The problem in this study has a three-fold purpose: to evaluate the work performance, as ranked by employers and teachers, of a group of employed graduates of business education of the sunset high School of Dallas, Texas; to evaluate the personality traits demonstrated by the employees on the job in relation to the personality traits demonstrated in school; and to analyze these evaluations to secure suggestions for improving the course of study, including the amount of emphasis which should be placed on the various phases of the instructional program.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Today's challenge for workforce management lies in providing a healthy, safe and productive working culture where people are valued, empowered and respected. Workforce diversity is becoming an essential aspect of the global workforce, and ageing is the most prominent and significant factor in this regard. Diversity brings many opportunities and challenges, as workers with different backgrounds, cultures, working attitudes, behaviours and age work together, and in future, the key to organizational effectiveness and sustainability will heavily depend on developing and sustaining inclusive work environments where people with their differences can co-exist safely and productively. Manufacturing organizations expect the highest levels of productivity and quality, but unfortunately the manufacturing system design process does not take into account human variability issues caused by age, skill, experience, attitude towards work etc. This thesis focuses on proposing an inclusive design methodology to address the design needs of a broader range of the population. However, the promotion and implementation of an inclusive design method is challenging due to the lack of relevant data and lack of relevant tools and methods to help designers. This research aims to support the inclusive design process by providing relevant data and developing new design methodologies. The inclusive design methodology suggested in this thesis is a three step approach for achieving a safe and sustainable work environment for workers, with special concern for older workers. The methodology is based on the provision of relevant human capabilities data, the capture and analysis of difference in human behaviour and the use of this knowledge in a digital human modelling tool. The research is focused on manual assembly through a case study in the furniture manufacturing industry and joint mobility data from a wide-ranging population has been analysed and the task performing strategies and behaviours of workers with different levels of skills have been recorded and analysed. It has been shown that joint mobility significantly decreases with age and disability and that skilful workers are likely to adopt safer and more productive working strategies. A digital human modelling based inclusive design strategy was found to be useful in addressing the design needs of older workers performing manufacturing assembly activities. This strategy validates the concept of using human capabilities data for assessing the level of acceptability of any adopted strategy for older workers, and suggests that the strategies adopted by skilful workers are more likely to be equally acceptable for older and younger workers keeping in view differences in their joint mobility. The overall purpose of this thesis is to present a road map towards the promotion and implementation of the inclusive design method for addressing workforce challenges and in future the same strategies might be implemented within a variety of other industrial applications. The proposed three step inclusive design methodology and getting a reasonable understanding of human variability issues along with the use of human capabilities data (joint mobility in this case) in a human modelling system for design assessment at a pre-design stage can be considered as the major contributions of this research.

