The research focused on constructing a psychological wellbeing profile for employee wellness and talent retention practices by investigating employees’ psychological wellbeing-related attributes (constituting self-esteem, emotional intelligence, hardiness, work engagement and psychosocial flourishing), and whether these significantly mediate the relation between their experiences of bullying and their intention to leave the organisation when controlling for bullying, age, gender, race, tenure and job level. A quantitative survey was conducted on a convenience sample of employed adults (N = 373) of different age, gender, race, tenure and job level groups from various South African organisations. The canonical statistical procedures indicated work engagement (vigour, dedication and absorption) and hardiness (commitment-alienation) as the strongest psychological wellbeing-related dispositional attributes in the workplace bullying and turnover intention relationship. The mediation modelling results showed that workplace bullying significantly predicted turnover intention, which in turn, significantly predicted either high/low levels of work engagement (vigour and dedication) in one’s work. Self-esteem, emotional intelligence or hardiness did not seem likely to influence the relationship between workplace bullying and turnover intention. The multiple regression analysis indicated that participants’ biographical variables (age, gender, race and job level) significantly predicted workplace bullying, self-esteem, emotional intelligence, hardiness, work engagement and psychosocial flourishing, and turnover intention. The tests for significant mean differences indicated that participants from various biographical groups (age, gender, race, tenure and job level) statistically significantly differed regarding workplace bullying (independent variable), the psychological wellbeing-related variables, namely self-esteem, emotional intelligence, hardiness, employee engagement, psychosocial flourishing (mediating variables) and turnover intention (dependent variable). On a theoretical level, the study deepened understanding of the cognitive, affective and conative behavioural dimensions of the hypothesised psychological wellbeing profile. On an empirical level, the main findings were reported and interpreted in terms of an empirically derived psychological wellbeing profile based on the work engagement of the participants. On a practical level, the findings provided valuable guidelines for the development of talent retention and wellness interventions, which might add to the body of knowledge relating to psychological wellbeing-related dispositional attributes that influenced workplace bullying and talent retention / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The overall objective of this study was to determine the factorial invariance of a South African-developed Employee Engagement Instrument (EEI) across different race groups in financial institutions. A secondary objective of this study was to determine whether race groups differ significantly with regard to the six dimensions of the employee engagement instrument. A quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive research design was followed in this study, using a non-probability, convenience sampling (N = 1175). The EEI was electronically administered to 285 000 businesspeople from various demographic backgrounds, which form part of a research database. The focus was respondents from financial institutions. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was employed to achieve the empirical objectives of this study. Findings from the statistical analysis indicated that White and Black employees differed significantly with regards to how they are engaged by their immediate managers; however, the practical significance was small. Furthermore, the employee engagement instrument was found to be reliable and valid and the instrument was invariant across the four different race groups. By understanding how employees from different backgrounds are engaged it enables organisations to customise their engagement programmes to meet the needs of the various types of employees within the organisation, instead of applying a “one size fits all” approach to engagement programmes. The findings of this study provided valuable insights into the importance of employee engagement in a South African context, especially for financial institutions. Finally, the study adds to the vast body of knowledge that exists with regard to employee engagement and race, both locally and internationally. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Dissertation / The main purpose of the study was to determine whether there is a significant relationship between the transformational leadership styles of officers and their followers’ levels of work engagement. The instruments used in the study were the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Form 5X) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Followers (n=311) were identified in various units of the South African Army and provided with the instruments. The work engagement instrument was then completed by each follower, while the MLQ was completed by the follower for his or her specific leader, who in this instance, were all officers in the South African Army. Descriptive statistics were obtained and correlations completed for the data, which indicated a significant correlation between the transformational leadership of officers and their followers’ work engagement. / Industrail and Organisational Psychology / M. A. (Industrail and Organisational Psychology)

