The study will investigate how the workers of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality in the Department of Roads and Stormwater (Eastern region) feel about their jobs in terms of job satisfaction. Furthermore, the study will investigate how they feel about commitment to the union, commitment to the organisation, and management satisfaction during and after the implementation of job task levels, which was the result of the wage curve agreement that was signed in 2010 and implemented in 2011.The first objective of the study is to describe the collective agreements that were signed in 2010 as a result of a need to categorise municipalities and evaluate jobs, and the consequences of the collective agreements on employees through the study of documents supplemented by interviews and questionnaires. The second objective is to investigate if there has been a change in attitudes of the employees in the Roads and Stormwater Department of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality after the implementation of the wage curve agreement. There are six research questions; two relate to the first objective, and these are (a) what was the nature of the wage curve and job evaluation collective agreement? and(b) what were the consequences of the implementation of the wage curve and job evaluation collective agreement of the employees of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality? The other four questions related to the second objective, which led to the following research questions related to the attitudes of the employees and the change in these attitudes after the implementation of the collective agreement. These four questions were (a) what was the change in employee attitudes post the introduction of the wage curve? in particular, the attitudes of organisational commitment, job satisfaction, management satisfaction and union commitment, (b) what is the relationship between the sub-groups and employee attitudes pre the wage curve agreement implementation?(c) what is the relationship between sub-groups and employee attitudes post the wage curve agreement implementation? (d) what is the relationship between the sub-groups and the change in employee attitudes pre and post the wage curve agreement implementation? Quantitative and qualitative research methods were used in the study to analyse the strike process and to understand and describe the attitudes of all the participants in relation to the four constructs provided by Chaulk and Brown (2008). Self-administered questionnaires will be given to participants, and there will be face-to-face interviews with the union officials and management. The findings relating to the first objective indicate that the employees were unhappy with the implementation of the wage curve collective agreement. The second objective showed that the changes in the attitudes of employees after the implementation of the job evaluation and wage curve collective agreement were negative and that there was a significant decrease in the level of organisational commitment, job satisfaction, union commitment and management satisfaction after the implementation.

South African organizations operate in a changing environment. The ultimate criterion of organisational effectiveness is whether the organisation survives in its environment. Political, social, technological and economic changes constantly challenge businesses to adopt new approaches in this strive for survival. These challenges affect the roles, and possibly the job satisfaction levels of first-line supervisors and middle-level managers. In this paper, the writer aimed to study and compare job satisfaction levels of first-line supervisors and middle-level managers in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area. The effects of job satisfaction, or the lack thereof must be clearly identifiable to the top managers. These can either be positive or negative. In the case of positive effects, managers must strive to maintain the conditions that contribute to the positive effects of job satisfaction. In the study it was observed that middle-level managers scored higher and therefore they had higher overall job satisfaction levels than first-line supervisors. The job satisfaction levels of the first-line supervisors are found to be lower in all the areas that were stated as factors affecting job satisfaction. These areas were the personality job fit, the job content, the job context, the organisational environment and the macro environment. The companies therefore have a task of improving the job satisfaction levels in these areas. The writer recommends that organisations in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area take a closer look at the job satisfaction levels of their first-line supervisors. These managers' job satisfaction levels need to be improved from being just satisfactory to being excellent. It is mentioned in the theoretical study that firstline supervisors are very important in organisations, as they are the link between upper management and the employees. Their roles are multi-faceted as they have important functions to fulfil in the operation and ultimately success of the organization.

M.A. / A stress inoculation training programme suitable for blue collar workers was developed using Meichenbaum's (1977) training guide-lines. The stress inoculation training programme set out to develop coping skills based on a script including scenes dealing with : supervisor-worker conflict, meeting production deadlines, interactions with para-state officials, problems based on migrant lifestyles, safety issues and the stress experienced by management ...

