The purpose of the study was to explore the lived experiences of nurses on the implementation of occupational specific dispensation (OSD). Qualitative research using hermeneutic phenomenology was conducted in the three selected public hospitals in the Umgungundlovu district in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Data was collected by means of in-depth interviews with professional nurses, enrolled nurses and nursing assistants and focus group discussions with nurse managers purposively selected at the public hospitals in the Umgungundlovu district. Parse’s extraction synthesis analysis of data was done and seven (7) themes emerged from the participants’ dialogical conversation exploring the experiences of the implementation of OSD. The findings suggested that nurses viewed OSD as unfair labour practice because it divided nurses; there are those who grossly benefitted and those who benefitted less. The researcher concluded that the study will assist the authorities in the department of health both nationally and provincially to review OSD for nurses and close the gaps identified during the implementation as they were the pilot group. / Health Studies / M. A. (Health Studies)

Thesis (MTech (Public Administration)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / Organisations spend large sums of money on staff after they have been recruited in order to make them proficient in their jobs. It is therefore important to ensure that staff remain with the organisation for as long as possible, allowing the organisation to reap the benefit from its investment in the form of good performance by staff. Work performance can however, be affected negatively when labour turnover is high. This research project reflects on staff turnover amongst professional nurses, posing the question, “What can be done to alleviate high staff turnover?” A quantitative approach to research was followed within a Western Cape Metropolitan Municipality. The significance of the research is reflected in the recommendations made to the management of the municipality to address staff turnover in the specified category of employees.

Unemployment is a major issue in South Africa and if not properly addressed, will have devastating effects in the near future. The challenges facing the South African government is poverty, inequality and unemployment. When carefully examined, all these problems are interrelated. Studies have shown the causes of structural unemployment in South Africa, because despite the high statistical figures, unemployment is highly concentrated on specific racial groups and age cohorts. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of youth unemployment in two selected townships. The motivation for the selection of the research participants for this research was because persons in the same age cohorts are likely to share many characteristics that might influence their labour market experiences and outcomes. A qualitative study was undertaken in two locations in 2016, using two research instruments namely; the In-Depth Interviews (IDI’s) and the Focus Group Discussion (FGD’s). In both locations selected for the study, four FGD’s were conducted with both males and females, each with 8 participants and the IDI’s had 10 per site, 5 for males and 5 for females respectively. The data was analysed using the Nvivo computer software. The findings revealed that where the participants have solid family support, the experience of living with unemployment is severe because their potential to contribute in society goes untapped. However, the experience of living with unemployment is cushioned by the support they receive in their families. However, in households where the participants lack family support life becomes difficult for the unemployed. On the other note, the family support also makes the research respondents not to be serious when looking for employment opportunities. It renders them redundant. Another finding concerns the social grant provided by government. Participants in households that receive social grants are shielded from abject poverty. Many participants reported that it is not easy to get into the EPWP while others are not interested in it at all. Finally, none of the research participants have participated in the EPWP programs before, with some being aware of their existence while others are not. The research has shown that young people will not take up any job opportunity that is available for them. / Sociology / M.A. (Sociology)

