Schools worldwide are experiencing challenges in terms of ensuring quality education and good retention of its teaching staff. The highly stressful nature of the teaching profession as well as the high demands placed on teachers with the constant changes in curriculum, not enough resources and insufficient support from supervisors, cause secondary school teachers to show high turnover intention rates and high attrition rates which are extremely costly and detrimental to the success of the school. The well-being of the teacher is mostly overlooked within a highly stressful environment where the focus is on results. Demands on schools and teachers are becoming increasingly complex. Teacher issues are discussed on policy agendas as a result of concerns raised by teachers themselves about the future of their profession and whether they are sufficiently rewarded and supported in their work. The morale and motivation of teachers are important for future teacher retention. Teachers are now expected to have much broader roles, taking into account the development of the learner, the handling of teaching processes in the classroom, the focus of the entire school as a “community-in-action” and the relations with the larger community and the world of teaching in general. Thus expectations are higher and demands are more – but the well-being of the teacher does not seem to be a priority within the larger school environment and global teaching picture. Efforts to improve the psychological well-being and optimal functioning of secondary school teachers will affect individual and organizational outcomes. A teacher who functions well is more likely to stay in the profession and will be more motivated than one who is not engaged and demotivated. Investments in the well-being of teachers will lay the basis for positive school outcomes such better retention, better performance and job satisfaction. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychological well-being of a sample of secondary school teachers in North West Province and to determine the antecedents and outcomes thereof. A cross-sectional survey design was used to gather data regarding the well-being of secondary school teachers and its outcomes. A stratified sample (N = 513) was taken of secondary school teachers in North West Province in South Africa. The measuring instruments used were the Supervisor Behaviour Scale, Work-Related Basic Need Satisfaction Scale, Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs, Work Engagement Scale, Turnover Intention Scale, Work-Life Questionnaire, Revised Job Diagnostic Survey, Co-Worker Relations Scale, Work and Meaning Inventory, Personal Resources Scale, Self-Rated Performance Scale, and Positive Practices Questionnaire. The results of study 1 showed that supervisor support (for autonomy, competence, and relatedness) was positively related to employees’ psychological need satisfaction and engagement and negatively related to intention to leave. Supervisor support affected engagement positively and intention to leave negatively via employees’ autonomy satisfaction. The findings suggest that supervisor support and psychological need satisfaction play a significant role in the engagement and retention of employees. The results of study 2 showed that a calling orientation, job design, and co-worker relations explained a large percentage of the variance in experiences of meaningful work. A low calling orientation and poor co-worker relations predicted a moderate percentage of the variance in burnout. A calling orientation, a well-designed job, good co-worker relations, and meaningful work predicted work engagement. Job design was moderately associated with self-ratings of performance. The absence of a calling orientation predicted teachers’ intentions to leave the organisation. The results of study 3 showed that teachers with the highest levels of psychological functioning derived the most meaning from their work. These teachers are renewed by the work they are doing. Positive organizational practices predicted positive outcomes such as meaning, engagement and self-determined behaviour. Psychologically-well and healthy teachers are more likely to focus on the meaningfulness of the work they are doing. It seems that the most important positive practices in the pathway to better psychological well-being at work are those of meaningful work and inspiration.