This research explores the relationship between sense of coherence, work engagement and organisational commitment in an automotive development institution in South Africa. The study was conducted through quantitative research. The study used the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ) to measure sense of coherence, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) to measure work engagement and the Organisational Commitment Scale (OCS) to measure organisational commitment. A biographical questionnaire was also used. The questionnaires were administered to a sample of 46 employees, 37 of whom were based in the company’s Pretoria office and nine at their Eastern Cape office. In view of the fact that the sample was small, 100 % of the population was included in the study. A theoretical relationship between the constructs was determined and an empirical study provided evidence of the degree of relationship that existed between them. The results reveal significant relationships to exist between some sub-scales, however, statistical significance could not be reached for some correlations. / Psychology / M. Admin. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The aim of the dissertation was to investigate the demographical differences on Work-SoC, and the relationship between work-related sense of coherence (Work-SoC) and work engagement in a motor retail organisation in Gauteng. The Work-related sense of coherence (Work-SoC) scale, Utrecht work engagement (UWES-9) scale and a biographical questionnaire were applied in the data collection from 326 employees in a motor retail organisation in Gauteng. The results indicated a strong relationship between Work-SoC and work engagement and that Work-SoC does predict work engagement. Except for tenure and gender, all demographical variables showed statistically significant mean differences on Work-SoC. The study has added valuable knowledge to the existing literature as it was the first to investigate mean differences on Work-SoC for different demographical groups and also investigate the relationship between Work-SoC and work engagement in the South African environment. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The aim of the study was to investigate whether statistically and practically significant positive relationships exist between intrinsic motivation, social support and work engagement of shift workers in a South African Chemical Company. The expected outcome was to find statistically and practically significant positive correlations between these variables for these workers. A cross sectional survey was conducted among a sample of 207 shift workers from a South African Chemical Company. Data was collected by means of existing standardised and validated questionnaires, to measure intrinsic motivation (six-item measure) validated by Kuvaas and Dysvik, 2009, perceived social support (Work Experiences Scale, May, Gilson, & Harter, 2004), and work engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Henn & Barkhuizen, 2009; Shimazu & Schaufeli, 2009). The statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. The results showed that there were statistically and practically significant positive relationships between these variables for this sample group / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

L’objectif de cette recherche est d’étudier les facteurs organisationnels et individuels qui affectent le stress des managers dans le secteur public. Les résultats révèlent d’abord le rôle de l’âge, du type d’organisation et du niveau hiérarchique dans la perception de leur stress. Ensuite, les résultats confirment d’une part, l’influence directe des tensions de rôles, du soutien social perçu des supérieurs puis des subordonnés et de l’engagement au travail sur le stress perçu. Ils montrent d’autre part, des inégalités de perception du stress en fonction des dimensions de ces variables. Enfin, ils révèlent que le rôle atténuateur du stress perçu escompté du soutien social perçu en période de tensions de rôles n’est effectif que chez des managers de proximité et dans des situations bien précises. Le rôle exacerbant du stress perçu attendu de la stratégie de coping centré sur l’émotion auto-accusatrice face aux tensions de rôles est vérifié chez certains managers. / The objective of this research is to study the organizational and individual factors who affect manager’s stress in the public sector. The results reveal the role of age, type of organization and hierarchical level in stress perception. Then, the result confirm, on the one hand, the direct influence of role tension, perceived social support from superiors and subordinate and work engagement on perceived stress. They show, on the other hand, inequality of stress perception depending on the size of these variables. Finally, they reveal that the role of perceived stress attenuator attributed to perceived social support under role tensions is not fully validated. It plays this role only for the local managers and in some specific situations. The exacerbation of the role of perceived stress assigned to the emotion-focused coping strategy of self accusation under role tensions is partially verified among public managers.

