Information technology (IT) outsourcing poses a potential job loss threat to IT professionals, which can decrease job security, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The problem that this study addressed was the perceived role of IT outsourcing in the job stress, job dissatisfaction, and turnover intention of IT professionals. The purpose of this study was to explore how job-related stress, job dissatisfaction, and turnover intention within the IT profession are influenced by outsourcing as perceived by IT workers themselves. Phenomenology was the methodology used, and the person-environment fit theory formed the theoretical framework for this study. The research questions addressed outsourcing and its impact on IT employees, based on the perceptions of the participants. Data were collected from 20 IT professionals at 4 medium-sized firms within Central Florida using open-ended interview questions. Significant themes emerged as the interview data were analyzed and coded using words that best described the data. Synthesis of the data collected indicated that job stress and job dissatisfaction were continuing concerns among the participants, as indicated in current general literature. However, turnover intention had a less consequential impact on the IT workers' reactions to the effects of outsourcing. Contrary to the expectation that IT outsourcing plays a negative role in the job satisfaction of the participants, the study results indicated that the majority of the participants were still satisfied in their positions following IT outsourcing activities. Managers could impact social change by understanding the levels of stress and job satisfaction IT professionals experience during outsourcing. Insights from this study may help improve employees' productivity, commitment, and contributions to their local economies.

The Human Resources (HR) policy prohibiting marriage between coworkers contributes to employee attrition and an unhappy, demoralized, and unengaged workforce in commercial banks in Nigeria. Marriage between coworkers has resulted in forced resignations in commercial banks in Nigeria and employees' perception of being unfairly treated in their organizations. The purpose of this qualitative case study, based on the conceptual framework of organizational justice, was to explore how bank employees whose spouses resigned due to the HR policy prohibiting marriage between coworkers respond to this policy. Fifteen such employees participated in semistructured, one-on-one interviews, and 5 other employees participated in a focus group. Data were also collected from staff handbook, exit interview records, and staff attrition reports. Data were analyzed and triangulated to ensure trustworthiness of the findings. Study findings revealed that the HR policy prohibiting marriage between coworkers negatively affected employees' perception of being fairly treated, which consequently affected their morale, sense of commitment, and productivity. Results from this study may guide decision makers and leaders in the banking sector in Nigeria in formulating policies on marriage between coworkers that will not stimulate employee turnover, disloyalty, low morale, and low productivity. Increased productivity promotes wealth and reduced unemployment, which often results in positive social change. A continuous increase in productivity and profitability may lead to business expansion, which may also lead to more employment opportunities.

Titel: Vikten av balans mellan privat- och yrkesliv som fastighetsmäklare - En studie om balansen och dess påverkan på jobbtillfredsställelse och avsikten att byta bransch bland svenska fastighetsmäklare Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om balans mellan privat- och yrkesliv påverkar jobbtillfredsställelse och avsikten att byta bransch bland svenska fastighetsmäklare. Utöver detta kommer hänsyn tas till eventuella könsskillnader inom de valda områdena. Metod: Denna studie bygger på en kvantitativ karaktär med ett deduktivt förhållningssätt. För insamling av det empiriska materialet skickades en webbaserad enkät ut. Enkäten skickades ut till urvalet på 741 stycken fastighetsmäklare verksamma i Sverige av den totala populationen på 7652 stycken. Enkäten besvarades av 133 stycken. För analys av data har statistikprogrammet JASP använts där en deskriptiv analys samt korrelationsanalys utförts. Resultat & slutsats: Studien visar att balans mellan yrke/privatliv (WFC) samt balans mellan privat/yrkesliv (FWC) påverkar jobbtillfredsställelse där inre och organisatorisk jobbtillfredsställelse har störst påverkan. WFC bidrar till ökad avsikt att byta bransch medan FWC inte har några kopplingar. Jobbtillfredsställelse är den faktor som har störst inverkan på avsikten att byta bransch. Inre, yttre och organisatorisk jobbtillfredsställelse visade alla starka samband med avsikten att byta bransch. Vidare visade resultatet endast könsskillnader där de manliga fastighetsmäklarna upplevde en större påverkan av FWC än kvinnorna, gällande WFC i framgick inga könsskillnader. Det framkom inga samband mellan jobbtillfredsställelse eller avsikten att byta bransch kopplat till könsskillnader. Studiens bidrag: Denna studie bidrar med kunskap om hur svenska fastighetsmäklare upplever balans mellan privat- och yrkesliv där jobbtillfredsställelse och avsikten att byta bransch undersöks. Det praktiska bidraget vänder sig till fastighetsmäklarbranschen för att motverka den höga omsättningshastigheten. Förslag till vidare forskning: Intressant i framtida studier hade varit att mer djupgående fokusera på hur fastighetsmäklarens partner med samma yrke skiljer sig från fastighetsmäklarens partner med annan sysselsättning i avseende till den upplevda balansen mellan privat- och yrkesliv, där WFC och FWC mäts för att se om det framkommer skillnader i jobbtillfredsställelse och avsikten att byta bransch. Vidare forskning genom en replikering av vår studie bland fastighetsmäklare i Sverige men även övriga länder för att se om balansen har en inverkan på jobbtillfredsställelse och avsikten att byta bransch. Intressant till vidare forskning är att undersöka mer djupgående vad det finns för faktorer bakom avsikten att byta bransch. / Title: The role of work life balance as a real estate agent - A study about balance and its impact on job satisfaction and turnover intention among Swedish real estate agents. Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine work-life balance affects on job satisfaction and turnover intention among Swedish real estate agents.  Method: This study is based on a quantitative characteristic with a deductive approach. To obtain the empirical material, a web-based survey was sent out. The survey was sent out to the sample of 741 real estate agents operating in Sweden, out of the total population of 7,652. The survey was answered by 133 people. The analysis of data has taken place in the statistical program JASP, where a descriptive analysis and a correlation analysis has been performed. Result & Conclusions: The study shows that work-family conflict (WFC) and family-work conflict (FWC) affect job satisfaction, where intrinsic and organizational job satisfaction has the strongest affects. WFC increased turnover intention while result shows no relationship between FWC and turnover intention. Job satisfaction has the strongest impact on turnover intention. Intrinsic, extrinsic and organizational job satisfaction showed all strong relationships with turnover intention. Furthermore, the result showed gender differences where the male real estate agents experienced a greater impact on FWC than the women, WFC had no gender differences. Job satisfaction and turnover intention also showed no gender differences. Research contribution: This study contributes knowledge about how Swedish real estate agents experience the balance between private- och professional life where job satisfaction and turnover intention are examined. The practical grant is aimed at the estate agency industry to counteract the high turnover rate.  Suggestions for future research: It would be interesting in future studies to focus more deeply on how the real estate agents partner with the same occupation differs from the real estate agents partner with a different occupation. And examine work life balance, including WFC and FWC, job satisfaction and turnover intention. Further, a replication of our study is suggested among real estate agents in Sweden but also other countries to see if the balance has an impact on job satisfaction and turnover intention. Interesting for further research is to examine in more depth what factors are behind turnover intention in a deeper perspective.