This research seeks to understand what it means to be a teacher and the experiences that shape what teachers do in the context of a primary school. In asking the question, What’s a teacher anyway? I produced data of teachers’ daily practices and social realities within their lived experiences. Located within an interpretive paradigm, I documented various identities and meanings of teachers which helped me to understand how teachers negotiate the multiple forces within the setting of a primary school. The research looked at teachers in their social context, since teachers do not work in isolation but are subject to particular social influences. Using the participatory approach, I produced data of the lives of two experienced teachers who work in a primary school in the eThekweni region of KwaZulu-Natal. The participatory methodology was most appropriate to gather the necessary data, as it allowed for the teachers’ voices to be heard. Against the social, institutional, contextual and programmatic contexts, data were sourced by means of career life-history interviews and photovoice. Through narrative analysis, the teachers’ stories were reconstructed and represented as identity categories through which they were able to construct their professional selves and their professional work. The findings that were generated from the two experienced primary school teachers were analysed and represented under the key themes of professional self and professional work. The findings offer an understanding of how practising teachers manage their work and themselves against all the changes and challenges of the South African educational landscape specifically in the schooling situation. Through the reconstructed stories by the teachers, the study makes visible how teacher identity shapes teachers and their work in the school. The data reveals that teachers have multiple identities of who they are and how they respond from their position as teachers, which clash with what is expected of them in the school. The findings show that teachers are unhappy with the curriculum and political shifts, as these are imposed on them in an arbitrary manner. The study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the relationship between teacher identity and teacher work. The study revolves around the teacher who tries to build an interesting relationship between the identities of “mother”, “teacher” and “caregiver”. Being a teacher, innovative ways are created to manage the administrative work and the curriculum work. The iii second teacher, an Indian male, as a person and an activist, growing up in a poor community, negotiates between the forces to make sense of what it means to be a teacher in the present shift, given the diversity of pupils and the various issues that accompany it. The teachers are working in a social reality and have to manage a range of challenges, difficulties and struggles. They find creative ways to negotiate the multiple roles and responsibilities and make sense of what it means to be a teacher. Due to excessive administrative and curricular demands being made on them, teachers are found to be experiencing tension and undue stress in their work while negotiating the multiple forces that surround them in the context of the school. To answer my research question, What’s a teacher anyway, I considered how they moved beyond their conventional roles and responsibilities as teachers, and how they endeavoured to make meaning and sense of themselves as successful teachers within the four dimensions of Samuel’s (2008) framework. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2010.

Absenteeism can be a major problem for organisations. As pressures increase on the budgets and competitiveness of companies, more attention is being given to reduce workplace absenteeism and its cost. Job satisfaction has been noted as one of the factors influencing an employee's motivation to attend. Studies on the relationship between absenteeism and job satisfaction seem to be inconsistent. Some research has found no correlation between these two variables whereas other studies indicate a weak to moderate relationship between these two variables. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism in a selected department within and Electricity Unit in the Western Cape.

Thesis (MComm (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Globally, institutions of higher learning are characterised by continuous change, which has significant ramifications for the success and functioning of any institution of higher learning. In this context, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the perceptions of academics regarding the work environment in a transforming South African institution of higher learning and their job involvement and organisational commitment. The data were gathered by means of the Academic Work Environment Survey (AWES) measuring instrument. This measuring instrument obtained extraordinarily high reliability coefficients in the study. The results of the study indicate that academics in general have a positive perception of their job involvement and organisational commitment. These positive perceptions of job involvement and organisational commitment can largely be attributed to academics’ positive experience of a number of aspects of the academic work environment, namely low levels of role ambiguity and role conflict and high levels of autonomy, task identity, work challenge, feedback and supervisory consideration. However, attention should be paid to certain aspects such as role ambiguity, role conflict, feedback, work challenge and supervisory consideration where differences among academics’ perceptions occur as a result of personal and professional characteristics, which might pose a threat to these positive experiences in future.