Happiness is essentially the degree to which you find and judge your existence as favourable, in addition to an enduring, psychological feeling of contentment. In the hedonic view, happiness is pleasant feelings and favourable judgements, while the contrasting eudaimonic view describes it as doing what is morally right, what is righteous, that will enhance growth and that is meaningful to an individual. Both these views contribute to the overall happiness of an individual. People that are pleased with their lives usually experience greater satisfaction in their jobs. This is in line with the literature as happiness is positively correlated with job satisfaction, which suggests that a happy employee will most likely result in one that is satisfied with his/her job. In addition, happiness is correlated with evidence of success in the workplace and can increase an employee’s effectiveness at work. It is, therefore, essential that organisations identify the factors which influence employee happiness in order to enhance its cultural value-offering for employees and, in turn, increase their levels of job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is essentially the degree to which a person enjoys his/her job. It is the positive emotional state resulting from the evaluation of one’s work experience. This has profitable outcomes such as improved work performance. Furthermore, people who experience satisfaction in their jobs are better ambassadors for their organisation, demonstrate greater commitment, are more engaged and perform better within the organisation than their unhappy peers. Job satisfaction can be deemed an attitude. It is therefore important to understand the dimensions of the job, which are complex and interrelated in nature, in order to understand job attitudes. Organisational culture has been shown to influence the attitude and behaviour of employees through shared values and beliefs in the organisation. It is for this reason that there is a significant need to determine the factors in organisational culture that influence employee happiness and, in turn, job satisfaction. An organisation’s employees, through their participation and commitment, can be regarded as the most important source of success for the organisation. Organisational culture can therefore, greatly influence the efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation through its employees. Moreover, the culture of an organisation has a significant influence on the commitment and satisfaction of its employees. It inspires employees not only to feel committed to the organisation but also to perform well. The correlation between organisational culture and job satisfaction have been examined by various authors in the literature. All of these authors found a positive relationship between the two concepts. These conclusions show that the culture of an organisation can actually influence an employee’s job satisfaction and therefore his/her happiness. This research investigates the cultural value-offering of General Motors South Africa (GMSA) and its alignment to the needs of its employees. Until the end of 2012, an employee needs-analysis regarding employee happiness and his/her job satisfaction, was non-existent in the organisation. Towards the end of 2012 the organisation introduced a “Workplace of Choice” survey to perform an employee needs-analysis in order to investigate if there was a difference between employee needs and the organisation’s cultural value-offering. Another “Workplace of Choice” survey followed in 2014. This, however, was performed with the staff employees only and not with the hourly employees. Many organisations neglect to analyse the workplace needs of their employees to ensure that the organisation fully understands and is able to satisfy or accommodate these needs. Understanding employee needs is crucial to an organisation’s success. It is therefore important that the organisation investigates the employee needs to be able to align them with the cultural value-offering of the organisation. The purpose of this study is to advance the current understanding of Employee Happiness in the workplace by conducting a systematic analysis of the factors in Organisational Culture that influence Employee Happiness and, in turn, their Job Satisfaction in GMSA.

The morale of educators in certain schools is very low. From the literature review I concluded that not all schools experience low morale in the same way. There are different factors impacting on the morale of educators at different schools. In this study, the causes of low educator morale, indicators of low morale, the importance of high morale and how low morale can be dealt with were addressed in order to provide guidelines to improve low morale. An empirical study was conducted and 2 schools in the Northern Areas of Port Elizabeth were used in this case study to establish to what measure the educators are exposed to the abovementioned variables. The data was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. South Africa is divided into different demographic areas. The majority of people living in the communities where these schools are located are poor, unskilled, unemployed and the crime levels are very high. The socio-economic context within which these schools are located also has an impact on the morale of the educators at these schools and it affects their working lives. Educators, SMTs and principals took part in the empirical study so that their views can be compared and to facilitate the researcher to make recommendations on improving low educator morale. The research outcomes were analysed and deductions, recommendations and a need for further research were given. The empirical and literature study emphasised that the morale of educators is low in the schools and this morale status impacts on learners’ achievements, the health of the educators and the health of the institution. The educators in this study ranked their own morale status as low and some of the causes of the low morale according to the empirical study are lack of resources, ill-disciplined learners, uninvolved parents and an ineffective management style of the principal.

