Work is a central activity in human lives and we cannot afford to talk about work and exclude employees, especially on how their personal lives are being influenced by the job requirements on daily basis. The work environments are ever changing due to a number of internal and external pressures. These changes result in adjustments of job requirements which in turn influence employees’ personal lives which constitute of the emotional, physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions. The nature and extent of the actual influence is depended of a number of factors like employee demographics, the business process of each job, employee perceptions about the requirements of their jobs and the actual job requirements demands. The goal of this study was to explore and describe the influence of the job-requirements on the personal lives of the Planners in the Department of Land Affairs. The objectives of this study were: <ul> <li> To conceptualise theoretically the influence of job requirements on the personal lives of employees.</li> <li> To undertake an empirical study to investigate the influence of the specific job requirements on the personal lives of Planners in the Department of Land Affairs.</li> <li> To draw conclusions and make recommendations to the Department of Land Affairs on how to address the needs of Planners and to formulate guidelines to enhance the Planners’ quality of life.</li> </ul> In the context of quantitative research, the researcher utilised applied research since this study was designed to offer practical solutions to problems experienced by the Department of Land Affairs on improving quality of life for Planners thus enhancing productivity. Group administered questionnaires were utilised as a data collection method and it was pilot tested with three employees at the National Office of the Department of Land Affairs who did not form part of the actual study. The population of the study was 51 and all of them completed the questionnaire. The results of the study showed that employees who were employed as Planners by the Department of Land Affairs at the Mpumalanga Regional Land Claims Commission, were exposed to job requirements which to a larger extent had a negative influence on certain dimensions of their personal lives. The goal of the study was achieved in that the researcher did not only manage to explore and describe the influence of the job requirements on the personal lives of the Planners in the Department of Land Affairs but also managed to give recommendations to the Department of Land Affairs on how to enhance quality of life of Planners. Copyright / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

The current work environment demands a lot from employees. Organisations implement strategies to reduce cost and increase productivity, often ignoring the well-being and needs of employees. Factors such as virtual offices are becoming a reality as cell phones, laptops, tablets and other technology make availability a reality 24 hours a day. This leads to employees being confronted with work wherever and whenever it is required. These factors can lead to distress or eustress or both. Some employees experience symptoms of burnout due to all these demands placed on them, yet others experience eustress. Work well-being is crucial to ensure that employees are engaged and committed to their job and contribute to the success of the organisation they are employed with. In the model of work-related well-being of Nelson and Simmons (2003), which will be discussed in this research, burnout is regarded as distress, while work engagement is regarded as eustress. The objective of this study is to determine whether a relationship exists between the dimensions of work-related well-being within selected sectors in South Africa – whether it leads to either burnout or work engagement and whether it is similar in different sectors. Various models can be used to explain these effects but for the purposes of this study the following models were consulted, namely the Comprehensive Model of Burnout and Engagement (COBE), the Effort-Recovery (E-R) Model and the Job Demand / Resources (JD-R) model. The participants in this study are educators and administrative personnel from tertiary education institutions (n = 1324), secondary schools (n = 1177), employees from the insurance industry (n = 613), and correctional services (n = 892). The measurement vii instruments used are the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Job Demands-Resources Scale and the Organisational Stress Screening Tool (ASSET). The results indicate that there is a relationship between the dimensions of work-related well-being in different sectors and that it has great predictive value in different sectors. / MA (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The current work environment demands a lot from employees. Organisations implement strategies to reduce cost and increase productivity, often ignoring the well-being and needs of employees. Factors such as virtual offices are becoming a reality as cell phones, laptops, tablets and other technology make availability a reality 24 hours a day. This leads to employees being confronted with work wherever and whenever it is required. These factors can lead to distress or eustress or both. Some employees experience symptoms of burnout due to all these demands placed on them, yet others experience eustress. Work well-being is crucial to ensure that employees are engaged and committed to their job and contribute to the success of the organisation they are employed with. In the model of work-related well-being of Nelson and Simmons (2003), which will be discussed in this research, burnout is regarded as distress, while work engagement is regarded as eustress. The objective of this study is to determine whether a relationship exists between the dimensions of work-related well-being within selected sectors in South Africa – whether it leads to either burnout or work engagement and whether it is similar in different sectors. Various models can be used to explain these effects but for the purposes of this study the following models were consulted, namely the Comprehensive Model of Burnout and Engagement (COBE), the Effort-Recovery (E-R) Model and the Job Demand / Resources (JD-R) model. The participants in this study are educators and administrative personnel from tertiary education institutions (n = 1324), secondary schools (n = 1177), employees from the insurance industry (n = 613), and correctional services (n = 892). The measurement vii instruments used are the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Job Demands-Resources Scale and the Organisational Stress Screening Tool (ASSET). The results indicate that there is a relationship between the dimensions of work-related well-being in different sectors and that it has great predictive value in different sectors. / MA (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Over the last decade the focus has shifted to ensure a holistic view of employee well-being in organisations by focusing on both physical and psychological well-being. Previous research suggests that work characteristics and psychological work-related well-being influence both the individual (i.e. health) and organisational outcomes (i.e. commitment, safety, productivity, etc.). Moreover, the increasing importance of focusing on work-related psychological well-being of employees is evident in legislation from around the world. In South Africa the Occupational Health and Safety legislation, spesifically the Construction Regulations, also recognises the importance of the psychological well-being of employees and refers to it as ?psychological fitness?. However, no clear definition or instrument for psychological fitness exists. Similarly, no instrument exist to measure work characteristics of blue-collar workers. The objectives of this research were 1) to propose a defintion for psychological fitness of blue-collar employees 2) to propose a theoretical framework to better our understanding of psychological fitness 3) to develop a psychological fitness instrument for blue-collar employees that is suitable for the South