Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: While the current trend among a number of organisations is to integrate performance appraisal with performance management systems or even 'replace' it with performance management systems, it is still an extremely highly utilised process. The probable reason for this, is that the major use of performance appraisal is as a management tool whereby the quality of personnel decisions can be enhanced when an effective system is in place. Ideally the use of a formal process, focused on objective, job orientated criteria, will empower management to make meaningful decisions which will not only be to the benefit of individual workers but will contribute to the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation. Apart from the fact that it is used as a management tool, other major objectives of performance appraisal are to determine the administrative and developmental needs of individuals in the interests of their own progress and development as well as that of the organisation. There are therefore, two fundamental parties involved in appraisal, being the appraisee and the appraiser and it is inevitable that the approach to, or the perception of the subject should be different in some, or many ways. Aspects such as utility, fairness, ethics, motivation, accuracy, validity, rating errors, effectiveness and feedback, should therefore be examined in more detail in order to determine where specific problem areas may lie. Serious perceptual differences concerning the process will surely create obstacles and eventually lead to an inefficient system. The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which differing perceptions playa role in the acceptance or rejection of the appraisal system in general terms and specifically in terms of the aspects mentioned above, from the point of view of subordinates and supervisors. The diagnostic instrument used in this study was adapted from those of Mount (1983) (named the Leadership Analysis Questionnaire) and Ie Roux (1989) to include aspects which are more in line with features of the performance appraisal system unique to the participating organisation. Two different forms of questionnaires were used in this study. One was designed for completion by subordinates and the other by supervisors. These two groups were further subdivided into two groups referred to as achievers and nonachievers. The overall response to the questionnaires was very satisfactory in that 431 of the 600 questionnaires were returned (almost 72%) of which 44 were not usable. Of the 186 supervisors' responses which could be used for statistical analysis, 80 were categorised as achievers and of the 201 subordinates' responses which could be used for statistical analysis, 38 were categorised as achievers. The research revealed statistically significant differences in perception between different computations of all groups in respect of fairness, ethics, accuracy, rater error and administrative aspects. It is recommended that future research should be directed at the underlying reasons for perceptual differences between supervisors and subordinates, regarding the factors mentioned above, with the aim of improving communication and relationships. Another area would be to investigate the feasibility of organisations incorporating performance appraisal into a more integrated performance management system. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hoewel talle organisasies tans daartoe neig om prestasie-beoordeling by prestasiebestuur in te skakel of om dit selfs daardeur te vervang, is dit steeds 'n hoogs aangeskrewe proses. Die waarskynlikste rede hiervoor is dat prestasie-beoordeling hoofsaaklik dien as bestuurshulp ten opsigte van die verbetering van personeelbesluite waar 'n doeltreffende stelsel reeds bestaan. Die ideaal is dat die gebruik van 'n formele proses met objektiewe, werkgeoriënteerde kriteria as uitgangspunt, bestuur bemagtig om sinvolle besluite te neem wat nie net tot voordeel van die werker as individu strek nie, maar ook tot die algehele doeltreffendheid van die organisasie. Benewens prestasie-beoordeling se bestuurshulpfunksie, is 'n ander belangrike mikpunt daarvan om die administratiewe en ontwikkelingsbehoeftes van individue te help bepaal - nie net in die belang van hul eie vordering en ontwikkeling nie, maar ook in die belang van die organisasie s'n. Daarom is daar basies twee partye betrokke by prestasie-beoordeling, naamlik die beoordelaar en diegene wat beoordeel word. Dit is dus onvermydelik dat die benadering tot of waarneming van die onderwerp in 'n paar en dikwels selfs in talle opsigte sal verskil. Dit is dus belangrik dat aspekte soos bruikbaarheid, regverdigheid, etiek, motivering, akkuraatheid, geldigheid, beoordelingsfoute, doeltreffendheid en terugvoering in groter besonderhede ondersoek word om vas te stel waar probleemareas moontlik mag voorkom. Ernstige perseptuele verskille wat die proses betref, kan stuikelblokke veroorsaak en aanleiding gee tot 'n ondoeltreffende stelsel. Die doel van hierdie studie was om vas te stel in watter mate verskillende persepsies kan bydra tot die aanvaarding of verwerping van die beoordelingstelseloor die algemeen en in die besonder ten opsigte van bogenoemde aspekte soos beskou vanuit beide die toesighouer en die ondergeskikte se oogpunt. Die diagnostiese meetinstrument wat gebruik is, is 'n aanpassing van Mount (1983) se "Leadership Analysis Questionnaire" en dié van Le Roux (1989) en sluit aspekte in wat in 'n groter mate tred hou met die eienskappe van die beoordelingstelsel eie aan die deelnemende organisasie s'n. Twee verskillende vraelyste is gebruik vir toesighouers en onder-geskiktes. 'n Bykomende verdeling is gemaak tussen presteerders en niepresteerders. Die reaksie op die vraelyste was, op die keper beskou, baie bevredigend, aangesien 431 van die 600 vraelyste terugontvang is - bykans 72%. Hiervan was 44 onbruikbaar. Van die 186 toesighouersvraelyste wat gebruik kon word vir statistiese ontleding, is 80 as dié van presteerdes geklassifiseer, en van die 2010ndergeskiktes se vraelyste 38. Die ondersoek het in sy berekeninge statistiese beduidende verskille uitgewys ten opsigte van die verskillende groepe se persepsies van regverdigheid, etiek, akkuraatheid, beoordelingsfoute en administratiewe aspekte. Daar word aanbeveel dat toekomstige navorsing gerig word op die onderliggende,redes vir die perseptuele verskille tussen toesighouers en ondergeskiktes, met inagneming van bogenoemde faktore en met die mikpunt die verbetering van kommunikasie en verhoudinge. Nog navorsing sou ook gedoen kon word om te bepaal hoe uitvoerbaar dit vir 'n organisasie sou wees om prestasie-beoordeling in te skakel by 'n stelsel wat prestasiebestuurgerig is.

