The University of the Witwatersrand Research Report (MA in Industrial/Organisational Psychology) June 2017 / Numerous studies have shown that the office workspace environment can have an effect on employees’ performance, satisfaction, psychological wellbeing, and other such factors. As such office workspace design has gained more traction in international research and amongst organisations globally. The office space is an organisation’s second largest expense, it is therefore pertinent that organisations, who have chosen to focus on the office to enhance employee wellbeing, choose the most appropriate and optimal environment for their employees. One of the methods to ensure employees are satisfied with the space is to utilise a user-centred approach that allows employees the opportunity to comment on the space and to communicate their needs for the space. A South African organisation that has chosen to develop its space was a health insurance company that was undergoing a workspace redesign for their new buildings. The aim of this research report was to make use of a mixed method design that may have assisted the company, and the other parties involved, in gaining greater insight into whether the layout change had performed its functions effectively, as well as to ensure that the layout had accomplished the company’s goals. The research report focused on the following variables: psychological wellbeing, physical wellbeing, work engagement, job satisfaction, perceived productivity (performance), satisfaction with the workspace layout, and collaboration/interaction. The study consisted of 158 participants. The results of the study had indicated that there was a main effect relationship between department/team groups and job satisfaction. Other results of the study had found that satisfaction with the workplace layout was related to psychological wellbeing, job satisfaction, work engagement, and productivity. The results revealed that the higher the employees’ satisfaction with the workplace layout, the higher their psychological wellbeing, job satisfaction, work engagement and productivity. The qualitative component resulted in themes that were explored both theoretically and inductively. After analysis of the themes, four main themes were devised. Based on exploration of these themes it became apparent that satisfaction with one’s workplace can be contingent on factors such as, noise and distractions, privacy, operational technology (e.g. it software/hardware/systems and WIFI), functional and up-to-date technical equipment, facility accessibility, honouring of commitments/meeting expectations of the space, personal feelings and attitudes towards change and flexibility, time consumption of activities surrounding flexibility, storage facilities that are accessible, territorialism or sabotage, and interaction/communication. / MT 2018

Nurses comprise the majority of health care service providers and function as an integral part of the services rendered by the health care system in South Africa. There are however, frequent expressions of concern about their working conditions and circumstances. The health care system in South Africa faces difficulties in terms of resources and service provision, with nurses themselves sometimes being criticised for rendering less than adequate services (Khoza, Du Toit & Roos, 2010). Healthcare sector strikes have also been a feature of recent times, influenced by poor salaries, deterioration of academic facilities, poor working conditions in the public sector and the unfortunate conditions facing patients at public health facilities (Dhai, Etheredge, Voster & Veriava, 2011). The nursing care-relationship, however, requires qualities of empathy, compassion, ethical practice and commitment and these demands and contradictions may lead to burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary trauma (Holdt, 2006). The study therefore explored the perceptions of nurses about their role, the quality of the health care services which they provide, their perceptions on nurse/patient relationships; and their perceptions of both problems and strengths or protective factors in their nursing role. Using a qualitative approach, the study included twenty nurses working in a large public hospital in Gauteng. Purposive sampling was used to select participants from various wards. Data was collected through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews, in order to enable participants to reflect on the meanings of their experiences and the perceptions they attach to these experiences. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze data. The main findings were that nurses perceive their occupational stress arising from shortage of staff and limited and inadequate equipment. This resulted in fatigue, and a high rate of absenteeism. Nurses in this hospital reported that they experience trauma due to the nature of their work with little visible and accessible formal debriefings, trauma counseling and Employee Wellness Programmes in place to assist them with stress management for traumatic experiences and other work related problems. Working conditions are perceived as unfavorable and unsafe, exposing them to health hazards, while simultaneously having to deal with frustrated patients and relatives.

A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of MA by coursework and research report in the field of Organisational Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand,Johannesburg 2018 / With the change in nature of work, the spaces in which work is done has also changed, prompting research into the effects of the work environment on employees. The purpose of this study is to investigate how different types of workplace office spaces will have different impacts on aspects of wellbeing in employees. The facets explored are how employees perceive their satisfaction of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) attributes, how they perceive their performance and health within these IEQ conditions, how they perceive their current workspace affecting their physical and psychological discomfort, and how they perceived their own psychological wellbeing. A quantitative survey was compiled from previous literature, appropriate to exploring these variables. The questionnaire was piloted at a company that owns, develops, and manages property before being conducted over a two-week period at a large health insurance company in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The final survey consisted of three subscales of the Green Building Survey (Hedge & Dorsey, 2012) measuring perceived satisfaction of indoor environmental quality and its impact on health and performance; the GABO questionnaire (Pierrette et al., 2015) assessed six aspects of perceived noise; the extended Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire assessed physical discomfort in nine body regions; perceived psychological comfort; and perceived psychological wellbeing using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. Data were collected using an online survey platform. The final sample consisted of 1853 participants of different genders, races, ages, and organisational levels of a prominent South African organisation. The results of this study are beneficial to the field as literature pertaining to workspace layout is outdated and new research is needed as innovative trends in layout types are emerging. Most previous research on employee perceptions addresses productivity but not necessarily different aspects of perceived health, wellbeing, and comfort. It is expected that this study will contribute to finding clarity in a still-ambiguous field and will add to the present-day change in how and where work is done. / TL2019

