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Exploring the possible impact of coaching towards improving the performance of blue-collar workers in a mining environment in the Northern Cape

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Blue-collar workers should be seen as the most valuable asset of any organization, as they normally constitute the majority of employees within South African companies. Therefor cognisance should be taken to enhance the performance and productivity levels of these employees through coaching. In the past, it seemed, as if the emphasis was more on coaching the higher echelons of employees than on the coaching of blue-collar workers.
The current South African crisis within the mining industry has highlighted the need for organisations to adopt a new vision in dealing with blue-collar workers. The integration of coaching into the existing employee assistance frameworks can create the necessary impetus for building sustainable changes within these ranks.
An extensive literature review investigated the possibility of coaching blue-collar workers as well as the inclusion of coaching into existing employee assistance programs. It was evident that little research was done on coaching of blue-collar workers. By using a qualitative approach and through exploratory research, coaching sessions were done with the aim of improved performance for these workers.
This research outlines a framework for blue-collar coaching that enhances performance and effectiveness of these workers. These improvements in performance could be seen as a catalyst for improved production for mining houses and other corporate businesses.
The participants in this research either referred themselves to the employee assistance program (EAP) or they were referred by their manager for a performance or work related problem. This could be an indication that EAPs will have to look at a more integrated approach to incorporate a wider range of services, such as coaching. This research could therefore be a uniquely useful tool for organisations endeavouring to purchase EAPs in future.
This research further explored the coachability of blue-collar workers with relation to their level on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as well as exploring their ability to transfer this learning back to their respective places of work.
Furthermore recommendations were made in this study for future research, for blue-collar coaches as well as for existing EAP service providers.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/95681
Date12 1900
CreatorsVan der Merwe, De Verra Seugnet
ContributorsAiken, Dorrian, Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Graduate School of Business.
PublisherStellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
Languageen_ZA
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Formatx, 100 p.
RightsStellenbosch University

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