Magister Commercii - MCom / Increasingly, organisations are realising that they have to establish an equitable balance between the employee’s contribution to the organisation and the organisation’s contribution to the employee. Establishing this balance is one of the main reasons to reward and recognise employees. Organisations that follow a strategic approach to creating this balance focus on the three main components of a reward system, which includes, compensation, benefits and recognition (Deeprose, 1994). Studies that have been conducted on the topic indicates that the most common problem in organisations today is that they miss the important component of recognition, which is the low-cost, high-return ingredient to a well-balanced reward system. A key focus of recognition is to make employees feel appreciated and valued (Sarvadi, 2005). Research has proven that employees who get recognised tend to have higher self-esteem, more confidence, more willingness to take on new challenges and more eagerness to be innovative (Mason, 2001). The aim of this study is to investigate whether rewards and recognition has an impact on employee motivation. A biographical and Work Motivation Questionnaire was administered to respondents (De Beer, 1987). The sample group (N= 184) consists of male and female employees on post-grade levels 5 to 12. The results of the research indicated that there is a positive relationship between rewards, recognition and motivation. The results also revealed that women, and employees from non-white racial backgrounds experienced lower levels of rewards, recognition and motivation. Future research on the latter issues could yield interesting insights into the different factors that motivate employees. Notwithstanding the insights derived from the current research, results need to be interpreted with caution since a convenience sample was used, thereby restricting the generalisability to the wider population. / South Africa

Magister Artium - MA / Research suggest that increasing employee commitment and satisfaction impacts on employee productivity and job performance, and has implications for job related behaviours such as absenteeism, turnover and tardiness. Moreover, literature also suggests that downsizing and cost-cutting negatively impacts on the satisfaction and commitment of employees and impacts on the effectiveness of organisations. The contention is that in order to reconcile the need to achieve high quality and organisational effectiveness in an environment of declining per capita resources and change, it will be necessary to secure a high level of commitment and satisfaction from all those employed in the higher education sector. This study sought to investigate the factors that produce commitment and satisfaction in academic and support staff respectively and to understand any important similarities and differences that may exist. / South Africa

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / The South African social, political and economic landscape has been characterized by profound changes during the past several years. Many organizations and their management are faced with inter alia, downsizing decisions, affirmative action policies to be implemented and a overabundance of other factors which could sway motivation and morale, attitudes and views of employees. The general research aim was to measure work motivation amongst employees in a government department in the Provincial Government Western Cape. Research has shown that motivated and satisfied employees are more productive and there is an improvement in service delivery. / South Africa

The aim of all companies is continuously to improve their products and/or services. Managers need to understand what service quality entails and what measures to take to ensure that quality is upheld and employees are satisfied. Cost-saving initiatives often require certain changes to take place within the organisation. In the event of such changes, the psychological contract is often violated, which may have a positive or negative effect on the affected individuals. Management expects to get more work done with fewer employees, who in turn are expected to keep up the service quality. The current shortage of medical technologists in the country has made it impossible for them to cope with the heavy workload. As a result, many leave the profession and venture into something completely different. Those that are left become completely demotivated; they experience less job satisfaction and show less commitment to their work. However, some may even embrace the changes because to them it may mean bigger and better challenges. The aim of this study is to identify which approaches management took to ensure cost saving and how these approaches impacted on the behaviour of employees. A literature review was conducted to determine what the theory reveals about cost saving and its impact on employee behaviour. This was followed by an empirical survey conducted within the National Health Laboratory Services in the Ibhayi region. Finally, the practical findings and literary theory were compared to make recommendations to management on how to ensure positive employee behaviour and boost employee morale.

