No campo da gestão estratégica de pessoas, uma preocupação que está em evidência é a investigação de variáveis mediadoras da relação entre gestão estratégica de pessoas e desempenho organizacional. Para desvendar as etapas intermediárias do processo de geração de resultados da gestão estratégica de pessoas, pesquisas anteriores sugerem a análise de fatores no nível organizacional, a exemplo das capacidades organizacionais. Nesse contexto, o objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi estabelecer relações entre as configurações de estratégias de gestão de pessoas, as capacidades organizacionais e o desempenho organizacional dos meios de hospedagem do Nordeste brasileiro, oferecendo subsídios para a gestão eficaz dos empreendimentos e para a maximização de resultados no setor. Foi desenvolvido um estudo descritivo e relacional, de abordagem quantitativa. Foram aplicados questionários a 151 gestores de meios de hospedagem localizados nos dois principais destinos turísticos de quatro estados do Nordeste do Brasil, a saber: Salvador/BA, Porto Seguro/BA, Fortaleza/CE, Canoa Quebrada/CE, Recife/PE, Porto de Galinhas/PE, Natal/RN e Pipa/RN. As estratégias de gestão de pessoas foram avaliadas segundo o Modelo de Valores Competitivos de Cameron e Quinn (2006). As capacidades organizacionais foram investigadas a partir do modelo de múltiplos papéis de Ulrich (1998; 2000). O desempenho organizacional foi avaliado com o uso de indicadores adotados por pesquisas anteriores: taxa de ocupação hoteleira, valor da diária média, desempenho financeiro, produtividade do trabalho e qualidade dos serviços. Os dados foram analisados por meio da aplicação de diversas técnicas estatísticas adequadas às características dos dados e aos objetivos do estudo. Os resultados revelam que existe um razoável equilíbrio na implementação das diversas configurações do Modelo de Valores Competitivos. Entretanto, percebe-se uma tendência de que os hotéis conseguem implementar melhor as estratégias de gestão de pessoas que apresentam enfoque organizacional orientado para o ambiente interno e implementar menos as estratégias voltadas para o ambiente externo. Também se verificou uma tendência entre os meios de hospedagem de conseguirem desenvolver melhor as capacidades organizacionais orientadas para o cotidiano e para o nível operacional e de enfrentarem maiores dificuldades para desenvolver as capacidades organizacionais orientadas para o futuro e para o nível estratégico. As relações encontradas confirmam a sobreposição proposta por Cameron e Quinn (2006) entre as estratégias de gestão de pessoas do Modelo de Valores Competitivos e as capacidades organizacionais do modelo de múltiplos papéis de Ulrich (1998) e revelam outras associações concomitantes e complementares. Essas múltiplas relações identificadas corroboram a perspectiva configuracional ao sugerirem a existência de modelos híbridos, em que sejam contemplados elementos dos quatro modelos de gestão de pessoas analisados nesta pesquisa, buscando uma combinação sinérgica entre eles para maximizar e usufruir dos benefícios que cada um é capaz de proporcionar. Apenas duas capacidades organizacionais exercem influência direta sobre o desempenho organizacional, ambas voltadas para as atividades de administração de pessoal, apresentando maior ênfase sobre as pessoas e traduzindo maior flexibilidade. Por outro lado, análises complementares atestaram que os hotéis que conseguem desenvolver as quatro capacidades organizacionais de forma conjunta e equilibrada alcançam um desempenho superior, confirmando assim a noção de equilíbrio defendida pelos autores de ambos os modelos. As constatações permitiram ampliar a compreensão sobre as relações entre as estratégias de gestão de pessoas e o desempenho organizacional, inserindo as capacidades organizacionais como variável mediadora. / In the field of strategic human resource management there is evident concern with investigation into variables that intercede in the relationship between strategic human resource management and organizational performance. In order de clarify the intermediate steps in the process of generating results of strategic human resource management, earlier research suggests an analysis of factors at the organizational level, an example being organizational capabilities. Within this context, the general objective of this research was to establish relationships among the settings of human resource strategies, organizational capabilities and organizational performance in the hotel sector in the Brazilian Northeast, offering support for the management efficacy of these business undertakings and for the maximization of results in the sector. A descriptive and relational study, with a quantitative approach, was designed. One hundred and fifty-one questionnaires were applied to managers of hotels located in the two principal tourism destinations of four states in the Northeast Region of Brazil: Salvador, BA, Porto Seguro, BA, Fortaleza, CE, Canoa Quebrada, CE, Recife, PE, Porto de Galinhas, PE, Natal, RN and Pipa, RN. Human resource strategies were evaluated according to Cameron\'s and Quinn\'s (2006) Competitive Values Model. Organizational capabilities were investigated by way of Ulrich\'s (1998, 2000) Multiple Roles Model. Organizational performance was measure by use of indicators adopted from earlier research: hotel occupation rate, average value of daily rates, financial performance, labor productivity and service quality. Data were analyzed through the application of diverse statistical techniques consistent with the characteristics of the data and research objectives. The results reveal that there exists a reasonable equilibrium in the implementation of the diverse configurations of the Competing Values Model. However, a tendency to be more able to put into practice human resource strategies that present an organizational focus oriented toward the internal environment and to a lesser implementation of strategies directed toward the external environment was perceived. Also, a tendency was verified, among the hotels, to be more able to develop organizational capabilities orientated toward the day-to-day and for the operational level and to encounter greater difficulties in developing organizational capabilities directed toward the future and for the strategic level. The relationships discovered confirm the super positioning proposed by Cameron and Quinn (2006) between the human resource strategies of the Competing Values Model and the organizational capabilities of Ulrich\'s (1998) Multiple Roles Model and reveal other concomitant and complementary associations. The multiple relationships identified in the study lend support to a configurational perspective that suggest the existence of hybrid models, in which elements of the four models of human resource management analyzed here are contemplated, in the search for a synergetic combination among the models in order to maximize and take advantage of the benefits that each model is capable of providing. Only two of the organizational capabilities exercise direct influence over organizational performance, both focused upon personnel administration activities, presenting greater emphasis on people and translating into greater flexibility. On the other hand, complementary analyses present testimony that hotels that are able to develop the four organizational capabilities in a jointly and equilibrated form, manage to reach higher performance, thus confirming the notion of equilibrium defended by the authors of both models. The findings permit a comprehension and amplification of the relationships between human resource strategies and organizational performance, inserting organizational capabilities as a mediating variable.

A globalização das economias trouxe reflexos no sistema financeiro e no setor bancário, onde as recentes alterações no cenário econômico, juntamente com a alta concentração das instituições financeiras, demonstram a dinâmica do setor. A competitividade entre os bancos deve se acentuar no tempo como forma de conquista de maiores espaços. Nesta perspectiva, a gestão de pessoas deverá exercer um papel cada vez mais importante na oferta de novos serviços e na gestão mais efetiva de suas estruturas e de seu quadro de pessoal, cada vez mais qualificado e responsável pelos resultados dessas instituições. Nesse contexto, a gestão estratégica de pessoas ganha destaque como formuladora, implementadora e avaliadora de resultados para o alcance de vantagens competitivas, baseadas na gestão de pessoas alinhada com as estratégias organizacionais. Os líderes poderão conduzir grupos de subordinados para determinados resultados. Para isso é relevante a satisfação dos colaboradores com os fatores biológicos, psicológicos, sociais e organizacionais da qualidade de vida no trabalho. Este estudo teve como objetivo principal analisar o grau de importância da liderança orientada para resultados, na percepção dos profissionais da área de gestão de pessoas de duas Instituições Financeiras Internacionais que atuam no Brasil, e suas relações com a gestão estratégica de pessoas e com os níveis de satisfação dos aspectos organizacionais, biológicos, psicológicos e sociais. O método envolveu uma pesquisa exploratória, ocasional única, com uma amostra de cento e cinqüenta e oito respondentes, realizada nos meses de julho, agosto e outubro de 2008. Os principais resultados foram: a caracterização das instituições financeiras; identificação nas duas organizações políticas estruturadas de gestão de pessoas com relação ao recrutamento e seleção de pessoal, treinamento e desenvolvimento, cargos e salários, benefícios sociais, avaliação de desempenho e a higiene e segurança no trabalho. As características demográficas dos respondentes da pesquisa de campo por instituição financeira foram: a maioria dos participantes da área de gestão de pessoas dessas instituições era composta de técnicos, analistas ou auxiliares, na maioria mulheres e jovens até 35 anos, que possuíam superior completo ou eram pós-graduados e que não tinham dependentes. O banco Alfa é mais orientado para a liderança de resultados do que o banco Beta e os líderes são mais motivados com a obtenção de resultados positivos. As correlações apontaram que a determinação do que o funcionário deve fazer para melhorar os resultados finais tem uma correlação positiva com a comunicação interna das metas e objetivos. O envolvimento em atividades e oportunidades de