Personalomsättning är ett vanligt förekommande problem inom revisionsbranschen. För att förutsäga personalomsättning kan avsikt att byta arbete undersökas. Styrkan i en individs avsikt att byta arbete är en indikation på hur sannolikt det är att individen faktiskt kommer att sluta. Den teori som tillämpats i uppsatsen är Herzbergs tvåfaktorsteori, med fokus på motivationsfaktorerna. Motivationsfaktorerna ansvar, prestationer, bekräftelse, arbetet i sig och utvecklingsmöjligheter är de som skapar tillfredsställelse med arbetet om de finns, men som inte medför missnöje med arbetet om de inte finns. Syfte: Uppsatsen syftar till att bidra med ytterligare kunskap på området kring motivation och en individs avsikt att byta arbete. Detta genom att genomföra en studie med fokus på att undersöka sambanden mellan Herzbergs motivationsfaktorer och förtroendevalda kommunrevisorers avsikt att byta arbete. Uppsatsen syftar även till att undersöka om dessa samband samt avsikten att byta arbete skiljer sig åt med avseende på bakgrundsvariablerna kön, ålder och utbildning. Metod: En kvantitativ metod med ett ändamålsenligt urval har tillämpats för uppsatsen. För datainsamling distribuerades en enkät via Google Formulär till förtroendevalda kommunrevisorer i Region A. För analys av data har korrelationsanalys samt hypotesprövning av Pearsons korrelationskoefficient genomförts, detta för att undersöka samband mellan avsikt att byta arbete och Herzbergs motivationsfaktorer. Därutöver har en multipel regressionsanalys genomförts för att undersöka motivationsfaktorernas påverkan på en individs avsikt att byta arbete. Resultat: Uppsatsens resultat visar signifikanta samband mellan förtroendevalda kommunrevisorers avsikt att byta arbete och motivationsfaktorerna ansvar, bekräftelse och arbetet i sig för samtliga respondenter. Sambandet är för alla dessa variabler negativt. För kvinnor, individer med gymnasieutbildning samt individer med minst treårig högskole-/universitetsutbildning föreligger inget signifikant samband för någon av motivationsfaktorerna. För män kan ett signifikant negativt samband ses för motivationsfaktorerna ansvar, prestationer, bekräftelse, utvecklingsmöjligheter och arbetet i sig. För individer med eftergymnasial utbildning finns ett signifikant negativt samband mellan avsikt att byta arbete och motivationsfaktorerna ansvar, bekräftelse och utvecklingsmöjligheter. Trots signifikanta samband kan det endast påvisas att motivationsfaktorn ansvar påverkar en individs avsikt att byta arbete, till följd av ett signifikant resultat i den multipla regressionsanalysen. Avsikten att byta arbete skiljer sig inte signifikant mellan individer med olika utbildningsnivå eller mellan olika kön. Slutsats: Uppsatsens resultat bidrar med ytterligare kunskap på ett område som redan är välstuderat genom att en ytterligare yrkeskategori och ett geografiskt område studerats. Resultaten kan användas som indikatorer för kommuner i Region A för att bättre kunna förstå, hantera och förebygga personalomsättning bland förtroendevalda kommunrevisorer. / Staff turnover is a common problem in the auditing industry. In order to predict staff turnover, turnover intention can be examined. The strength of the turnover intention is an indication of how likely it is that the individual will actually quit. The theory applied in the essay is Herzberg's two-factor theory, with a focus on the motivational factors. The motivational factors, responsibility, recognition, achievements, work itself, and growth, are those that create satisfaction with the work if they exist, but which do not lead to dissatisfaction with the work if they do not exist.  Purpose:  The thesis aims to examine the relationships between turnover intention and Herzberg's motivational factors. The thesis also aims to examine whether these relationships, and turnover intention, differs regarding the background variables gender, age and education.  Method:  A quantitative method with purposive sampling has been applied to the essay. For data collection, a survey was distributed via Google Formulär to elected municipal auditors in Region A. For analysis of data, a correlation analysis and hypothesis testing of Pearson's correlation coefficient has been performed, in order to examine the relationship between turnover intention and Herzberg's motivational factors. In addition, a multiple regression analysis has been performed to examine the influence of the motivational factors on turnover intention.  Results:  The results of the essay show that significant relationships can be seen between turnover intention and the motivational factors responsibility, confirmation and the work itself for all respondents. The relationship is negative for all these three variables. For women, individuals with upper secondary education and individuals with at least three years of college/university education, there is no significant relationship for any of the motivational factors. For men, a significant negative relationship can be seen for the motivational factors responsibility, performance, confirmation, growth, and the work itself. For individuals with post-secondary education, there is a significant negative relationship between turnover intention and the motivational factors responsibility, confirmation, and growth. Despite significant correlations, it can only be shown that the motivational factor responsibility affects turnover intention, as a result of a significant result in the multiple regression analysis. The turnover intention does not significantly differ regarding educational level or gender. Conclusion:  The results of the thesis contribute with additional knowledge in an area that has already been well studied, by studying an additional category of professions and another geographic area. The results can be used as indicators for municipalities in Region A, in order to better understand, manage and prevent turnover among elected municipal auditors.

