This thesis tackles the assessment of job candidates‟ creative potential through the processes of recruitment and selection in UK creative SMEs. Literature on individual creativity (Rogers, 1954; Oldham and Cummings, 1996; Sternberg and Lubart, 1996; Sternberg, O‟Hara and Lubart, 1997; West, 1997; Simonton, 2000), has placed importance on the individual characteristics and personality traits that distinguish a creative individual from a non-creative. Lack of knowledge regarding creativity assessment through recruitment and selection in creative SMEs has triggered the author to investigate this area. The author has designed a theoretical framework which comprises three elements, namely personality traits, individual knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) and team KSAs, which, according to the literature review, need to be taken into account when assessing individuals‟ creative potential in creative SMEs. This framework was tested with the use of a mixed methodological approach. Firstly, the qualitative approach involved the performance of 17 interviews with the owners/managers and directors of creative SMEs in Scotland. The quantitative approach involved the design and distribution of a questionnaire to a larger sample of creative companies across the UK, which resulted in 140 answered questionnaires. From the analysis of these data, interesting findings arose which indicated that creative SMEs use a mix of criteria when assessing job candidates‟ creativity. Personality traits, individual and team KSAs were highlighted, as well as the importance of motivation, which influenced selection decisions. Variations on the importance of such criteria were evident when the researcher investigated the different creative sectors and the different positions the respondents held. The most commonly used recruitment and selection practices in creative SMEs were provided. Additionally, differences in the recruitment methods used between creative SMEs who have and have not won creative awards were highlighted.

M. Tech. (Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Sciences): Vaal University of Technology / E-recruitment is one of the e-commerce applications that has enjoyed a multiple growth since its introduction in the early 1990s. There have been many variations regarding sophistication, types and success; as a result, this has posed a number of challenges to all stakeholders in these technologies. Thus, specific stakeholders may find specific applications suitable for their needs or within their reach to utilise. Companies can use these applications by implementing their own e-recruitment systems or by buying e-recruitment services provided by the third party, or a combination of both, depending on their objectives. The current study is focused on e-recruitment service providers who use general-purpose job boards that are fairly advanced in sophistication, such as the PNet recruitment website. These e-recruitment service providers are mostly recognised as online firms that manage their operations through their websites. However, behind these websites the physical ordinary businesses utilise the Internet as a means to perform their operations. Like other businesses, these e-recruitment service providers constantly face rapid shifts in technology, which places a considerable amount of pressure on them, as they persistently have to seek ways to stay ahead of their competitors. The competitiveness of every business lies in their knowledge of the market in which it operates in, as well the extent to which it is able to meet the needs of its customers. This study extends market knowledge and satisfaction of customers’ needs in the context of e-recruitment. It views the job seekers as the major customers for sustainability and competitiveness for e-recruiting companies or firms. The study was conducted using a survey method, sampling with n = 717 job seekers who use the PNet website to search for jobs. The primary data was obtained from the sample by means of a 6-point Likert questionnaire ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 6=strongly agree, measuring factors that influence the perceptions of job seekers regarding their use of the website. The questionnaire was administered via the Internet using the Sogo-Survey online tool. The main objective of the study was to evaluate job seekers’ perceptions about the PNet website as an e-recruitment tool, as well as to discover which factors are the best predictors of the continued use of the PNet website. The job seekers’ perceptions about the PNet website, as an e-recruitment tool in South Africa, were founded on the nine theoretical factors used in the questionnaire. From these factors, statistically significant differences in the factor means were present within the two independent groups, namely qualifications and gender. Using the standardised Beta value (β) the findings revealed that the attitude towards the website (.285) was the most important predictor, followed by information timeliness (.231), then attraction to the website (.182), usefulness of the website (.180) ease of use of the website (.170) and quality of website (.167). Findings and recommendations of this study are of importance to recruitment service providers and employers as it provides crucial information regarding their markets and how to improve the profitability of their businesses.

