Thesis (MTech (Human Resource Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / In order for any organisation to achieve its goals, a committed workforce is essential. It has, however, become a great challenge for organisations to attract and retain employees as the power of success has shifted from organisations to employees. The organisation that is committed to attraction and retention of staff is likely to gain a competitive advantage, as staff members are satisfied and give optimum production levels. The purpose of the study was to determine and investigate factors that affect attraction and retention of staff at NIP in order to suggest possible interventions that could be employed to attract and retain staff in future. In order to obtain desired results, the researcher used a mixed-method approach. Questionnaires were distributed to all non-management NIP employees and semi-structured interviews were conducted with four (4) purposively selected NIP managers. Statistical analysis was used to analyse data, which was obtained by means of questionnaires, and content analysis was used for data that was obtained by means of semi-structured interviews. The study revealed that NIP staff members are dissatisfied with the company policies and practices, as the company does not always pay effective attention to them. Some of them indicated that they only worked as a means of survival; because of passion for their jobs; to save lives; and owing to the scarcity of jobs, since the industry is small. It is, therefore, necessary to pay attention to factors that this study has produced as obstacles in the way of NIP to employ an effective recruitment and retention strategy for its employees.

O objetivo desta tese é empreender uma investigação sobre padrões de recrutamento legislativo no Brasil. O ponto de partida consistiu de um exame dos dados biográficos dos deputados federais, eleitos ao longo de 14 legislaturas, entre 1946 e 1998. Procurou-se analisar a experiência política adquirida durante a carreira pública prévia e os vínculos de lealdade partidários firmados pelos parlamentares. A proposição que orienta a análise é de que a estrutura de oportunidades para o ingresso e mobilidade na carreira política, ao incrementar os níveis de circulação parlamentar e recrutamento lateral, tem contribuído para inibir a produção de bancadas coesas no Legislativo federal. / The purpose of this thesis is to accomplish a research concerning the legislative patterns of recruitment in Brazil. Departing from an inquiry of biographical data of federal representatives who were elected during 14 legislatures ( 1946/1998), we have attempted to analyse the political experience that the brazilian federal representatives acquire during their public careers as well as their loyalty party links. The premise that guides the analysis is that the estructure of opportunity of ascension in the political careers, provokes high levels of parliamentary turnover and of lateral pattern of recruitment. These characteristcs have inhibited cohesive benches in the Brazilian Congress.

O objetivo desta tese é empreender uma investigação sobre padrões de recrutamento legislativo no Brasil. O ponto de partida consistiu de um exame dos dados biográficos dos deputados federais, eleitos ao longo de 14 legislaturas, entre 1946 e 1998. Procurou-se analisar a experiência política adquirida durante a carreira pública prévia e os vínculos de lealdade partidários firmados pelos parlamentares. A proposição que orienta a análise é de que a estrutura de oportunidades para o ingresso e mobilidade na carreira política, ao incrementar os níveis de circulação parlamentar e recrutamento lateral, tem contribuído para inibir a produção de bancadas coesas no Legislativo federal. / The purpose of this thesis is to accomplish a research concerning the legislative patterns of recruitment in Brazil. Departing from an inquiry of biographical data of federal representatives who were elected during 14 legislatures ( 1946/1998), we have attempted to analyse the political experience that the brazilian federal representatives acquire during their public careers as well as their loyalty party links. The premise that guides the analysis is that the estructure of opportunity of ascension in the political careers, provokes high levels of parliamentary turnover and of lateral pattern of recruitment. These characteristcs have inhibited cohesive benches in the Brazilian Congress.

The study examines the potential of conjoint analysis to provide and apply quantitative data to situations previously limited to non-quantitative analysis within the selection process. Chapter I presents a brief introduction to the sales force selection process. A discussion of the importance of effective selection to the organization as well as an explanation of the objectives, methodology, research questions, and limitations complete the chapter. Chapter II provides a detailed description of the contemporary sales force selection process. The chapter explains the objective and subjective activities and techniques utilized by management in selection decisions. Chapter III describes the steps involved in conjoint analysis and the specific conjoint measurement technique employed in the study. The questionnaire employed and the source of data are described in Chapter IV. An analysis of the results of the research completes the chapter. Chapter V presents the summary, conclusions, and recommendations of the study.