Dagens revisionskår lider av ett stort problem som hotar dess framtid. Sedan 1990 har antalet revisorer minskat från 4400 auktoriserade till 3300. En bakomliggande orsak till minskningen är revisorsassistenters avhopp. Revisorsassistenter förväntas bli framtida revisorer men avhoppen har lett till att revisionsbranschens framtid har hamnat i fara. Tidigare studier har undersökt varför revisorsassistenter har lämnat branschen, dock finns det bristande kunskap om revisorsassistenters förhållande till revisionsbyråer. Därför är det av yttersta vikt att undersöka avhoppen ur det psykologiska kontraktets perspektiv i syfte att ta reda på huruvida uppsägningsavsikten influeras av det psykologiska kontraktet eller inte. Det psykologiska kontraktet är en teori som tar hänsyn till den mellanmänskliga relationen mellan den anställde och organisationen och baseras på den anställdes uppfattningar om ömsesidiga och implicita överenskommelser mellan denne samt organisationen. Kontraktet bygger på en subjektiv tro som den anställde har och är även en viktig aspekt att ta hänsyn till vid undersökandet av uppsägningsavsikten i relation till det psykologiska kontraktet. Syftet med studien är att ge en ökad förståelse för hur det psykologiska kontraktet influerar revisorsassisteters uppsägningsavsikt. För att genomföra studien användes en kvalitativ metod där sex semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med revisorsassistenter från sex olika revisionsbyråer. Studien visar att det psykologiska kontraktet har en inverkan på revisorsassistenters uppsägningsavsikt. När en anställd upplever att kontraktet är ömsesidigt och uppfyllt uppstår ingen känsla av att man vill lämna organisationen. Om den anställde däremot känner att kontraktet inte är ömsesidigt, kan denne vilja lämna organisationen eftersom den får en känsla av att den gör sin del i kontraktet medan organisationen förbiser sin del. Vidare framkom det även att löften som skall uppfyllas består främst av utvecklingsmöjligheter, trivsam arbetsmiljö och stöd som revisionsbyråer är förpliktade att hålla. Revisionsbyråer som inte respekterar det psykologiska kontraktet anses ha brutit mot kontraktets villkor och kan därmed leda till att de förlorar sina revisorsassistenter. / Today’s audit profession is facing a major issue that threatens the future of auditing. Since 1990, the number of auditors has decreased from 4,400 authorized to 3,300. One of the reasons behind the reduction is the audit assistants' intention to resign. These accounting assistants are expected to become the future accountants, but the turnover has led to a threatening future. Previous research has investigated the reasons behind why audit assistants are leaving the profession. However, there is not enough understanding of the relationship between accounting assistants and audit firms. Therefore, it is crucial to research how the psychological contract affects the turnover intention of the audit assistants.The psychological contract is a theory that takes into consideration the interpersonal relationship between the employee and the organization, and the theory is based on the employee´s perceptions of mutual and implicit agreements between him/her and the organization. The contract is based on a subjective belief held by the employee, and it is also an important aspect to take into consideration when examining the turnover intention in relation to the psychological contract. The purpose of this study is to provide a deeper understanding of how the psychological contract affects audit assistants’ intention to resign. In order to go through with the study, a qualitative method with six interviewees, from six different audit firms was used. The study shows that the psychological contract has an impact on accounting assistants' intention to resign. When an employee feels that the contract is mutual and fulfilled, there is no feeling of wanting to leave the organization. If, on the other hand, the employee feels that the contract is not reciprocal, he may want to leave the organization because he feels that he is doing his part of the contract while the organization is neglecting their part. In addition, it was found that the commitments to be followed consist primarily of development, a pleasant work environment, opportunities and support, and the audit firm is obliged to abide by these commitments. Accounting firms that fail to fulfil the psychological contract are deemed to be in default and therefore tend to lose their audit assistants

No description available.