The aim of this research was to determine the factors that influence retention of personnel at Cor Jesu College in the Philippines and establish guidelines for effective staff retention. A qualitative research design involving the descriptive sample survey method to collect data by means of self- administered structured questionnaire was adopted. The sample consisted of 70 Cor Jesu personnel. The information was statistically analysed with the aid of a computer after which it was interpreted. Results indicated that teachers were not satisfied with their jobs and that their retention was affected by several aspects of their work. Working conditions emerged as the major source of dissatisfaction while interpersonal relations were a principal retention factor. / Educational Studies / M.A. (Education Management)

Dans son rapport rédigé en 2014, le Conseil Supérieur de la Recherche et de la Technologie (France) ouvrait une interrogation d’enjeu majeur : alors même que les connaissances ne cessent de progresser nous sommes de plus en plus confrontés à des crises et des retours de réalité. La diversité et la persistance de leurs manifestations interrogent le monde de la recherche et la société dans son ensemble. Ce questionnement, partagé avec le partenaire industriel avec lequel nous avons engagé cette recherche, nous a conduits à retenir que l’Entreprise était un lieu particulièrement fécond pour aborder cette problématique. Dans ce cadre de recherche partenarial, nous avons retenu d’y contribuer en investiguant la tension entre les espaces saturés de réponses (exigence apocritique) dans lesquels nous opérons, et les retours de réalité auxquels le monde que nous constituons se cogne (exigence problématologique).Notre thèse vise à rendre compte de l’exploration d’un geste critique et réflexif que nous avons mobilisé au service de l’expérimentation sociale. Elle défend une perspective qui peut permettre d’articuler et de travailler le rapport entre « critique » et « possible », en vue de soutenir, le cas échéant, l’émergence de modalités alternatives ou de nouveaux arrangements sociaux auparavant ignorés et qui deviendraient dès lors perceptibles. Cette recherche a été conduite :- avec comme terrain un domaine de gestion emblématique de la GRH à savoir celui du recrutement de nouveaux collaborateurs,- et en lieu et place des acteurs en charge de la direction de celui-ci.En quoi et comment cette typologie d’acteurs, dans ce type de contexte, peuvent-ils soutenir un geste critique et réflexif en vue de permettre des sauts qualitatifs conséquents en matière de relevance sociétale ? S’il pouvait se déployer, ne se traduirait-il pas par des transformations sociales ? Telles sont les questions qui ont guidé notre travail. La recherche présentée a comporté 2 phases : - la première qui a consisté à interroger dans quelle mesure ces « travailleurs du savoir » peuvent ou non déployer un geste critique et réflexif à même de faire émerger de la ressource pour proposer des alternatives.- la seconde qui a pris la forme d’une proposition de reconceptualisation du territoire de la situation de recrutement que nous avons ensuite mise à l’épreuve sur un terrain spécifique, à savoir celui portant sur la famille des « techniciens gaziers ». Elle dégage trois ensembles de résultats :- un premier d’ordre méthodologique dès lors que tout à la fois nous avons retenu une démarche visant à explorer par les possibles et que nous avons opéré en terrain sensible,- un second qui résulte de la mise à l’épreuve de la plasticité des frontières du système des relations industrielles et qui a conduit au déploiement d’une expérimentation sociale d’envergure,- un troisième qui rend compte de l’étude quasi-expérimentale que nous avons réalisée en vue d’expérimenter dans quelle mesure le déploiement d’un environnement capacitant était en mesure d’améliorer la santé psychologique des candidats. / In its report written in 2014, the Conseil Supérieur de la Recherche et de la Technologie (France) faced a major problem: even as knowledge continues to grow, we are increasingly confronted with crises and returns of reality. The diversity and persistence of their manifestations challenge the world of research and society as a whole. This questioning has been shared with the industrial partner with whom we engaged this research. We conclude that the company was a particularly fertile place to address this issue. In this kind of research partnership, we hold on to contribute to the tension between the aeras saturated with responses (apocritical requirement) in which we operate and the returns of reality to which the world encounter (problematic requirement). Our thesis aims the exploration of a critical and reflexive gesture that we have mobilized in the service of social experimentation. It advocates a perspective that allows to work on the relationship between the "critical" and "possible", in order to support the emergence of alternative conditions or new social arrangements that were previously ignored or unseen and would therefore become perceptible. This research has been conducted by using as field an emblematic management situation, namely the recruitment of new collaborators and the actors in charge of it. In which way and how can this typology of actors « knowleadge workers » support a critical and reflexive gesture in order to allow more significant qualitative leaps in terms of societal relevance? If it could be deployed, would it not result in social transformations ? These are the questions that have guided our work. The research we undertook involved two main phases:- The first was to question the extent to which these "knowledge workers" may or may not deploy a critical and reflexive gesture capable of coming up with the resources to propose alternatives.