The retention of skills is central to the sustained success of an organisation. In an environment of increased globalisation and competition for skills, the retention of skills is increasingly important yet difficult to achieve. An inclusive organisational culture and the effective management of diversity play a decisive role in the retention of skills. In turn, leadership is a key element in shaping and influencing the culture of an organisation and creating an inclusive workplace environment in a diverse culture such as that in post-Apartheid South Africa. The explicit objective of the Employment Equity Act (1998) is to transform the racial composition of the South African employment landscape, but what of the implicit aim of transforming the workplace into one that embraces all races and cultures? Has the transformation process, driven by government through legislation, had a positive impact in the workplace and achieved the objectives of the Employment Equity Act? The aim of this research was to establish if the increasing number of black managers have had a positive influence on the culture of South African workplaces resulting in the retention of black talent. The results indicated that the influence of black managers on the culture of an organisation was limited - largely because the environment was not conducive to the change they envisioned. Consequently black top and senior managers have not influenced the decisions of other black employees to seek alternate employment. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The management practices used by predominantly large organisations for the purpose of retaining talented people is key to the greater success and longer term sustainability of the business. However, these organisations continue to wrestle with appropriate management practices to retain their talented people. It is therefore of critical importance that organisations are aware of the retention practices that work, and those that don’t, in the global war for retaining talent. A non-probability sampling method was used to select a sample of high potential or talented employees that either are, or have been participants of the Leadership Academy at a large South African organisation, to participate in a series of focus groups utilising the nominal group technique which enabled the quantification of qualitative data. A total of 36 highly talented employees participated in the focus groups which were split in terms of age in order to establish if different age groups had different views. The findings of the research enabled the development of a structured argument in terms of what organisations need to start doing, stop doing and continue doing with respect to the management practices employed for the retention of highly talented people. The research further enabled the identification of a number of components to an employee value proposition (EVP) geared specifically at the retention of highly talented people in a large organisation. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The turnover of call centre agents in South Africa is higher than in most other industries. The costs incurred to retain agents versus the replacement costs of an agent are massive. This research focused on inbound call centre agents and the perception of five management practises which were compared with both managers and agents in two large call centres. The five management practises tested were communication, call centre structure, performance management, recruitment and selection, and training and development. These five practises impacted on the agents’ intention to leave by 36%. A non-probability sampling method was used to select a sample of inbound call centre agents; a total of 82 agents were surveyed. Regression, stepwise selection, Wilcoxon Scores Rank Sum test, Pearson and Spearman correlation tests were some of the tools used to interpret the survey. The research concluded that communication had the strongest correlation with an agent’s intention to leave. Communication had the best combination of a matching variable to be predicted on a stepwise selection. The research further showed that the managers’ and call centre agents’ perception differs to the extent that managers believe sufficient communication is made to keep call centre agents satisfied, and this is contrary to the agents perception. Interesting to note is that 82% of the agents have considered leaving their organisation at some point, 63% of the employees do not want to be working at their current employer in the next year, and 53% had considered leaving within the past three months. This research has contributed to the body of knowledge. Organisations and managers are well positioned to direct their focus to specific management practises identified in the research which will assist them in retaining call centre agents. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Education. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2005. / "A dissertation in urban leadership and policy studies in education and education." Advisor: Sue C. Thompson. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed March 13, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 232-260). Online version of the print edition.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Jan 17, 2008). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A. in human development)--Washington State University, May 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-52).

Thesis (MIHM) -- Auckland University of Technology, 2004. / Also held in print (62 leaves, 30 cm.) in Wellesley Theses Collection (T 658.314 THE)

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by Susan Letvak; submitted to the School of Nursing. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jun. 7, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 146-170).