desenvolvimento que ajudam a produzir melhores resultados tem uma correlação com a comunicação interna das metas e objetivos. O envolvimento em atividades e oportunidades de desenvolvimento que ajudam a produzir melhores resultados tem uma correlação com a determinação do que o funcionário deve fazer para melhorar os resultados finais. A satisfação em relação às oportunidades de carreira tem uma correlação com variáveis de gestão estratégica de pessoas, aspectos organizacionais e psicológicos. Os aspectos psicológicos apresentam uma correlação entre a satisfação com as oportunidades de carreira e participação. Rejeitou-se todas as hipóteses de pesquisa, ou seja, representando que existe associação entre os fatores de estudo, mostrando que os comportamentos perceptivos são diferentes, de acordo com os respondentes da pesquisa. As principais contribuições do estudo são do entendimento do tema ora estudado e para identificação da dinâmica da gestão de pessoas nas instituições pesquisadas. Para a comunidade científica foi importante o estudo, pois verificou-se como esses constructos se relacionam e podem contribuir para os resultados das organizações e para a qualidade de vida no trabalho dos seus colaboradores. Este trabalho é relevante, pois os dados da pesquisa demonstraram que quanto maior o investimento em políticas de gestão estratégica de pessoas com visão transformada, maior será a satisfação com os aspectos da qualidade de vida no trabalho. / The globalization of the economies has resulted in some modifications on the financial and banking systems, where the recent changes in the economical scenario, allied with a high concentration of financial institutions, has demonstrated the dynamic of this sector. The competition among banks will increase in the following years, once they will be trying to reach larger market shares. From this perspective of view, the management personal has an important mission by offering new services and adding value on their structures and staff, which has to be more qualified and responsible on the company results. This way, the strategic management has an important task of formulating, implementing and evaluating the results in order to obtain competitive advantages, based on personnel management which has to be aligned with the organizational strategies. The leaders will be able to guide its employees in order to achieve the company objectives. Therefore, it is not only necessary to verify the employees satisfaction but also the biological, psychological, social and organizational aspects of their life quality at work. The main objective of this paper was to analyze the importance of the leadership focused on results, from the perspective of professionals working in two International Financial Institutions located in Brazil, and their relationship with the strategic personnel management and their levels of satisfaction taking in account the biological, psychological, social and organizational aspects. The method has involved an exploratory research, unique and occasional, with a statistic sample of a hundred and fifty eight participants - it was applied from July through October, 2008. The main results were the characterization of the financial institutions; identification of the structured personnel management polices related to the employees hiring process, training and development, positions and earnings, social benefits, performance evaluation, and levels of hygiene and security at work on the studied organizations. The demographic characteristics of the respondents per financial institution are the following: the majority of the participants were composed by technicians, analysts or assistants, and they were most women aging up to 35 years old, graduated or high graduated and having no kids. Alfa bank is most oriented toward leadership results than Beta bank, but the leaders of bank Beta are more motivated toward positive results. The correlations showed that the determination of what the employees should make to improve the company final results is linked to the goals and objectives determined by the company internal communication. The involvement in activities and development opportunities that helps results improvements is linked to the employees determination of what he or she should make to improve the final results. The satisfaction related to the carrier opportunities is not only linked to personnel strategic management variables, but also to the organizational and psychological aspects. The entire research hypothesis was rejected due to many aspects of the research were associated and the respondents perception were different. The major contributions of this study were the understanding of the theme and the identification of the personnel management dynamic on the financial institutions. The importance of this study to the academic community is related with the aspects that contribute for the organizations toward reaching better results, and also for the life quality at work for its employees. The importance of this study is related to the data collected on the field research which proves that the higher investments in strategic personnel management policies will result on higher employees satisfaction with the life quality at work.

