scholarly journals The relationship between barriers to change and the work engagement of employees in a South African property management company

2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsabé Bell ◽  
Nicolene Barkhuizen
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Successful Outcome ◽  
Property Management ◽  
Management Company ◽  
Barriers To Change ◽  
The Relationship

Orientation: For any organisational change initiative to have a successful outcome, people need to contribute and be engaged in the process. Research purpose: The main objective of the research was to determine the relationship between barriers to change and work engagement. The secondary objectives of the research were to determine whether there are significant relationships between barriers to change, work engagement and demographic variables. Motivation for the study: Exploring and understanding the relationship between barriers to change and work engagement amongst different demographic groups will help organisations to predict which working environments and jobs are amenable to organisational change and which will alleviate, and maybe even eliminate, the negative effects of change. Research design, approach and method: The researchers used a cross-sectional survey research design. They drew a convenience sample of 234 employees (N = 234) from a South African property management company. They administered the Barriers to Change Questionnaire and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Main findings: The results showed a practically significant relationship, with a large effect, between barriers to change and work engagement. In addition, the results showed significant differences between barriers to change and demographic groupings based on home language, ethnicity and organisational level. The results also showed significant differences between work engagement and demographic groupings based on home language, ethnicity and level of education. Practical/managerial implications: Managing barriers to change can increase the work engagement of employees. Contribution/value-add: The research adds to the knowledge about the adverse effects of organisational change initiatives on people.

scholarly journals Job satisfaction, organisational commitment and work engagement in an insurance company

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norah Sehunoe ◽  
Rian Viviers ◽  
Claude-Helene Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
South African ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Insurance Company ◽  
Organisational Commitment ◽  
Utrecht Work Engagement Scale ◽  
Job Satisfaction Survey ◽  
The Relationship

Retaining talented employees and keeping them healthy and well are increasingly important challenges for organisations in the age of the knowledge worker. Organisations are interrogating aspects such as the reasons why some employees are more satisfied, committed and engaged to their organisations than others. Another question is: what should managers do to ensure employee wellness within their organisations? This study explores the relationship between job satisfaction, organisational commitment and work engagement. Spector’s (1997) Job Satisfaction Survey, Allen and Meyer’s (1990) Organisational Commitment Questionnaire and Schaufeli and Bakker’s (2004) Utrecht Work Engagement Scale were administered to a sample of 220 employees from a South African insurance company. The findings show mixed results with regard to significant correlations between job satisfaction, organisational commitment and work engagement. The majority of the findings suggest that there are significant correlations, of a large and medium effect, between scales, including a number of positive relationships of varying strength between job satisfaction, organisational commitment and selected components of work engagement. The findings could benefit organisations as they could contribute to a better understanding of what motivates their workers, particularly their levels of satisfaction, commitment and engagement, and what the combined effect of these might be on the retention and wellness of employees.

scholarly journals Organisational training perspectives in a changing South Africa

2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-611
Author(s):  
F. W. Struwig ◽  
E. E. Smith ◽  
D. J.L. Venter
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Strategic Plans ◽  
African Context ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
The Relationship

This article focuses on organisational training perspectives within a changing South African context. To achieve the aim of this research project, a literature study, including an Internet-based search, and empirical research were undertaken. During the empirical research, a self-administered questionnaire was sent to 365 training practitioners in order to investigate various training perspectives and its relationship with organisational change. Five null hypotheses are tested to investigate the relationship between training and change variables. The traditional role of training has become obsolete, because of organisational change. Training should be placed at the centre of human resources planning programmes and the strategic plans of the organisation. It is emphasised that actions should be taken to ensure that training programmes affect change and that trainees involved in the change process are effectively managed.

scholarly journals The effects of job crafting on subjective well-being amongst South African high school teachers

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Peral ◽  
Madelyn Geldenhuys
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
South African ◽  
High School Teachers ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Job Crafting ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Psychological Meaningfulness ◽  
The Relationship