African context 4) to test the psychometric properties of the newly developed psychological fitness instrument 5) to develop a work characteristics questionnaire for blue-collar mine workers to gain insight into their work experiences, and 6) to evaluate the psychometric properties of the newly developed job demands-resources scale for blue-collar mine workers. The empirical study consisted of two phases. During the first phase, following an extensive literature review, a definition and theoretical framework for psychological fitness was proposed. Thereafter, a new instrument for measuring psychological fitness was developed and tested. An instrument for measuring the work characteristics of blue-collar mine workers has also been developed to further the understanding of their work experiences. During the second phase, the psychometric properties of the newly developed psychological fitness instrument were tested (i.e. factorial validity, factorial invariance, reliability and external validity; N = 2769). Furthermore, the psychometric properties of the newly developed job demands-resources scale for blue collar workers were also investigated (i.e. factorial validity, reliability and the relationship with theoretically relevant external variables; N = 361). During the conceptualisation process, the definition of psychological fitness has been proposed based on previous work-related well-being literature. The work-related well-being concepts, distress and eustress were proposed as indicators of psychological fitness. Therefore, psychological fitness was defined as a state in which an employee display high levels of emotional and mental energy and high levels of psychological motivation to be able to work and act safely. The dimensions of burnout and engagement were proposed as possible indicators of psychological fitness and included exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive weariness, vitality and work devotion. Furthermore, the underlying work-related well-being theories and models were identified as the theoretic framework to enable the development of a questionnaire for psychological fitness. In order to ensure that the low literacy employees understand the meaning of each questionnaire close attention has been paid during the development of items. Firstly, the psychological fitness instrument (SAPFI) for blue-collar employees has been translated into all the official languages of South Africa following a multistage translation process. Secondly, the job demands-resources scale for blue collar mine workers (JDRSM) has been translated into the three most commonly spoken languages (Sesotho, isiXhosa and Setswana) by employees working in this specific mine. During this phase various problematic items were identified and eliminated from both questionnaires using the Rasch measurement model. The final phase included the validation study where the psychometric properties of both the new instruments were investigated. The SAPFI results provided evidence for factorial validity, factorial invariance, reliability and significant relations with external variables of the distress scale. Although evidence was provided for the factorial validity, reliability and external validity of the eustress scale, factorial invariance could not be confirmed. Furthermore, the JDRSM results provided evidence for the factorial validity, reliability (except for the workload scale) and external validity. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Over the last decade the focus has shifted to ensure a holistic view of employee well-being in organisations by focusing on both physical and psychological well-being. Previous research suggests that work characteristics and psychological work-related well-being influence both the individual (i.e. health) and organisational outcomes (i.e. commitment, safety, productivity, etc.). Moreover, the increasing importance of focusing on work-related psychological well-being of employees is evident in legislation from around the world. In South Africa the Occupational Health and Safety legislation, spesifically the Construction Regulations, also recognises the importance of the psychological well-being of employees and refers to it as ?psychological fitness?. However, no clear definition or instrument for psychological fitness exists. Similarly, no instrument exist to measure work characteristics of blue-collar workers. The objectives of this research were 1) to propose a defintion for psychological fitness of blue-collar employees 2) to propose a theoretical framework to better our understanding of psychological fitness 3) to develop a psychological fitness instrument for blue-collar employees that is suitable for the South African context 4) to test the psychometric properties of the newly developed psychological fitness instrument 5) to develop a work characteristics questionnaire for blue-collar mine workers to gain insight into their work experiences, and 6) to evaluate the psychometric properties of the newly developed job demands-resources scale for blue-collar mine workers. The empirical study consisted of two phases. During the first phase, following an extensive literature review, a definition and theoretical framework for psychological fitness was proposed. Thereafter, a new instrument for measuring psychological fitness was developed and tested. An instrument for measuring the work characteristics of blue-collar mine workers has also been developed to further the understanding of their work experiences. During the second phase, the psychometric properties of the newly developed psychological fitness instrument were tested (i.e. factorial validity, factorial invariance, reliability and external validity; N = 2769). Furthermore, the psychometric properties of the newly developed job demands-resources scale for blue collar workers were also investigated (i.e. factorial validity, reliability and the relationship with theoretically relevant external variables; N = 361). During the conceptualisation process, the definition of psychological fitness has been proposed based on previous work-related well-being literature. The work-related well-being concepts, distress and eustress were proposed as indicators of psychological fitness. Therefore, psychological fitness was defined as a state in which an employee display high levels of emotional and mental energy and high levels of psychological motivation to be able to work and act safely. The dimensions of burnout and engagement were proposed as possible indicators of psychological fitness and included exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive weariness, vitality and work devotion. Furthermore, the underlying work-related well-being theories and models were identified as the theoretic framework to enable the development of a questionnaire for psychological fitness. In order to ensure that the low literacy employees understand the meaning of each questionnaire close attention has been paid during the development of items. Firstly, the psychological fitness instrument (SAPFI) for blue-collar employees has been translated into all the official languages of South Africa following a multistage translation process. Secondly, the job demands-resources scale for blue collar mine workers (JDRSM) has been translated into the three most commonly spoken languages (Sesotho, isiXhosa and Setswana) by employees working in this specific mine. During this phase various problematic items were identified and eliminated from both questionnaires using the Rasch measurement model. The final phase included the validation study where the psychometric properties of both the new instruments were investigated. The SAPFI results provided evidence for factorial validity, factorial invariance, reliability and significant relations with external variables of the distress scale. Although evidence was provided for the factorial validity, reliability and external validity of the eustress scale, factorial invariance could not be confirmed. Furthermore, the JDRSM results provided evidence for the factorial validity, reliability (except for the workload scale) and external validity. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.