The objectives of the study were (1) to determine the relationship between career adaptability (measured by the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale) and employee engagement (measured by the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale), and (2) to determine whether age, race, gender and tenure groups differ significantly regarding career adaptability and employee engagement. A quantitative survey was conducted on a convenience sample (N = 131) of employees within a business unit of a large insurance company in South Africa. Correlational and inferential statistical analyses revealed significant relationships between career adaptability and employee engagement as well as significant differences between age and race groups on some dimensions of the constructs. These findings contribute valuable insight and knowledge to the field of Organisational Psychology and Career Psychology that can be applied in engagement strategies as well as in career guidance and counselling. The study concluded with recommendations for future research and practice. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

published_or_final_version / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The effect of both public and private verbal recognition on intrinsic motivation and sales performance in fourteen restaurant waitstaff was evaluated using organizational behavior modification techniques. The hypothesis that public recognition would be more effective than private recognition in increasing intrinsic motivation and sales was not supported.

The primary objective of the study was to explore the relationship between career anchors, job satisfaction and organisational commitment using a sample of 86 employees at four Information Technology companies in South Africa. A secondary objective was to determine whether individuals from various gender, race, position and age groups differed significantly regarding their career anchors, job satisfaction and organisational commitment. The instruments used were the Career Orientations Inventory (COI), Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) and Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ). The research findings indicated that career anchors are partially related to participants’ job satisfaction and organisational commitment and participants’ levels of job satisfaction and organisational commitment are significantly related. The findings also showed that demographic groups differ significantly regarding their career anchors, job satisfaction and organisational commitment. It is recommended that interventions aimed at improving individual career decision making and organisational retention practices take cognisance of how these variables relate to individuals’ career anchors, job satisfaction and organisational commitment. The study is concluded with recommendations for Industrial and Organisational Psychology practices and further research.

The objectives of the study were: (1) to determine the relationship between organisational commitment (measured by the Organisational Commitment Scale), retention factors (measured the Retention Factor Scale) and job embeddedness (measured by the Job Embeddedness Questionnaire), and (2) to determine whether employees from different gender, age, race, marital status, tenure and job level groups differ significantly in their levels of organisational commitment, retention factors and perceived job embeddedness. A quantitative survey was conducted on a purposive sample (N = 206) of medical and IT service staff in the South African client service sector. Correlational and inferential statistical analyses revealed significant relationships between organisational commitment, retention factors and perceived job embeddedness. Significant differences between gender, age, race, marital status, tenure and job level groups were also found. The findings contribute valuable insight and knowledge to the field of Career Psychology that can be applied in the retention of employees in the medical and IT industry. The study concludes with recommendations for future research and practice. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / (M.Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology))

Thesis (MPhil) -- Stellenbosch University, 2011. / This research study not only links three important business concepts, namely, leadership development, employee engagement and executive coaching, but is also an important body of research that contributes in a meaningful way to the debate around the role of executive coaching and its impact on leadership effectiveness. It outlines a transformative framework for executive coaching that shows a significant shift in managerial behaviour. This behaviour shift acts as a catalyst for the enhancement of key dimensions of employee engagement. This is an important finding, as the field of professional coaching is undergoing much scrutiny in terms of its return on effectiveness and its ability to accelerate the development of high-potential talent. The reseach findings in this report further serve to reinforce the importance of aligning leadership development, and specifically executive coaching practices, with organisational strategies. The global financial crisis has highlighted the need for organisations to adopt prudent leadership development strategies. The intelligent integration of transformative coaching into talent management practices such as retention, promotion, deployment and development of high-potential leadership, will create the necessary impetus for building sustainble leadership capacity and provide an outstanding return on investment for organisations wherever they might be in their maturity cycle.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / abstract / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