Decentralization of governance is one of the many reforms that has been undertaken by the Department of Education in the Republic of South Africa since the attainment of democracy in 1994. The concept of decentralisation originates from the belief that the state alone cannot control schools, but should share its power with other stakeholders, particularly those closer to the school, on a partnership basis (Marishane, 1999:78). The South African Schools Act (SASA) No 84 of 1996 mandates the establishment of democratic structures of school governance in all schools (RSA, 1996a, section 16). According to the South African Schools Act No 84 of 1996, School Governing Bodies have been mandated to be responsible for the recommendation of teachers for appointment through interviews. This study was conducted in the Libode District in the Eastern Cape. Libode is composed of rural villages which are characterised by poverty, a high rate of unemployment and illiteracy. Many schools in the Libode district of education are experiencing problems emanating from the recruitment of teachers carried out by the SGBs. Interviews conducted by the SGBs are more often than not nullified and the selection and interview processes have to be repeated. They (SGBs) fail to defend their recommendations with valid facts when challenged by union representatives or by candidates themselves. The major concern of this study is to investigate the stakeholders' perceptions of the involvement of school governing bodies in the appointment of teachers in Libode district. A qualitative approach was employed for this research study. Purposive sampling was used for sampling the schools from which interviewees were selected. There were 14 respondents in the sample. Three (3) school principals , three teachers, three (3) teacher candidates, one SADTU teacher, one NAPTOSA teacher, two (2) SGB parents from the parent component and two (2) circuit managers were interviewed. The case study research design was employed to explore the perceptions of the stakeholders regarding teacher appointments. This research employed three data collection techniques, namely semi-structured interviews, documents analysis and observations. The main findings of this study reveal that the involvement, or participation, of the SGBs (parent components) in the recruitment of teachers is the source of conflict and disputes. The SGBs lack capacity, capacity to draft criteria for shortlisting qualified teachers, and capacity to conduct interviews properly and fairly. Findings suggest that problems still exist around SGBs' knowledge of Policies and Acts that enshrine procedures pertaining to teacher recruitment. In conclusion, from the findings, it appears premature for the system to mandate this professional function of teacher recruitment to the office of the SGBs.

M.Phil. (Leadership in Performance and Change) / Technicians are frequently promoted to supervisory positions based on their technical abilities, with scant attention focused on developing supervisory competencies. This oversight often poses significant challenges. The effective transition from technician to supervisor is important in any organisation. Human Resource (HR) managers, Human Resource Development (HRD) managers, and line managers need to ensure that relevant training interventions are implemented to develop the necessary management competencies for this career advancement. The primary objective of this study was to identify and verify the competencies required for the positions of both a technician and a supervisor; whilst the secondary objective was to determine the differences in the competencies between the positions of technician and supervisor, so that Human Resource (HR) managers and Human Resource Development (HRD) managers are able to design and implement relevant training interventions to ensure the smooth transition of technicians to supervisory positions. The literature review highlights that the transition of technicians to supervisory positions often poses significant challenges for technical professionals because they may lack management or supervisory competencies. Effective transitioning is a necessary step. In this study, the mixed method approach was used to enable three-phase data collection, namely, the development of a theoretical framework, quantitative, and qualitative studies. The first phase was to generate a theoretical framework to gather information from energy utility industries on the competencies that are required for a technician and a supervisor. The second phase was the quantitative phase, where a survey was used to identify and verify the competencies required for a technician and a supervisor. The third phase was the qualitative phase, where the focus groups were instructed to validate the list of competencies, assign a degree of agreement, identify the differences between the lists of competencies for the technicians and supervisors, and recommend any further competencies that are essential to successfully transition an employee from the level of a technician to the level of a supervisor.