O ambiente globalizado e em constantes mudanças, previsto por pesquisadores nas últimas décadas, passou a fazer parte do dia a dia das organizações. Nesse cenário de desenvolvimento tecnológico e surgimento da era da informação, a competividade se acirrou no ambiente corporativo. As organizações encontram-se diante do desafio de, com os recursos disponíveis, garantirem a vantagem competitiva diante de seus competidores, e as áreas de Recursos Humanos passam a ocupar uma posição estratégica para garantir a implementação de estratégias de negócios das organizações. Essas estratégias, normalmente, abrangem a utilização de empregados com qualidades diferenciadas em posições chave na organização, aqueles que podem ser chamados de \'talentos\'. Pesquisas de institutos e consultorias de renome apontam que uma das principais prioridades para os profissionais de RH é a Gestão de Talentos, com ênfase no desenvolvimento de políticas e práticas que visem à manutenção do empregado na organização, a sua retenção. Considerando esses aspectos, além dos altos custos envolvidos na saída e substituição de um empregado e questões como a escassez de mão de obra vivenciada no cenário nacional, esta dissertação buscou investigar a relação dos motivos que levam os empregados a permanecerem na organização, ou seja, seus fatores de retenção, e as características pessoais, profissionais e organizacionais destes empregados. A pesquisa contou com 121.532 respondentes, atuando em 407 organizações participantes de pesquisa pública que analisa a qualidade do ambiente de trabalho. No aspecto metodológico, foram desenvolvidas análises qualitativas e quantitativas para obter os fatores de retenção e verificar suas relações com as características dos empregados. Utilizou-se a técnica de Análise de Correspondência Múltipla para visualização do mapa perceptual das variáveis em estudo. Foram encontrados 13 fatores de retenção dos empregados, sendo que doze foram identificados anteriormente em estudo norte americano - Comprometimento Organizacional, Falta de Alternativas, Flexibilidade no Trabalho, Influências Não Relacionadas ao Trabalho, Investimentos, Justiça Organizacional, Localização, Oportunidades de Desenvolvimento, Prestígio Organizacional, Recompensas Extrínsecas, Relacionamentos e Satisfação com o Trabalho - e um fator foi incluído neste estudo - Estabilidade e Segurança. Os resultados mostraram associações entre os fatores de retenção e as variáveis das características dos empregados, sendo que algumas variáveis discriminam mais, como Escolaridade, Cargo e Faixa Etária, enquanto outras apresentam menor influência, como Gênero e Avaliação de Desempenho. / The globalized and rapidly changing environment, predicted by researchers in recent decades, has become part of everyday life of organizations. In this technological development scenario and rise of the information age, the competitiveness intensified in the corporate environment. Organizations are facing the challenge of, with the available resources, ensure the competitive advantage over its competitors and the Human Resources come to occupy a strategic position to ensure the implementation of business strategies of organizations. These strategies typically include the use of employees with unique qualities in key positions in the organization, those who can be called \'talent\'. Researches from renowned institutes and consultancies indicate that a top priority for HR professionals is Talent Management, with emphasis on the development of policies and practices aimed at maintaining the employee in the organization, their retention. Considering these aspects, in addition to high costs involved in releasing and replacing an employee and issues such as the shortage of labor force experienced in the national scenario, this dissertation investigates the relationship of the reasons that lead employees to remain in the organization, that is their retention factors, and personal, professional and organizational characteristics of these employees. The survey involved a sample of 121532 respondents, working in 407 organizations participating in public research that analyzes the quality of the work environment. Considering the methodological aspect, qualitative and quantitative analyzes were performed to obtain the retention factors and verify its relations with the characteristics of employees. It was used the technique of Multiple Correspondence Analysis to display the perceptual map of the study variables. 