Employee retention, especially of the best, most desirable employees is a key challenge at Sasol Nitro. Employers are trying to find ways to motivate employees to stay with their organisations for a longer period, but the efforts seem not to be working as challenges with employee retention are complex to comprehend. Different employees have different needs within the work environment and in their social relations. In this study, the writer studied variables of career progression as it impacts on employee retention. Attachment was measured in terms of personal embedding: an employee is attached to the organisation due to opportunities available within the organisation as well as the climate and work conditions prevailing within the organisation. Career opportunities seem a threat at Sasol Nitro. Voluntary resignation due to career progression factors is on the increase, as observed from the previous separations and turnover intent of the pilot study. The reasons employees leave organisations can vary widely, and as noted throughout the study, career opportunities play a major role. Remuneration/pay has consistently cited the most important factor to employee satisfaction. Although salary increases are often perceived as the most valuable incentive for employees to stay with the organisation, these are difficult to provide due to the present world recession in 2008. It is also difficult to personalise individual incentives to cater for those individuals that companies cannot afford to lose. Salaries, like other conditions of employment are no longer confidential as it used to be before the enactment of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (Act 75 of 1997). / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The objective of the study was to determine the impact of a train-the-trainer career education programme on educators and black grade eleven learners in the Ekurhuleni districts of Gauteng. The context of career education in South Africa is such that learners have little exposure to career information and planning. This is a result of an education system which historically has placed little emphasis on the preparation of learners for the world of work. In the past little or no career guidance was conducted in black schools. To overcome this dilemma a train-the-trainer career education programme was developed and implemented with educators in the Ekurhuleni district. The results showed that educators felt empowered by the programme and that it provided them with resources and information. The impact on the learners in terms of the programme was achieved by means of a pre- and post-test on the Career Development Questionnaire (CDQ). A convenience sample of grade eleven learners (n = 5 1) in the Ekurhuleni East district of Gauteng was taken. The results indicate that the learner's career maturity scores increased after their exposure to the programme. This research serves as a model for the development and implementation of a train the trainer career education programme and demonstrates how an action-oriented research design can empower educators in the implementation of such a programme. The study also highlights the importance of providing adequate resources as part of career education intervention in the South Africa context. Recommendations for organisations and future research are made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

Employee retention, especially of the best, most desirable employees is a key challenge at Sasol Nitro. Employers are trying to find ways to motivate employees to stay with their organisations for a longer period, but the efforts seem not to be working as challenges with employee retention are complex to comprehend. Different employees have different needs within the work environment and in their social relations. In this study, the writer studied variables of career progression as it impacts on employee retention. Attachment was measured in terms of personal embedding: an employee is attached to the organisation due to opportunities available within the organisation as well as the climate and work conditions prevailing within the organisation. Career opportunities seem a threat at Sasol Nitro. Voluntary resignation due to career progression factors is on the increase, as observed from the previous separations and turnover intent of the pilot study. The reasons employees leave organisations can vary widely, and as noted throughout the study, career opportunities play a major role. Remuneration/pay has consistently cited the most important factor to employee satisfaction. Although salary increases are often perceived as the most valuable incentive for employees to stay with the organisation, these are difficult to provide due to the present world recession in 2008. It is also difficult to personalise individual incentives to cater for those individuals that companies cannot afford to lose. Salaries, like other conditions of employment are no longer confidential as it used to be before the enactment of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (Act 75 of 1997). / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

New professional immigrants, who come to Canada with significant education and work experience, often find themselves underemployed after immigration. As a result, many immigrants undergo some form of re-training post-immigration. This study was a sub-study of a larger Canada Research Chair project exploring the career development and re-training experiences of new professional immigrants to Canada. This particular study focused on exploring such experiences from an existential perspective. Within a qualitative research framework, 10 semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with new professional immigrants to Canada. A grounded theory approach was adopted for data analysis. Several themes emerged and key findings, including participants’ relationship with the core existential concepts of death, freedom, and meaning are introduced. Results also compare how existential considerations were related to participants’ level of career satisfaction in Canada. Results have theoretical implications for career and vocational psychology and implications for practice, including professional and self-helping.