D. Tech. (Business, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology / The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between job satisfaction, organisational commitment, turnover intention, absenteeism and work performance amongst the academics within South African universities of technology (UoTs). South African higher education has gone through numerous changes in terms of restructuring and transformation. Rapid changes of this nature within a higher education system necessitate alternative work restructuring and arrangements, which could have a potential negative influence on the behaviour of academic staff. Research addressing these problems on the academic staff within UoTs in the context of developing countries such as South Africa has remained scarce. This study, therefore, was conducted to fill this gap. Universities of technology in South Africa employ approximately 2987 (N) academic employees. In order to measure the study constructs, the survey material was designed interactively in a form of a structured questionnaire. Participants were asked to complete five test instruments, namely, job satisfaction survey (JSS), organisational commitment questionnaire (OCQ), intention to stay questionnaire (ISQ), absenteeism questionnaire (AQ), and individual work performance questionnaire (IWPQ). 600 questionnaires were distributed to the identified sample of academics of which 494 (n) responded. A correlation analysis was conducted to evaluate the strength and effect size of the relationship between the variables. The maximum correlation value between the constructs were 0.442 thus providing evidence of discriminate validity. Factor analysis was performed for organisational commitment questionnaire (OCQ) and individual work performance questionnaire (IWPQ) through statistical software package SPSS version 22.0. Organisational commitment revealed four factors and all of them accounted for satisfactory total variance explained of 65.2%. Work performance revealed three factors, which also accounted for satisfactory total variance explained of approximately 65%. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to test whether males and females were similar in perception in terms of study constructs. Statistically significant differences were found between gender and four study constructs except work performance. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to examine the differences of the various age categories, which revealed statistically significant differences between the various age categories and study constructs. The reliability results confirmed that all constructs reached the generally agreed upon minimum scale range for Cronbach’s alpha of 0.70. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to establish scale accuracy. All measures conformed to acceptable model fit and composite reliability (CR) and revealed that the scales used in this study are reliable. Finally, the structural model was tested; seven postulated hypotheses were supported and one hypothesis (H8) that postulated the relationship between organisational commitment and work performance was rejected. As such, it was concluded that the conceptual model captured accurate relationships among the variables and that organisational commitment has no significant influence on work performance. After reviewing the results, the conclusion was drawn that the study has both theoretical and practical value as envisaged. Theoretically, this research has contributed by further strengthening organisational commitment as a multidimensional construct. Contrary to some previous studies that reported high levels of significance between organisational commitment and work performance this study found no significance between these constructs. These results contribute more to the expanding body of knowledge. The current study added practical value by providing an integrative model that can be used as an important tool by management within the South African universities of technology to understand and manage job satisfaction, organisational commitment, turnover intention, absenteeism and work performance of academics. The results of this study can also be used for future organisational planning and policymaking. A number of recommendations have been made for the attention of relevant stakeholders in the academic environment. Future research possibilities and limitations of the study have also been highlighted.