13 employee retention factors were found, twelve were identified previously in North American study - Organizational Commitment, Lack of Alternatives, Flexibility at Work, Nonwork Influences, Investments, Organizational Justice, Location, Development Opportunities, Organizational Prestige , Extrinsic Rewards, Relationships and Job Satisfaction - and a factor was included in this study - Stability and Security. The results showed associations between retention factors and variables of the characteristics of employees, some of which variables discriminate more like Education, Job and Age, while others have less influence, as Gender and Performance Evaluation.

[pt] O atual estágio do capitalismo imprime uma concorrência feroz às empresas, que tem a sobrevivência como necessidade mais premente em um cenário constantemente em mutação. Nesse ambiente, desenha- se um novo perfil das relações de trabalho nas empresas capitalistas que, na visão de autores como Capelli (1999) e Boltanski e Chiapello (2002) guarda inúmeras inconsistências. Uma das principais inconsistências é a de que, ao mesmo tempo em que se diz que as pessoas são os principais ativos organizacionais e delas se espera um nível de participação mais ativa, a lógica que rege as relações de trabalho parece ser cada vez mais a de resultados de curto prazo e de enfraquecimento dos vínculos de emprego. O presente estudo tem, então, como objetivo conhecer a percepção dos profissionais de nível superior de empresas capitalistas sobre as relações atuais de trabalho e suas possibilidades de serem sujeitos neste contexto. Os resultados sugerem que os indivíduos tendem a enxergar as atuais relações de trabalho nas empresas como um jogo cujas regras são incontestáveis, sobre as quais possuem poucas possibilidades de interferência. Ao mesmo tempo em que demonstram esse grau de conformidade com as regras do jogo, revelam sentir também, no entanto, angústia ou frustração por não encontrarem espaço suficiente para expressarem plenamente suas crenças e expectativas. Além disso, revelam que o esforço de manter a empregabilidade tem um custo pessoal elevado e que as empresas pouco participam desse esforço, deixando-o exclusivamente a cargo do próprio indivíduo. / [en] The current capitalism stage produces a fierce competition to the companies that have the survival as the most urgent necessity in a constant changing scene. In this circumstance, a new profile about work relations in capitalist companies is drawn. According to the authors Capelli (1999) and Boltanski and Chiapello (2002), these relations keep several inconsistencies. One of main inconsistence is considering people as organizational active and expecting a high level in participation, but at the same time, the logic that guides the working relations seems to be short deadline results and weakness of employment bond more and more. The current research aims to know the graduated professionals perception of capitalist companies about current working relations and their possibilities of being subjects in this context. The results suggest that individuals seem to think about current working relations in the companies as a game with uncontestable rules that present few chances of interfering. At the same time in which they show this conformity level with the game rules, they also, however, seem to feel anguish and frustration due to lack of enough space to express their believes and expectations completely. Moreover, they reveal that the effort in keeping the employability has a high personal dedication and the companies participate of this dedication weakly, leaving the responsibility only to the individual.

Abstract The research of the thesis is a human- and context-oriented qualitative study in the field of information systems (IS) discipline. The thesis has five research concepts: human resource information systems (HRIS), leadership, human resource management (HRM), tacit knowledge and emotional intelligence (EI). HRIS and leadership are two main concepts of the research, whereas HRM provides an application area and managerial activities of leadership for HRIS. Tacit knowledge and EI, for their part, are used to describe and interpret actions that make good leadership activities human, sensitive and successful. The theoretical framework of the thesis consists of two ideas, 1) when thinking and acting in the current way, what kind of information systems it produces, and 2) when thinking and acting in another way, what kind of information systems it creates. The framework has its base on thinking and acting in a conventional, routine and stereotyped way, which hinders the process of observing, finding out, applying and using alternative thoughts and actions although they might provide useful and innovative solutions or activities for IS design. The research has been carried out and accomplished using hermeneutic phenomenography as a research method to understand, interpret and to describe the phenomenon of the activities of good leadership and the phenomenon of the role of HRIS in the case organizations. As a result of the interviews, the good leaders’ main activity is to learn to know their employees. The essential finding is that the role of HRIS is partly unclear and even non-specific in organizations. The results indicate that the leaders do not use HRIS willingly. In their opinion HRIS do not serve or support their leadership activities. The use of HRIS is more a burden for them than a useful system. The data of HRIS benefits the managerial activities partly but does not benefit the human activities that the leaders have described and emphasized. Thus, a construct of hermeneutic phenomenography has been developed as a contribution to describe the research phenomena and to demonstrate how the role of HRIS could be developed for the activities of good leadership.

This dissertation provides a journey into the world of beliefs and values of Saudi Arabia’s organisations, people and society at large, and how these influence and shape HRM practices and the employment relationship in the country. Designed as a single country case study, the dissertation uses a multi-case research design where two large companies operating in Saudi Arabia (an indigenous and a foreign multinational corporation) are explored and compared through methodological triangulation in data collection methods (interviews, surveys and focus group). The main findings identify that institutional pressures (regulatory and normative) are strong catalysts facilitating the impact of Islamic teachings on the workplace in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The regulative forces represent the organisations’ rules, regulatory constraints (forced by regulatory bodies) and penalties for violations. They are a result of the KSA’s legal system and its political culture. The normative forces identify values and social behavioural norms which define how things should be done within the organisation. They are a result of the wider Saudi culture. Apart from its contribution to knowledge of the HRM practices of Saudi Arabia at micro- and meta- level, the dissertation also provides an analysis at two additional levels. it contributes firstly to the growing knowledge on the influence of Islamic beliefs in the workplace, and secondly, to the enlargement of theory on the subject of religion and its impact in the workplace. Moreover, the dissertation makes a contribution to the literature on HRM practices and approaches in Saudi Arabia. This extends to other countries of the Arab Gulf, holding strong potential to become a source of knowledge and reference for foreign organisations which operate and wish to operate in that region.

Strategic human resource management is an approach that is closely related to the strategic organizational management, thus it is in accordance with the given objectives and goals of the organization leading to its permanent development and efficiency as a whole. The diploma work aims to find out whether the leisure time centres in the Czech Republic are in terms of human resources managed strategically. The theoretical part of the diploma work defines the terms concerning personnel activities and strategic organizational management in the context of specifications of an educational institution like a leisure time centre and/or similar one. The research deals with the interconnection between the personnel activity performance in an organization and an organizational strategy. Further on, it discloses aspects and features of the strategic human resource management in a leisure time centre and/or organizations of a similar type. It also focuses on possible agreement between the human resource management policies in the investigated organizations and the chosen human resource management models. The quantitative research method, i.e. a questionnaire, is used for the purpose of the research. Another research method applied is the structured interview, which serves to gain a larger scale of information...