Employing Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, this study will examine the origins, creation, and implementation of Ontario’s Career Studies course as it relates to existing economic and workplace practices. Specifically, two broad aspects of the course will be addressed. First, the expectations for the course will be examined to determine the general approach to workplace education as outlined in course curriculum documents and approved-for-use textbooks. Also included in this analysis will be the ways Career Studies teachers interpret and deliver course material. Secondly, this study will uncover the opportunities students have to control and empower themselves in their career development. This includes an exploration of the alternatives to current workplace and economic practices as presented in the course materials, as well as the strategies emphasized for students to adopt in their career planning. At the moment Career Studies, like other career education and guidance programs in Canada, presents current neo-liberal market and labour trends as permanent and outside the control of human agency. In response to these trends, students are expected to improve their marketability for employment through individual and competitive career-development practices, in effect distancing themselves from others through formal credential attainment and attitudinal adjustments that best suit employers. Opportunities for students to experience collective empowerment through alternative workplace and economic practices are noticeably absent from the course. This study wishes to shed light on some of the shortcomings of career education in Ontario and to propose recommendations that truly situate students as architects of their career planning. Employing Hyslop-Margison and Graham’s (2003) Principles for Democratic Learning (PDL), this study concludes that opportunities for students to critically examine and question current workplace practices, explore alternatives to the status quo, and, most importantly, understand the social elements behind current workplace and economic conditions, will better position students to control their future work lives.

Recent decades have witnessed a wealth of research into the concept of career stages and the relationship between these stages and the needs, attitudes and behaviours of individuals in the workforce. This high level of research interest has been fuelled by the belief that the human factor is the most critical factor in the success of organisations today and if organisations are to remain competitive in a rapidly changing environment they need to better understand the development needs, work-related attitudes and career concerns of their employees. Whilst a diverse range of career stage models have been put forward over the past fifty years, the models proposed by Super, Crites, Hummel, Moser, Overstreet and Warnath (1957) (psychological fit) and Levinson, Darrow, Klein, Levinson and McKee (1978) (age) have received considerable research attention and are generally considered to be the most useful in explaining the needs, attitudes and behaviours of individuals over the course of their career. Research into career stages has been conducted using a wide range of occupational groups. Only a limited number of researchers, however, have sought to test the utility of career stage concepts using a police sample. Despite their popularity and strong theoretical and empirical grounding, there is no known research that has tested the utility of Super et al. (1957) and Levinson et al.’s (1978) models of career stage using a police sample. The purpose of this study therefore was to contribute to the literature on career stage theory by testing the utility of these models of career stage in explaining the job satisfaction and work commitment of Queensland police officers. The study also explored the influence of other background variables that may also impact on job satisfaction and work commitment. The sample consisted of 246 police officers from the Metropolitan South Region of the Queensland Police Service. A cross sectional design was used to gather the data for the study. The Adult Career Concerns Inventory (ACCI) was used to group respondents into a career stage according to Super et al.’s conceptualisation of career stage. Respondents were also grouped into age-based career stages according to Levinson et al.’s conceptualisation of career stage. The study used established survey instruments to collect data on five facets of job satisfaction, these being satisfaction with pay, promotion, supervision, co-workers and work and five facets of work commitment, these being organisational commitment, job involvement, Protestant work ethic, career commitment and union commitment. Data was also collected on the background variables of organisational and occupational tenure, rank, gender, education level and type, type of duty performed, marital status, completion of the Queensland Police Service’s Management Development Program and membership of an Equal Employment Opportunity target group. A series of MANOVAs were used to explore the relationship between the career stage and other background variables and the various facets of job satisfaction and work commitment. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine if the results were being confounded by relationships with other independent variables. The current study failed to find any evidence to support the utility of Levinson et al.’s model in explaining job satisfaction and work commitment for Queensland Police officers. Whilst some significant differences in job satisfaction and work commitment between Levinson et al.’s age groupings were identified, none of the findings were consistent with the assumptions of their model. In fact, there was some evidence of differences in job-related attitudes across age groupings that directly contradict the assumptions of the Levinson et al. model. The current study also found no support for the utility of Super et al.’s model in explaining the job satisfaction of police officers. Some limited support, however, was found for the utility of Super et al.’s model in predicting work commitment, most notably with respect to organisational commitment, job involvement and career commitment. Differences in mean organisational commitment, job involvement and career commitment scores generally supported the propositions of Super et al., however, only the results for the exploration and disengagement stages reached statistical significance. Statistically significant relationships were found for the background variables of organisational tenure, rank, gender and type of duty. Statistically significant relationships were found for several facets of job satisfaction and work commitment. Work-related attitudes were generally found to peak in the first two years of a police officer’s tenure and then decline as tenure increased. The reason for this decline is complex and not completely clear, but may be at least partially explained by: the structural characteristics of police services; the distinct lack of support and confidence in officers; the influence of the police sub-culture; and the existence of a phenomenon known as police ‘bullshit’. Commissioned officers were found to be significantly more satisfied with promotions and constables were found to have significantly higher levels of organisational commitment than senior constables and sergeants and significantly higher levels of career commitment than sergeants. Other statistically significant relationships found in the current study include female officers reporting significantly higher levels of satisfaction with promotions than male officers and general duties officers reporting significantly higher levels of satisfaction with promotions than officers performing specialist duties and significantly higher levels of loyalty to the union than plain-clothes officers. The study concluded by highlighting the pioneering nature of the current study. It was suggested that considerably more research is necessary in order to clarify and refine the conceptualisation and measurement of police career stages and the relationship between these stages and work-related attitudes. It was recommended that future research should verify and extend the results of the current study, particularly with respect to the influence of tenure as a career stage variable and the nature and role of disengagement in any conceptualisation of career stage for police.

