Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / Twenty-first century organisations have become more conscious of implementing work-life balance practices due to the fusion of females into the labour market, the existence of double career couples with children and equality gender. Several studies around work-life balance has been embarked upon, however, the perception of female traffic officers within the South African environment has not yet been explored. The present study seeks to understand and provide female traffic inspectors with better insights about how they are currently experiencing work and home life through self-awareness. A phenomenological approach based on a research design of inquiry was used to engage with female traffic inspectors and to obtain their experience, as well as its impact. The sample used for this study consisted of six female traffic inspectors from the Western Cape Government, Department of Transport and Public Works: Metro Region. The current research used one research instrument namely in-depth interview to address the research question using semi-structured, audio-taped interviews. Recurring themes that emerged from the study indicate that female traffic inspectors’ experience of work-life balance challenges involved job stress, work support, organisational culture and the work environment. These challenges have impacted on their work life and family life which gave rise to inter-role conflict, work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict, which negatively impacted on their attitude in attempting to adapt to their work environment. It became evident that most of the participants were finding it difficult to balance work and family as they realise that “something had to give”.

Hälso- och sjukvården är en arbetsplats där anställda dagligen ställs inför fysiska och psykiska påfrestningar. Då det inte är möjligt att eliminera alla riskfaktorer krävs istället en motståndskraft. Arbetsresurser i form av socialt stöd, inflytande, utvecklingsmöjligheter samt rolltydlighet kan bidra till engagemang och motivation. Även personliga resurser är viktiga för att hantera stressorer i såväl vardagen som arbetslivet, varav Känsla av sammanhang (KASAM) ses som en av de viktigaste personliga resurserna utifrån hälsa och hälsofrämjande. Studien syftade till att undersöka relationen mellan hälsa, KASAM och arbetsresurser bland anställda inom sjukvården med hjälp av en enkätundersökning utifrån skalorna SHIS, COPSOQ-II samt SOC-13. Analyser utfördes i form av korrelationer samt regressioner. Resultatet påvisade positiva samband mellan respondenternas hälsa och KASAM, hälsa och arbetsresurser samt KASAM och arbetsresurser. De arbetsresurser med starkast samband med respondenternas hälsa var inflytande samt rolltydlighet. Slutsatsen var att KASAM var den individuella faktorn med störst inverkan på hälsan. / In the health-care sector, workers are, on a daily level, exposed to physical and mental strain. Since it’s not possible to eliminate all risk-factors in the work environment, there’s a need for a resilience. Job resources, such as social support, influence, career-opportunity and role-clarity may contribute to engagement and motivation. Personal resources are also important to handle stressors, both at work and in personal life. Sense of Coherence (SOC) is often seen as one of the most influential personal resource in terms of health and health-promotion. The aim was to investigate the relations between health, SOC, and job resources in the health-care sector, using a questionnaire based on the SHIS, COPSOQ-II and SOC-13 scales. Analyses were made using correlations and regressions. Results showed positive relations between the respondent’s health, SOC and job resources. The individual job resources with the strongest relation, both to health and SOC was influence and role-clarity. Conclusion was that SOC was the individual factor with greatest influence on health.