South Africa is experiencing a brain drain of doctors. It is estimated that about 5000 doctors have left South Africa since 2003. Lack of job satisfaction has been identified as one of its causes. The purpose of this study was: To provide an overview of relevant literature concerning job satisfaction. To determine, by means of an empirical survey, whether doctors in the public sector experienced any factors, which were affecting their job satisfaction levels. To make recommendations as to how the job satisfaction levels of doctors in public sector hospitals could be increased. For the empirical study a survey, with a questionnaire as data collecting tool, was conducted among 59 permanently employed doctors at the Dora Nginza Hospital in Port Elizabeth. The questionnaire focused on biographical information, personality-job fit, job content factors and job context factors. For Section B, C and D of the questionnaire, the response options were structured according to a Likert-type scale. Respondents had to indicate the extent to which they agreed with each statement in the questionnaire. The responses obtained from the survey were presented and analysed. The researcher observed in this study that doctors were just satisfied with their jobs. Apart from the personality job fit factor of job satisfaction where excellent scores were recorded, there seemed to be problems with job content and job context factors. Management of Port Elizabeth Hospitals Complex has a challenge in improving job satisfaction of their doctors in these areas. The researcher recommends that management of Port Elizabeth Hospitals Complex should look into the satisfaction level of doctors in their employment. Doctors’ satisfaction level should be improved from being just satisfactory to being excellent.

Psychological capital (PsyCap), work engagement (WE) and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) are all positive constructs which research has indicated will have a positive impact on the bottom line. In light of Positive Organisational Behaviour, this has become increasingly important, particularly in the service industry where good service leads to satisfied customers and ultimately repeat purchases. This research took on the form of a cross- sectional design, using a composite questionnaire to measure PsyCap, WE and OCB. This was a self-report electronic questionnaire which was distributed via email to customer service representatives (N=276) from a national automotive company with dealerships in Gauteng and the Western Cape. The measurement models were revalidated for the South African sample of customer service representatives through conducting Exploratory Factor Analysis. PsyCap remained a four-factor structure, however lost items in the elimination process. Both the UWES and OCB instruments lost items and became two-factor structures. This makes the notion that these instruments are portable to the South African situation questionable. To confirm these structures, item parcelling was utilised and Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted. The results indicated that the new measurement models were better suited to the South African sample. Demographic groups had significant differences in the means for PsyCap, WE and OCB. Further to this, relationships between the constructs were tested through multiple regression and structural equation modeling. The most significant relationship was found between PsyCap and work engagement. Finally, PsyCap (barring optimism) and WE were found to load onto a single factor when testing for factorial independence, while OCB came out as a separate factor.

The Department of Health, being a public entity, has a responsibility to provide quality health services to the community. The Department has experienced repeated negative feedback from the press with respect to job dissatisfaction and the quality of service. This could be the result of low employee motivation. The researcher was concerned and interested in investigating possible causes of these allegations by the press. The main purpose of this study was to analyse the motivational climate of employees in the Department of Health. The study included a literature study of employee motivation and organisational climate. The purpose of the literature was to determine how the Department of Health measures up to what the literature reveals. A questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect data. The questionnaire was formulated from the literature discussed in the research study. The major findings indicated that the level of motivation in the Department of Health was low. Findings also indicated the majority of employees were not trained in the Batho Pele principle. The researcher argued that if employees were trained in the Batho Pele principle and also practised, the negative press feedback would be minimal. The researcher suggested certain recommendations for those areas where findings indicated shortcomings in an attempt to increase the overall levels of employee motivation within the Department of Health.