Schools worldwide are experiencing challenges in terms of ensuring quality education and good retention of its teaching staff. The highly stressful nature of the teaching profession as well as the high demands placed on teachers with the constant changes in curriculum, not enough resources and insufficient support from supervisors, cause secondary school teachers to show high turnover intention rates and high attrition rates which are extremely costly and detrimental to the success of the school. The well-being of the teacher is mostly overlooked within a highly stressful environment where the focus is on results. Demands on schools and teachers are becoming increasingly complex. Teacher issues are discussed on policy agendas as a result of concerns raised by teachers themselves about the future of their profession and whether they are sufficiently rewarded and supported in their work. The morale and motivation of teachers are important for future teacher retention. Teachers are now expected to have much broader roles, taking into account the development of the learner, the handling of teaching processes in the classroom, the focus of the entire school as a “community-in-action” and the relations with the larger community and the world of teaching in general. Thus expectations are higher and demands are more – but the well-being of the teacher does not seem to be a priority within the larger school environment and global teaching picture. Efforts to improve the psychological well-being and optimal functioning of secondary school teachers will affect individual and organizational outcomes. A teacher who functions well is more likely to stay in the profession and will be more motivated than one who is not engaged and demotivated. Investments in the well-being of teachers will lay the basis for positive school outcomes such better retention, better performance and job satisfaction. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychological well-being of a sample of secondary school teachers in North West Province and to determine the antecedents and outcomes thereof. A cross-sectional survey design was used to gather data regarding the well-being of secondary school teachers and its outcomes. A stratified sample (N = 513) was taken of secondary school teachers in North West Province in South Africa. The measuring instruments used were the Supervisor Behaviour Scale, Work-Related Basic Need Satisfaction Scale, Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs, Work Engagement Scale, Turnover Intention Scale, Work-Life Questionnaire, Revised Job Diagnostic Survey, Co-Worker Relations Scale, Work and Meaning Inventory, Personal Resources Scale, Self-Rated Performance Scale, and Positive Practices Questionnaire. The results of study 1 showed that supervisor support (for autonomy, competence, and relatedness) was positively related to employees’ psychological need satisfaction and engagement and negatively related to intention to leave. Supervisor support affected engagement positively and intention to leave negatively via employees’ autonomy satisfaction. The findings suggest that supervisor support and psychological need satisfaction play a significant role in the engagement and retention of employees. The results of study 2 showed that a calling orientation, job design, and co-worker relations explained a large percentage of the variance in experiences of meaningful work. A low calling orientation and poor co-worker relations predicted a moderate percentage of the variance in burnout. A calling orientation, a well-designed job, good co-worker relations, and meaningful work predicted work engagement. Job design was moderately associated with self-ratings of performance. The absence of a calling orientation predicted teachers’ intentions to leave the organisation. The results of study 3 showed that teachers with the highest levels of psychological functioning derived the most meaning from their work. These teachers are renewed by the work they are doing. Positive organizational practices predicted positive outcomes such as meaning, engagement and self-determined behaviour. Psychologically-well and healthy teachers are more likely to focus on the meaningfulness of the work they are doing. It seems that the most important positive practices in the pathway to better psychological well-being at work are those of meaningful work and inspiration.

The factors associated with employees' work related attitudes and cognitions were examined. A sample of employees from Community Living Trust (CLT), an organisation within the disability support worker industry, completed a questionnaire that included several measures: supervisor and colleague support, role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload, time-based, strain-based and behaviour-based work-to-family/family-to-work conflict, organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions. The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which supervisor and colleague support contributed to a reduction in role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload. In addition, the relationship between support and work-to-family/family-to-work conflict were also explored. Finally, the organisational outcomes, in particular organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions, were examined. It was found that supervisor and colleague support did, in some cases, moderated the relationship between role stressors, conflict and job satisfaction / organisational commitment. It was also found that job satisfaction and affective commitment mediated the relationship between the role stressors, WF strain-based conflict and turnover intentions. The major implications from this research are that human resource initiatives should be developed that aims to identify the support needs employees may have, in order to increase levels of job satisfaction and organisational commitment and decrease levels of turnover intentions. The final chapter of this research explored the practical implications to the organisation, employees and the need for future research.

Using the Job Demands – Resources Model, this study investigates the moderating role of support in the organization, such as coworker, supervisor, and perceived organizational support, in attenuating the relationship between emotional job demand and employees’ emotional exhaustion. A series of hierarchical regression analysis on 237 respondents indicate that emotional job demand is negatively related to emotional exhaustion. With respect to the moderating role of support variables, although both instrumental and emotional support from supervisors are shown to moderate the relationship between emotional job demand and emotional exhaustion, only instrumental support is associated with lower levels of emotional exhaustion. This finding provides evidence for the buffering effect. Findings indicate several promising theoretical and managerial implications, and suggestions for future research.

Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) transactional stress-strain-coping theory provides the theoretical background for the present thesis. This theory proposes that strain (i.e., burnout) occurs when demands (i.e., work stressors) exceed coping resources (e.g., social support). The current thesis explores the influence of social support on the stress-burnout relationship in nurses. A sample of Australian nurses working across three public hospitals in Brisbane's metropolitan district were recruited to investigate the nature and level of burnout experienced by nurses. Burnout is characterised by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment. The present research addresses gaps in the empirical literature by investigating the key work stressors experienced by Australian nurses and by establishing nurses' referent levels of work stress, social support, and burnout. In addition, the research explores the complex relationships between work stress, social support and burnout. The majority of nursing studies have failed to consider how support from within the nurses' work environment mitigates burnout. The present research builds upon previous nursing literature by examining the "main&qout; and "buffering" effect hypotheses. Studies have consistently found support for the main effect model, however the hypothesis that social support buffers the negative effects of stress has resulted in highly conflicting findings. Some theorists (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Cutrona & Russell, 1990) propose that the buffering effects of social support will only be found if there is an adequate match between the needs elicited by the stressful event and the type of support an individual receives. The present study extends the stress or support matching theory by exploring the matching between specific types of stressors to specific types (i.e., emotional and instrumental) and sources (i.e.,supervisor and coworkers) of support. Cutrona (1990) suggests that the controllability of a stressor is the primary dimension in determining an appropriate match between stressors and types of support. Cutrona proposes that controllable stressful events elicit needs for instrumental support and uncontrollable events elicit needs for emotional support. Heeding Cutrona's advice, independent raters classified nurses' work stressors as controllable or uncontrollable stressful events prior to investigating the stressor-support matching theory. Three sequential studies were undertaken to explore the variables of interest to this research program. In Study 1, focus groups were conducted with 68 nurses (11 males, 34 females) from two public hospitals. The qualitative data was subjected to content analysis. The findings revealed that Australian nurses are exposed to a range of job-specific stressors (i.e., Job Conditions, Job Uncertainty, Interpersonal Conflict and a Lack of Professional Recognition and Support) and generic role stressors (i.e., Role Overload, Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity). The findings prompted the research to utilise Wolfgang's (1988) Health Professions Stress Inventory to measure nurses' job-specific stressors and Osipow and Spokane's (1987) Occupational Roles Questionnaire to measure nurses' role stressors in Study 2. The findings from Study 1 also confirmed that the way nurses perceive work support is consistent with current social support literature. Nurses indicated that their two main sources of support were their coworkers and their supervisor. Furthermore, nurses discussed social support from a multidimensional perspective, recognising different types of support that were broadly classified as emotional and instrumental support. Based on these findings, the researcher developed a work support measure specifically for the purpose of this research. Items were taken from established social support scales and were slightly modified to ensure that they were contextually relevant to nurses. In Study 2, 273 nurses (38 males, 235 females) completed a multi-measure questionnaire. While there was sufficient research evidence to indicate that the Occupational Roles Questionnaire (Osipow & Spokane, 1987) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996) possess adequate levels of reliability and validity, less was known about Wolfgang's Health Professions Stress Inventory and the work support scales designed for this research program. Factor analysis of the Health Professions Stress Inventory revealed a four-factor solution: Lack of Professional Recognition and Support, Patient Care Uncertainty, Job Conditions, and Interpersonal Conflict. Cronbach's coefficient alphas ranged from .62 to .83. Factor analysis of the Coworker Support Scale revealed a two-factor solution, representing emotional and instrumental support. Cronbach's coefficient alphas for the Emotional Coworker Support and Instrumental Coworker Support were .92 and .88 respectively. Contrary to expectations, factor analysis of the Supervisor Support Scale revealed a one-factor solution. It was therefore deemed appropriate to examine Supervisor Support as a unidimensional construct in subsequent analyses. Cronbach's coefficient alpha for the Supervisor Support scale was .96. Overall, the results from Study 2 provided supporting evidence to suggest that the measures used in the current research program were psychometrically sound. In Study 3, the data collected in Study 2 was subjected to further statistical analysis. The findings from Study 3 indicated that overall, the sample of Australian nurses reported low to moderate levels of work stress, moderate levels of work support and moderately high levels of burnout. For Emotional Exhaustion, predictor variables accounted for 42.2% of the total variance. Sociodemographic factors explained a small but significant proportion of the variance (2.7%). Work stressors however, were the main predictors of Emotional Exhaustion, explaining 41.5% of the total variance. Role Overload, Job Conditions and Role Conflict were the main determinants of Emotional Exhaustion, with Role Overload explaining most of the variance. For Depersonalisation, the predictor variables accounted for 34.2% of the total variance. Sociodemographic factors (11.5%) and work stressors (33.6%) both explained a significant proportion of the variance. Role Conflict and Patient Care Uncertainty were the main determinants of Depersonalisation, with Role Conflict explaining most of the variance. For Personal Accomplishment, Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity explained 20.5% of the total variance, with Role Conflict explaining most of the variance. Sociodemographic factors and job-specific stressors were not significant Predictors of Personal Accomplishment. Evidence for main effects of work support on burnout were limited. There was no evidence to suggest that work support had significant main effects on Emotional Exhaustion. Supervisor Support had a small, but significant main effect on Depersonalisation (â = -.15, p < .05) and Personal Accomplishment (â = -.24, p < .01). There was no evidence of main effects for Emotional and Instrumental Coworker Support. Furthermore, the present research found no significant evidence to support the buffering effect of work support on burnout. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

