Thesis (M.Comm. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

The objectives of this research were to investigate ministers' job demands and job resources, to study the relationship between the different job demands and job resources that ministers experience, to investigate the effects of job demands and job resources on minister's burnout and engagement, to investigate the factors impacting on the health and congregational commitment of ministers, to analyse the effects of job demands and job resources on ministers' psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability, to determine whether engagement can mediate the impact that psychological conditions have on levels of congregational commitment and to investigate the effects of religious coping on ministers' psychological conditions. The research method for each of the three articles consisted of a brief literature review and an empirical study. A non-probability purposive voluntary sample of 115 ministers was used. A qualitative design was used in article one to determine the relevant job demands and job resources of ministers. A cross-sectional design, with a survey as the data collection technique was used. The Job Demands-Resources Questionnaire (JD-RQ), 14 items of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), eight items of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI), the Work Engagement Scale (WES), 26 items of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), the Congregational Commitment Questionnaire (CCQ), the Psychological Conditions Questionnaire (PCQ), the Religious Coping Questionnaire (RCQ) and a biographical questionnaire were administered. The statistical analyses were carried out with the help of the SPSS program. The statistical methods utilised in the three articles consisted of descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, principal factor analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients and regression analyses. The results indicated that the job demands experienced by ministers were: pace and amount of work and emotional demands and job resources were: growth opportunities, instrumental support, congregational support, autonomy, social support, and job significance. It was found that pace and amount of work correlated positively with emotional demands while, emotional demands correlated negatively with growth opportunities, autonomy, instrumental support, congregational support and social support. Furthermore, pace and amount of work and a lack of growth opportunities and to a lesser extent emotional demands and a lack of congregational support were indicators of exhaustion. Mental distance was best predicted by emotional demands. Growth opportunities, social support and job significance were predictors of engagement. As for health, somatic symptoms were best predicated by exhaustion while depression was found to be predicted by exhaustion and mental distance. Poor social functioning was found to be predicted by exhaustion, mental distance, and low engagement. Affective commitment was found to be best predicted by engagement and low mental distance. Furthermore, psychological meaningfulness was best predicted by less emotional demands and more growth opportunities whereas psychological availability was best predicted by a lower pace and amount of work and more social support. Engagement was found to mediate the relationship between psychological meaningfulness and affective commitment but not the relationship between psychological availability and affective commitment. It was also found that engagement was best predicted by psychological meaningfulness and psychological availability, but if engagement were not controlled, engagement and psychological meaningfulness predicted affective commitment. Furthermore, religious coping affected perceptions of pace and amount of work, social support and psychological availability. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The mandates for government-owned enterprises (parastatals) have drastically changed in light of the changes in the government's post-democratic dispensation. There are more pressures and obligations related to governance, business operations, sustainability and financial viability prescribed for these institutions. Parastatals have moved from fully utilising government subsidies and incurring more debts at the expense of government, to income-generating entities. This change has exposed parastatals to global challenges, experienced by all organisations related to human capital management. Employees are the most critical assets that assist organisations to fulfil their mandates and drive their competitive advantage. While organisations experience challenges and pressures in the market, employees are also positively and adversely affected, depending on their dispositions and general functioning. The extent of employee participation and involvement in their work roles impacts on the success of the institution. Thus, work-related well-being of employees is an integral part of any organisational functioning and this relates to interplay between constructs of job demands, job resources, psychological conditions at work, health, work engagement, self-efficacy and organisational commitment. The general objective of this research was to study work engagement and its relationship with various other antecedents, mediators and outcomes of employees within a parastatal in the South African context. Furthermore, the study aimed to understand the relationships between factors of job demands, job resources, psychological conditions, self-efficacy and work engagement. In addition to the above, this study also aimed to determine relationships between psychological conditions, job demands, job resources, work engagement, self-efficacy, health and organisational commitment. The findings are presented in three articles, each consisting of a brief literature review and an empirical study. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The study included 288 participants in a parastatal in different job categories and levels. The questionnaires used in the empirical study comprised of the Work Engagement Scale, the Antecedents Scale, the Job Demands-Re sources Scale, the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire, the Psychological Conditions Questionnaire, the Self-Efficacy Scale, the General Health Questionnaire and a biographical questionnaire. Exploratory factor analyses were carried out to determine the construct validity of the measuring instruments. Pearson-product moment correlation coefficients were used to assess the relationships between the variables, while multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the predictive value of factors on each other. The results showed that psychological meaning fulness and psychological availability were significant predictors of work engagement, with person-environment fit and growth opportunities in the job as strongest predictors of psychological meaningfulness. Person-environment fit was the strongest predictor of work engagement and psychological availability was best predicted by physical resources. Overload and psychological meaningfulness were the best predictors of work engagement. Growth opportunities in the job and organisational support were the best predictors of psychological meaningfulness, which also strongly predicted work engagement. Psychological availability was found to be positively related to organisational support and self-efficacy. Low psychological availability predicted physical and psychological ill health, while low psychological meaningfulness predicted psychological ill health. Work engagement was the strongest predictor of normative and affective commitment, while psychological meaningfulness strongly predicted normative commitment. Recommendations for future research are made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (MCom)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Health care is a key factor in the general health and wellbeing of any society. At the centre of any well-functioning healthcare system is sufficient, engaged and competent nursing staff. Access to proper health care is reliant on sufficient nursing staff levels, but unfortunately the global scarcity of nursing staff is proving to be a big challenge to the quality and service delivery that public and private healthcare organisations are providing. One of the many contributing factors to the shortage of nursing staff is the global challenge of an aging nursing staff population. At a time of widespread concern about nursing shortages and an ageing nursing workforce globally, human resources functions should pay increasing attention to addressing the shortage of nursing staff. Although attracting individuals to the nursing profession will increase the nursing pool, the engagement (and consequently retention) of current nursing staff is crucial to ensure a sustainable nursing workforce, and as a result, a sustainable healthcare system. The purpose of this study therefore included a diagnosis of the current state of work engagement of nursing practitioners, with the Job Demands and Resources model as diagnostic model, in an attempt to identify the antecedents that significantly contribute to the engagement of nursing practitioners. The data analysis techniques that were applied in this study included item analysis, correlation analysis, hierarchical multiple regression analysis, PLS analysis and ANOVA. While the overall level of work engagement of nursing practitioners in the sample might not have been as low as had been envisioned, there are clearly deficiencies that need to be addressed. In terms of job resources, the factors that were found to be below optimum levels, and warrants intervention, included remuneration, participation, career possibilities, variety at work, independence at work, opportunities to learn, and information. The job resources communication, contact possibilities, relationships with colleagues and relationship with supervisor yielded acceptable mean scores and as a result no particular interventions were proposed for these variables. In terms of job demands, all job demands were reported to be at unacceptably high levels; however, no correlation between pace and amount of work and work engagement was confirmed. As a result, practical recommendations were built around these job demands and resources which anticipate increasing the work engagement of nursing practitioners and thereby partially addressing the greater problem of nursing shortages. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar.