The purpose of this study was to develop a process model in order to meet outcomes of graduate training programmes, with specific relevance to Volkswagen of South Africa. To do this, VWSA’s Graduate Training Programme was assessed in terms of the approach currently used by VWSA to recruit, select and train graduate trainees. A literature study was conducted to reveal strategies for effectively training new recruits and the development of leadership competencies. Based on this study a model was developed to facilitate the graduate training programme process to achieve programme objectives. The study aimed at making a contribution to graduate training programmes by identifying key leadership competencies, as well as the training interventions which lead to the development of these competencies. It was found that the technical skills that the trainees acquire at their tertiary educational institutions are not sufficient in today’s workplace, thereby necessitating closer working relationships between these institutions and businesses so that needs can be shared, as well as more comprehensive training programmes being provided. The research methodology comprised the following steps: An analysis was made of VWSA’s current processes regarding recruitment, selection and training of their graduate trainees. iv An assessment of leadership competencies in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes that contribute to successful performance was undertaken. Training interventions as a process was studied. An analysis was made as to what extent the existing training interventions for VWSA’s graduate programme achieve the desired programme outcomes by means of a research questionnaire circulated to mentors/coaches and graduate trainees within the organisation. A model was developed to serve as a holistic framework for the recruitment, selection and training of graduate trainees for all motor and related industries undertaking graduate training programmes. The above was achieved through a practical study and a literature study, making use of questionnaires, as well as relevant published, unpublished and electronic texts and studies. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations were made based on data established through theoretical research and data obtained from the questionnaires.

Skills transfer to Municipal employees is lacking due to management delays in acknowledging and understanding its importance to the affected employees. These result in poor work performance and services delivery to the communities. In the research design the Job Performance in any organisation is expected to be releasing good results or outcomes. Employees expect to be recognised in their work they perform. The employers’ responsibility is to ensure that the employee’s interests are taken care of reasonably. Scarce skill is a very important aspect in the career of specialised skilled employees and expectations are very high in this kind of environment. Globally the scarce skill is one of the aspects that is encouraged that organisations should take cognisance of. When staff is recruited and works for the Municipality it is vital that they are retained and capacitated through trainings. The employees that have worked for the Municipality a longer period should or must at least transfer those skills for the preparation of the succession planning and continuity in the organisation. The data was collected in a form of a questionnaire where respondents indicated their responses based on the questions formulated to measure their job performance, scarce skills, retention of staff, recruitment and selection, on-the-job training for skills transfer and training in relevant field. The data collected was analysed and presented in the form of tables and percentages. The study has revealed that the clear strategies recommended are essential in the personal development of employees through training, recognition inthe institution by way of remuneration or awards and ensuring to retain staff for a longer period for succession planning in a municipal environment.

This research study evaluated recruitment practices at the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA). The AGSA recruit highly skilled talented individuals in a country with a problem with a shortage of skills. Recruitment at the organisation is therefore an important function and key to the success of the AGSA. There is no clear indication that the AGSA, when filling vacancies, should recruit from its internal resources or recruit externally. This research looked to establish an ideal ratio between the recruitment from internal and external employees. To achieve the objectives, a literature review was conducted to determine the various combinations of recruitment. The literature was divided into talent management, internal and external recruitment, as well as succession management. The research took the form of a case study, looking at recruitment practices within the AGSA. A questionnaire was developed to gather information from employees in the AGSA, around their assessment of recruitment and their opinion on internal and external recruitment. The questionnaire was distributed online and various levels of employees within the organisation participated in responding to the questionnaire. The most recent recruitment reports were presented and analysed. Information was gathered from literature on recruitment and the AGSA employee’s by means of an online questionnaire. Recommendations were made to the AGSA taking into consideration the current practices within the organisation and the research undertaken for this dissertation.

The purpose of the thesis is to examine the nature of recruitment practices in Nanaimo and Richmond, particularly the ways in which recruiters define job requirements, attract applicants, and select a candidate, in order to investigate whether and how recruiters practice direct or indirect discrimination based on gender. To accomplish this, 74 recruiters were interviewed in August 1990 and February 1991, resulting in 84 job vacancies and 151 people hired. Data were obtained from unstructured interviews with recruiters, who were asked to give an account of the procedure that they followed to fill a recent job vacancy in their organization. Five stages of the recruitment process were examined: job descriptions and advertisements; ideal candidate construction; applicant search methods; narrowing the applicant pool; and the job interview and final candidate selection. It was found that, throughout the recruitment process, recruiters rarely practiced direct forms of discrimination against applicants based on their sex. However, employers’ search methods and the ways that job descriptions were worded usually led to only one sex applying for the vacant positions, with the exception of gender-neutral job vacancies. It was also found that female applicants for female-gendered jobs were evaluated much more than males on the basis of personal characteristics. Ideal candidate construction and the elimination of short-listed applicants were stages where the most frequent use of covert discrimination on the basis of gender was located. Few personal characteristics were devoid of gendered connotations; yet, most recruiters were unaware of the implications of attaching the need for personal characteristics to the requirements for a job. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate