reason across all three was that company growth led to a higher workload.

But Kiwi managers were more motivated by money than either their Australian or Irish counterparts, with 12% saying they were working longer hours to earn more money. Only 6% of Australians cited this as a reason for working longer, and absolutely none of the Irish found money a compelling enough reason to work longer hours.

In Auckland, Robert Half Finance & Accounting division director Megan Alexander said the attitude of New Zealand managers reflected the changed business environment.

“A few years back our results would have been much more aligned to those of Ireland,” she said. “But New Zealand’s economy has been growing at the same time as it has been facing an increasing skills shortage.

“As a result, people are working harder just to get the work done. The skills shortage means people are also being promoted earlier than they were in the past, and so may have to put in longer hours to learn their new roles.”

And while technology often created efficiencies, it could also make it harder to switch off, said Ms Alexander.

“It’s now much easier to keep in touch with and do work on weekends and during holidays. People get sucked into ‘I’ll just check my email’, and end up doing all sorts of things.”

Ms Alexander said Kiwi managers could learn from the Irish about the importance of taking time off to be with family, do things they enjoyed and just relax.

“Working extra hours and taking work home sometimes goes with the territory of being a manager,” she said. “But we all need to ensure that even in times of strong economic growth we maintain a healthy balance between work and the rest of our lives.”

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