Abstract Date: 2020-06-09 Level: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University Authors: Jonathan Örström          Aram Said (98/09/13)                    (97/01/19) Title: Investigating project-based engagement within the project-oriented organisation; a study on the influence of a project structure on the drivers of engagement and human issues within project management. Tutor: David Freund Keywords: Project structure, employee engagement, manager relationship, job demands, job resources, group dynamics. Research question: How can a project structure have an impact on project team members’ engagement within a project-oriented organisation?           Purpose: This thesis aims to investigate within a project-oriented organization how the project management structure can influence the project teams’ engagement. Its further purpose is to add new knowledge in the subject of project-based engagement and human issues of project management. To study this area, possibilities will open for a greater understanding of workplace engagement, in the specific context of project-oriented organisations implementing the project structure. Method: This thesis adopts a quantitative research method with a deductive theory approach, whereby theory is elaborated which devices hypotheses for the research. Furthermore, the collection of primary data for this thesis is retrieved through a self-completion questionnaire in the form of an online survey provided by Google Forms. Data will be retrieved and analysed through the statistical software IBM SPSS Conclusion: The most significant finding is the positive relationship between manager relationship and engagement, strongly agreeing with previous literature of Khan (1990) and Matthews et al. (2018). The other two variables found to have a significant relationship to engagement were job-resource availability and work/ task context. This agreed with Bakker et al. (2007), Demerouti et al. (2001), Khan (1990) and Matthews et al. (2018) amongst others. Unexpectedly and as not hypothesised for is that group dynamics has no significant relationship towards engagement. This goes against some of the main literature by Kahn (1990) and Matthews et al. (2018). However, the result has shown all variables are influenced by the project structure and engagement indicated to increase in its whole