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The present study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of a worksite stress management program delivered via electronic mail (e-mail). One hundred and thirty-seven employed adults (36 males, 102 females; mean age = 29.46) from several diverse businesses consented to participate. The volunteers completed Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, the Daily Hassles Scale, the Daily Work Hassles Scale, the TCU Self-Ratings Scales, and a demographic and opinion questionnaire. Individuals in the treatment group received e-mail messages twice weekly and had access to a website for three months about a variety of cognitive-behavioral techniques for managing worksite stress. A MANCOVA of post-intervention stress levels indicated that individuals who received the stress management messages perceived the same amount of stressors and hassles as individuals who did not receive the messages [F (5, 86) = 0.95, p = .45]. However, a MANCOVA of post-intervention perceived mood states revealed a tendency for individuals in the treatment group to be less depressed, anxious, and angry than individuals in the control group [F (3, 92) = 2.44, p = .07]. Demographic variables did not influence the outcome variables and pre- and post-test absenteeism and illness rates were similar for treatment and control groups. Coping skill usage was similar in amount and frequency, but differed in quality between the groups. The findings of the present study indicate that health promotion programs can be feasibly and effectively delivered via e-mail in the worksite.

Bank leaders who fail to implement effective leadership strategies experience low employee morale and high employee turnover. The estimated failure rate of bank industry leadership to attain some organizational targets such as desired levels of employee morale, employee retention, and profitability is as high as 60%. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies bank leaders implemented to improve employee morale and mitigate employee turnover. The population for this study included 4 bank leaders in the United States who successfully applied effective leadership to improve morale and mitigate employee turnover for more than 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with bank leaders and from artifacts such as the company website. The transformational leadership theory guided this research as the conceptual framework. Data triangulation was employed. Data were analyzed using Yin’s 5 steps of data analysis. Three themes emerged from analysis of the data: adopting motivational leadership techniques, applying open and transparent communication skills, and applying recognition or rewards. The application of findings from this study could contribute to positive social change because society may benefit from an improved banking intermediation system to support employment retention and the improvement of citizens’ livelihoods.

Profit, ergonomics, safety, employee morale, quality, efficiency, and productivity are critical components that greatly impact company success within manufacturing organizations. Therefore, it is essential that a valid and reliable systematic approach that encompasses all of these factors be developed for use by top management in today's rapidly changing manufacturing environment. Organizational-level decisions made based upon a single goal or narrow perspective that only considers one of the aforementioned components, such as profit, while ignoring others, such as employee morale, have proven harmful to the long term viability and success of manufacturing companies. Often organizational leaders are not adequately equipped to consider multiple factors that are pertinent to company success due to the complexity associated with considering a large number of organizational variables and the lack of quantitative tools and techniques to assist in this process. Thus, valid, reliable and readily available tools, methods, and techniques for integrating into decision making multiple components of profit, ergonomics, safety, employee morale, quality, efficiency, and productivity are highly needed in today's complex manufacturing business environment. This research responds to the need to develop quantitative models by creating a company success index. This index was developed using an approach to analyze and evaluate multiple factors at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels of an organization that are essential to achieve company success in manufacturing enterprises. The resulting company success index model was validated using information on market share (Specificity = 0%, Sensitivity & Accuracy = 87.5%). Future research related to this topic area should include additional studies to expand upon model validation and verification techniques.

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This study examined several competing models for the hypothesized role that organizational commitment and job satisfaction play in withdrawal behaviors. These models were tested against a null or base model from which the other models were nested. The results supported the null model as best describing the process, not the hypothesized model. The null model indicated that there was a progression to withdrawal, and that both organizational commitment and job satisfaction maintain a strong negative impact on turnover. The key variable involved in the withdrawal was commitment, not satisfaction. The reason that the proposed progression model was not supported was due to the fact that neither of these variables were significant predictors of absenteeism. The relationship between organizational commitment and job satisfaction was found to be reciprocal, with commitment having a much stronger influence on satisfaction. This relationship additionally served to enhanced their effects on the withdrawal behaviors. Another finding concerning the antecedents of both organizational commitment and job satisfaction was that need for achievement and motivation had the strongest total effects on both of these variables. This gives support to congruence perspective regarding organizational commitment and the dispositionalists regarding job satisfaction. / Ph. D.