Introdução: Considerando a importância da avaliação de necessidades de aprendizagem baseado em competências, este estudo tem como Objetivos: Conhecer o desempenho por competências dos enfermeiros de um pronto socorro por meio da autoavaliação; conhecer o grau de importância atribuído pelos enfermeiros para as competências; identificar as necessidades de aprendizagem dos enfermeiros, por competências. Método: pesquisa quantitativa descritiva exploratória, realizada em um pronto socorro adulto de um hospital privado no município de São Paulo. Realizaram autoavaliação e participaram do levantamento de necessidades de aprendizagem baseado em competências, 23 enfermeiros, que responderam ao questionário composto por 57 competências. Por meio de escala tipo Likert, os enfermeiros se auto avaliaram em relação a seu nível de competência, com cinco pontos, variando de 1-nada competente a 5-extremamente competente; quanto ao grau de importância para cada competência, foi criada escala de cinco pontos, sendo 1-nada importante e 5-extremamente importante. Para obter a necessidade de aprendizagem, foi calculada a diferença entre nível de competência e nível de importância; as necessidades identificadas foram classificadas em alta, moderada e baixa prioridade para aprendizagem, com prazos estabelecidos para proposição de ação educativa, curto, médio e longo prazos, respectivamente. Resultados: Na autoavaliação dos enfermeiros, o nível 4 muito competente, foi predominante em nível de competência, exceto em Humanização com prevalência do nível 5 extremamente competente em Proatividade com prevalência do nível 3 competente. O grau de importância foi superior a 4,0 muito importante em todas as competências, com exceção da competência associada Perspicácia em competência básica Relacionamento Interpessoal, que apresentou média 3,7. Os maiores índices para necessidades de aprendizagem foram Inovação/Criatividade, Técnica de Execução, Persuasão, com médias para necessidades de aprendizagem superiores a 0,90. Das 57 competências associadas, 28,0% foram alta prioridade, 57,8% prioridade moderada e, por fim, 14,0% baixa prioridade. Conclusões: O desempenho retrata enfermeiros muito competentes, além da alta importância pontuada por eles, revelando assertividade do perfil adotado neste estudo. O levantamento de necessidades de aprendizagem identificou competências que precisam ser aprofundadas, com análise de interface entre elas e o ambiente de trabalho, para uma potencial ação educativa. / Introduction: Considering the importance of learning needs analyses based on competences, this study has as Objectives: Getting to know nurses performance competences of an Emergency Unit through self-assessment; identifying the degree of importance attributed by the nurses to their competences; identifying the nurses learning needs, through competences. Method: exploratory quantitative descriptive research performed in an adult emergency unit in a private hospital in the city of São Paulo. 23 nurses self-assessed and participated in the learning needs based on competences survey by answering a questionnaire made up of 57 competences. Through the Likert-type scale, the nurses self-assessed regarding their competence level, within five points, varying from 1-not competent to 5-extremely competent; concerning the importance degree given to each competence, a five-point scale was created, being 1-not important and 5-extremely important. To obtain the learning need, the difference between competence level and importance level was calculated; the identified needs were classified as high, moderate, and low priority for learning, with deadlines established for proposing learning strategies in the short, medium, and long terms. Results: In the nurses self-evaluation the level 4 very competent, was predominant in the level of competence, except for Humanization with prevalence of level 5 extremely important, and for Proactivity with prevalence of level 3 competent. The level of importance was higher than 4 very important in all competences, with the exception of the associated competence Perspicacity in the basic competence Interpersonal Relationship, with an average of 3,7. The remaining indexes for the learning needs Inovation/Criativity, Execution Technique and Persuasion, with averages for learning needs higher than 0,90. Out of the 57 competences approached, 28,0% were classified as high- priority for development, 57,8% as moderate-priority and 14,0% as low-priority. Conclusions: The positioning portrayed was much superior, besides the high importance punctuated by them, revealing assertiveness to the profile adopted in this study. The learning needs survey identified the skills that need to be deepened, with the analysis of the interface between them and the work environment, for a potential educational action.