Orientation: Job crafting can result in a number of positive outcomes for teachers, such as increased meaningfulness and engagement at work. Increased work engagement and psychological meaningfulness may yield positive benefits for the practice of teaching, thus highlighting the pivotal role of job crafting.Research purpose: The study’s aim was to investigate the relationship between job crafting and subjective well-being amongst South African high school teachers. Subjective well-being comprises psychological meaningfulness and work engagement. The potential mediating effect that psychological meaningfulness had on this relationship was further explored.Motivation for the study: Being in a highly stressful occupation, teachers need to continuously find ways to craft their working practices in order to deal effectively with their job demands and to capitalise on their available job resources. Furthermore, South Africa’s current education system calls for serious proactive measures to be taken to improve and rectify the current status, such as job crafting.Research approach, design and method: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was used and administered to a sample of South African high school teachers situated in Gauteng, South Africa (N = 251).Main findings: A positive relationship was found between job crafting (increasing structural resources and challenging job demands) and work engagement. Furthermore, psychological meaningfulness mediated the relationship between job crafting and work engagement amongst the sampled high school teachers.Practical/managerial implications: Teachers who craft their work to better suit their preferences and needs will obtain greater meaning in their work and experience increased levels of work engagement. Training programmes and/or group-based interventions targeted around job crafting techniques may be particularly useful in the South African teaching context.Contribution/value-add: This study highlights the importance of job crafting to the well-being of teachers. It further contributes to the literature pertaining to job crafting and teaching specifically, as well as to the limited job crafting research that has been conducted in the South African context.

scholarly journals Depressed, not depressed or unsure: Prevalence and the relation to well-being across sectors in South Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christa Welthagen ◽  
Crizelle Els
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Prevalence Of Depression ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
Proactive Measures ◽  
The Relationship

Orientation: Work engagement, burnout and stress-related ill health levels of individuals, suffering from depression, who are unsure whether or not they suffer from depression, or who do not suffer from depression, have not been investigated in South Africa.Research purpose: The main objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of depression amongst employees in South African organisations and the relationship of depression with specific well-being constructs.Motivation for the study: Organisations should know about the prevalence of depression and the effects this could have on specific well-being constructs.Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional design was followed. The availability sample (n = 15 664) included participants from diverse demographics. The South African Employee Health and Wellness Survey was followed to measure constructs.Main findings: The results showed that 18.3% of the population currently receive treatment for depression, 16.7% are unsure whether or not they suffer from depression and 65% do not suffer from depression. Depression significantly affects the levels of work engagement, burnout and the occurrence of stress-related ill health symptoms.Practical/managerial implications: This study makes organisations aware of the relationship between depression and employee work-related well-being. Proactive measures to promote the work-related well-being of employees, and to support employees suffering from depression, should be considered.Contribution/value-add: This study provides insight into the prevalence of depression and well-being differences that exist between individuals, suffering from depression, who are unsure whether or not they suffer from depression, and who do not suffer from depression. 

A preliminary study: perceived transformational leadership and work engagement within the South African army

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Dibley ◽  
Rian Viviers ◽  
Llewellyn Ellardus van Zyl
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
South African ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire ◽  
The South ◽  
Multifactor Leadership ◽  
Individual Consideration ◽  
Transformational Leadership Style ◽  
The Relationship

The objective of the study is to determine the relationship between the perceived transformational leadership styles of officers (as perceived by their followers) and their followers’ levels of work engagement. Followers (n=307) were identified in units of the South African Army. They completed the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Form 5X) for their specific leaders. Correlational analyses indicate significant correlations between the transformational leadership style of officers and their followers’ work engagement. A small amount of the variance in the work engagement outcomes can be predicted by transformational leadership. The findings suggest that there is a relationship between idealised influence (attributed) and vigour and dedication. Furthermore, individualised consideration was shown to relate to absorption within the South African sample. Idealised influence was found to predict some variance in vigour and dedication and individual consideration to predict some variance in absorption.

Impact of differential leadership on innovative behavior of employees: A double-edged sword

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Mengyun Wu ◽  
Linrong Zhang ◽  
Muhammad Imran ◽  
Jing Xu ◽  
Ruihui Yu
Keyword(s):  
Research Design ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Innovative Behavior ◽  
Chinese Companies ◽  
Wave Research ◽  
The Relationship

We investigated if differential leadership predicts the innovative behavior of employees, and examined the mediating roles of work engagement and ego depletion in this relationship. Using a three-wave research design we collected leader–member dyad data from 198 leaders and 485 employees at nine Chinese companies. Results show that differential leadership had opposite effects, that is, it positively predicted the innovative behavior of employees through the mediator of work engagement, and it negatively predicted the innovative behavior of employees through the mediator of ego depletion. These findings contribute to understanding of the relationship between differential leadership and employees' innovative behavior, and provide a new theoretical perspective on differential leadership.