The Master's thesis deals with approaches to leadership and work engagement in multicultural work environment and includes an original research of correlation between the concepts of approaches to leadership and work engagement in multicultural work groups in Prague shared service centers. The aim of this work is to identify the currently used approaches to leadership and their correlation with work engagement of employees within shared service center's multicultural working groups. The current situation of shared service centers in Czech Republic is discussed. Shared service centers represent the largest employers of expatriates living in the Czech Republic. Companies are in need of optimization of approaches to leadership due to the complexity of the multicultural work environment. This thesis focuses on the different approaches to leadership in culturally divergent work environment. The difference between leadership and management, how important it is to choose the optimal leadership style for multicultural environment, or different approaches to leadership development are discussed. Work engagement represents one of the concepts most afflicted by culturally complex work environments. Various approaches and descriptions of engagement are explained along with the possible differences in the...

De nombreuses organisations contemporaines cherchent à développer l’engagement dans letravail de leurs employés en tant que moyen de générer un niveau élevé de performance. Surla base des recherches antérieures sur l’engagement au travail, la présente étude examine larelation entre l’engagement dans le travail d’un échantillon de salariés et ses antécédents etconséquences.Engager les employés peut permettre d’aboutir à la création d’un état d’esprit volontaristechez les employés, susceptible de développer leur motivation. Pour créer un tel état d’esprit,différents modèles sont présentés dans la thèse. Le modèle des demandes et ressources estensuite privilégié. Sur la base de ce modèle, il apparaît que les organisations peuvent agir surl’engagement dans le travail en diminuant les exigences du travail (par exemple, la surchargede travail, l’insécurité de l’emploi, etc.) et en augmentant les ressources d’emploi (parexemple, l’autonomie, le perfectionnement professionnel, etc.). Dans cette recherche, nousavons cherché à vérifier notre hypothèse d’une relation entre l’engagement dans le travail etcertains antécédents et conséquences. Nous concluons que, parmi les antécédents étudiés, lacroissance des ressources personnelles est la plus efficace au niveau de ses conséquences surl’engagement dans le travail et la qualité de vie au travail. / Many contemporary organizations are placing a greater emphasis on their employees’engagement at work as a means of generating higher levels of organization performance.Drawing on previous research on work engagement, the present study investigates therelationship between work engagement and its antecedents and consequences. Engaging theemployees will result in creating a willingness feeling in employees, leading to performing alltheir time and energy on their duties in such a way that they don’t realize the passing of time.To create such feelings within employees, different theories have been presented, amongwhich the job demand-resource is a major instance. Based on this model, organizations makework engagement through decreasing job demands (e.g. work overload, job insecurity, etc.)and increasing job resources (e.g. autonomy, professional development, etc.). In this research,we analyze our hypotheses that work engagement has specific antecedents and consequences.We conclude that, out of its antecedents, growth of personal resource has the most effect onwork engagement, as well as on the quality of work life.

One of the challenges imposed by the 21st century is to retain talented staff by keeping employees engaged in their work. Engagement in itself is a complex construct, which still requires much clarification. One of the gaps in the literature is the link between engagement and the competencies required by individuals to craft a career in the 21st century. These competencies are referred to as psychological career resources (Coetzee, 2008). This study was conducted in a medium-sized South African software and services organisation using a random sample of 111 consultants. The primary objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between psychological career resources (career preferences, career values, career enablers, career drivers and career harmonisers) and engagement (dedication, vigour and absorption). The second and third objectives were to find whether there were any significant differences between individuals who differed as to gender, age, marital status, occupational field, occupational level and department in which employed with regard to engagement and psychological career resources. A further objective was to establish the dominant psychological career resources and engagement constructs of the consultants in the sample. The data was collected using the 9-item U-WES (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale) and the PCRI (Psychological Career Resources Inventory). The study found that behavioural adaptability and self-esteem have a significant impact on vigour and dedication, while behavioural adaptability also has a significant impact on absorption. This study could contribute meaningful information to the field of well-being and career development, allowing professionals to assist individuals in developing career competencies that contribute to engagement and ultimately to well-being. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted