Higher educational institutions no longer provide the low-stress and highly satisfying
working environment they once did. Higher educational institutions experience significant
changes, which include restructuring, reduction of state subsidy and use of short-term
contracts. Therefore, the changes in the higher educational environment can have costly
implications for institutions in terms of staff morale, turnover and absenteeism rates and
could also lead to reduced employee performance, poor quality control and a fall in
production. It therefore becomes increasingly important for higher educational institutions to
intervene to reduce the occupational stress of university staff.
The objectives of this study were to determine the occupational stressors for support staff at a
higher education institution in the North West Province, to investigate the relationship
between occupational stress, ill health, organisational commitment and important
organisational outcomes (including absenteeism, productivity and turnover intention) and to
assess the financial implications of these factors in a sample of support staff at a higher
education institution in the North West Province. A cross-sectional survey design was used.
The study population consisted of support staff at a higher education institution in the North
West Province (N = 292). An Organisational Screening Tool (ASSET) and a biographical
questionnaire were administered. Descriptive statistics, Pearson and Spearman correlations,
multiple regression analyses and discriminant analysis were used to analyse the results.
The results showed that, compared to normative data, support staff overall demonstrated
average levels of occupational stress. However, job control, resources, communication and
work relationships were found to be problematic stressors which mainly influenced
organisational commitment to the organisation. The prediction of losses suffered by the
higher educational institution due to absenteeism, presenteeism and turnover intention
indicate that occupational stress cost organisations greatly. Recommendations were made for the organisation and for future research. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/1397 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Mostert, Frans Frederick |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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