- The second, which proposes to reconceptualize the territory of the recruitment situation, which we then tested on a specific field, namely that of the "gas technicians". Three groups of results have been identified:- a first of a methodological nature since we have both adopted an approach aimed at exploring through the possible and operating in sensitive areas,- a second which results from testing the plasticity of the borders of the industrial relations systems and which has led to the deployment of a large-scale social experimentation,- a third that t reports on a quasi-experimental study conducted to test the extent to which the use of an enabling environment was able to improve the psychological health of candidates. / In seinem Bericht aus dem Jahr 2014 stand der Conseil Supérieur de la Recherche et de la Technologie (CSRT in Frankreich) vor einer großen Herausforderung: Auch wenn das Wissen und die Kenntnisse der Forschug weiter wachsen, sind wir zunehmend mit Krisen und Rückflüssen aus der Realität (retours de realité) konfrontiert. Die Vielfalt und Beständigkeit ihrer Erscheinungsformen wirft Fragen für die Forschungsgemeinschaft und die Gesellschaft als Ganzes auf. Diese Problematik stiess bei dem Industriepartner, mit dem wir diese Forschung durchgeführt haben, ebenfalls auf Gehör. Wir kommen zu dem Schluss, dass das Unternehmen ein optimaler Ort ist, um das Thema anzugehen. In dieser Art von Forschungskooperation möchten wir dazu beizutragen, die Kontroverse, den "Response Mode" (apokritische Anforderung) zu verwenden und die Tatsache mit Rückflüssen aus der Realität konfrontiert zu werden, untersuchen. Unsere Doktorarbeit zielt auf die Erforschung einer kritischen und reflexiven Handlung ab, welche wir zugunsten des sozialen Experimentierens mobilisiert haben. Dieser Blickwinkel ermöglicht es, das Verhältnis zwischen "kritisch" und "möglich" zu artikulieren, um im Anschluss das Entstehen alternativer Vorgehensweisen oder neuer sozialer Agreements zu unterstützen, die bisher ignoriert oder nicht wahrgenommen wurden. Diese Forschung wurde durchgeführt : - durch die Verwendung eines emblematischen Bereichs des Managements (HRM), nämlich der Einstellung neuer Mitarbeiter, - mit den dafür verantwortlichen Schlüsselfiguren. In welcher Weise und wie kann diese Typologie der Akteure (in diesem Kontext) eine kritische und reflexive Geste unterstützen, um bedeutendere qualitative Optimierungen in Bezug auf die gesellschaftliche Relevanz zu ermöglichen? Wenn dies möglich wäre, würde es dann zu sozialen Veränderungen führen? Diese Fragen haben unsere Arbeit begleitet. Die von uns durchgeführte Forschung umfasste zwei Hauptphasen : - die erste bestand darin, das Ausmaß in Frage zu stellen, in dem diese "Wissensarbeiter" eine kritische und reflexive Handlung entfalten können oder auch nicht, um dann in der Lage zu sein, Ressourcen zu entwickeln, die Alternativen hervorbringen können, - die zweite, schlägt eine Rekonstruktion im Bereich der Personaleinstellung vor, die wir dann im bestimmten Berufszweig des "Gastechniker", getestet haben. Drei Typen von Ergebnissen wurden identifiziert : - ein erster methodischer Ansatz, der darauf abzielt, das Mögliche zu erforschen und auf sensiblen "Terrain" tätig zu sein, - ein zweiter, der sich aus der Prüfung der Plastizität der Grenzen des Systems der Arbeitsbeziehungen ergibt und zur Durchführung eines großen sozialen Experiments geführt hat, - ein dritter, der über die von uns durchgeführte quasi-experimentelle Studie berichtet, mit dem Ziel zu testen, inwieweit der Einsatz eines "kapazitätzreichen Umfelds" (enabling environment) die psychische Gesundheit der Kandidaten verbessert und stabilisiert.

The aim of this research was to determine the factors that influence retention of personnel at Cor Jesu College in the Philippines and establish guidelines for effective staff retention. A qualitative research design involving the descriptive sample survey method to collect data by means of self- administered structured questionnaire was adopted. The sample consisted of 70 Cor Jesu personnel. The information was statistically analysed with the aid of a computer after which it was interpreted. Results indicated that teachers were not satisfied with their jobs and that their retention was affected by several aspects of their work. Working conditions emerged as the major source of dissatisfaction while interpersonal relations were a principal retention factor. / Educational Studies / M.A. (Education Management)