As the signs of the impending ecological crisis become more apparent, the issue of sustainability comes to the forefront in many studies. However, there appears to be a substantial lack of focus on the individual level which can be considered a major shortcoming due to the fact that sustainability can only be obtained through joint efforts of each and every person. A significant part of sustainability work lies on the shoulders of companies and organisations as they are not only legally obliged to reduce the environmental footprint of their activities but also bear a huge responsibility in the face of the whole society. As employees often carry the main burden when it comes to implementing new initiatives, we decided to gain a better understanding of their perspective. In the presented research we explore the sensemaking of employees in relation to sustainability in order to determine their role as followers in company’s or organisation’s sustainability work. Our ambition for the research was to contribute to closing the gap in existing studies by suggesting a theoretical model which would describe various roles which employees enact when faced with sustainability issues. We carried out a qualitative study based on an inductive approach and case study research method. For the purpose of the study we conducted interviews and analysed data looking for recurrent themes, patterns and more importantly variations in the ways employees make sense of sustainability. As a result, we presented four roles which employees enact in the context of sustainability, namely movers and shakers, happy campers, truth-seekers and distant observers, and provided the description of main distinctive characteristics inherent in these roles.

The aim of this study was to explore human resources (HR) practitioners’ experiences of engagement interventions within a financial institution. A qualitative research approach was followed which was informed by the hermeneutic phenomenological paradigm. Semi-structured interviews were used. The findings indicated that HR practitioners play a critical role in enhancing engagement in organisations through the implementation of effective engagement interventions. The HR practitioners often thought of themselves as the ‘heart’, ‘the core’, ‘facilitator’, ‘business partner’ or ‘middle man’ when implementing engagement interventions. The majority of the HR practitioners did understand engagement, their role in the implementation of engagement interventions and the tools used to assess engagement. However, the findings did indicate that some of the HR practitioners within this study had limited knowledge of engagement, engagement interventions and the tools used to implement engagement. The findings also indicated that the implementation of an engagement intervention should be a collaborative process between employer and employee, with the support of top management to ensure the success of the engagement intervention. Engagement interventions were considered to be predominantly positive and successful by most of the participants. However, it was noted by participants that if there is no follow-through on the implementation of the engagement interventions it can become negative. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The aim of this study was to explore human resources (HR) practitioners’ experiences of engagement interventions within a financial institution. A qualitative research approach was followed which was informed by the hermeneutic phenomenological paradigm. Semi-structured interviews were used. The findings indicated that HR practitioners play a critical role in enhancing engagement in organisations through the implementation of effective engagement interventions. The HR practitioners often thought of themselves as the ‘heart’, ‘the core’, ‘facilitator’, ‘business partner’ or ‘middle man’ when implementing engagement interventions. The majority of the HR practitioners did understand engagement, their role in the implementation of engagement interventions and the tools used to assess engagement. However, the findings did indicate that some of the HR practitioners within this study had limited knowledge of engagement, engagement interventions and the tools used to implement engagement. The findings also indicated that the implementation of an engagement intervention should be a collaborative process between employer and employee, with the support of top management to ensure the success of the engagement intervention. Engagement interventions were considered to be predominantly positive and successful by most of the participants. However, it was noted by participants that if there is no follow-through on the implementation of the engagement interventions it can become negative. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

(in English): The diploma thesis is focused on employee engagement in a specific organization and its analysis. It is based on the assumption that employee engagement can be perceived as an overarching concept based on the theory of role quality, motivation, satisfaction, and leadership, and that employee engagement has an impact on employee productivity and increases the results of the organization. In this diploma thesis, we rejoin the question of what is employee engagement in a specific organization, what is the differentiation according to employee department, and what factors affect the employee engagement. First, the thesis pivots with the terminological grounding of employee engagement and the discussion that surrounds this approach. Then, an analysis of the employee engagement is performed, focusing on ongoing organizational changes due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Finally, the thesis proposes few recommendations that the organization can implement and thus improve employee engagement.

Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka hur ett införande av Self-Service Business Intelligence och SSBI-verktyg kan påverka organisationsstruktur samt anställdas roll inom organisationen. Self-Service Business Intelligence kan definieras som ett verktyg som möjliggör decentralisering av Business Intelligence vilket innebär att BI-användaren i en verksamhet kan utföra diverse uppgifter på egen hand utan att vara beroende av IT-avdelningen (Sarkar 2017). För att konkretisera arbetet undersöks fyra organisationer. Fem intervjuer som bestod av fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer och en strukturerad intervju genomfördes för att erhålla kunskap om hur dessa företag använder Self-Service Business Intelligence i praktiken. Därtill erhålls kunskap om innebörden för organisationen och dess anställda när verktyget tillgängliggjordes. I studien har bland annat TOE-ramverk använts för att analysera vilka faktorer som har en betydelse vid införande av en ny teknologi. Teorin om Organisatorisk IT mognadsnivå (OITM) användes för att analysera organisationens beredskap för att skapa värde ur informationsteknologi. Andra teorier om olika roller av BI-användare, utbildning och organisationsförändring användes för att få en djupare inblick kring de faktorer som påverkar organisationsstrukturen och anställdas roller.  Resultatet av studien visade att de anställdas roller och organisationsstrukturen påverkades av Self-Service Business Intelligence i olika grader. Det noterades en tydlig indelning av användarroller, avancerade BI-användare och vanliga BI-användare, inom samtliga organisationer. Konkreta förändringar inom organisationerna var bättre beslutfattningsprocess, avlastning hos IT-avdelningen och effektivare arbetsflöde. Bland de organisationer där Self-Service Business Intelligence har fått stor spridning noterades det en större påverkan på organisationsstruktur och anställdas roller medan de organisationerna med en mindre spridning av verktyget hade en mindre inverkan på deras verksamhet. Detta förutsätter dock att organisationerna utbildar sina anställda genom ett strukturellt träningsprogram och motiverar syftet med Self-Service Business Intelligence för en större spridning av verktyget och således en större inverkan på organisationen och de anställdas roller. / In this essay we have chosen to investigate how an implementation of Self-Service Business Intelligence can affect organizational change and the role of users within the organization. Self-Service BI is a tool that enables decentralization of BI which means that the user in a business can perform various tasks themselves without being dependent on the IT department. To concretize the work, we have chosen to examine four companies. The survey was conducted via five interviews (four semi-structured and one structured interviews) to gather insight on how these companies use Self-Service Business Intelligence and the result for their organization and employees when the tool was applied in the organization. In the study, TOE-framework has been used to analyze which factors play a role in the implementation of a new technology. The theory of Organizational IT maturity (OITM) was used to analyze the organizations and its employees' different attitudes towards IT while other theories of different roles of users, training and organizational change were used to gain a deeper insight into the factors that affect organizational structure, employee roles and factors which causes the changes. The results of the study showed that the roles of the employees and the organizational structure were affected by Self-Service Business Intelligence to varying degrees. There was a clear division of user roles, power users and casual users, within all organizations. Concrete changes in the organizations were better decision-making processes, relieves in the IT department and more efficient workflow. Among the organizations where Self-Service Business Intelligence has become widespread, a greater impact on organizational structure and employee roles has been noted, while it has been noted that those organizations with a smaller spread of the tool have seen a smaller impact on their operations. However, this presupposes that the organizations train their employees through a structural training program and justifies the purpose of Self-Service Business Intelligence for a greater spread of the tool and thus a greater impact on the organization and the employees' roles.

In a rapid changing environment mining companies have to change the way in which they do business, while employees have to manage their careers and ensure they are multi-skilled. Organisations are looking to employ individuals who are career driven, highly adaptable and flexible and display the necessary employability skills. The main purpose of this study was to determine if any relationship exists between the different factors of graduate employability and work performance in the mining industry in South Africa. A cross-sectional quantitative research approach was followed. A simple random sample was drawn from graduate male and female employees between the ages of 18 – 30 years with any post-matric qualification employed in the mining industry in South Africa. Through the process of exploratory factor analysis, six graduate employability factors and four work performance factors were identified. The graduate employability factors included career self-management drive, cultural competence, career resilience, emotional literacy, career literacy and self-efficacy. The work performance factors included the supervisor role, employee role, recognition and organisation support. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted. The results indicated a relationship between graduate employability and work performance. Strong, positive correlations were found between graduate employability and work performance with career self-management drive being the strongest predictor of work performance. Recommendations for the mining industry focused on how employability could be enhanced to improve work performance. / Human Resource Management / M. Com. (Human Resource Management)