Organisations today are in a state of ever accelerating rate of change. Globalisation of the economy, increasing competition, technological innovation as well as global competition are seen to bring about the ever-accelerating pace of change in the working environment worldwide (Christen 2005:241). For this reason, employees are challenged by changes in their careers that they never anticipated, changes which in the long-run, result in stress conditions that bring negative consequences for both employees and the organisation in their wake. This chapter will provide the background to the topic of the study and survey what other studies have revealed about it. The objectives of the study, the research questions, the research objectives over and above the necessary hypotheses will also be mentioned and to conclude, the chapter will provide the theoretical framework in support of this study.As we may be aware, we live in a world of change, where everything constantly has reformed. Organisations are also part of that big change especially in the new millennium where re-engineering, downsizing, outsourcing and restructuring have become common terms associated with many organisations. Although a number of studies have tried to determine how organisational restructuring benefits the organisation, little has been done to find out how the welfare of employees is affected by the restructuring initiatives. This study investigates the perceptions that employees have of organisational restructuring. It investigates how their job satisfaction, career mobility and their stress levels are affected by restructuring process after the restructuring process as well the stress that such employees experience due to restructuring. A survey was conducted at Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, where data was obtained from 121 respondents and statistically analysed. The findings reflect a negative association between restructuring and stress levels and career mobility. The findings show that job satisfaction was still experienced by the employees at LHDA and that most respondents see organisational restructuring as something that benefits the organisation and has little to do with the interests of the workers.

South Africa have some of the lowest employee engagement scores in the world. Leadership is a key determinant of employee engagement, but existing leadership theories and practices are often ineffective in more humanistic and collectivistic cultures like South Africa. To this end, Ubuntu and servant leadership is posited to positively influence organisational performance by increasing employee engagement. The primary objective of this study is to investigate perceptions regarding the impact of Ubuntu and servant leadership on employee engagement in private organisations of the Eastern Cape. A quantitative research design was utilised and yielded 428 usable questionnaires through nonprobability sampling. The empirical results revealed that the spirit of solidarity dimension of Ubuntu leadership influenced significantly and positively. Furthermore, it was found that survival and spirit of solidarity had a significant and positive influence on organisational performance as measured through the balanced scorecard (BSC). Servant leadership positively and significantly influenced employee engagement and organisational performance. In addition, it was found that employee engagement mediates the relationship between servant leadership and organizational performance. This study has made several significant empirical and theoretical contributions, and can be classified as one of the pioneering attempts to gather empirical evidence on how Ubuntu manifests in the workplace. The high convergent validity of the dimensions of Ubuntu leadership and comparisons to Servant leadership established in this study, provides some proof of its novel contribution towards leadership theory. A highly reliable and valid measuring instrument was developed to evaluate Ubuntu from a leadership perspective. This is a major empirical contribution as, at the time, there were no reliable scales available in South Africa to measure Ubuntu leadership.

