The changing world of work that we live in is characterised by forming part of globalisation and virtualness. The previous era managers focused on how to make money and how this money can work for them. The changing world of work is characterised by global competitiveness in delivering quality products quicker and cheaper. Globalisation presents continuous advancements in technology, which requires a new mindset. These technological advancements have a profound effect on culture, training and management of staff. This brings about change in flexible working arrangements and the traditional office made space within certain organisations for virtual offices. The move towards virtualness causes companies to work more closely with their customers to be able to coordinate rapid changes in products (Schuh, Millarg & Gorannson, 1998; Weissenfeld, Fisscher, Pearson & Brockhoff, 200 1). The financial institution referred to in this study was also driven by globalisation and technological advancements to re-engineer the current way in which they do business. It became evidently clear that there was a need for a shift towards virtualness, which called for the identifying of relevant competencies; needed by employees for working in a virtual environment. These competencies will enable the organisation to select the right employees and provide them with information that could be utilised in training the current virtual employees according to the competencies identified. The objectives of this research were firstly to conduct a job analysis to determine the important competencies needed by virtual workers, in a specific job at a financial institution in South Africa. Secondly to compare the current competencies of the virtual workers (who took part in the research) with the competencies identified by the job analysis to be important for this specific job. Thirdly to determine the skills required for virtual workers and compare these skills with the skills ranked by the current virtual workers to be important. Fourthly to identify how these virtual workers experienced the effect of virtualness on their performance. Lastly to make recommendations regarding future training and selection purposes. A survey design (cross-sectional) was used to determine competencies needed by virtual workers for a specific job at a financial institution in South Africa. The study population consisted of (N= 71) employees in a virtual job at a financial institution in South Africa. The Work Profile Systems (WPS), Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ), Performance Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ) and a Skills Audit (SA) were administered. Results of the research indicated that 44% of the study population exhibits the competencies needed by virtual workers as indicated by the Inventory of Management Competencies (IMC) Profile of the WPS. The results of the Performance Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ) indicated that the current virtual workers experienced the greatest impact of virtualness on improving the attainment of personal goals, as well as improving the achievement of organisational goals. The results from the Skills Audit (SA) identified skills that were essential for virtual workers in a specific job within a virtual environment, according to the feedback received from the current virtual workers. They compared favourably with the skills identified by literature as being important. Recommendations to the organisation and for future research have been made and limitations were also discussed. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

The changing world of work that we live in is characterised by forming part of globalisation and virtualness. The previous era managers focused on how to make money and how this money can work for them. The changing world of work is characterised by global competitiveness in delivering quality products quicker and cheaper. Globalisation presents continuous advancements in technology, which requires a new mindset. These technological advancements have a profound effect on culture, training and management of staff. This brings about change in flexible working arrangements and the traditional office made space within certain organisations for virtual offices. The move towards virtualness causes companies to work more closely with their customers to be able to coordinate rapid changes in products (Schuh, Millarg & Gorannson, 1998; Weissenfeld, Fisscher, Pearson & Brockhoff, 200 1). The financial institution referred to in this study was also driven by globalisation and technological advancements to re-engineer the current way in which they do business. It became evidently clear that there was a need for a shift towards virtualness, which called for the identifying of relevant competencies; needed by employees for working in a virtual environment. These competencies will enable the organisation to select the right employees and provide them with information that could be utilised in training the current virtual employees according to the competencies identified. The objectives of this research were firstly to conduct a job analysis to determine the important competencies needed by virtual workers, in a specific job at a financial institution in South Africa. Secondly to compare the current competencies of the virtual workers (who took part in the research) with the competencies identified by the job analysis to be important for this specific job. Thirdly to determine the skills required for virtual workers and compare these skills with the skills ranked by the current virtual workers to be important. Fourthly to identify how these virtual workers experienced the effect of virtualness on their performance. Lastly to make recommendations regarding future training and selection purposes. A survey design (cross-sectional) was used to determine