As the need for similar skills across various industries has increased throughout the years, itis not mandatory to stay within the same industry or organization as you once started. Whennew opportunities take shape, people have come to compare their situation with what it couldbe like in another organization, in another industry, making the attractiveness of anorganization increasingly important, both to keep and to attract new talented employees. Thetourism & hospitality industry has long been perceived as an industry where there is poorwork-life balance, and lower compensation for the employees than other industries whencompared. Because of this, the tourism & hospitality industry have to reconsider theirpractices and evaluate what can be changed to increase the attractiveness, to ensure the futuregrowth of the industry. There are aspects of the tourism & hospitality industry that influence the intention to staywithin an organization, and in the industry as well, including the work-life balance andcompensation. However, there has been an emphasis on what influences the employees toleave rather than the aspects that could be changed to increase the attractiveness, reduce theportion of employees leaving, and attract new ones. There are also proven effects that criseshave on organizations within the tourism & hospitality industry, which influence some of thefactors, previously stated as reasons for employees considering leaving. Hence, there is aresearch gap on how to increase the attractiveness of organizations within the tourism &hospitality industry, after a crisis. The purpose of this study is to examine the key factors that explain why employees in thetourism & hospitality industry find other industries more attractive and identify howorganizations within tourism & hospitality must adapt to increase their attractiveness. Toaddress the research gap, this study used an inductive approach and conducted qualitative,semi-structured interviews to gather the data. When choosing a sample technique, it first tooka stance in the snowball technique, using the network of the authors to get in touch with theappropriate respondents. After this a purposive sampling technique was used to select themost appropriate respondents, with the ability to contribute to the study. The empirical datawas analyzed through a thematic analysis to review and present the relevant findings of the empirical data. From the thematic analysis, three main themes were identified: What creates the talentshortage, How do crises affect talent shortage and What can be done to prevent talentshortage. Within the three main themes, nine sub-themes were found, which assisted infinalizing a conceptual model, showing how organizations within the tourism & hospitalityindustry can change to become more attractive toward talented employees. The findings ofthis study shows that opportunities for personal development and career growth, continuouscommunication between employee and employer, involvement of employees in decisions,improved work-life balance, normal workloads, reduction of unhealthy stress, brand image,and compensation can increase the attractiveness of organization in the tourism & hospitalityindustry after a crisis, such as Covid-19.

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The emergence of the positive psychology movement has brought the attention to individuals’ strengths and their deficits. Specifically of interest within an organisational context is the extent to which employees’ strengths are used and their deficits are improved. Specifically, organisations may provide their support for employees’ strengths use and deficit improvement, and individuals themselves can also proactively seek opportunities to use their strengths and improve their deficits. However, little attention has been paid to strengths use and deficit improvement in empirical research. One reason for this may be a lack of a clear conceptualisation of organisational support for strengths use and deficit improvement and individuals’ proactive strengths use and deficit improvement. Furthermore, this lacking conceptualisation hinders research to empirically measure these constructs, since no measuring instrument exists to measure strengths use and deficit improvement by the organisation and the individual. In addition, no empirical research has been conducted to determine whether strengths use or deficit improvement, or possibly a combined approach focusing on both, may be more beneficial for the organisation in terms of work-related outcomes such as work engagement, learning, job satisfaction and turnover intention. Moreover, the relationship between work engagement (a well-established positive psychology construct) with organisational support for strengths use and deficit improvement and specifically individuals’ proactive strengths use and deficit improvement is unexplored. In light of the above gaps in the literature, the primary objectives of this study were: (a) To conceptualise a taxonomy of strengths use and deficit improvement and to develop and validate the Strengths Use and Deficit Improvement Questionnaire (SUDIQ) that measures four constructs, namely perceived organisational support for strengths use (POSSU), perceived organisational support for deficit improvement (POSDI), proactive behaviour towards strengths use (PBSU) and proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement (PBDI); (b) to examine the item bias, structural equivalence, measurement unit equivalence and scalar equivalence of the SUDIQ among South African ethnic groups; (c) to examine whether POSSU, POSDI or a combination of these two will lead to the best organisational outcomes (i.e. work