There is a revolutionary change in the world of work that impacts on the individual, work and society. The future of work suggests flexibility, boundary less communities and change in work, as we know it today. As the world of work changes from a worker intensive industrial society towards an automated information society, the retention of technological advantages e.g., human, intellect and knowledge capital is no longer assured. Employers struggle to retain their valuable high technology employees due to a general shortage of experienced candidates and aggressive recruitment tactics by others in the high technology arena. The purpose of this study is to investigate specific retention factors that induce organisational commitment and can thus increase the retention of high technology employees. High technology industries operate in volatile market and experience accelerating growth and rates of change. High technology employees are educated, have a strong preference for independence and hold a large portion of the organisation's intellectual capital. A core belief in human resources is to retain and develop employees to obtain a competitive advantage. In order to retain these valuable employees it has become necessary for organisations to transform from using an employee controlling to a more employee commitment driven strategy. To gain employees' commitment to the organisation and increase retention, the employer needs to identify which retention factors induce organisational commitment. Compensation, job characteristics, training and development opportunities, supervisor support, career opportunities and work/life policies were identified as the top six retention factors in the content analysis done on high technology literature. Organisational commitment has been defined as a mindset, which ties the individual to the organisation. Different forms and foci of organisational commitment are discussed with the approach developed by Meyer and Allen's three component model (1991). The consequences of organisational commitment benefit the organisation in terms of increased job performance, intention to stay, increase in attendance, loyalty, decrease in turnover, greater creativity, more co-operation (particularly across discipline specialities), more volunteerism and more time devoted to productive work on behalf of the organisation. This study focused on a 100% South African owned telecommunications company based in the Gauteng province. A questionnaire was developed and a population of 94 telecommunications professionals, technicians and associated professionals were selected to investigate the influence of various identified retention factors on organisational commitment. The statistical analysis of the data culminated in a regression analysis that measured the significance and the strength of the relationship between the identified retention factors and organisational commitment. The main conclusions were that compensation, job characteristics, supervisor support and work/life policies were significantly related to organisational commitment. On the other hand, in this study training, development and career opportunities were not related. High technology organisations are not just interested in the retention of employees but also creating a mutually beneficial interdependence with employees. The identified retention factors might serve as a means to demonstrate the organisation's support for, or commitment to, their employees and in turn cultivate a reciprocal attachment by employees. Employees' organisational commitment is related to their belief that the identified retention factors are motivated by the desire to retain good employees and to be fair in the treatment of employees. Future research needs are discussed. / Dissertation (MCom (Human Resources Management))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

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Syftet med denna uppsats är att skapa en djupare förståelse för vilket stöd som socialarbetare inom socialtjänsten får vid hot och våldssituationer på arbetsplatsen i relation till de stöd som socialarbetare tycker att de behöver. Det är viktigt att undersöka då kunskapen kan bidra till diskussion om socialarbetare får adekvat stöd i arbetsmiljöer där hot och våld är närvarande. Intresset har varit att undersöka om socialarbetaren får rätt stöd i hot och våldssituationer. Studien baseras på sjukvalitativa, semistrukturerade intervjuer med socialarbetare inom Sveriges socialtjänst. En tematisk analys har genomförts för att bearbeta den insamlade empirin. Empirin har också analyserats utifrån tidigare forskning och två olika teorier, coping och human relations. Studien visar att socialarbetarna någon gång i yrket utsatts för hot och våld och att de subtila hoten förekommer mer frekvent än andra hot och våldshandlingar. Samtliga deltagare beskriver att de idag har ett bra stöd när incidenter om hot och våld inträffar på arbetsplatsen men att det finns en del stöd som kan utvecklas. Stödet de vill se mer av vid hot och våldssituationer är bland annat: förebyggande rutiner, stående punkter om hot och våld på arbetsplatsträffar, handledning, att chef har inblick i ärenden och ger återkoppling, bättre introduktion inför arbetet gällande hot och våld på arbetsplatsen och mer dialog om ämnet då hot och våld inte sällan normaliseras i det sociala arbetet. Gemensamt för socialarbetarna är att de vill se politikerna ta ansvar i frågan om hot och våldsbilden mot socialarbetare. / The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the support that social workers in the social services receive in situations involving threats and violence at the workplace in relation to the support that social workers feel they need. It is important to investigate this topic as the knowledge gained can contribute to discussions about whether social workers receive adequate support in work environments where threats and violence are present. The study is based on seven qualitative, semistructured interviews with social workers in Sweden's social services. A thematic analysis has been conducted to process the collected empirical data. The data has also been analyzed based on previous research and two different theories, coping and human relations. The study shows that social workers have been exposed to threats and violence at some point in their careers, where subtle threats occur more frequently than other forms of violence and threats. All participants describe that they currently have good support when incidents of threats and violence occur in the workplace, but that there is room for improvement in some areas of support. The support that they want to see more of in situations involving threats and violence includes: preventive routines, standing items on threats and violence at workplace meetings, guidance, managers having insight into cases and giving feedback, better onboardings to the work regarding threats and violence in the workplace, and more dialogues on the subject since threats and violence are often normalized in social work. Social workers share the desire for politicians to take responsibility for the issue of threats and violence against social workers.