Since the first National Curriculum Statement matriculation results for 2008, there has been an outcry that rural secondary schools in KwaZulu Natal are lagging behind in terms of pass rate compared to urban and former Model C secondary schools. There are various contributory factors that are impacting on poor learners’ performance in rural schools. This study was specifically conducted in rural secondary schools of KwaZulu Natal. The reason was that there is few research conducted in rural schools, particularly with regard to teacher job satisfaction and professional development. There is therefore a belief that satisfied teachers produce good performance in their schools. Furthermore, it is also believed that satisfied and adequately developed teachers are the key to successful implementation of the grades 10-12 National Curriculum Statement. The study was therefore conducted to investigate rural secondary school teachers’ experiences of job satisfaction and their expectations of support to develop their competencies as curriculum workers. The research problem was investigated through the mixed methods research. The use of mixed methods research was to ensure that reliability and validity are addressed. The concurrent strategy of mixed methods research was employed. In concurrent mixed research methods, data is collected during the same phase. Data was collected from rural secondary schools of Umzinyathi, Ilembe and Empangeni districts in KwaZulu Natal. There were fifty rural secondary schools which participated in the study. Four hundred rural secondary school teachers completed survey questionnaires. Eighteen rural secondary school teachers participated in individual interviews. Only nine rural secondary schools were involved in observation and interviews. Research findings show that poverty was one of the major contributory factors that led to poor performance of rural secondary schools. Poverty and lack of adequate professional development programmes in rural secondary schools have negative impact in terms of teachers’ job satisfaction. Learners’ poor command of English in rural secondary schools contributed to their poor academic performance. Lack of support services, bad condition of roads and, long distances travelled by both learners and teachers contributed to teachers’ job dissatisfaction and learners’ poor performance. Rural secondary school learners were demotivated about learning, since they lacked role models in their communities. Rural secondary school learners were also undisciplined. They bunked classes. They carried weapons to schools. Rural secondary school learners also helped criminals to steal and vandalize school property. They smoked dagga inside the school premises. Moreover, research findings indicate that rural secondary school teachers were not involved in school decision-making processes. School management teams were the only structure making school decisions. Growth opportunities for teachers were not fairly provided to them by their principals. Schools governing body chairpersons and principals were abusing the teacher promotion process since they were biased. They only promoted their friends and relatives and sometimes they were bribed by candidates. The latter findings contributed to teachers’ job dissatisfaction. Further findings indicate that there were teachers who were teaching subjects for which they were not qualified. Some heads of department were supervising subject streams that were outside of their specialization since the school post-provisioning norms (PPN) was small. Rural secondary school principals possessed inadequate grades 10-12 National Curriculum Statement expertise. Integrated Quality Management Systems was unable to develop teachers for effective grades 10-12 National Curriculum Statement implementation since it was not implemented accordingly in rural secondary schools. Clusters were effective strategies to develop teachers in rural schools although geographical isolation of school was their main challenge. The recommendations of this study are that RSSs must be fully supported by the KwaZulu Natal Department of Education. All roads to schools must be repaired in time. Decent teacher accommodation must be built inside schools with security guards to look after teachers’ safety and their property when they are away. Recreation venues/centres must be established in rural areas to relieve and address teachers’ stress and boredom. The KwaZulu Natal Department of Education must ensure that all schools have libraries, laboratories and computer classes. The Department of Education must also fully recognize postgraduate qualifications such as honours, master’s and doctoral degrees to retain highly qualified teachers in rural secondary schools. Teachers must be promoted on merit rather than on friendship or relationship.

There is a perception that municipal employees are not committed to their jobs of delivering essential services to the residents.This perception is often exacerbated by media opinion that tend to project an unacceptable image about the work ethics and behaviour of public sector officials. Local government is at the coalface of services delivery in South Africa.Almost all complaints and service delivery protests are directed by communities to municipalities. This necessitates that local government employees should always be ready to serve the people with passion and vigour. From the advent of democratic dispensation in South Africa in 1994 the transformation of the public sector has become one of the central priorities of government.The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) sets the agenda of a developmental state and outlines objects of local government in Sections 152 and 153 of the supreme law of the land. Flowing from this Constitutional mandate a legislative and policy framework is enacted to guide the municipalities to ensure effective and efficient delivery of services to communities .In this respect the study argues that central to the delivery of services is the human capital. The researcher asserts that it is not the building or any other municipal asset that will ensure delivery of quality services to citizens, but the employees. Employees have a responsibility to ensure that goals and objectives of the OR Tambo District Municipality are realised. The researcher contends that there is a perception that there could be low levels of job satisfaction within the workforce of ORTDM .This could have a negative effect to the provision of basic services to the public .Thus this study is aimed to investigate factors that may affect employee satisfaction in the ORTDM. High level of job satisfaction amongst employees may cause ahighly dedicated and committed workforce. The consequence of that could be a positive impact on municipal performance.