The main role of the public administration are their employees. Their quality guarantee the quality of service given by them and their effectiveness is the source of the whole organization. The objective of this diploma thesis is the analysis of the system of remanuation and evaluation in the public administration. Within this objective is finding out, to what extent is existing system of remanuation based on the evaluation according to job performance and what way is used this evaluation during fixing of rate of the bonus. Following the objective of this work is also examined to what extent it is possible to apply the knowledge in the sphere of remanuation from private sector in conditions of public administration and what way is the theory of remanuation and evaluation of performance aplicated actually in the three bureaus of public administration.

This thesis deals with the issue of employee benefits and their role in motivating workers. The aim is to assess which factors encourage people to achieve better outcomes in their job and whether benefits belong to them. The first part of the thesis is dedicated to theoretical knowledge of motivation. The basic principles of motivational theories are explained there more in detail. The second chapter deals with employee benefits, their types and significance for the company and employees. The practical part includes an analysis of employee benefits in the company GlaxoSmithKline. The conclusion of the thesis is based on results of a questionnaire survey regarding motivation and of interviews, in which some possible links between the benefits and motivation were examined.

O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar as relações entre as variáveis criatividade, esperança e otimismo e o desempenho profissional. Foram participantes 194 funcionários de seis empresas privadas, que trabalhavam em funções de atendimento ao público, além de seus respectivos supervisores. Utilizaram-se dois questionários, um destinado aos funcionários e outro aos supervisores. No instrumento para os funcionários havia questões sociodemográficas (sexo, idade, escolaridade, tempo na empresa, salário), uma escala para aferir esperança, uma escala para otimismo, uma escala de cinco fatores para criatividade no trabalho, e uma escala para avaliação de sete dimensões do desempenho. No questionário para os supervisores havia a escala para avaliação do desempenho, em que eles deveriam avaliar os seus subordinados. A dimensão da criatividade denominada Pensamento Flexível – principalmente na sua faceta “Soluções e Efeitos” – apresentou relações positivas com o desempenho profissional, tanto na visão dos supervisores quanto na visão dos funcionários. A esperança também se relacionou de modo positivo, porém apenas para o desempenho autoavaliado. A capacidade de ponderar as soluções, suas consequências e opções de implementação, além da habilidade em estabelecer metas e rotas para atingi-las, mostraram-se características preponderantes no desempenho. Os resultados reforçam a importância do estímulo ao potencial criativo dos funcionários para a conquista de resultados esperados. / The aim of this study was to verify the relationships among the variables creativity, hope and optimism and work performance. Were participants 194 employees of six private companies, who worked in the costumer service functions, as well as their respective supervisors. Were used two questionnaires, one for employees and other supervisors. In the instrument for employees there were socio-demographic issues (gender, age, schooling, time in business, salary); a scale for measuring the hope, a scale for optimism, a scale of five factors for creativity at work, and a scale for evaluation of seven dimensions of performance. In the questionnaire for supervisors had to scale to evaluate the performance, they should assess their subordinates. The dimension of creativity called Flexible Thinking – mainly in his facet "solutions and effects" – presented positive relations with the professional performance, both in view of supervisors and employees ' vision. Hope also was related positively, but only for the self-evaluation performance. The ability to consider the consequences, solutions and implementation options, plus the ability to set goals and to achieve them, proved compelling characteristics on performance. The results reinforce the importance of stimulating the creative potential of employees for the achievement of expected results.

Public administrators and civil servants working with vulnerable youth have the challenging yet critical job of supporting their young clients in overcoming adversity and achieving optimal life outcomes. Public administrators and civil servants work with vulnerable youth to help shift their trajectories toward positive life outcomes; however, if these professionals are not thriving in the workplace, they may not have the best possible positive influence on youth. Little was known about how to support the ability of professionals to experience professional thriving, defined as the experience of feeling energized at work and motivated toward professional growth and success. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand the experiences that youth-serving professionals, employed by the Bermuda Government, have in transformational coaching as a first step in understanding its potential to enhance individuals' experiences of thriving at work. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 8 individuals working in public education, a subset of youth-serving public sector employees. Data were subjected to Thomas's 5-step data analysis procedure, including inductive coding and categorization of codes into themes. Findings indicated 5 common themes experienced by participants: perspective taking, responsibility and commitment, better relationships and results, personal well-being, and risk taking and growth. These themes have all previously been linked to thriving, indicating the potential for transformational coaching to positively affect workplace thriving. The positive social change implication is to provide public administration leadership with an effective professional development strategy to boost employees' potential to thrive and maximize their influence on youth.

Business managers lack knowledge and understanding of the transferability of Army veterans' individual work performance (IWP) in the private sector, which results in organizations' failure to hire Army veterans who possess strong IWPs. The purpose of this nonexperimental, cross-sectional study was to compare Army veterans' and nonveterans' transferable IWP as defined by task performance (TP), contextual performance (CP), and counter-productive work behavior (CWB). The IWP framework provided the theoretical foundation for this study. The research question examined how veterans' IWPs compared to those of nonveterans. The sample frame included U.S. Army civilian veterans and nonveterans at a large military installation in the United States. Data were collected from the IWP questionnaire with 210 participants (105 veterans and 105 nonveterans). Independent-sample t tests were used to analyze the data based on an alpha of 0.05 and a medium effect size of 0.50. Rejection of null hypotheses provided evidence to indicate differences between veterans' and nonveterans' TP, CP, CWB, and the composite index of IWP. Veterans measured higher compared to nonveterans for all hypotheses tested. The results of the study have several implications for positive social change. Business managers, veterans, and society benefit by improving understanding of veterans' transferable IWPs. Results of this study could lead to an improvement in perceptions of veterans as possessing positive and sought-after work attributes and with a competitive advantage in the workplace, leading to lower unemployment of veterans and higher productivity of companies that hire veterans.