Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Management Sciences: Human Resources Management, Department of Human Resources Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa. 2017. / Higher education institutions are particularly vulnerable to the loss of their highly qualified employees to better rewards and benefits from the private sector and other higher education institutions. Talent retention and employee turnover, therefore, are major concerns for higher education institutions (HEIs). Without well qualified and committed academic staff, no academic institution can really ensure sustainability and quality over the long-term. Owing to the competition for scarce skills, the attraction and retention of quality employees has emerged as the biggest challenge in human capital management, this phenomenon has also arisen in universities of technology. To attract and retain employees, organisations need novel reward systems that satisfy them. Employee rewards are an important component in exchange of employee contribution. It is generally accepted that employee rewards plays a significant role to attract, motivate, satisfy, retain and maintain commitment among employees in any organisation while ensuring a high standard of performance and workforce stability. Essentially, it is understood that reward systems in higher education institutions are at fault because they do not provide individuals with rewards that they value. The overall outcome of the study is to benefit employees, rewards practitioners and institutions by attracting and retaining talented employees. The study focuses on the academic staff at two universities of technology, namely, Central University of Technology and Tshwane University of Technology. A quantitative research approach was employed with a semi-structured questionnaire comprising a 5 Point Likert Scale to determine the influence of employee rewards on job satisfaction and organisational commitment among academic staff at universities of technology. The target population for the present study comprises all academic staff at Central University of Technology and Tshwane University of Technology (from level of lecturers, senior lecturers, head of departments and professors). The target population for this research was obtained from the Human Resources Management Department at both universities of technology. The source list indicates that both UOTs equated to staff of 1 089 (CUT = 296; TUT = 820). A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 279 sample respondents of academic staff. Data obtained from 225 respondents and 8 uncompleted questionnaires yielded a response rate of 78%. Systematic sampling was used to select target respondents, nth element was drawn on every 4th element for the entire sample. The data collected from the responses were analysed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and AMOS, version 24.0 for Windows. Three main data analysis techniques are employed: descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM). Two models are employed in CFA to test dimensional structure of employee rewards. These include a model that allows all factors to be freely correlated, a proposed model was tested for correlation and a structural model. All factors are correlated because they measure one higher order factor, where all indicators test if they measure only one construct. The results of CFA provide solid statistical evidence that affirm relationship among constructs. However, some factors do not converge towards the job satisfaction construct in a South African context. Work-life balance and fringe benefits provided a negative correlation to job satisfaction. A significant statistical relationship is seen between employee rewards, job satisfaction and organisational commitment. The SEM results affirm that compensation, performance management, recognition, talent development and career opportunities have a positive and significant influence on job satisfaction. Job satisfaction has a significant effect on organisational commitment while total rewards components performance management, recognition, talent development and career opportunities has a positive and significant impact on organisational commitment. However, employee rewards have a significant effect on job satisfaction and organisational commitment. These results, therefore, can aid remuneration specialists in higher education institutions with specific reference to universities of technology to implement these total rewards components in order to affect job satisfaction while ensuring organisational commitment among academic staff. This study would benefit if these models are tested with an alternative data set. The research also suffered from a limitation common to survey research and SEM. Due to time and money constraints, it is a cross sectional sample at one specific point in time. As a result, while causal relationships can be inferred, they cannot be generalised towards other universities of technology in South Africa. / D

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Masters in Technology specialising in Human Resource Management, Department of Human Resource Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / The study arose as a result of a merger between the former Technikon Natal and former M.L. Sultan Technikon, culminating in the formation of a new institution in 2002, called the Durban Institute of Technology (now known as the Durban University of Technology). The focus of the study was on the impact of mergers on lower level employee motivation and staff morale at the Durban University of Technology. Furthermore, the study focused on examining the perceptions of lower level employees towards the merger process which included the pre-merger, during and post-merger phases. A mixed methods research design was used in this study. The quantitative sample was n=50. In addition, six in-depth interviews were conducted for the qualitative part of the study. This study concluded that the merger had a negative impact on the perceptions of lower level employees regarding the merger process in the post-merger phase. The results indicated that staff morale of lower level employees was low post-merger. Some lower level employees proved to be less satisfied than others who adopted the new changes as a result of the merger. Interestingly, the results indicated a high level of motivation amongst lower level employees post-merger. Minimal communication originated from top management to lower level employees. It was recommended, amongst other suggestions that communication and training should be strengthened amongst lower level employees, supervisors and management in higher education institutions. Whilst lower level employees may have low skills and education, an attempt should be made to involve lower level employees early on and throughout higher education mergers. / M

This national study, focusing on job satisfaction within juvenile facility directors, was conducted by the means of a survey. The study is longitudinal in nature; the survey was conducted in 1995 and 2000. Other past studies have focused on line level employees, guards, and the juveniles, but few have concentrated on juvenile facility directors. Literature on directors is currently lacking, this continuous study will give a better ongoing perspective of their attitudes and beliefs. Findings from this particular study will help to address current concerns inside of the system, starting at the apex. The survey's goal is to correlate factors that have a direct impact on their job satisfaction. Results indicate that staff issues have a dramatic impact on a director's job satisfaction.

This study investigated relationships of age, gender, and supervisor level with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, stress perception, and turnover intention. The demographics were hypothesized to moderate the stress-satisfaction and commitment-turnover relationships. Hypotheses were tested using both parametric and non-parametric bootstrap methods. Subjects were taken from a national survey of 2,663 public sector IT workers. Missing data were imputed using NORM software. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression indicated a significant direct effect from all main variables and covariates, except for age on turnover intent. No mediating effects were found. Age-Commitment was the only significant higher order modifier relationship, although Gender-Commitment explained substantial variance. LMG statistic results enabled the predictors to be rank ordered with confidence intervals. Best subset bootstrap regression explored all possible predictor orders to confirm which model explained the most variance. The original model and predictor sequence were confirmed. The bootstrap AIC statistic provided a model which maximized explained variance while optimizing parsimony. Since only age had a mediating effect, Hypotheses 1 and 2 were not supported. All other hypotheses were partially confirmed.

The purpose of this paper is to present a study that examines the underlying stucture of work/family conflict. Research has shown that reducing work/family conflict is beneficial to both employees and the organization by reducing turnover and increasing satisfction, production and commitment to the organization.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role ambiguity, role conflict, and job satisfaction perceptions among selected Human Resource Development (HRD) practitioners. The study's target population was the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)—Dallas Chapter. The independent variables used in this study consisted of HRD practitioners' gender, age, length of HRD experience, educational level, and HRD role category.

The efficiency and effectiveness of any library in delivering quality services to clients is not only dependent on how skilled the librarians are but also on how motivated they are. This study investigated factors which affect motivation of librarians in Central and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia. The study was a survey design involving questionnaires and interview technique to obtain information. A whole population of 100 respondents was used to collect data. The survey combined qualitative and quantitative methods, qualitative data obtained from interviews were analysed by coding and regrouping similar themes using constant comparative techniques. Quantitative data from questionnaires were analysed by using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). Study findings indicated that there were various factors which motivated librarians to do more work such as responsibilities, good salary, promotion and work achievement. However, further revelation showed that there is still need to reinforce these factors to enhance more motivation of librarians. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

The efficiency and effectiveness of any library in delivering quality services to clients is not only dependent on how skilled the librarians are but also on how motivated they are. This study investigated factors which affect motivation of librarians in Central and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia. The study was a survey design involving questionnaires and interview technique to obtain information. A whole population of 100 respondents was used to collect data. The survey combined qualitative and quantitative methods, qualitative data obtained from interviews were analysed by coding and regrouping similar themes using constant comparative techniques. Quantitative data from questionnaires were analysed by using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). Study findings indicated that there were various factors which motivated librarians to do more work such as responsibilities, good salary, promotion and work achievement. However, further revelation showed that there is still need to reinforce these factors to enhance more motivation of librarians. / Information Science / M. A. (Information Science)

The purpose of this research was to investigate the level of job satisfaction among financial inspectors in order to measure the level of job satisfaction, to identify the reasons for the level of job satisfaction, to present findings, and to make recommendations to the Inspectorate Division that would improve the feeling of empowerment of financial inspectors. This mini-dissertation entails a literature review and empirical study. The data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire based on the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). The outcome of the research indicates that there is lower level of job satisfaction among financial inspectors with regard to the manner in which inspection reports are sent to inspected departments and their feedback; the training programme of financial inspectors; payments based on the Performance Management System (PMS); job insecurity and the transfer of financial inspectors to other sections or departments; communication channels within the Inspectorate Division and Office of the Premier with regard to the control of inspectors; provision of cell phones to financial inspectors and their supervision by their managers; working conditions and involvement of financial inspectors in decisions that affect them at work. The main finding is that financial inspectors indeed experience a lower level of job satisfaction with regard to almost all the factors investigated under the problem statement and thus, the practice of empowerment is recommended as a solution to address the Inspectorate problems. / Business Management / M.Tech.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A high employee turnover rate, where talented employees leave the institution to join other legislatures and government departments, has been experienced by the Language Services Section (LSS) of Parliament SA which is part of the Legislative and Oversight Division (LOD). This thesis evaluates why talented employees leave the LSS and explores possible retention strategies to retain talented employees. This was firstly done by reviewing literature on the concept of employee turnover. Secondly, the study evaluated possible factors that impact on employee turnover. Thirdly, the legislative environment of employee turnover within the South African context was discussed. Furthermore, the causes of employee turnover in the LSS of Parliament SA were assessed. Lastly, recommendations were made on how to retain employees in the LSS of Parliament South Africa. The research design used to conduct the study is a qualitative case study. Unstructured interviews, a survey questionnaire and documentation were used for this study. Deductions were made by comparing the theory from the literature review with the practice in LSS in order to gain a better understanding of why talented employees leave the institution and what retention strategies can be implemented to retain them. This study presents various reasons why employees are leaving the institution. These reasons include non-competitive salaries, ineffective recruitment and selection processes, inadequate training, a lack of career pathing and the fact that many language practitioners (LPs) reside in provinces other than the Western Cape. Many of these reasons were identified previously through an LOD Retention Strategy Project but strategies to address problems were not implemented due to the lack of a people-centred approach to talent management. Recommendations were made that retention strategies should be implemented and that more emphasis should be placed on human resources and the development of people in order to reach the core objectives of parliament through happy and well-developed employees. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: ’n Hoë omsetkoers van werknemers waar talentvolle werknemers die instelling verlaat om by ander wetgewers en staatsdepartemente aan te sluit, is deur die Afdeling Taaldienste van die Parlement van Suid-Afrika, wat deel vorm van die Wetgewing en Oorsig Afdeling, ervaar. Hierdie tesis evalueer die redes waarom talentvolle werknemers die Afdeling Taaldienste verlaat en verken moontlike retensiestrategieë om talentvolle werknemers te behou. Eerstens is literatuur oor die konsep van werknemersomset hersien. Tweedens het die studie moontlike faktore wat werknemersomset beïnvloed, evalueer. Derdens is die wetgewende omgewing van werknemersomset binne die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks, bespreek. Verder was die oorsake van werknemersomset binne die Afdeling Taaldienste van Suid-Afrika, geassesseer. Laastens is aanbevelings gemaak oor hoe om werknemers in die Afdeling Taaldienste van die Parlement van Suid-Afrika te behou. Die navorsingsontwerp wat vir die uitvoer van die ondersoek gebruik is, is ’n kwalitatiewe gevallestudie. Ongestruktureerde onderhoude, ’n opnamevraelys en dokumentasie is vir die studie gebruik. Afleidings is gemaak deur die teorie van die literatuuroorsig met die praktyk in die Afdeling Taaldienste van die Parlement van Suid-Afrika te vergelyk om ’n beter begrip te kry van waarom talentvolle werknemers die instelling verlaat en watter retensiestrategieë in werking gestel kan word om hulle te behou. Die studie verskaf verskeie redes waarom werknemers die instelling verlaat. Hierdie redes sluit in nie-mededingende salarisse, ondoeltreffende werwings- en seleksiesprosesse, onvoldoende opleiding, ’n gebrek aan loopbaanbeplanning en die feit dat talle taalpraktisyns in ander provinsies as die Wes-Kaap woon. Baie van hierdie redes is voorheen deur ’n Wetgewing en Oorsig Afdeling Retensiestrategieprojek geïdentifiseer, maar strategieë om die probleme aan te spreek is nie geïmplementeer nie as gevolg van die gebrek aan ’n mens-gesentreerde benadering tot talentbestuur. Aanbevelings is gemaak dat die retensiestrategieë geïmplementeer word en ’n groter klem op menslike hulpbronne en die ontwikkeling van mense geplaas word sodat die kerndoelwitte van die Parlement deur gelukkige en goedontwikkelde mense behaal kan word.