Thesis (MCom)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa has a population of just over 50 million people. However, there are only approximately 260 698 nurses according to the register of the South African Nursing Council. The nursing shortage is not only limited to South Africa, but is a global phenomenon, and this shortage is getting worse every day. Various factors can be blamed for the increasing nursing shortage. Every day nurses face demanding working hours, stressful work environments and a large shortage of resources. Nurses from private hospitals regard themselves as "overworked money-making machines". Nevertheless, the health care needed by the population of South Africa is rapidly increasing. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS is also a challenging contributor, worsening the nursing shortage crisis. The current dysfunctional nursing situation in the healthcare facilities of South Africa reflects a negative image of the nursing profession. Consequently, the number of individuals considering nursing as a profession is decreasing. The nursing shortage is not only a threat to the wellbeing of nurses, but to the lives of millions of South Africans who need health care. A common phenomenon amongst nurses is burnout, which leads to decreased quality of care and high turnover rates and contributes to the nursing shortage. Also, other nurses experience work engagement and display organisational citizenship behaviour in the same working environments than the nurses who experience burnout. Work engagement (WE) and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) are ideal outcomes. This study investigated distinguishing factors between nurses that allow them to experience WE and exhibit OCB. The Job Demands-Resources model played an integral role in the study. Therefore, the specific focus of the study was job and personal resources, as well as job demands, as factors contributing to WE and OCB amongst nurses. Servant leadership (SL) as job resource, psychological capital (PsyCap) as personal resource, and IT (Illegitimate tasks) as job demand were identified as possible factors that explain the variance in WE and OCB. A literature review was conducted in which prominent antecedents of WE and OCB were identified. A number of hypotheses were formulated and tested by means of an ex post facto correlation design. The unit of analysis was nurses from two of the largest private hospital groups in South Africa. The nurses were employed at one hospital in Gauteng and three hospitals in the Western Cape. Data was collected from 208 nurses located within the chosen hospitals. Data collection on all five variables, namely work engagement, organisational citizenship behaviour, servant leadership, psychological capital and IT, was conducted by means of self-administered questionnaires. The measurements included in the self-administered questionnaire were selected in terms of their validity and reliability. The following measurements were included; Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), Organisational Citizenship Checklist (OCB-C), Servant Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ), Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ) and the Bern Illegitimate Task Scale (BITS). The data collected was analysed by means of item analyses and structural equation modelling. A PLS path analysis was conducted to determine the model fit. The most significant findings were that SL, as a job resource, and PsyCap, as a personal resource, were positively related to WE amongst nurses. The results also revealed that PsyCap was positively related to OCB. Lastly, it was found that IT, as a job demand, are negatively related to WE amongst nurses. These results support the assumptions of the JD-R model that specific job and personal resources lead to WE. The results provide guidelines regarding practical managerial implications and strategies to address the challenges experienced by nurses. The results, together with the managerial implications, made it possible to provide valuable insights and recommendations for industrial psychologists, as well as for further studies. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika het ‘n bevolking van net oor die 50 miljoen mense. Daar is egter volgens die register van die Suid-Afrikaanse Verpleegkunderaad net omtrent 260 698 verpleërs. Die tekort aan verpleërs is nie net tot Suid-Afrika beperk nie, maar is ‘n globale fenomeen, en die tekort word elke dag groter. Verskeie faktore kan vir die toenemende verpleërtekort blameer word. Verpleërs word elke dag gekonfronteer met veeleisende werksure, stresvolle werksomstandighede en ‘n groot tekort aan hulpbronne. Verpleërs by privaat hospitale beskou hulleself as “oorwerkte geldmaakmasjiene”. Nietemin neem die gesondheidsorg wat deur die Suid-Afrikaanse bevolking benodig word, vinnig toe. Die hoë voorkoms van MIV/VIGS is ook ‘n uitdagende bydraer wat die verpleërtekort vererger. Die huidige wanfunksionele verpleegtoestand in die gesondheidsorgfasiliteite van Suid-Afrika word weerspieël in die negatiewe beeld van die verpleegberoep. Gevolglik verminder die getal mense wat verpleging as ‘n beroep oorweeg. Die verpleërtekort bedreig nie net die welstand van verpleërs nie, maar ook die lewens van miljoene Suid-Afrikaners wat gesondheidsorg benodig. ‘n Algemene verskynsel onder verpleërs is uitbranding (burnout), wat lei tot ‘n afname in die kwaliteit van sorg en hoë omsetkoerse en bydra tot die verpleërtekort. Ander verpleërs ervaar egter werksbetrokkenheid (work engagement) en vertoon organisatoriese burgerskapsgedrag (organisational citizenship behaviour) in dieselfde omgewing waar verpleërs uitbranding ervaar. Werksbetrokkenheid en organisatoriese burgerskapsgedrag is ideale uitkomstes. Hierdie studie het onderskeidende faktore onder verpleërs ondersoek wat hulle toelaat om werksbetrokkenheid te ervaar en organisatoriese burgerskapsgedrag te vertoon. Die model van werkseise en hulpbronne (Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model) het ‘n integrale rol in die studie gespeel. Die spesifieke fokus van die studie was dus op werks- en persoonlike hulpbronne, sowel as werkseise, as faktore wat bydra tot werksbetrokkenheid en organisatoriese burgerskapsgedrag onder verpleërs. Dienaarleierskap en sielkundige kapitaal as werkshulpbronne, en illegitieme take as werkseis, is geïdentifiseer as moontlike faktore wat die verskil in betrokkenheid en organisatoriese burgerskapsgedrag verklaar. ‘n Literatuuroorsig is onderneem waarin belangrike antesedente van betrokkenheid en organisatoriese burgerskapsgedrag geïdentifiseer is. ‘n Aantal hipoteses is geformuleer en deur middel van ‘n ex post facto korrelasie-ontwerp getoets. Die eenheid van analise was verpleërs werksaam by twee van die grootste privaathospitaalgroepe in Suid-Afrika. Die verpleërs was werksaam by een hospitaal in Gauteng en drie hospitale in die Wes-Kaap. Data is by 208 verpleërs in die gekose hospitale versamel. Dataversameling oor al vyf veranderlikes, naamlik werksbetrokkenheid, organisatoriese burgerskapsgedrag, dienaarleierskap, sielkundige kapitaal en illegitieme take, is deur middel van selftoepasvraelyste versamel. Die volgende metings is ingesluit: Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), Organisational Citizenship Checklist (OCB-C), Servant Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ), Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ) en die Bern Illegitimate Task Scale (BITS). Die versamelde data is deur middel van item-ontleding en struktuurvergelykingsontleding geanaliseer. ‘n Gedeeltelike kleinstekwadrate-baananalise (partial least squares path analysis) is onderneem om die passing van die model te bepaal. Die belangrikste bevindinge was dat dienaarleierskap, as ‘n werkshulpbron, en sielkundige kapitaal, as ‘n persoonlike hulpbron, positief verband hou met werksbetrokkenheid onder verpleërs. Die resultate toon ook dat sielkundige kapitaal positief verband hou met organisatoriese burgerskapsgedrag. Laastens is bevind dat illegitieme take, as ‘n werkseis, negatief verband hou met werksbetrokkenheid onder verpleërs. Hierdie resultate ondersteun die aannames van die model van werkseise en hulpbronne (J-DR) dat spesifieke werks- en persoonlike hulpbronne lei tot werksbetrokkenheid. Die resultate verskaf riglyne vir praktiese bestuursimplikasies en strategieë om die uitdagings wat deur verpleërs ervaar word, aan te spreek. Die resultate, tesame met die bestuursimplikasies, het dit moontlik gemaak om waardevolle insigte en aanbevelings vir bedryfsielkundiges, asook vir verdere studies, te maak.