Some credit union leaders experience a reduction in productivity when employee stress is significant in the workplace. Credit union leaders noted employee stress increases costs and decreaseproductivity. This study might be important for business leaders seeking to reduce employee stress to enhance productivity. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies credit union leaders use to reduce employee stress to enhance productivity. The population comprised of 11 credit union leaders in western and midwestern states in the United States who have implemented successful strategies to reduce employee stress to enhance productivity. Job demands-resources theory was the conceptual framework. Data collection included face-to-face semistructured interviews, teleconferencing semistructured interviews, and company documents, while thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The themes identified include a feedback-friendly work environment, a holistic approach to wellbeing, and a positive company culture. The implications for positive social change include credit union leaders' awareness to reduce employee stress to improve overall employee wellbeing that might lead to healthier relationships with coworkers, credit union members, family members, and friends.

The study reported in this article examines the nature of relationships among job and personal resources, and psychological and behavioral outcomes. A related objective of the study is to uncover whether these relationships vary according to outcome type. Frontline employees of several hotels throughout the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus serve as the study setting. Results and their implications are discussed, and avenues for future research are offered.

This study develops and tests a model which investigates the simultaneous effects of job demands, job resources, and a personal resource (intrinsic motivation) on emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions. Frontline hotel employees in Ankara, Turkey serve as the study setting. Among others, results show that job demands (role conflict and role ambiguity) trigger frontline employees' emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions. Job resources (supervisory support, training, empowerment, and rewards) and intrinsic motivation reduce emotional exhaustion. Implications of the findings are discussed and directions for future research are offered.

In this study, a model examining the effects of customer orientation and job resources (supervisory support, training, empowerment, and rewards) on frontline employees' job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, and turnover intentions is developed and tested. Data collected via self-administered questionnaires from a sample of 723 frontline hotel employees in Turkey serve as the study setting. Results show that customer orientation and job resources enhance frontline employees' job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment, and diminish their turnover intentions. Also, job satisfaction has a significant positive impact on affective organizational commitment and a negative effect on turnover intentions. Implications of the results are discussed and future research avenues are offered.

The annual cost of low employee engagement in Australian workplaces was $18.7 billion in 2015. Healthcare managers who adopt employee engagement strategies have the potential to achieve robust clinical, operational, and financial results that benefit both the organization and the community as a whole. The purpose of this single case study was to explore effective employee engagement strategies that some healthcare managers used to increase organizational performance. Social exchange theory was the conceptual framework for the study. Data were collected through semi structured interviews with 8 healthcare managers in Queensland, Australia. Participants who implemented successful employee engagement strategies were selected using a snowball sampling technique. Data analysis consisted of generating themes through coding using a deductive approach and reporting emergent themes. Five key themes that emerged from the data analysis were psychological ownership, job resources, leadership, training and development, and rewards and recognition. The process of member checking ensured that findings accurately represented participants' views. Recommendations from the study highlight the need for healthcare managers to implement employee engagement strategies that motivate discretionary efforts, resulting in improved quality patient care and organizational performance. The implications for positive social change include providing healthcare managers with effective employee engagement strategies that could improve patient experiences, operational efficiencies, and quality healthcare provisions in the healthcare industry.