Les sociétés actuelles montrent un déclin toujours plus important du niveau d’activité physique, associé à une progression alarmante des comportements sédentaires. Compte tenu de la mutation inéluctable des activités professionnelles, le milieu du travail a récemment été suggéré comme un environnement pertinent et intéressant pour favoriser l’activité physique. Dans ce contexte, l’objectif principal de ce travail de doctorat était d’évaluer la faisabilité de mise en place et l’efficacité de programmes d’activité physique conduits en entreprise sur les principaux indicateurs de santé d’employés du secteur tertiaire. Si les premiers résultats soulignent bien la faisabilité de ce type d’approche et viennent confirmer leurs bienfaits sur la santé, ce travail vient enrichir la littérature dans le domaine de nouveaux résultats particulièrement importants à considérer : i) le haut niveau de sédentarité semble influencer le niveau de santé des employés ; ii) la mise en place de ce type de programme se confronte à un faible taux d’adhésion qui semble déterminé à la fois par le profil initial de participant et par les effets à court terme du programme. De manière importante, nos résultats mettent clairement en avant que la santé générale des employés de ce secteur tertiaire ne peut pas être uniquement améliorée par l’accroissement du niveau d’activité physique, mais également très certainement par la réduction concomitante de leur temps de sédentarité. Si les travaux conduits jusqu’alors se sont intéressés de manière isolée à la promotion du niveau d’activité physique ou à cette rupture de sédentarité, des approches combinées doivent être maintenant conduites et ce de manière individualisée. / Current societies show a continuous decline of physical activity level associated with an alarming progression of sedentary behaviors. Considering the inevitable shift in professional activities, workplace has recently been suggested as a relevant and interesting setting for the promotion of physical activity. In this context, the main objective of this PhD thesis was to evaluate the feasibility, implementation and effectiveness of physical activity programs conducted within companies on the main health indicators of tertiary employees. If our first results underline the feasibility of such an approaches and confirm their health benefits, this work enriches the literature in the field of new results particularly important to consider : i) the high level of sedentary time seems to influence the employees’ health level despite increased physical practice ; ii) the introduction of this program type is confronted to a high attrition rate which seems determined by both the initial participants' profile and the short-term effects of the program. Importantly, our results clearly point out that the employees’ general health in the tertiary sector can not only be improved by increasing the physical activity level, but needs a concomitant reduction of their sedentary time. If the work carried out until now has been independently focusing on the promotion of physical activity or on anti-sedentary time strategies, combined individualized approaches must now be carried out.

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 2016 / There is international growing evidence to support the notion that indoor planters positively impact employees’ emotional states, personal health, work engagement as well as their overall perceptions of their work environment and ultimately impacting employee productivity. However this ground-breaking research has never been conducted within a South African Work Environment. Consequently the following study adopts a quasi-experimental study in order to investigate the impact that indoor plants may have on employee physical well-being, psychological well-being, work engagement and their overall perception of their work environment. Furthermore, the researcher aimed to assess whether the employees connectedness to nature influenced the impact the plants had on them, thus assessing how this covariate may impact the relationship between the absence and presence of plants and the above mentioned dependent variables. A Sample of 32 Global Service Management Centre (GSMC) employees from an internationally recognised organisation, Business Connexion, were assessed over a period of 12 weeks. The first assessment was conducted in the no plant condition, while the final assessment was conducted once the plants were installed in the whole office area. Additionally, SE Controls were positioned throughout the office area in order to measure the fluctuations of the air quality once the planters were installed. The results of a series of Wilcoxon Sign Rank Tests as well as Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations indicated no significant results; however upon closer evaluations of the individual scale items the researcher identified several statistically significant results that were unpacked and discussed. The readings from the SE Controls indicated either an improvement or stabalisation of the air quality variables that were being assessed in the current study. / GR2017

ABSTRACT The negative impacts of trauma on clients are well known. However, the negative impact of working with traumatized clients on the counselor or helper has received less attention in the literature. Similarly, the contributions of certain work environments to experiences of compassion fatigue and the role of personality characteristics have gone unnoticed, especially in the South African context. The aim of this research is to examine the relationships between compassion fatigue, sense of coherence and work environment variables (job control, workload and collegial support), and to determine whether sense of coherence moderates the relationship between work environment and compassion fatigue on a sample of Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) practitioners in the South African organisational context (both public and private sectors). The current study adopted a non-experimental research design, categorised as cross-sectional and correlational. A non-probability sampling procedure was utilised. A sample of ninety-nine (99) EAP practitioners was obtained. A 10-items Job Control Scale (Wall, Jackson and Mullarkey, 1995), Workload and Collegial Support Scale by Dewe (1987) 11-items each, a 30- items Compassion Fatigue Self-Test Scale (Figley, 1995), and 13-items Orientation to Life Questionnaire (QLQ-13/SOC-13) by Antonovsky (1987; 1993) were administered. Results indicate that the sample in the current study were at higher risk of experiencing compassion fatigue. There was a positive significant relationship between workload, collegial support and compassion fatigue, a negative insignificant correlation between job control and compassion fatigue, and positive insignificant relationship between sense of coherence and compassion fatigue. The results between sense of coherence and the work environment variables were insignificant. Finally, sense of coherence was only found to moderate the relationship between workload and compassion fatigue and the relationship between collegial support and compassion fatigue.