Thesis (DTech (Human Resource Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2012. / This study's main aim was to develop a model of employee satisfaction for health-related professions in South Africa. Health-related professions refer to a variety of practitioners who work in the healthcare sector mostly in support capacity to the clinical or medical practitioner. They include laboratory technologists, pharmacists, radiographers, emergency medical services (paramedics), nurses, and optometrists. These practitioners comprise a diverse group who deliver high quality care to patients across a wide range of care pathways and in a variety of settings. This band of professionals was chosen as the focus of the study because most studies, which relate to health workers' satisfaction and motivation in South Africa, have concentrated on medical doctors and nurses without a commensurate interest in other health-related professionals. The study is a multi-faceted one, and incorporates both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study is also exploratory because no model of this kind exists amongst health-related professions of South Africa. Permission to access selected institutions for the study was granted before the researcher approached the population for the study. The researcher decided not to use a sample, but to include all members of this population in the participating institutions in order to get as many participants as possible. From a total population of 987, only 117 usable questionnaires were returned. Data that was collected was coded for Statistical Program for Social Science (SPSS) suitability. SPSS was utilized to generate the frequency and descriptive statistics. The data collection instrument was the Plus Delta Organizational Climate Questionnaire, which was modified on the basis of a preliminary study. The data instrument achieved a coefficient alpha (Cronbach) of 0.8, which extended its reliability. With the use of factor analysis, this study was able to identify seven (7) factors which influence employee satisfaction within the health-related professions in South Africa. These factors include Role Clarification and Job Design, Equitable Performance Management, Integrated Leadership and Knowledge Sharing and Self-efficacy, while the other factors include Family-friendly Work Environments, Leader Credibility and Innovation, and Excellent Customer Relations and Technology. These factors make up the model of employee satisfaction for health-related professions considered in this research. While the researcher suggests that further studies should be conducted in order to establish the validity of the model, the researcher also makes a call for a data collection instrument to be distilled from the model. However, this study will undoubtedly add to the sparse literature on health-related practitioners. This position is assumed because most literature on health professions' job satisfaction/dissatisfaction favours doctors and nurses. The study will also assist in understanding some of the reasons for the often reported sense of job insecurity among practitioners in South Africa. The study has produced a model, which health-related professions can utilise to manage themselves better. It is hoped that the model will serve health-related professions with better gains, such as reduction in health-related professional attrition, elimination of low levels of trust between management and staff and reduction in high incidences of absenteeism, which constituted research problems of this study.

Research problem: The Port Elizabeth hospital complex is faced with many staff-related challenges including the difficulty of retaining staff. Factors such as salaries, work environment, work injury, work related stress, personal growth and development opportunities, advancement and promotion opportunities, relationships with supervisor(s), are among the issues that contribute and have been found to be some of the factors affecting employees’ perceptions and attitudes towards their work and ultimately to their intentions to stay or leave. Research objectives: To address the research problem, research objectives and questions were established. The main objective of the research was to investigate the perceptions and attitudes influencing the employees’ intention to quit their jobs within the hospital complex. The key perceptions and attitudes that were measured were; job satisfaction, perceived organisational support and organisational commitment. The secondary objective of the study was to determine, from a list of predetermined factors, which were related to job satisfaction, perceived organisational support and organisational commitment and the intention to quit. Research questions: Four research questions were established and these were: What are the employee perceptions and attitudes towards the organisation and their work in the organisation? In particular how satisfied are the employees with their jobs (job satisfaction), how committed are they to the organisation (organisational commitment), how do they perceive the support within the organisation (perceived organisational support) and do they intend to remain with the organisation (intention to quit measured as the intention to stay). What are the most important factors contributing to job satisfaction, perceived organisational support, organisational commitment and intention to quit? (Measured as the intention to stay). What is the relationship between the sub-groups, identified as gender, race, nationality, occupational level, age, hospital, and length of tenure and job satisfaction, perceived organisational support and organisational commitment? What is the relationship between the sub-groups, identified as gender, race, nationality, occupational level, age, hospital, and length of tenure and intention to quit (measured as the intention to stay)? Research design: The nature of this research was a descriptive study collecting quantitative data. A self-administered survey questionnaire was used to collect information regarding employee perceptions and attitudes towards various aspects of their working conditions, their perceptions and attitudes towards the organisation and their intention to remain with the organisation. Major findings: The result of the survey showed that organisational commitment and positive organizational support are practically significantly positively correlated with the intention to stay. However, it was discovered that job satisfaction was statistically significantly positively correlated to intention to stay. The nine factors that were measured were found to be antecedents for all the three constructs of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and perceived organizational support. However, the factors that were also correlated with the intention to stay were promotion opportunities, nature of the work, communication and leader-member exchange.

Web 2.0 combines various electronic mediums, websites, blogs and applications across a wide range of devices and provides opportunity to communicate bespoke change messages to employees. The purpose of this study is to establish whether the use of Web 2.0 has an impact on employees’ resistance to change during the change communication process and whether employees show a preference for a communication medium in the context of organisational change. The failure of most change efforts are often ascribed to insufficient communication, but employee perspectives on the preferred communication medium and whether Web 2.0 communication impacts on employee’s resistance to change has been largely overlooked in academic literature. A descriptive research design approach was followed. Inferential statistics was used to apply parametric and non- parametric tests to analyse the data. A self-administered electronic survey was sent to 1337 employees across four sectors that have been affected by any type of organisational change between January 2012 and June 2014 in South Africa. The response rate was 19.8% (266 responses). The paper finds that there is a preference towards face-to face communication and that participation increases willingness to accept the change. There were no differences found in the manner in which females and males responded to the questions on willingness to accept the change. This research enables communication and change management professionals to assess the suitability of WEB 2.0 mediums during various stages of organisational change. The Blended Media Communication (BMC) Model to Reduce Resistance to Change is proposed based on the findings of the study. The research will add to the theory concerning an employee perspective on Web 2.0 change communication. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

By differentiating between the definitions of values and ethics, as well as contrasting value congruence with ethical congruence, this research aims to gain a greater understanding of person-organization fit.

Increasing age heterogeneity within organizations is pressing researchers to better understand the effects of a multigenerational workforce, teams, and dyads. In response to this, the present research aimed to investigate the effect of employee and supervisor age (in)congruence in relation to job and life satisfaction, as well as retirement intentions, all mediated by leader-member exchange (LMX), using a time-lagged design. Two different theoretical foundations were investigated. Based on the relational demography literature, better outcomes were expected to be associated with age similarity. Theories about implicit expectations relating age and social role guided hypotheses suggesting that beyond just similarity or difference, the direction of age differences would matter. Based on traditional social assumptions that age is associated with experience and wisdom, it was expected that work outcomes would be better when the supervisor was older than the employee, and worse when the supervisor was younger than the employee. Results did not support any of the proposed hypotheses, with the exception of the established relationship between LMX and job satisfaction. However, response surface graphs and polynomial regression results directed post hoc analyses which did reveal a main effect of supervisor age on LMX and an indirect effect of supervisor age on Time 2 job satisfaction through Time 1 LMX. Employees in this sample reported higher quality LMX when supervisors were younger, regardless of employee age, and in turn employees with younger supervisors reported higher job satisfaction. These results and the trends depicted by response surface graphs are discussed in relation to implications for research and practice.

The utilization of center-based child care services by working and student parents has increased dramatically over the last two decades, and has been accompanied by an equally strong interest, among the public and researchers alike, in the establishment and maintenance of quality caregiving in center-based care. This study addresses the leadership characteristics of administrators of quality child care centers. The intent of the study is to add to the existing knowledge concerning the role that the child care center administrator has in maintaining the delivery of high quality child care by the teaching-caregiving staff. Two factors were investigated: the leadership style of the administrator; and the organizational climate of the center, which is both directly and indirectly influenced by the administrator. Four child care centers were selected as the cases to be examined. The information about leadership style and organization climate was gathered through the use of semi-structured interviews with the administrators, the Leadership Style Assessment Tool, the Early Childhood Work Environment Survey, and SYMLOG Group Average Field Diagrams. From this study, the leadership characteristics that the administrators of high quality child care centers shared in common were that they employed a balanced leadership style that utilized different approaches depending on the situation. The administrators in this study chose a mostly female approach to their job which seemed to create very healthy, responsive, and supportive work environments for the teacher-caregivers. The work environments that these leaders have created tend to unify the staff members who work there in a positive direction. These high quality child care centers are, in one word, friendly. The leaders of these provide staff with strong supervisor support, opportunities for professional growth, and an appropriate physical setting in which to do their work. These factors are strongly related to findings about high quality early childhood education in the research, and this study has provided additional support for these findings.

Data were collected by an external company for a healthcare service firm interested in learning the job-related attitudes of their employees. Thus, archival data from 1,287 employees were collected for a different purpose. The survey consisted of 117 questions covering a broad range of constructs. Consequently, the items were used to derive effective measures of employee engagement and behavioral outcomes, as well as the emotional, mental, spiritual and physical dimensions. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis procedures were used to create scales reflecting these four factors. Interestingly, six scales emerged, logically linking to and further specifying the initial dimensions. These were Organizational Linkage, Manager Relationship, Job Fit, Job Clarity, Work Pressure, and Meaningful Work. To test the hypotheses, six separate regression equations were calculated, which statistically supported modification by each of the dimensions. However, statistical significance of the interactions resulted from having a large sample, given the actual association was too small to be meaningful (e.g., a contribution of 0.6% of the variance). As each of the dimensions had a main effect on the behavioral measure during hypothesis testing, exploratory regression equations were calculated to further understand the interrelationships. Of most interest was finding that in the presence of Engagement, the main effects of only Organizational Linkage and Job Fit reached significance. However, when Engagement was not included, four of the six dimensions made a significant contribution to Behavioral Outcomes. Overall, there was support for previous conceptualizations. From the scientist-practitioner perspective, the six factors identified in this study may be more useful than the four initially proposed. The distinctions give practitioners additional information to use in interventions to improve employee behavior and retention.