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Why are other industries successfully using coworking spaces while the advertising industry in South Africa does not, or only partially? Can coworking spaces specifically tailored for the advertising industry invigorate the industry or will client confidentiality be the death of coworking in this industry? The purpose of this research study was to determine the viability of coworking spaces in the advertising industry in South Africa, as well as the barriers to entry and the concerns that the typical advertising person would have related to coworking spaces. This research employed a qualitative approach by means of four structured open-ended face-to-face interviews to obtain primary data about coworking spaces in Cape Town. The participants were randomly selected from advertising staff who had left the corporate environment to work for themselves from a home office, some who were using shared office space or entrepreneurs availing themselves of the advertising space. The researcher asked respondents questions about their experiences and what would be important considerations for making use of a coworking space. The key findings were that there was a need for affordable office space. Financial considerations were one of the main reasons preventing start-up entrepreneurs or self-employed individuals from moving from their home office. The location of the coworking space was of the utmost importance, because individuals did not wish to be stuck in traffic and preferred to work close to their homes. Confidentiality was a major concern for all the respondents taking part in the survey. The principle of knowledge sharing in a coworking environment is valuable, but it could have limitations in the advertising industry since most of the work is deemed confidential. Moreover, the concept of coworking was still largely unknown and had to be explained during each interview. The way we work has changed, but not the working environment.

In this study, positive and negative sex role identities of 412 employees from organisations in South Africa were compared with regards to conflict management styles and psychological wellbeing. Three self- report questionnaires were administered to employees to measure the variables of positive and negative sex role identities, conflict management styles and psychological wellbeing. The self- report questionnaires included the 57- Item Revised Extended Personality Attributes Questionnaire (EPAQ-R), the Thomas- Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, and the Warwick- Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. The results of the present study demonstrated overall significant differences among sex role identities and conflict management styles, sex role identities and psychological wellbeing, as well as conflict management styles and psychological wellbeing. In particular, the results were consistent with the proposed hypotheses in relation to sex role identities and conflict management styles. The results specified that the positively androgynous individual favoured the compromising conflict management style, the negatively androgynous individual preferred to avoid, the positively feminine sex role identity favoured the accommodating conflict management style, whereas the negatively feminine sex role identity preferred to avoid, and both the positively and negatively masculine sex role identities favoured the competing conflict management style. In relation to conflict management styles and psychological wellbeing, significant differences were found between compromising and accommodating, collaborating and accommodating, and avoiding and accommodating conflict management styles. In terms of sex role identity and psychological wellbeing, significant differences occurred between all the positive sex role identities and negative femininity, as well as between positive androgyny and the negative sex role identities. Unexpected findings relating to sex role identities and psychological wellbeing pertains to the significant difference between negative androgyny and negative femininity, as well as the undifferentiated sex role identity and negative femininity. Therefore, these results have provided support for the Differentiated Androgynous Model indicating that positive sex role identities are more socially equipped in terms of psychological adjustment in relation to the negative sex role identities. Non- significant results were obtained when investigating the interrelationship among all three variables.

Thesis (MBA) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / Due to the global economic trends, the subject of workplace safety has become important such that international conventions instituted the international organisation for standardization to help regulate and bring about the improved workplace conditions. Safety in the workplace has become important such that every business irrespective of its size need to have a proper risk management plan in place. Risk management plan will help in identifying hazards; assess the risks and also provide the strategies to be used to mitigate the risks. This demand an ongoing management review for continual improvement through regular audits. Risk management will help in minimizing the risk and saving the cost as this will result in proactive but not re-active measures. Organisation leadership must take the lead in making sure that the employees are safe. They must communicate what is required from employees and employees will comply freely. Effective leadership is the key to a good health and safety. Management must make sure that employees are trained about workplace safety standards and policies so that they can carry out their roles and responsibilities as prescribed in the occupational health and safety act. Risk management is equal to good corporate governance as it helps in dealing with uncertain future events that could influence the achievement of the organisation’s objectives. Therefore risk management must be embedded in all levels of management and in the planning stage so that it must form part of the daily activities of the business.

