A research report submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree Master of Arts in Social and Psychological Research by coursework and research report in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016 / Linking health and productivity to organisational advantages, this study explores the benefits that health screening may provide organisations in South Africa. Health was evaluated in this research as the amount of lifestyle factors (physical inactivity, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and BMI) and biometric factors (high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high glucose) employees were at risk for. The study aimed to investigate whether increased health leads to the experience of negative health consequences, which may negatively impact on productivity in the workplace. Productivity was assessed firstly by a person’s ability to be at work, and secondly by their ability to significantly contribute to their organisation while they were at work. As such, workplace productivity loss was evaluated in terms of the direct, and indirect, organisational costs that ill-health results in. Workplace productivity loss was measured using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire: General Health V2.0 (WPAI-GH). Participants were 409 employees from an organisation in the financial service sector (Mage = 41.86, SD = 9.3). Multiple regression analysis found one lifestyle factor (physical inactivity) and one biometric factor (cholesterol) to significantly predicted work productivity. Cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI and blood pressure did not significantly predict workplace productivity loss. Significant relationships were found between physical inactivity and BMI, blood pressure and cholesterol. Alcohol consumption was significantly related to cigarette smoking and blood pressure, while BMI and blood pressure had a significant relationship. The findings contribute to knowledge on how workplace productivity can be promoted through healthy lifestyle behaviours and biometric risk factors. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed in terms of how organisations can design, implement and evaluate appropriate workplace programmes that are related to the specific health needs of their employees. This was positioned as an essential business practice that positively relates to organisational effectiveness by increasing workplace productivity. Keywords: workplace productivity loss, lifestyle risk factors, biometric risk factors, organisational advantage, South Africa / GR2017

Thesis (M.B.A.)-Business Studies Unit, Durban Institute of Technology, 2006 xvii, 137 leaves / The purpose of this study is to assess the job satisfaction of employees at selective IT SMEs in Durban and to ascertain if the personal characteristics of gender, age, race, and tenure influenced job satisfaction. This was assessed by determining if these employees were satisfied with their reward structure, their work environment, and the impact of gender, age, race and tenure on job satisfaction. / M

In this study, the sex-role identities adopted by young, middle-aged, and older working females South African were compared. The rationale of the study is based on changes which occurred within South Africa with regards to gender, race, education, as well as work place participation for women. Two hundred females from two South African organisations participated in the study. Two self-report questionnaires were utilised: a demographic questionnaire and Bem’s Sex-Role Inventory. Data was interpreted statistically, by means of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and frequencies. Results revealed that younger women have adopted more masculine characteristics than middle-aged and older females. Results further indicated that black women are more likely to reflect sex-role identity changes on age than white women, given that changes in the South African society many have been more impactful on them. Results on the levels of masculinity amongst the younger group of females are consistent with a study done on working females in India.

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 the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, March 2017. / The present study aimed to explore levels of perceived stress and workplace thriving in a sample of 485 South African employees, within the framework of sex-role identity. A number of research to date has begun to explore the influence of sex-role identities on a number of different organisational outcomes; however few have explored both the positive and negative aspects of gendered personality traits and thus this study aimed to contribute to existing research through utilising a differentiated model of sex-role identity. Three self-report questionnaires were completed by participants, namely the EPAQ-R to assess sex-role identity, the Job Related Tension Index developed by Kahn et al. (1964) to establish levels of perceived stress and the thriving scale developed by Porath et al. (2012) was used to measure workplace thriving. The results of the study highlighted a number of statistically significant differences between sex-role identities and perceived stress and thriving respectively. A number of these results were in line with the proposed hypotheses; however, negative masculinity proved to be inconsistent with the proposed hypotheses as these individuals did not differ from the positive identities in terms of workplace stress. Furthermore, negative femininity did not experience statistically significant differences with the positive identities. The findings of the study provide support for a differentiated model of sex-role identity, as well as support for the Androgynous model of psychological well being. Practical and theoretical implications of this research are discussed in the study. / MT2018

