Until recently South Africa experienced an economic decline, however, despite the current positive trends, many large corporations are compelled to reduce personnel costs. Retrenchments have therefore become an increasingly common occurrence within South Africa. This has had an impact on the level of organisational commitment, absenteeism and turnover. Studies support the link between the levels of organisational commitment of employees, absenteeism and subsequently labour turnover. There is a relative lack of research in South African organisations into the influence of retrenchments on employees within call centre environments that have undergone retrenchments. The aims of this study was therefore to identify the levels of organisational commitment amongst call centre employees who survived a retrenchment that occurred in 2001.

A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master’s (Industrial/Organisational Psychology) in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, March 2017 / A South African study, based on a sample of 208 medical personnel working in public and private institutions, was conducted in order to determine whether job demands and job resources led to differences in the propensity to comply with Needlestick Injury (NSI) intervention scores. Three self-report questionnaires were completed by the participants, namely the self-developed demographic questionnaire, the Job Demands-Resources Scale (JDRS) which measured job demands and resources, and thirdly the self-developed Propensity to Comply with Interventions for Needlestick Injuries Scale (PCINS) which measured the propensity to comply with interventions for NSIs. Accidental needle stick, as well as sharp, injuries occur frequently within the medical context and are associated with high risks for blood-borne infections (Adefolalu, 2014). Specifically within South Africa blood-borne infections such as HIV carry heavy significance. Needlestick injuries often go unreported by healthcare professionals, and these injuries are widely prevalent. The researcher aimed to explore the job demands and resources that contribute to and mitigate against these injuries. Therefore support for the analysis of job demands and resources and the propensity to comply with NSI interventions exists. The results of the study suggested that there were mostly no significant differences between Job Demands and Resources and the propensity to comply with NSI Interventions scores. However significant relationships were found between length of shift and the propensity to comply with NSI interventions and growth opportunities and the propensity to comply with NSI interventions. The findings did not follow the proposed hypotheses that job demands would lead to a decrease in the propensity to comply with NSI interventions and job resources would lead to an increase in the propensity to comply with NSI interventions as longer length of shift (job demand) led to an increase in propensity to comply with NSI interventions and an association between high levels of growth opportunity (job resource), and low levels of propensity to comply with NSI interventions, was found. / GR2018

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

by Ho Kam Wan. / Thesis (M.S.W.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Bibliography: leaves 158-167.

This research was designed to investigate whether or not there are significant positive relationships between the total number of reasons production employees cite for staying with an industrial firm and measures of both job performance and job satisfaction. In addition, this study sought relationships between employee work values and both job performance and job satisfaction. Significant positive correlations have been established for tribalistic and existential values with production worker job performance. Further, significant positive correlations were shown for conformist values, and negative correlations for manipulative values with both job satisfaction and with the total number of reasons cited for staying with the firm. This study gives support to a situational theory of work motivation in which both job performance and satisfaction are dependent on the strength of employee job inertia.

Recovery during nonwork time is essential for restoring resources that have been lost throughout the working day. Recent research has begun to explore the nature of recovery experiences as boundary conditions between various job stressors and employee well-being. Interpersonal conflict is an important work stressor that has been associated with several negative employee outcomes, such as higher levels of psychosomatic complaints, anxiety, depression, and frustration. This study contributes to recovery research by examining the moderating role of recovery experiences on the relationship between workplace interpersonal conflict and employee well-being. Specifically, it was hypothesized that recovery experiences (e.g., psychological detachment, mastery, control, relaxation, negative work reflection, positive work reflection, and social activities) would moderate the relationship between interpersonal conflict and employee well-being (e.g., job satisfaction, burnout, life satisfaction, and general health complaints). Hierarchical regression was used to examine the hypotheses. Relaxation was found to be a significant moderator of the relationship between self-reported interpersonal conflict and employee exhaustion. Additional analyses found mastery experiences to be a significant moderator of the relationship between coworker reported interpersonal conflict and both dimensions of burnout (exhaustion and disengagement). Several main relationships between recovery experiences and employee well-being were found that support and extend earlier research on recovery from work. Practical implications for future research are discussed.

published_or_final_version / Social Service Management / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This study explores the perceptions and experiences of senior managers regarding organisational transformation and change. To achieve this objective, a qualitative methodology was undertaken and twelve open-ended questions were formulated for the study. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted. A non-probability sampling technique was utilised, along with snowball sampling and judgement sampling methods to select participants for the study. The sample consisted of twenty-two senior managers from different Units and Departments within the eThekwini Municipality. The data collected were then qualitatively analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of the study were presented under key themes that had emerged during the study. The main findings of the study showed that the municipality had radically transformed in response to the new political dispensation in South Africa, as of 1994. The study highlighted the general consensus amongst senior managers that fundamental transformation of the Municipality was imperative. The participants of the study expressed the view that the former municipal organisation had become misaligned with its environment. It was therefore imperative to ensure fundamental transformation of the municipality. Most senior managers, however, felt that the transformation process was poorly managed. These negative views were attributed to, inter alia, the long period of transformation, poor change management, and lack of a clearly articulated organisational culture coupled with some poorly implemented systems. Although negative views were expressed with regard to the transformation process, most senior managers were satisfied with their specific jobs. This surprising finding was attributed to positive personality characteristics and humanistic-existential perspectives that most senior managers were found to possess. Existentialists believe in people taking responsibility for their lives and the humanists stresses the importance of self-actualisation. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

This study examined the relationship between select role-related stressors, as measured by the Teacher Stress Measure, as well as the background variables of gender, years of experience as aspects of educator burnout, as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). From a sample of 104 educators from schools in the Pietermaritzburg region, it was found that burnout is exhibited largely through feelings of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of personal accomplishment. While both males and females appear to be affected similarly, the less experienced educators appeared to be more susceptible to burnout than their more experienced counterparts. This study also indicated that stressors such as redeployment, promotion and salary correlated with burnout, although not significantly. Learner pressures, lack of support and recognition, poor interpersonal relationships, role ambiguity, role conflict, lack of decision-making and role insufficiency (which encapsulates the issue of Outcomes Based Education) were found to have a significant influence on educator burnout. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

Until recently South Africa experienced an economic decline, however, despite the current positive trends, many large corporations are compelled to reduce personnel costs. Retrenchments have therefore become an increasingly common occurrence within South Africa. This has had an impact on the level of organisational commitment, absenteeism and turnover. Studies support the link between the levels of organisational commitment of employees, absenteeism and subsequently labour turnover. There is a relative lack of research in South African organisations into the influence of retrenchments on employees within call centre environments that have undergone retrenchments. The aims of this study was therefore to identify the levels of organisational commitment amongst call centre employees who survived a retrenchment that occurred in 2001.