While some individuals experience their work as meaningful, others, with the same job, do not. The purpose of this dissertation is to answer the following question: Why do different individuals, with the same job, view the meaningfulness of their work in conflicting ways? I draw on terror management theory and generativity theory to answer this question by testing the relationship between death awareness and meaningful work. The bulk of academic work concerning meaningful work focuses on its outcomes and few scholars have explained the antecedents of meaningful work. This study aims to extend empirical work of the relationship between death awareness and meaningful.

過去探討影響員工正向情緒表達之前因的實證研究，已累積相當豐富，但在前因變數間之交互作用，以及情緒表達概念上，仍有以下兩大類議題尚未處理：首先，鮮少研究同時探討個體內層次 (交易層次)與個體間層次 (員工個人層次)之跨層次研究，即檢視單一員工服務多位顧客時之巢狀的影響 (nested effects)，故本研究提出的理論模型包含兩個層次變數之間的關係：個體內層次 (交易忙碌程度、顧客負向情緒表達)與個體間層次 (知覺工具型主管支持、知覺情感型主管支持、情緒穩定性特質)，以試圖彌補此研究缺口。再者，過去有關情緒表達之研究，大多探討員工於每筆交易時所展現之正向情緒表達之強度，因此，本研究另一個研究興趣探討員工個人變數與員工正向情緒表達之平均強度間的關係。 本研究以76位中華郵政第一線儲匯服務人員，及與其互動之434位顧客為研究對象，階層線性模式分析結果發現顧客負向情緒表達與員工正向情緒表達具有顯著負向關係；而在員工個人變數之跨層次干擾效果探討上，本研究結果發現，當員工知覺工具型主管支持較高時，會削弱顧客負向情緒表達與員工正向情緒表達之間的負向關係；且當員工情緒穩定性特質較高時，也會使交易忙碌程度與員工正向情緒表達間之負向關係減弱。最後，階層迴歸分析結果亦指出員工知覺情感型主管支持與員工正向情緒表達之平均具有顯著正向關係。整體而言，本研究所提之研究假說部分符合理論預期，而研究結果可對情緒表達、情緒勞動、與社會支持相關研究提供理論貢獻與實務意涵。 / Although most of previous studies have explored the antecedents of employee positive affective displays, the issues of examining the main effects of transaction cues and the moderating effects of employee characteristics on employee positive affective displays from the perspective of within-person and between-person analysis remain relatively unexplored so far. Therefore, this study examined whether transaction defining cues (ex., transaction busyness and client negative affective displays) affected employee positive affective displays. Besides, this study examined whether employee characteristics would moderate the relationships between transaction defining cues and employee positive affective displays. Results from 76 postal clerks of 32 post offices and 434 clients partially supported our hypotheses and showed that client negative affective displays negatively predict employee positive affective displays. With regard to the moderating effects of employee characteristics, when the postal clerks perceived high level of supervisor instructmental support, the negative effect of client negative affective displays on employee positive affective displays was minimized. Moreover, employee with high level of emotional satbility would weaken the negative relationship between transaction busyness and employee positive affective displays. In addition, the study also indicate that employee perceived high level of supervisor emotional support would increase the employee average performance of positive affective displays. In conculsion, these findings provide not only further understanding how to improve employee affective displays, but also guidance for the organizations to select and train appropriate emoployees.