The following research question motivated the study: "How can education management effectively address factors influencing teachers to migrate from the teaching profession?" To answer this research question, one school was selected in Limpopo Province, which is not affected by the migration of teachers from the teaching profession; this was demonstrated by the school retaining expert and veteran teachers and its excellent grade 12 results. Factors influencing the migration of teachers from the teaching profession were researched by means of qualitative approach. Focus group interviews, phenomenological interviews and unstructured (in-depth) interviews were conducted, transcribed and analysed. The research findings indicated that education management team needs to urge the government to pay teachers attractive salaries, introduce performance bonus scheme, deal with overcrowding and lack of resources, curb violence in schools, deal effectively with corruption, improve poor learners' discipline and do away with corporal punishment. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Education Management)

It has been widely reported that despite high health expenditure and a myriad of policies in place, South Africa’s health outcomes are worse than those in many lower income countries. The adverse health outcomes are even more pronounced in a rural province such as the Eastern Cape Province. Consequently, the Eastern Cape Department of Health (ECDOH) had turned to Private Public Partnerships (PPP) with the hope of mitigating some of the challenges beleaguering the health system in the province. This study evaluated the impact of the implementation of one of the PPP models at an Eastern Cape Hospital on key employee job outcomes. This is crucial as there had not yet, been this type of scientific assessment of the impact of the PPP model since the inception of the PPP about half a decade ago. Theoretical guidance of the study was provided by the Job Characteristics Theory (JCT) of Oldham and Hackman (1975), which predicted that changes in five core characteristics of a job will affect three critical psychological states which will in turn impact on key employee job outcomes. Uniquely, this study veered away from the traditional quantitative approach to the application of the JCT but rather adopted a qualitative case study approach. There is historical evidence that cross cultural validation of a theory in a new setting (a South African PPP hospital in this instance) benefits from an initial qualitative study. Data collection and analysis were guided by the JCT. Primary data collection was by semi-structured, face to face, one on one interviews. The analyses of the data specifically employed pattern matching and explanation building techniques, all underpinned by the JCT. Validity of interview data was strongly contributed to by available relevant case study documents. This study found that indeed, the implementation of this PPP model brought about changes in all five (JCT) core job characteristics of clinical staff, but to varying degrees in the three unique shared service areas. Interestingly, the three psychological states were found to have been impacted upon by changes in the JCT core job characteristics but also by factors related to the context of the job, such as quality of supervision and co-worker relationship. In contrast to the predictions of the JCT, this study also found that the key job outcomes were impacted directly by such contextual factors as the recent availability of specialists and staff shortages, among others. It also emerged that the PPP implementation has directly evoked a perception of inequity and breach of psychological contract among clinical staff working at the shared service areas. Among the three shared areas, the accident and emergency unit was discovered to have had the worst overall impact. Due to the importance of contextual factors at this PPP setting, key recommendations were directed towards improved management of the jobs. It is also recommended that a follow-up quantitative study be commissioned to further explore the main themes that emerged from this study. This research report is presented in three sections. Section 1 is the evaluative report itself, structured as an academic paper. Section 2 expands on the literature that was briefly reviewed in Section 1 while Section 3 outlines, in greater details, the research methods followed during the conduct of the research and the justifications thereof.

This thesis was born from a concern the researcher had with regard to negative reports in the media emanating from 4 babies that died at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital Peadiatric ICU unit due to power supply failure. The most significant of these negative reports was in 2007 when the Daily Dispatch ran a series of articles regarding what they termed avoidable deaths over the last 14 years. The ease with which staff communicated with the media together with the high absenteeism rate and high turnover was a cause for concern. When the researcher analysed the history of the problem, it immerged from the respondents’ responses that the rationalistion process undertaken by the Eastern Cape Department of Health (ECDoH) was a significant root cause to the problem. The literature review focused on three areas viz.: Organisational Culture, Organisational Change, Foundations of Satisfaction. This focus was used to confine the problem to a manageable project but secondly each of the aspects are interwoven. Routledge (2010) notes that culture is the reflection of the values advocated by a founder or leader by way of his/her day to day actions. This is done by the leader creating a perception or viewpoint that assists the employees to achieve the organisation’s mission, vision and goals. In any organisation change is a constant and it needs to be effectively managed. With government institutions like the East London Hospital Complex (ELHC) directives come from the top and are implemented by an unprepared and untrained leadership and management cadre and clear communication of vision and objective of the desired outcomes never happens. The aim of the research was to: describe the existing Organisational Culture present at ELHC (Perform an organisational diagnosis); describe the impact of change (rationalisation) and to analyze why there was such a high staff turnover. It is clear from the results of the survey conducted that significant dissatisfaction prevailed relating to how the institution was managed. Dissatisfaction amongst the health professionals was general but also specific to the following: leadership and management issues, fairness, remuneration and lack of resources. The recommendations therefore focused on developing management and leadership within the proposal of Dubrin’s model (2001).