Multilingualism and social cohesion: insights from South African students (1998, 2010, 2015)

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (242) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Coetzee-Van Rooy
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Home Language ◽  
African Students ◽  
African Context ◽  
Vaal Triangle ◽  
Complex Settings ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThe relationship between nations (or states), languages and social cohesion have been studied over time. Contexts like Africa and India challenge the conceived Western notion of “one-nation-one-language”. Insights about multilingualism and social cohesion from complex sociolinguistic contexts like South Africa could provide a deeper understanding helpful for promoting social cohesion in emerging “super-diverse” situations across the globe. This article reports on selected data from a longitudinal language repertoire survey conducted over three periods (1998, 2010 and 2015) in the Vaal Triangle region in South Africa. It discusses the views of multilingual urban students (N=1900+) about the relationship between multilingualism and social cohesion. The main findings are that the multilingual African home language participants believe that being multilingual is related to social cohesion, while this is not a prominent finding for Afrikaans home language users (who are mainly bilingual). The data from the South African context indicate the importance of multilingual repertoires as instruments that support the fostering of social cohesion in complex settings. Multilingual repertoires facilitate communication that enhances the building of better relationships and a deeper understanding between people in diverse settings. The implications of the findings for emerging “super-diverse” global societies are discussed.

scholarly journals Job and personal resources as mediators in the relationship between iron-ore mineworkers’ job demands and work engagement

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Kotzé ◽  
Petrus Nel
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Iron Ore ◽  
Psychological Capital ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Job Demands ◽  
Job Resources ◽  
Personal Resources ◽  
The Relationship

Orientation: Mining companies are major sources of employment in South Africa. Withstanding the challenges that the mining industry faces, maintaining work engagement of employees is essential to success in this context.Research purpose: To investigate the mediating effect of job and personal resources (in parallel and serial) in the relationship between the job demands and work engagement of employees at two iron-ore mines in a remote South African locale.Motivation for the study: Most South African research on work engagement in the mining industry focuses on the role of job resources. There is a lack of research investigating the influence of both job and personal resources in the relationship between job demands and mineworkers’ work engagement.Research approach/design and method: Data were collected using questionnaires from 238 employees working for two open-pit iron-ore mines. Three mediating relationships were investigated using variance-based structural equation modelling.Main findings: The results indicate that job and personal resources (in parallel) partially mediated the relationship between job demands and work engagement, with personal resources having a stronger effect than job resources. In addition, job and personal resources (in serial) partially mediated the relationship between job demands and work engagement but not as strongly as personal resources (in parallel).Practical/managerial implications: Despite job demands, mineworkers’ work engagement can be increased by investing in interventions and a work environment that enhances job and personal resources (such as mindfulness and psychological capital).Contribution/value add: The study bridges a specific gap in the literature by exploring the role of both job and personal resources (i.e., mindfulness and psychological capital) in the relationship between mineworkers’ job demands and work engagement. No previous studies explored these variables in combination in the South African mining industry.

scholarly journals Investigating cyberloafing, organisational justice, work engagement and organisational trust of South African retail and manufacturing employees

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adele Oosthuizen ◽  
Gerhard H. Rabie ◽  
Leon T. De Beer
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Organisational Justice ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Organisational Trust ◽  
The Relationship

Orientation: Understanding cyberloafing, organisational justice, work engagement and organisational trust will lead organisations to develop strategies to counter the consequences of cyberloafing.Research purpose: This research explored the relationships between cyberloafing, organisational justice, work engagement and organisational trust among South African office workers in the retail and manufacturing industry.Motivation for the study: Cyberloafing, a prevalent way for office employees to engage in non-work-related activities during work time, is considered harmful to organisations. Limited research exists about the relationship between cyberloafing and organisational justice, organisational trust and work engagement within South Africa.Research design, approach and method: A quantitative research design was followed. Questionnaires were administered in the South African retail and manufacturing industry; a convenient sample of N = 224 was obtained. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, structural equation modelling and bootstrapping were used for data analysis.Main findings: Organisational justice was positively related to organisational trust while organisational trust was positively related to work engagement; work engagement related negatively to cyberloafing. Organisational trust mediated the relationship between organisational justice and work engagement while work engagement mediated the relationship between organisational trust and cyberloafing.Practical and managerial implications: Strategies can be developed to enhance and warrant perceptions of organisational justice and fairness that will increase trust levels, leading to higher work engagement and decreased cyberloafing behaviour and resulting in higher productivity.Contribution or value-add: The research revealed that when employees perceive their organisations as being fair, organisational trust will increase, leading to heightened work engagement levels and ultimately reducing cyberloafing behaviour.

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