competencies needed by virtual workers for a specific job at a financial institution in South Africa. The study population consisted of (N= 71) employees in a virtual job at a financial institution in South Africa. The Work Profile Systems (WPS), Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ), Performance Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ) and a Skills Audit (SA) were administered. Results of the research indicated that 44% of the study population exhibits the competencies needed by virtual workers as indicated by the Inventory of Management Competencies (IMC) Profile of the WPS. The results of the Performance Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ) indicated that the current virtual workers experienced the greatest impact of virtualness on improving the attainment of personal goals, as well as improving the achievement of organisational goals. The results from the Skills Audit (SA) identified skills that were essential for virtual workers in a specific job within a virtual environment, according to the feedback received from the current virtual workers. They compared favourably with the skills identified by literature as being important. Recommendations to the organisation and for future research have been made and limitations were also discussed. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

Este estudo aborda as trajetórias ocupacionais dos trabalhadores de um segmento de mercado profundamente afetado, desde meados da década de 1990, por transformações tecnológicas, institucionais e organizacionais: o setor de telecomunicações no período pós-privatização no Brasil. Em termos teóricos, as perspectivas que permitem interface com o tema das trajetórias ocupacionais de trabalhadores têm discutido quais são as possibilidades de se promover segurança no mercado de trabalho ao trabalhador, tendo em vista que há, na atualidade, uma maior heterogeneidade nas situações de emprego e tendência de fragmentação das categoriais sócio-ocupacionais antes homogêneas. Mediante a análise longitudinal do mercado de trabalho do setor de telecomunicações, foi realizada a reconstituição das trajetórias ocupacionais de duas coortes de trabalhadores: a) primeiro período pós-privatização, coorte de 1998 (trajetória de 1998 a 2002); b) segundo período pós-privatização, coorte de 2003 (trajetória de 2003 a 2007). Para tanto, foram utilizados dados agregados disponíveis nas Bases RAIS e RAIS Migra, do Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego do Brasil. Em síntese, foi possível concluir que a passagem do primeiro período pós-privatização, marcado por reestruturação tecnológica e gerencial, para o segundo período pós-privatização, caracterizado por maior concorrência inter-empresarial, resultou em índices mais elevados de permanência no mercado de trabalho do setor de telecomunicações e no mercado de trabalho formal. Entretanto, padrões de desigualdades entre os perfis sócio-ocupacionais se mantiveram presentes, aprofundando-se no segundo período no que tange à permanência no mercado de trabalho do setor de telecomunicações e reduzindo-se no que diz respeito à permanência no mercado de trabalho formal. O aspecto que perpassa os dois períodos pós-privatização analisados sustenta-se no fato de que os níveis mais elevados de segurança no mercado de trabalho foram observados entre os trabalhadores que supostamente encontram-se em melhores condições de lidar com as oscilações do mercado de trabalho, ou seja, jovens, com remuneração e escolaridade elevadas, inseridos em ocupações situadas no topo da estrutura ocupacional do setor e possuidores de qualificação valorizada no mercado de trabalho formal como um todo. / This study approaches the occupational paths of workers in a market segment deeply affected, since the mid-1990s, by technological, institutional and organizational changes: the telecommunications sector in the post-privatization in Brazil. In theoretical terms, the perspectives that allows interface with the theme of the occupational paths of workers have discussed what the possibilities to promote security in the job market to workers, in view of that currently a greater heterogeneity in employment situations and propensity to fragment the socio-occupational classes, that was homogeneous before. By means of the longitudinal analysis of the job market in the telecommunications sector, a reconstitution of the occupational paths of two cohorts of workers was performed, to identify their levels of security in the job market: a) the first post-privatization period, cohort of 1998 (history from 1998 to 2002); b) the second post-privatization period, cohort of 2003 (history from 2003 to 2007). For that purpose, aggregated data bases available in RAIS and RAIS Migra of the Brazilian Ministry of Labor and Employment were used. In summary, the conclusion drawn here is that the passing of the first post-privatization period, marked by technological and managerial reorganization, for the second post-privatization period, characterized by greater inter-firm competition, resulted in higher abidance rates on the job market telecommunication sector and the formal job market. However, patterns of inequality between socio-occupational profiles remained present, going deep into the second period when it comes to staying in the job market of the telecommunications sector and decreasing in respect to staying in the formal job market. The aspect that crosses the two analyzed periods post-privatization is sustained in the fact that the highest levels of security in the job market have been observed among workers who supposedly are better able to cope with oscillations in the labor market, in other words, young workers, with high pay and education, placed in jobs on the top of the occupational structure of the sector and possessors of qualification valued in the formal job market as a whole.