Thesis (M.B.A.)-Business Studies Unit, Durban Institute of Technology, 2006 xvii, 137 leaves / The purpose of this study is to assess the job satisfaction of employees at selective IT SMEs in Durban and to ascertain if the personal characteristics of gender, age, race, and tenure influenced job satisfaction. This was assessed by determining if these employees were satisfied with their reward structure, their work environment, and the impact of gender, age, race and tenure on job satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to explore how women leaders within the consulting industry experience emotional labour in South Africa. I followed a qualitative research approach informed by the hermeneutic phenomenological paradigm, making use of a case study approach and in-depth semi-structured interviews with eight women leaders with a minimum of eight years’ experience within the consulting industry, all of whom resided in the Gauteng region. The questions posed to participants aimed to understand the various emotions experienced during pre-set scenarios. The empirical findings suggest that women leaders naturally adopt a transformational leadership style. The empirical research exposes that women leaders within the consulting industry do not have any form of work-life balance. Furthermore, the empirical research reveals that most of the women experience both negative and positive emotions due to the ups and downs exposed to at work, there is no organisational support to overcome these emotions / Colleges of Economic and Management Sciences / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Problem: In South Africa, women have not always had opportunities in society or the workplace due to historical discriminatory political and socio-economic policies and practices, including apartheid (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, 2011). Gender disparity at the top echelons of organisations is still prevalent, and the South African business landscape is not different despite progressive legislation promulgated in the late 90s when the democratic government took over. Aim of the study: The aim was to identify challenges faced by women when attempting to advance into executive positions and strategies that could assist them in this respect. Method: A literature study was conducted to establish what work had already been done in the field of gender studies and advancement of women in the corporate world. For the empirical study an interpretivist paradigm with a qualitative research approach was adopted. Interviews were conducted with ten women who were members of the Port Elizabeth branch of the Businesswomen's Association of South Africa (BWASA) and who were categorised as hopeful, emerging or already in executive positions. They were asked about the challenges they were facing or had experienced and the strategies that assisted or could assist them in advancing to an executive position. They were also asked to provide critical incidents with the view of enriching the data and gaining a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Results: Gender-insensitive organisational policies, an unsupportive organisational culture and unknown barriers in selection emerged as key challenges experienced by the participants. Facilitative strategies that emerged included a supportive corporate culture, family support, an enabling supervisor and affiliation to professional bodies. Conclusion: Whilst a large pool of work has been done on the advancement of women, gender equality in corporate South Africa remained a challenge. This challenge should be addressed from a corporate, personal and professional perspective. Recommendations: An integrated organisational approach to this phenomenon is required which should include appropriate company policies, a supportive organisational culture and enabling supervisors. In addition, women should garner the support that their families provide and they could greatly benefit from affiliating to professional bodies.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of the Master of Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa.,2016. / Office setting is a widely acceptable means of providing an enabling environment that best facilitates employees’ performance and general productivity. This study sought to investigate the impact of office setting on employee performance using, eThekwini (KwaZulu-Natal) municipal offices and employees at the Durban City Hall, as a case study. The objectives of the study were to analyse the office design, finishes and furnishings of the head office building of eThekwini municipality and identify features in the design, finishes and furnishings in terms of their suitability and comfort of the employees; assess the impact of office settings on the performance of eThekwini municipality employees at the City Hall; and propose specific settings based interventions that would address employee health, comfort and wellbeing and thereby enhance optimum performance. The study was based on a sample of 65 City Hall staff randomly drawn from various departments and units, as well as 10 senior managers. Data for the study obtained mainly from the administration of questionnaires was analysed quantitatively using SPSS and Microsoft Excel and presented with the aid of frequency distributions, pie charts, tables, pictures and graphs. The research identified considerable office settings deficiencies which included uninspiring and old-fashioned office design and decor (largely cellular offices), use of dark wooden partitions resulting in poorly illuminated offices, and continued use of old furniture at the City Hall. The study also confirmed that the settings deficiencies had varying adverse effects on the performance of City Hall employees by between (20% - 80%). The study recommends the relocation of the City Hall head office to a new modern facility designed and furnished to suit the particular needs of the organisation. The development and operation of a real estate policy that leverages on the workplace environment to attract, retain and boost employee performance has also been recommended. / M

Grounded in the positive psychology paradigm the recently recognised core construct of psychological capital was focussed in a South African study. A non-experimental, correlational study (n=204) examined the relationship between authentic leadership, psychological capital, psychological climate, team commitment and intention to quit. The present study was exploratory in nature and the pattern of relationships being investigated had not been previously tested in a South African context. A self-administered composite questionnaire consisting of five psychological scales were distributed to employees in the junior to senior management level at a global tyre manufacturing organisation based in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The five scales were the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire by Walumbwa, Psychological Capital Questionnaire by Luthans, Psychological Climate by Koys and DeCotiis, Team Commitment by Bennett and the Intention to Quit Scale by Cohen. All the measures applied on the South African sample were developed outside South Africa and model equivalence had to be established. The content and structure of the measures were investigated through confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis. With the exception of the Cohen scale of intention to quit, all other measures changed their factorial structures to suit the present data. The propositions in the study were tested through descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, post hoc tests, Cohen’s d, Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple regressions. Structural equation models were built to test the relationships between the scales and sub scales of authentic leadership, psychological capital, psychological climate, team commitment and intention to quit. Results of the analyses carried out, show significantly strong relationships between the variables. Of note is the marked relationship between authentic leadership and psychological climate. Most of the propositions were accepted in light of the relationships that emerged. The proposition indicating structural equation models was rejected because none of the models built in the study successfully produced an adequate fit on the data. Contributions of the study were in terms of the portability of the measurement instruments applied in the study as well as the relationships that emerged. Re-validation of the measures is required to enable clarity on how the variables in the study are interpreted across cultural contexts. Directions for future research include extending the study to other samples and other cultures. Measuring social desirability of the instruments could possibly provide clarity on how the different samples respond to the measures. Studies that compare the reading ability as well as the ability to comprehend the items in the measures would provide valuable information.

The aim of this study was to determine the impact that Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) design features of green buildings, have on specific organisational outcomes. The organisational outcomes investigated were physical wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, productivity, absenteeism and job satisfaction. These outcomes were investigated within two different green buildings, belonging to a large financial institution, situated in Johannesburg and Durban. Self-report questionnaires were distributed to employees via email inviting them to participate in the study. The questionnaires contained the Warwick-Edinburg Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), the Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) questions, and single-item questions measuring productivity and job satisfaction. Actual absenteeism records were obtained of the participating sample from the organisation. Measures were taken before the participants moved into each of the green buildings and 12 months post occupancy in the green buildings. Measures of a comparison group that did not move into either of the green buildings were also taken at the same time periods. The final sample consisted of 175 participants. The results of this study illustrated significant differences in physical wellbeing and productivity of the participants in the green building situated in Durban. Both these measures increased 12 months post occupancy in the green building. The IEQ design features that were found to most significantly impact wellbeing and productivity within the two green buildings were lighting and air conditions. This research is important as there is a growing movement towards implementing green building design initiatives, however in order to be truly effective, the benefits of green building designs must extend beyond the benefits to the environment and also consider the benefits to its occupants (Heerwagen, 2000).