engagement, learning, job satisfaction and turnover intention); and (d) to determine whether (1) work engagement mediates the relationship between POSSU and PBSU and between POSDI and PBDI, or (2) whether proactive behaviour (PBSU and PBDI) mediates the relationship between POSSU and POSDI with work engagement. The above research objectives were addressed in four empirical, quantitative research articles. For the purpose of research article 1, the Strengths Use and Deficit Improvement Scale (SUDIQ) was developed by following the guidelines of DeVellis (2003). A pilot study was conducted among a heterogeneous sample (N = 241). The validation study was conducted among a heterogeneous sample (N = 699) in various industries in South Africa. For research article 2, the item bias, construct equivalence, measurement unit equivalence and scalar equivalence of the SUDIQ were assessed among a heterogeneous sample (N = 858) in various South African industries. For the purpose of article 3, the relationships between POSSU, POSDI and a combined approach with the outcomes, work engagement, learning, job satisfaction and turnover intention were examined among a sample of 266 public school teachers in the Western Cape. Finally, to determine the relationships between work engagement and PBSU and PBDI and also the mediation effect in a structural model, a sample of 378 employees in the financial industry was investigated. For the pilot study in article 1, an initial item pool of 33 items was generated. In the exploratory factor analysis of this pilot study, four distinct factors were extracted and were labelled perceived organisational support for strengths use (POSSU; eight items), perceived organisational support for deficit improvement (POSDI; eight items), proactive behaviour towards strengths use (PBSU; nine items) and proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement (PBDI; eight items). The factorial validity was confirmed with a confirmatory factor analysis that confirmed the hypothesised four-factor structure of the SUDIQ. The POSSU and POSDI dimensions were positively related to autonomy and participation in decision-making, two job resources, and confirming the convergent validity of these two scales. The PBSU and PBDI scales were found to be positively related to self-efficacy, establishing the convergent validity of these two scales. The criterion-related validity was established through the positive correlation of the four SUDIQ dimensions with work engagement and the negative correlation with burnout. According to the results of the bias and equivalence analysis in article 2, the uniformly biased items included one POSSU item, two POSDI items, two PBSU items and three PBDI items. Three POSSU items were found to be non-uniformly biased. These items that were identified as having either uniform or non-uniform bias for black, white or coloured participants were discarded from further analyses. The results confirmed the SUDIQ to be equivalent across the three ethnic groups in terms of construct equivalence, measurement unit equivalence and scalar equivalence. The results of research article 3 indicate that both strengths use and deficit improvement are important predictors of work engagement, learning, job satisfaction and turnover intention. Learning was higher and turnover intention lower for individuals experiencing a combined approach compared to those believing that their school does not support them to either use their strengths or improve their deficits. Furthermore, a combined approach was associated with higher job satisfaction than a strengths-based approach, and a deficit-based approach was shown to be associated with higher levels of work engagement and turnover intentions compared to an environment where neither employees’ strengths nor deficits are addressed. Finally, in article 4, two competing models were tested where in model 1 work engagement was specified as a mediator in the relationship between POSSU and PBSU and between POSDI and PBDI. In model 2, proactive behaviour (PBSU and PBDI) was specified as a mediator in the relationship between POSSU and POSDI with work engagement. The results indicated that model 1 fitted the data better compared to model 2. Therefore, it was found that work engagement mediates the relationship between POSSU and PBSU and also between POSDI and PBDI. Recommendations were made for organisations and for future research. / PhD (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The emergence of the positive psychology movement has brought the attention to individuals’ strengths and their deficits. Specifically of interest within an organisational context is the extent to which employees’ strengths are used and their deficits are improved. Specifically, organisations may provide their support for employees’ strengths use and deficit improvement, and individuals themselves can also proactively seek opportunities to use their strengths and improve their deficits. However, little attention has been paid to strengths use and deficit improvement in empirical research. One reason for this may be a lack of a clear conceptualisation of organisational support for strengths use and deficit improvement and individuals’ proactive strengths use and deficit improvement. Furthermore, this lacking conceptualisation hinders research to empirically measure these constructs, since no measuring instrument exists to measure strengths use and deficit improvement by the organisation and the individual. In addition, no empirical research has been conducted to determine whether strengths use or deficit improvement, or possibly a combined approach focusing on both, may be more beneficial for