Thesis (MBA) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / Every employee at any institution has to be inducted upon employment. Induction is a very important aspect of any organization to prepare the new and existing employees for the new environment or workplace. It is therefore very important for any institution to design induction programme that caters for the needs of its employees. Teaching institutions might require a different approach to induction as compared to industrial institutions. It is therefore incumbent of the institutions depending on the type of business to design their programmes to address the needs thereof. Every institution thus needs to come up with strategies to compete better both nationally and globally. University of Limpopo has very good policies on recruitment, selection, and employment. It is one of the traditional universities in South Africa, and it is based in Mankweng in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. This university faces many challenges such as staff retention. The university loses many knowledgeable employees to its competitors. Many speculations are that some of the challenges include the wellbeing of the staff members, and this starts immediately after employment and goes throughout. Induction is one of the challenges that the university is suspected of not performing adequately. This study was therefore designed to establish if the university is running a successful induction, to evaluate if this programme is effective and efficient, and assess if it meets the 21st century induction standards. The study was designed to apply the descriptive approaches, using structured questionnaires and interviews. The study population included at least 50 employees which 25 were academics and 25 non-academics. Relevant supporting departments were also sampled to participate in the study. Stratified sampling techniques were used during sampling. Both primary and secondary data was collected and analysed. Ethical guidelines set by the university were observed during the study. Relevant statistical techniques were applied to analyse the data. Findings the study suggest that very few employees were inducted. All levels of induction from the corporate, departmental, and local were not fully executed. Mentors and buddies were hardly used or only used on request by the new employees. Only a limited content of the induction was covered and this was not consistent with all employees inducted. The results of the study show that the duration of induction programme was also not consistent. In addition, the perceptions of the employees was that the university was doing poorly to induct employees. Conclusions drawn were that the university is doing poorly on induction. The programme was not consistent and effective. Very few employees were inducted on which just a brief orientation. It was however established that the CAE had a programme that was on average adequate to equip the academics for the working environment, but the same cannot be mentioned on the corporate induction.

Thesis (LLM. (Labour Law)) -- University of Limpopo, 2013

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / The right to fair dismissal in South Africa is prescribed in the Labour Relation Act 66 of 1995 as amended. Employees may only be dismissed on grounds of misconduct, incapacity and operational requirements. The requirements for dismissal of employees based on misconduct and incapacity are further addressed in Schedule 8 to the LRA, the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal. Dismissal for misconduct needs to be fair in terms of both procedure and substance. Procedural fairness generally involves holding a disciplinary hearing before dismissing an employee. In terms of the South African Public Service Act 103 of 1994 as amended, an employee who absents him-/herself from official duties without permission of his or her head of department, office or institution for a period exceeding one calendar month is deemed dismissed by operation of law. Employees dismissed as such by operation of law in terms of the PSA are therefore not afforded the right to appear in the disciplinary hearing as provided for in the LRA. South African courts have dealt with a number of cases relating to dismissal by operation of law in the public service. Some of the employees dismissed were reinstated by the courts. Reasons for reinstatement included failing to meet the jurisdictional requirements before invoking dismissal by operation of law. The research will attempt to clarify the substantive and procedural steps required to render a dismissal by operation of law in terms of the PSA fair in South Africa.

No description available.

This thesis explores the role and relationships of employee participation in decision-making (PDM) within the enterprise bargaining context. The advent of the enterprise bargaining to facilitate labour market restructuring has led to dramatic changes within Australian industrial relations, supposedly offering employees the opportunity to participate in changes to work practices, conditions of employment and rewards in return for employer gains in productivity (Niland, 1993). Productivity improvements have been achieved, but some researchers claim this has been at employees expense and that job satisfaction and affective commitment are declining as working hours increase, work intensifies, and job security diminishes. Employee PDM influencing more positive outcomes, such as improved productivity, satisfaction and commitment is appealing, but largely untested.Research data was gathered from the public, private and local government sectors to form two separate studies to test a model of PDM developed from the literature. The first Study analysed cross-sectional data to test the influence of PDM in relation to working conditions, work practices and rewards and outcomes of job satisfaction and affective commitment, while the second Study examined these relationships on an independent longitudinal matched sample. Analysis was conducted using Structural Equation Modelling with the EQS statistical package.Findings from both studies supported that higher levels of PDM correlate with higher levels of job satisfaction and affective commitment and Autonomy is the only significant mediator in the relationship PDM and affective commitment. Employees also perceived that increased task variety correlated with higher levels of PDM. Lower levels of PDM correlated with lower autonomy and perceptions of performance effectiveness. Although positive attitudes to PDM positively influence ++ / satisfaction and affective commitment outcomes, lowered perceived performance effectiveness and rewards compromise the gains achieved. These findings support the crucial role of employee participation in decision-making and sound a warning to practitioners in that increased demands for performance should not extend to role overload that reduces effectiveness, and must be matched with equitable rewards.

Abstract not available

Includes bibliography. 1. Considerations of theory -- 2. Background and origins: worker participation in South Australia -- 3. State and party: the development and administration of policy -- 4. Case studies in participation: General Motors Holden; Colonial Sugar Refinery; Fricker Brothers Joinery; Minda Home; South Australian Housing Trust; South Australian Meat Corporation; Engineering and Water Supply Department; Department of Lands -- 5. Issues: the State -- 6. Issues: the labour movement -- 7. Prospect for industrial democracy in Australia in the 1980s.

The hospitality and tourism industry is an increasingly important part of the New Zealand economy, contributing almost nine percent of the Gross Domestic Product in 2008. One of the key concerns regarding this part of the economy is the impact of a tight labour market and intense skill shortages on its ability to maximise returns from tourists. Labour turnover rates have been extremely high in the hospitality sector over the past few years and this has contributed to the intense labour market pressures affecting this industry. Hotels have suffered particularly high turnover rates in the past few years and exit interviews have been one of the tools that Human Resource Managers used to try and gain data about employee reasons for leaving. This study looks at exit interviews as a source of data on the causes of labour turnover in two New Zealand hotel chains. The aim of this study was to analyse hotel exit interview data in order to identify significant patterns that might illuminate the causes and potential moderating factors of labour turnover in New Zealand hotels. In addition, the study aimed to analyse the processes used to gather exit interview data in order to evaluate the efficacy of exit interviews and see if any practical recommendations could be made regarding the use of exit interviews to address labour turnover. A qualititative, triangulated research methodology was applied in order to analyse the data generated from over 4500 exit interviews, from 17 hotels, in two New Zealand hotel brands. The interviews cover six years of exit interview gathering. In addition, in depth semi-structured interviews with six hotel Human Resource Managers were used to gain insight into the practice and perceptions around exit interviews. The study found that despite considerable application of time and resources, hotels gain very little benefit from the exit interview process. Several issues are identified as bringing the efficacy of exit interviews into question, including power imbalance between interviewees and interviewers, language and cultural concerns, and the impact of psychological contract breaches on the employment relationship. In addition, the study found that even when opportunities for organisational improvement did arise from exit interviews, little or no action was taken by the hotels in question. The study concludes that there is insufficient benefit to the hotels given the costs of exit interviews and suggests that other forms of employee feedback, such as engagement surveys may be more efficacious in addressing labour turnover.

<p>The main purpose of this study was to” assess the role of work motivation on employee performance”. This study in an assessment of this purpose used deductive approach in which a qualitative survey was carried out among students at of Umeå Business School (USBE) who are assumed to be future employees .The survey was intended to get their responses on what they feel is (are) the best factors that could motivate them as future employees among a list of ten motivational factors. In this light the study sets to identify the most ranked factors among the ten motivational factors.</p><p>The analysis from the empirical findings showed that Job satisfaction”was the most ranked factor for both sub groups that made up the sample survey. However a study from previous researches used in this study showed that different results could be obtained from different groups of already working employees. This study therefore can be seen as an introduction to a more detailed study to be carried by future researchers on the field of employee’s motivation.</p>

This thesis examines the values and criteria American companies use in hiring or placing expatriate employees in China. These values and criteria affect the success or failure of expatriate employees and a company's bottom line - profitability. Investigating this topic required an examination of the history of the political, economic, and social philosophies that have shaped contemporary China. It was also necessary to examine expatriates and their role, and to define an American company. Cultural comparisons are made between the United States and China using Hofstede's Four Dimensions, Ronen and Shenkar's Country Clusters, and Hsu's analysis of internal versus external motivation. I explored the relationship between two primary personnel parties in an effort to define how success and failure are measured in overseas assignments. To this end, I interviewed 42 Americans working in China categorized into two groups - the Management Group and the Employee Group. AU participants were located in either Shanghai or Beijing. Based on the interviews, an analytic distinction was made between expatriates hired locally and those employees who were transferred from the United States to China. The results of this study found that local hires tended to be younger and have linguistic and cultural skills, while the expatriates sent from the United States tended to be older and have managerial and technical skills. Challenges confronting both managers and employees will be shown to primarily stem from: 1) External motivations, such lucrative compensation packages, not guaranteeing a successful assignment in China; 2) the focus of companies when hiring or placing an expatriate employee being based on technical and management expertise; 3) cultural and linguistic skills being important for successful expatriate assignments; and, 4) cultural and linguistic training positioning an expatriate to have a successful assignment. These findings lead to the following recommendations: 1) Top managers should be provided with cross-cultural training to understand the importance of cultural and linguistic skills; 2) companies in China should hire local expatriates who have linguistic, cultural, and adaptability skills; and, 3) an investment should be made in technical skills training for local hires rather than linguistic and cultural training for technical expatriate employees. / Graduation date: 2001