In order to survive and compete in the new knowledge based economy, it is necessary for small and medium enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs in Thailand to enhance their human capital and entrepreneurial competencies, which are factors that can be improved through education and training. Career success implies an improvement in SME entrepreneurs' quantity and quality of life, which is the major theme of the Ninth (2002-2006) and Tenth (2007-2011) National Economic and Social Development Plan. Most of the previous studies concerning human capital, entrepreneurial competencies and career success of SME entrepreneurs, and the relationships among these factors, have been conducted in developed countries. Therefore it is important to conduct further research on these issues in the context of Thailand, which is identified as a developing economy. / This study aims to provide a better understanding of the effects of human capital and entrepreneurial competencies on the career success of Thai SME entrepreneurs. A total of 13 hypotheses have been developed based on an individual perspective by applying the human capital approach in examining the relationship between human capital factors and career success, and the competency approach in examining the relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and career success. The hypotheses, testing results from 388 questionnaires completed by SME entrepreneurs in Thailand, support a theoretical model of the career success of SME entrepreneurs. As all of the human capital and entrepreneurial competencies have positive relationships with objective and subjective career success, this study provides both theoretical and empirical evidence for the crucial role of these factors in determining the career success of SME entrepreneurs, particularly in the context of Thailand. It also corresponds to earlier research efforts to re-emphasize the individual perspective in entrepreneurship and career research. / As the instrument used to measure entrepreneurial competencies has been tested with SME entrepreneurs in Thailand, it could be used as a self-assessment tool for SME entrepreneurs to identify their own personal level in each area of entrepreneurial competencies, and identify areas requiring further development. Finally, as the Thai governmental and non-governmental organisations can play a pivotal role in encouraging entrepreneurial activities and the SME entrepreneurs, they can use the results of this study as guidelines for developing better training programs. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2007.

Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2002.

Thesis (MEd) -- University of South Australia, 1993

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attributes and experiences that are perceived priorities for recruitment to become a high performance coach in the sport of Softball in Australia. The study was undertaken in the form of 10 cases of nationally identified coaches and administrators (men and women). Each participant was interviewed using semi-structured questions. The interpretive study gave an intensive description and analysis of coach experiences, attributes and qualifications that are perceived as highly desirable for coach selection by Softball Australia for high performance coaches. The basis for collection and analysis of information was via individual cognitive perspectives and perceptions (through interviews) and individual behaviours (through observation) with the intention to interpret and consider the presence of common themes. Findings may serve to identify, support and direct potential high performance coaches and contribute to the effectiveness of formal coaching education programs. The study focused on the sport of softball which has had a mixed profile over time, from one of almost obscurity to that of an Olympic sport. Australia has had an extremely impressive record internationally. It is currently ranked as the world’s best softball nation based on international performances by the Australian under 19 Men, Open Men, under 19 Women and Open Women’s Teams (SA 2008). Australia was the only country ranked in the top three in all age groups competing in World Championships. The importance of this study to softball coaches was to encapsulate the reality of how selectors make determination on performance coaching selections, and was this in line with what performance coaches perceive as the priorities. This may have two direct effects on the performance coach. Firstly, it may allow the coach to develop a career path that may best suit their qualities and attributes. Secondly, it may allow the coach to undertake further learning and development in the areas that the selectors perceive the coach does not meet the required standard of merit.