The aim of the thesis is to analyze the priorities of education and development of pedagogical staff in kindergartens of the Central Bohemian region. The theoretical part consists of definition of key words followed by the analysis of state educational dokuments which are divided into strategic, curricular and legislative. In this analysis, the indexed terms and priorities of each document are described. The outputs are given in the end of the chapter. Following part is devoted to the strategy of staff management with identification and analysis of educational needs, plan of education, its realization and assessment. The practical part contains methods of questionnaire survey. The survey is given to teachers and directors of kindergartens in Central Bohemia who summarize their own priorities in education. The analysis of documents of eight selected Central Bohemian kindergartens deals with the individual strategies of management of pedagogical staff education. Also, the semi- structured interviews with the school directors were carried out. Finally, the thesis offers several recommendations which are based on the research. KEYWORDS Continuing education, development, pedagogical staff, strategy, human resource management.

This thesis deals with the system of human resource management in international companies. The theoretical part is focused on the concept of international human resource management basic methods and trends and techniques of human resource management in international corporations. The practical part is devoted to analyze the current state of human resources management in ADP Employer Services Ceska republika a.s. the daughter company of international organization ADP Inc. Based on my practical research: employees survey and personal interview with the local HR Business Partner Lead I will evaluate the current state of human resource management system in the company and make series of recommendations that will help to improve the system of human resources for ADPs branch in Czech Republic which is the main contribution of this thesis.

The discipline of Human Resource Management is regarded as one of the fundamental pillars of organisational theory. The employees of an institution are considered to be the most important assets that an institution possesses, primarily because they determine the success or failure of the institution in question. Employee attraction and retention is known to scholars of the discipline as one of the prominent challenges that constantly confront institutions, both public and private. As labour markets become more globalised, the phenomenon of employee mobility surges, which results in these public and private institutions needing to develop and implement measures that would assist them in attracting skilled personnel, whilst also ensuring that they have the ability to retain such personnel. The war for talent continues to grow in the contemporary world as institutions strive to adapt the ever-changing milieu in which they operate. This study examines the underlying factors of career and retention management practices in the Department of Local Government and Housing by virtue of evaluating the Career and Retention Management Policy that the Department has in place as a means of addressing its turnover and retention challenges. Furthermore, the study recommends possible solutions and strategies for improving the current interventionist policy of the Department. The literature study indicated that employee turnover is detrimental to the ability of an institution to deliver goods and services, particularly if dysfunctional turnover occurs. Some of the causes, costs and types of turnover were conceptualised, in addition to the discussions on career and retention management. The study highlighted that the establishment of effective career development and management systems in the workplace is imperative, particularly as employees continuously seek personal and career growth opportunities. The failure to develop such systems may result in employees seeking these opportunities elsewhere, which would consequently deter the Department or any other institution from attaining its goals and objectives. The empirical study of this dissertation investigated possible reasons or factors why senior managers of the Department of Local Government and Housing may want to leave the Department and seek employment elsewhere. In addition to this, an evaluation of the Career and Retention Management Policy would provide a perceptive for assessing the effectiveness of the Policy in terms of its capacity to reduce employee turnover, at the same time ensuring that the Department remains an attractive employer of choice. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to forty senior managers; however twenty-one were completed and returned by the participants. The analysis of the data revealed that the public service has the capability to retain critically skilled employees and that this is not necessarily brought about by the introduction of improved remuneration packages, but rather by placing an emphasis on career development because very often employees in the Department of Local Government and Housing are denied opportunities to climb the career ladder and this results in the Department’s retention ability being challenged. Various gaps within the Policy were identified, predominantly its content, which was described by participants as ambiguous. The study recommends possible solutions and strategies for addressing the challenges that were identified in the analysis. International best practices are utilised as a benchmark for establishing how other institutions have successfully formulated and implemented effective career development and management systems. / Dissertation (MAdmin)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / School of Public Management and Administration / unrestricted