Bakgrund: I dagens samhälle präglas organisationer av ekonomiska förändringar, detta genom globalisering, förändrade kundförhållanden och en ökad konkurrens. Organisationer behöver hela tiden förbättra sin konkurrenskraft genom att effektivisera sin verksamhet. Idag ses medarbetarna som organisationers viktigaste tillgång eftersom att de förser organisationer med viktiga källor för att bli konkurrenskraftiga. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) är ett arbetssätt som handlar om att utforma HR-strategier som gör att medarbetarnas kunskap och kompetens bidrar till att nå organisationens övergripande mål. Syfte: Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka hur organisationen använder ett strategiskt HR-arbete (SHRM) och om det är ett framgångsrikt arbetssätt. Vår studie har bidragit till en ökad förståelse om begreppet SHRM och hur det kan användas samt hur SHRM kan påverka organisationen. Metod: Insamlingen av vårt empiriska material bygger på en kvalitativ metod där vi genomfört djupgående intervjuer med HR-chefer som arbetar i en organisation som är verksam inom fordonsindustrin. Slutsats: Vi har kommit fram till att organisationen använder SHRM som arbetssätt. Vi kan dock inte dra några konkreta slutsatser om hur SHRM påverkar or-ganisationen men det finns tydliga indikationer på att SHRM har en positiv inverkan och bidrar till en ökad produktivitet och effektivitet. Vi har även kommit fram till att det är viktigt att organisationen utövar ett ledarskap som främjar SHRM. / Background: In today's society organizations are characterized by economic changes, this by globalization, changing customer circumstances and increased competition. Organizations need to constantly improve their competitiveness by streamlining its operations. Today, employees are seen as the organizations most important asset, this because they provide organizations with important sources to become competitive. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is an approach that is about to build HR-strategies that make employees knowledge and skills to contribute the organizations to achieve the overall goals. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine how the organization is using a strategic HR-work (SHRM) and if it is a successful strategy. Our study has contributed to a better understanding of the concept of SHRM and how it can be used and how SHRM can affect the organization. Method: The collection of our empirical material is based on a qualitative approach where we conducted in-depth interviews with HR-managers working in an organization that is active in the automotive industry. Conclusion: We have concluded that our survey shows that the organization uses the SHRM as working strategy. However, we can not draw any concrete conclusions in which way SHRM affect the organization, but there are clear indications that SHRM has a positive effect, contributing to increased productivity and efficiency. A further conclusion of our study is that it´s very important that the organization have a leadership that promotes SHRM.

Background: Due to the deregulation of the European airline industry within the 1980’s, competition between airlines has intensified greatly. The emergence of low-cost carriers has given rise to the competition on price. However, meeting customer demands and delivering high-quality service, beyond the mere price factor, is still crucial for an airline’s survival. Previous literature has focused on the interactive marketing aspect between employees and passengers when it comes to service quality and customer satisfaction. Today, there is a gap between what management does to satisfy its employees. This research will evaluate what should be done by management in order to meet customer expectations and perform an excellent service.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine how Germania’s management inhibited its employees in delivering superior service quality and how distributed communication within the Service Marketing Triangle negatively affects the Internal Marketing Model. The study’s empirical findings contribute to existing internal marketing literature and result in an extension of the Internal Marketing Model according to Ahmed and Rafiq (2002).   Method: A qualitative method consisting of semi-structured interviews with four former airline employees and two focus groups of 13 students was applied. This setup gives insight into both the consumer and employee perspective. Additionally, to handle the great amount of data, a thematic analysis was applied.   Conclusion: This study shows how Germania inhibited its employees from performing their work and deliver the service quality that was expected by customers. These inhibitions were mainly found in the tools that the company provided. The shortcomings can be found within the Service Marketing Triangle and an extension of the Internal Marketing Model is concluded from these. The findings and existing theory prove, that employee motivation, job satisfaction and employee empowerment are crucial aspects when it comes to meeting customer expectations and hence, delivering excellent service. The degree of the employees’ empathy, competence, and professionalism determine, whether the customer is satisfied and whether they are loyal to the airline.