M. Tech. Labour Relations Management / The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is responsible for the rehabilitation, through skills-training and development, of all offenders incarcerated for different kinds of crimes/offences committed in South Africa. The DCS assumes responsibility for safeguarding society against convicted criminals.. It was reported that DCS experienced a dramatic increase in workplace conflict in the period 2008/2009 - 2012/2013, and the situation has not changed ever since. Workplace conflict, especially dysfunctional conflict, creates unstable labour relations and related risks in the DCS, and should therefore be combated without any further delay. The researcher is under the presumption that many forms of dysfunctional workplace conflict in the Department of Correctional Services, arise because managers, trade union representatives and employees have different perceptions of how employment relations practices and behavioural norms should be applied in the workplace. The primary objective of this study was to investigate employee perceptions on the causes of destructive conflict in the workplace of the Department of Correctional Services, and for that purpose, Zonderwater Management Area was purposefully sampled for the research.

This research project investigates the influence of, and interplay between, contextual and biographical factors on an educator's ability to respond to the work context. In particular, this study explores what factors a small number of educators believe were important, before, during and after their participation on one or other specific professional development programme in enabling them to develop (design and/or adapt) and implement a course curriculum in their work environments. Within the context of this research, the professional development programmes of interest are designed with/for environmental educators from the Southern African region. Although past educational research has often focused on the importance that programme participants give to the interactions between themselves and tutors , the materials used, the assignments tackled, etc. this research project did not set out to draw the research subjects' attention to programme-related factors. Rather, it was designed to broaden the focus to include factors before and after a programme as well. Within this enquiry, three research subjects were engaged in numerous, open-ended conversations throughout the course of the year during which the study unfolded. The above participants were also involved in semi-structured interviews where, again, relatively open-ended questions were asked. A small number of documents, such as the materials of the above professional development programmes, were also analysed. This research has provided a number of insights into the wide range of factors that might enable educators to respond effectively to their work environments. Specifically, it has indicated the importance of four broad families of factors perceived by the subjects of this research to have enabled them to develop and implement a meaningful course curriculum. The personal variables are highlighted in particular. Importantly, this study raises questions and challenges both for those involved in similar research as well as for those involved in the design and implementation of professional development programmes, particularly for educators. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

In recent years, there has been increasing concern that gender bias has prevented women from advancing as rapidly and as frequently as men into management positions. Although the number of women managers has increased, they may experience difficulty moving into upper management positions. The purpose of our research was to study employee gender perception of key variables of women and the positions held in high technology companies. In this research, phenomenological research method was chosen, because the aim of it is to determine what the experience means for the people who have experienced it. Based on the collected data, answers and experiences, structural analysis was done in order to find out the major phenomena of gender perceptions. A number of variables uncover the perception of aspects of policy and gender and barriers that may affect female employees' opportunities for advancement. Using a sample of 30 full-time employees from Company A, the results indicated that position held was significantly different for male and female employees. The results also indicated that neither male nor female employees appeared to notice the apparent perceptions apparently as a glass ceiling within their company and the Implications discussed and recommendations provided. With reference to the Empirical research, this paper increases the knowledge about women’s career development and provides recommendations how to deal with it. It is also expected that this thesis will be helpful to all women who are in the labour market for their career development and advancement.

The global working environment has altered dramatically over the last decade, with the workforce now consisting of a diverse assortment of individuals. South Africa, in particular, has had to face major challenges as it adapts to the newly conceived "Rainbow Nation". It has also had to make amends for inequalities bred by the past discrimination and the segregation of Apartheid. Prior to this, businesses in general, were inward-looking in that they did not have to comply with or conform to the changing trends found in the international arena. Suddenly, issues such as Black Economic Empowerment, Affirmative Action, gender, age, faith and preferred sexual orientation have had to be accommodated as the new Employment Equity Act of 1998 was promulgated. Each individual coming into the workplace has his or her own cosmological, ontological and epistemological view, and although this facilitates a positive contribution by individuals with regard to varying ideas, skills, talents and expertise, more often than not, the reality is that the differences that exist within a staff complement often result in conflict. Furthermore, South Africa exhibits deep-rooted, social conflict as a result of the oppression of the apartheid years. Unemployment, poverty, poor education and service deliveries are far from being satisfactorily addressed. Therefore, it is assumed that unmet/frustrated basic human needs, as defined in Abraham Maslow‘s "Hierarchy of Needs", play a role in causing conflict both in the workplace and in society. It was felt that basic human needs, as articulated, had not been researched as a cause of workplace conflict and this research will explore the part that frustrated human needs may play in organisational conflict, alongside diversity conflicts.