the organisation in terms of work-related outcomes such as work engagement, learning, job satisfaction and turnover intention. Moreover, the relationship between work engagement (a well-established positive psychology construct) with organisational support for strengths use and deficit improvement and specifically individuals’ proactive strengths use and deficit improvement is unexplored. In light of the above gaps in the literature, the primary objectives of this study were: (a) To conceptualise a taxonomy of strengths use and deficit improvement and to develop and validate the Strengths Use and Deficit Improvement Questionnaire (SUDIQ) that measures four constructs, namely perceived organisational support for strengths use (POSSU), perceived organisational support for deficit improvement (POSDI), proactive behaviour towards strengths use (PBSU) and proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement (PBDI); (b) to examine the item bias, structural equivalence, measurement unit equivalence and scalar equivalence of the SUDIQ among South African ethnic groups; (c) to examine whether POSSU, POSDI or a combination of these two will lead to the best organisational outcomes (i.e. work engagement, learning, job satisfaction and turnover intention); and (d) to determine whether (1) work engagement mediates the relationship between POSSU and PBSU and between POSDI and PBDI, or (2) whether proactive behaviour (PBSU and PBDI) mediates the relationship between POSSU and POSDI with work engagement. The above research objectives were addressed in four empirical, quantitative research articles. For the purpose of research article 1, the Strengths Use and Deficit Improvement Scale (SUDIQ) was developed by following the guidelines of DeVellis (2003). A pilot study was conducted among a heterogeneous sample (N = 241). The validation study was conducted among a heterogeneous sample (N = 699) in various industries in South Africa. For research article 2, the item bias, construct equivalence, measurement unit equivalence and scalar equivalence of the SUDIQ were assessed among a heterogeneous sample (N = 858) in various South African industries. For the purpose of article 3, the relationships between POSSU, POSDI and a combined approach with the outcomes, work engagement, learning, job satisfaction and turnover intention were examined among a sample of 266 public school teachers in the Western Cape. Finally, to determine the relationships between work engagement and PBSU and PBDI and also the mediation effect in a structural model, a sample of 378 employees in the financial industry was investigated. For the pilot study in article 1, an initial item pool of 33 items was generated. In the exploratory factor analysis of this pilot study, four distinct factors were extracted and were labelled perceived organisational support for strengths use (POSSU; eight items), perceived organisational support for deficit improvement (POSDI; eight items), proactive behaviour towards strengths use (PBSU; nine items) and proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement (PBDI; eight items). The factorial validity was confirmed with a confirmatory factor analysis that confirmed the hypothesised four-factor structure of the SUDIQ. The POSSU and POSDI dimensions were positively related to autonomy and participation in decision-making, two job resources, and confirming the convergent validity of these two scales. The PBSU and PBDI scales were found to be positively related to self-efficacy, establishing the convergent validity of these two scales. The criterion-related validity was established through the positive correlation of the four SUDIQ dimensions with work engagement and the negative correlation with burnout. According to the results of the bias and equivalence analysis in article 2, the uniformly biased items included one POSSU item, two POSDI items, two PBSU items and three PBDI items. Three POSSU items were found to be non-uniformly biased. These items that were identified as having either uniform or non-uniform bias for black, white or coloured participants were discarded from further analyses. The results confirmed the SUDIQ to be equivalent across the three ethnic groups in terms of construct equivalence, measurement unit equivalence and scalar equivalence. The results of research article 3 indicate that both strengths use and deficit improvement are important predictors of work engagement, learning, job satisfaction and turnover intention. Learning was higher and turnover intention lower for individuals experiencing a combined approach compared to those believing that their school does not support them to either use their strengths or improve their deficits. Furthermore, a combined approach was associated with higher job satisfaction than a strengths-based approach, and a deficit-based approach was shown to be associated with higher levels of work engagement and turnover intentions compared to an environment where neither employees’ strengths nor deficits are addressed. Finally, in article 4, two competing models were tested where in model 1 work engagement was specified as a mediator in the relationship between POSSU and PBSU and between POSDI and PBDI. In model 2, proactive behaviour (PBSU and PBDI) was specified as a mediator in the relationship between POSSU and POSDI with work engagement. The results indicated that model 1 fitted the data better compared to model 2. Therefore, it was found that work engagement mediates the relationship between POSSU and PBSU and also between POSDI and PBDI. Recommendations were made for organisations and for future research. / PhD (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015