Este estudo aborda as trajetórias ocupacionais dos trabalhadores de um segmento de mercado profundamente afetado, desde meados da década de 1990, por transformações tecnológicas, institucionais e organizacionais: o setor de telecomunicações no período pós-privatização no Brasil. Em termos teóricos, as perspectivas que permitem interface com o tema das trajetórias ocupacionais de trabalhadores têm discutido quais são as possibilidades de se promover segurança no mercado de trabalho ao trabalhador, tendo em vista que há, na atualidade, uma maior heterogeneidade nas situações de emprego e tendência de fragmentação das categoriais sócio-ocupacionais antes homogêneas. Mediante a análise longitudinal do mercado de trabalho do setor de telecomunicações, foi realizada a reconstituição das trajetórias ocupacionais de duas coortes de trabalhadores: a) primeiro período pós-privatização, coorte de 1998 (trajetória de 1998 a 2002); b) segundo período pós-privatização, coorte de 2003 (trajetória de 2003 a 2007). Para tanto, foram utilizados dados agregados disponíveis nas Bases RAIS e RAIS Migra, do Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego do Brasil. Em síntese, foi possível concluir que a passagem do primeiro período pós-privatização, marcado por reestruturação tecnológica e gerencial, para o segundo período pós-privatização, caracterizado por maior concorrência inter-empresarial, resultou em índices mais elevados de permanência no mercado de trabalho do setor de telecomunicações e no mercado de trabalho formal. Entretanto, padrões de desigualdades entre os perfis sócio-ocupacionais se mantiveram presentes, aprofundando-se no segundo período no que tange à permanência no mercado de trabalho do setor de telecomunicações e reduzindo-se no que diz respeito à permanência no mercado de trabalho formal. O aspecto que perpassa os dois períodos pós-privatização analisados sustenta-se no fato de que os níveis mais elevados de segurança no mercado de trabalho foram observados entre os trabalhadores que supostamente encontram-se em melhores condições de lidar com as oscilações do mercado de trabalho, ou seja, jovens, com remuneração e escolaridade elevadas, inseridos em ocupações situadas no topo da estrutura ocupacional do setor e possuidores de qualificação valorizada no mercado de trabalho formal como um todo. / This study approaches the occupational paths of workers in a market segment deeply affected, since the mid-1990s, by technological, institutional and organizational changes: the telecommunications sector in the post-privatization in Brazil. In theoretical terms, the perspectives that allows interface with the theme of the occupational paths of workers have discussed what the possibilities to promote security in the job market to workers, in view of that currently a greater heterogeneity in employment situations and propensity to fragment the socio-occupational classes, that was homogeneous before. By means of the longitudinal analysis of the job market in the telecommunications sector, a reconstitution of the occupational paths of two cohorts of workers was performed, to identify their levels of security in the job market: a) the first post-privatization period, cohort of 1998 (history from 1998 to 2002); b) the second post-privatization period, cohort of 2003 (history from 2003 to 2007). For that purpose, aggregated data bases available in RAIS and RAIS Migra of the Brazilian Ministry of Labor and Employment were used. In summary, the conclusion drawn here is that the passing of the first post-privatization period, marked by technological and managerial reorganization, for the second post-privatization period, characterized by greater inter-firm competition, resulted in higher abidance rates on the job market telecommunication sector and the formal job market. However, patterns of inequality between socio-occupational profiles remained present, going deep into the second period when it comes to staying in the job market of the telecommunications sector and decreasing in respect to staying in the formal job market. The aspect that crosses the two analyzed periods post-privatization is sustained in the fact that the highest levels of security in the job market have been observed among workers who supposedly are better able to cope with oscillations in the labor market, in other words, young workers, with high pay and education, placed in jobs on the top of the occupational structure of the sector and possessors of qualification valued in the formal job market as a whole.

