The application of Q-sort methodology to identify and rank strategies to promote work-life balance, health and wellbeing in construction projects

Employees of the Australian contruction industry experience high levels of work-life conflict which negatively impacts on their health and wellbeing. Research is underway to identify, implement and evaluate strategies designed to promote work-life balance, health and wellbeing in the Australian construction industry. An innovative Q-sort method was used in participative workshops with construction industry employees. This method enabled: (i) the identification of strategies that workers occupying different demographic and occupational groups would find beneficial; and (ii) the ranking of those strategies that workers believed would have the most impact upon their work-life balance, health and wellbeing. The result is a list of strategies recommended for implementation. A description of the Q-sort method and the workshop results are presented. The potential for Q-sort techniques to be used by organizations to identify opportunites to improve the health and wellbeing of their workforce and prioritise the implementation of work-life strategies is discuseed.