This study was concerned with investigating the perceptions of the conditions of the physical work environment on the psychological and physical wellbeing of employees at Nedbank. This was an important study to carry out due to the fact that people are increasingly spending time indoors more especially in the offices in which they work. Thus it becomes important to investigate the effects that the physical work environment in which people work has on their psychological and physical wellbeing. The buildings investigated in this study were green buildings, as they were concerned with limiting the negative impact of the physical work environment on the wellbeing of employees and the environment. The sample utilised in this study consisted of three hundred and forty nine (n=349) participants of Nedbank from two recently refurbished buildings known as Phase II and Ridgeside, the sampling technique utilised in order to obtain this sample was purposive sampling. The statistical analysis which were utilised was the multiple regression analysis which was used in order to find out which building conditions influenced psychological and physical wellbeing, whilst a partial correlation analyses was performed to investigate the moderating effect of time spent in building. From these analyses it was found that perceptions of the conditions of the physical work environment had a greater influence on the physical wellbeing of employees. Perceptions of the conditions of the physical work environment were found to have a lesser influence on the psychological wellbeing of employees at Nedbank. Results also revealed that time spent in building was not a moderator of the relationships between the perceptions of the conditions of the physical work environment with psychological and physical wellbeing respectively.

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.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Business and Executive Coaching February, 2017 / The expected economic growth in Africa and, in particular within Nigeria, (Ogunlesi, 2014) opens doors to more global business opportunities. This growth within the African continent also contributes towards the growth of organisational developmental practices such as executive coaching. This is because executive coaching is undoubtedly one of the fastest developmental interventions used by organisations worldwide (Bartlett, 2006). For that reason, it is imperative for organisations within the Nigerian business setting, where most executives are males, to understand possible inhibitors that could affect the formation of a coaching relationship between male executives and coaches from a different gender. Previous research on the impact of gender in a coaching relationship has found that gender plays a role when matching executives with coaches (Gray & Goregaokar, 2010). It has also been found that gender similarity of the coach and the executive increases self-awareness of the executives (Bozer, Joo & Santora, 2015). Boyce, Jackson and Neal (2010) advocate that when there is gender commonality between coaches and executives; rapport and trust are established much quicker. Therefore the main purpose of this research is to understand the role that gender and in particular, how gender stereotypes could affect the coach-matching process between female coaches and male executives in a patriarchal society like Nigeria (Nwosu, 2012). A qualitative approach was implored to uncover trends in thoughts and opinions of the participants. The researcher sought in-depth understanding of the participants and their experiences. A total of 17 (seventeen) participants were interviewed and 13 (thirteen) of those were males and to ensure triangulation, 4 (four) females were interviewed. The interviews were semi-structured and the probing questions allowed for a deeper understanding of the phenomena. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using the conventional content analysis method where each transcript was read from beginning to end and the data was read word for word to determine the initial codes. The research found that coaching is in its infancy or emerging stages in Nigeria and there are male executives who would be uncomfortable working with female coaches. Both positive and negative gender stereotypes against women surfaced in the research as key contributors to the coach-matching process. The motherly nature of women, their general warmness, their meticulousness when approaching issues, their ability to be friendly and open and the fact that women are seen as having less ego are positive gender stereotypes that would encourage male executives to secure the services of female coaches. The findings also points out the gender stereotypes that could inhibit the formation of a coaching relationship and most of these stereotypes are found to be perpetuated by the applicable religion, tradition and customs within Nigeria. / MT2017