Este estudo aborda as trajetórias ocupacionais dos trabalhadores de um segmento de mercado profundamente afetado, desde meados da década de 1990, por transformações tecnológicas, institucionais e organizacionais: o setor de telecomunicações no período pós-privatização no Brasil. Em termos teóricos, as perspectivas que permitem interface com o tema das trajetórias ocupacionais de trabalhadores têm discutido quais são as possibilidades de se promover segurança no mercado de trabalho ao trabalhador, tendo em vista que há, na atualidade, uma maior heterogeneidade nas situações de emprego e tendência de fragmentação das categoriais sócio-ocupacionais antes homogêneas. Mediante a análise longitudinal do mercado de trabalho do setor de telecomunicações, foi realizada a reconstituição das trajetórias ocupacionais de duas coortes de trabalhadores: a) primeiro período pós-privatização, coorte de 1998 (trajetória de 1998 a 2002); b) segundo período pós-privatização, coorte de 2003 (trajetória de 2003 a 2007). Para tanto, foram utilizados dados agregados disponíveis nas Bases RAIS e RAIS Migra, do Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego do Brasil. Em síntese, foi possível concluir que a passagem do primeiro período pós-privatização, marcado por reestruturação tecnológica e gerencial, para o segundo período pós-privatização, caracterizado por maior concorrência inter-empresarial, resultou em índices mais elevados de permanência no mercado de trabalho do setor de telecomunicações e no mercado de trabalho formal. Entretanto, padrões de desigualdades entre os perfis sócio-ocupacionais se mantiveram presentes, aprofundando-se no segundo período no que tange à permanência no mercado de trabalho do setor de telecomunicações e reduzindo-se no que diz respeito à permanência no mercado de trabalho formal. O aspecto que perpassa os dois períodos pós-privatização analisados sustenta-se no fato de que os níveis mais elevados de segurança no mercado de trabalho foram observados entre os trabalhadores que supostamente encontram-se em melhores condições de lidar com as oscilações do mercado de trabalho, ou seja, jovens, com remuneração e escolaridade elevadas, inseridos em ocupações situadas no topo da estrutura ocupacional do setor e possuidores de qualificação valorizada no mercado de trabalho formal como um todo. / This study approaches the occupational paths of workers in a market segment deeply affected, since the mid-1990s, by technological, institutional and organizational changes: the telecommunications sector in the post-privatization in Brazil. In theoretical terms, the perspectives that allows interface with the theme of the occupational paths of workers have discussed what the possibilities to promote security in the job market to workers, in view of that currently a greater heterogeneity in employment situations and propensity to fragment the socio-occupational classes, that was homogeneous before. By means of the longitudinal analysis of the job market in the telecommunications sector, a reconstitution of the occupational paths of two cohorts of workers was performed, to identify their levels of security in the job market: a) the first post-privatization period, cohort of 1998 (history from 1998 to 2002); b) the second post-privatization period, cohort of 2003 (history from 2003 to 2007). For that purpose, aggregated data bases available in RAIS and RAIS Migra of the Brazilian Ministry of Labor and Employment were used. In summary, the conclusion drawn here is that the passing of the first post-privatization period, marked by technological and managerial reorganization, for the second post-privatization period, characterized by greater inter-firm competition, resulted in higher abidance rates on the job market telecommunication sector and the formal job market. However, patterns of inequality between socio-occupational profiles remained present, going deep into the second period when it comes to staying in the job market of the telecommunications sector and decreasing in respect to staying in the formal job market. The aspect that crosses the two analyzed periods post-privatization is sustained in the fact that the highest levels of security in the job market have been observed among workers who supposedly are better able to cope with oscillations in the labor market, in other words, young workers, with high pay and education, placed in jobs on the top of the occupational structure of the sector and possessors of qualification valued in the formal job market as a whole.