Det finns ett ökat intresse att förhindra psykisk ohälsa eftersom det påverkar många arbetstagare. Något som kan påverka arbetstagarnas psykiska hälsa i positiv mening är en stödjande ledare och en bra arbetsmiljö. Syftet med studien var att undersöka vilka faktorer i arbetet som kan vara viktiga och avgörande för att arbetstagare ska uppleva en bättre psykisk hälsa, men även om män och kvinnor och offentlig och privat sektor skiljer sig åt i upplevd psykisk hälsa. De frågeställningar som användes för att besvara studiens syfte var: Frågeställning 1: Har arbetsmiljön och ledarskapet betydelse för arbetstagares psykiska hälsa? Frågeställning 2: Har arbetsklimatet en inverkan på arbetstagares psykiska välmående? Frågeställning 3: Upplever kvinnor sämre psykisk hälsa än män inom arbetslivet? Frågeställning 4: Upplever arbetstagare inom offentlig sektor sämre psykisk hälsa än arbetstagare inom privat sektor? I en enkätundersökning deltog totalt 100 arbetstagare.  Resultaten av korrelationsanalyser visade att en god arbetsmiljö och en bra ledare, samt ett bra arbetsklimat kan bidra till bättre psykisk hälsa hos arbetstagarna. Resultatet av flervägs variansanalys för oberoende mätningar visade däremot ingen skillnad i upplevd psykisk hälsa bland män och kvinnor, samt mellan offentlig och privat sektor. Slutsatsen är att arbetsmiljön, ledarskapet och arbetsklimatet verkar spela en betydelsefull roll för att arbetstagare ska uppleva en bättre psykisk hälsa inom verksamheterna. / The interest to prevent mental illness has grown since it affects many employees. Factors that could affect employees’ mental health in a positive direction are supportive leaders and good working environments. The aims of this study were to investigate what factors at work were vital for better experienced mental health of the employees’, and to investigate differences in mental health between men and women and between the public and private sectors. The research questions formulated were: Question 1: Do the working environment and leadership have any significance for the employees’ mental health? Question 2: Does the work climate have an effect on the employees’ well-being? Question 3: Do women experience worse mental health compared to men, at work? Question 4: Do employees’ within the public sector experience worse mental health compared to employees’ within the private sector? A total of 100 employees participated in a survey. The result of a correlation analysis showed that a good working environment, good leadership and a good working climate can contribute to improved mental health among the employees. The results from an analysis of variance test illustrated no significant difference in mental health between women and men or between public and private sector. The conclusion is that the work environment, the leadership and the work climate seems to play a meaningful role when it comes to better experienced mental health among the employees within both public and private sectors.

Bakgrund: I sin professionella roll är sjuksköterskan en vårdare med högre utbildning. Sjuksköterskor arbetar nära andra individer i sitt arbete; andra yrkeskategorier såväl som patienter, anhöriga och allmänhet. Sjuksköterskan är en individ med sin egen integritet och hälsa samt har behov av trygghet på arbetsplatsen. För trygghet och god hälsa spelar känslan av sammanhang på arbetet in. Sjuksköterskeyrket är kvinnodominerat. Det är vanligare att kvinnor än män utsätts för sexuella ofredanden.  Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av sexuella ofredanden på arbetsplatsen. Metod: Litteraturöversikt med totalt tolv stycken ingående artiklar av kvantitativ och kvalitativ design. Resultat: Sexuella ofredanden mot sjuksköterskor kan begås av patienter, anhöriga och kollegor. Den som ofredar är i regel man. Sjuksköterskan kan ha svårigheter att avgöra ifall patienter med kognitiv svikt är medveten om sina sexuella handlingar. Sjuksköterskor som har blivit utsatta för sexuellt ofredande reagerar på olika sätt, både i den pågående händelsen och efteråt.  Att bli utsatt för sexuellt ofredande kan medföra olika sorters negativ påverkan i den professionella rollen och för individens egen hälsa. Konklusion:  Ytterligare forskning behövs, studien beskriver att sjuksköterskor har olika erfarenheter av sexuella ofredanden, där strategier för att hantera det i många fall saknas eller är otillräckliga. / Background: A registered nurse is a caregiver with an academic degree. In their profession, nurses have close encounters with other individuals; including colleagues with other professions as well as patients and their relatives. A nurse is also an individual with own sense of integrity and health, and with a need for a safe work enviroment. The majority of nurses are women. Women are more likely to be victims of sexual harassment than men. Purpose: The aim was to describe nurses experience of sexual harassment in their workplace. Method: Literature review containing twelve articles with qualitative and quantitative method. Result: The perpetrator in sexual harassment against nurses is either a patient or its family or a colleague, often a male. Patient whom suffers from cognitive impairment are difficult to assess if they are aware of their actions if they sexual harass a nurse. Nurses whom have been sexual harassed react in different ways, both in the on-going incident and afterwards. Being sexual harassed may lead to different kinds of negative influence in the nurse’s professional role as well in their own health. Conclusion: More research is necessary, this study describes that nurses have different experiences of sexual harassment, strategies for management is non-existing or not efficient enough.