The impact of emotional intelligence on behavioural factors during transition: A case of the Free State Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges

Orientation: Numerous changes at the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) requires some degree of emotional intelligence (EI) to achieve any level of efficiency, competitiveness and success.Research purpose: The primary purpose of this research is to empirically contribute to a comprehension of how a leader’s EI can be utilised to positively influence organisational behaviours during the transitional period.Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a positivist research approach, that is descriptive in nature. A survey was conducted by providing a structured questionnaire to a sample of 310 academics and support staff of the TVET college sector in the Free State Province of South Africa. Data analysis was based on a total of 188 questionnaires collected, giving a return rate of 61%. The structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis and interpretation was conducted using a component-based approach to establish the correlation between the items.Main Findings: The SEM findings revealed that EI of Free State TVET college managers significantly affects all the dependent variables namely, organisational work commitment, employee job satisfaction, task-oriented behaviour, teamwork except staff morale. Emotional intelligence reflects a reasonable power of predictability toward all other variables except staff morale of the respondents.Practical/managerial implications: To ensure sustained exceptional performance, recruitment strategy for managers must deliberately incorporate EI measurements at TVET colleges.Contribution/value add: The study demonstrates empirical proof of the positive impact of a leader’s EI on organisational behaviours, thereby confirming that EI is an enabler of organisational work commitment, job satisfaction, task-oriented behaviour, teamwork, but not staff morale.

Assisted Living Administrators’ Mental and Emotional Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Little is known about assisted living (AL) administrators’ mental and emotional health, particularly during a global pandemic in which most of their residents are highly vulnerable to infection, hospitalization, and death. Considering that administrator turnover and burnout have been associated with negative outcomes such as decreased quality of resident care, low staff morale, and reduced financial solvency, this study examined how AL administrators described their mental and emotional state throughout the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using thematic analysis, our team coded 18 qualitative interviews conducted from May-August 2021. The themes included declining physical health due to stress, feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt, and increased burnout. Many administrators described increased staffing challenges as directly impacting their daily stress levels. Some administrators described feeling guilty and doubting their interpretation or implementation of regulations, particularly in incidents that further distanced residents from peers and loved ones. A few administrators described their disposition or personality changing due to what they experienced during the pandemic. One administrator stated, “I'm not an anxiety person, but I feel anxiety about a lot of things. In fact, my doctor has talked to me about starting some medications to help with that.” Multiple administrators made comments such as, “I don't know that there could be a more stressful position than executive director of assisted living…the COVID pandemic reinforced that. This is rough.” Understanding AL administrators’ mental and emotional health during a public health crisis allows for understanding, supporting, and retaining critical leaders in long-term care communities.

The Effect of Black Tax on Employee Engagement: The Mediating Role of Idiocentrism-Allocentrism-A Case of Pharmaceutical Industry in Zimbabwe

Employees in the Pharmaceutical industry are coming late to work and knocking off early. These actions unveiled by the employees are likely to incur economic costs on the employer, occasioned by low employee productivity. Owners of production have expressed concern over the general low staff morale in the pharmaceutical sector. While most studies have concentrated on internal job-related factors as drivers of employee engagement, this study seeks to assess employee engagement as being influenced by black tax, an external factor. The main aim of the research was to establish the influence of black tax on employee engagement, being mediated by idiocentrism-allocentrism, particularly focussing on the pharmaceutical manufacturing and retailing industry in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The study employed the philosophical approach of pragmatism to guide the whole research. The researcher adopted a multi-stage sampling technique supported by the census technique to pick participants from the population. Closed and open-ended questionnaires were used to collect data from qualified pharmacists who are working in both the manufacturing and retailing industry in Bulawayo. Statistical Package for Social Sciences v23 (Process v3.5 by Andrew F. Hayes) was used to test the hypothesized relationship among variables. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results suggest that black tax directly influence employee engagement in the presence of a mediator (idiocentrism-allocentrism). Furthermore, the results indicate that the indirect coefficient was partially significant, which means that idiocentrism-allocentrism has a partial influence on employee engagement. The researchers recommend that management should ensure that employees are motivated all the time. They should implement an open-door policy so that employees can share their issues that affect their engagement level at work.

Compassion in leadership: staff morale and burnout

Increased work-related stress and burnout has been reported in nursing. Jennifer Odell explores the impact of leadership on the wider team An awareness of the impact of leadership is central to the challenge of understanding and upholding the delivery of compassionate patient care. The increasing scope of nursing practice in primary care and the challenge of meeting rising patient and colleague expectations to alleviate pressure and improve access has led to increased work-related stress. An understanding and evaluation of leadership in the nursing team, and the wider practice team, will help promote cohesion and a renewed focus on a positive and optimistic team attitude.

What is the Nature And Extent of the Influence of Educational Leadership on Staff Morale, Job Satisfaction, and Motivation?

In a time where retaining qualified teachers is crucial, one cannot ignore the importance of teacher job satisfaction, morale, and motivation in shaping teachers’ intentions to remain in the profession. This is where educational leadership comes into play. This paper looks at the nature and extent of the impact of educational leadership on three important aspects of the job, namely staff morale, job satisfaction, and motivation. The latter constructs are each redefined and reconceptualized as the lack of consensus and the ambiguity in their respective meanings can greatly affect how they are applied as well as their results. When applied to the teaching context, Herzberg’s motivation hygiene theory was found to be unapplicable in relation to theory transferability and the separate categorization of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The latter are greatly affected by not only leadership style per se, but more precisely by the teacher’s perception of a certain leadership style. This individuality dimension also affects the ideological compatibility between teachers and work contexts, having a direct impact on job satisfaction. Nonetheless, although educational leadership has proven not to be the sole factor in teacher job satisfaction, morale and motivation, leaders must possess the right knowledge and understanding about the needs, expectations, attitudinal responses, and characteristics of their staff as individual members of a group in order to be able to positively affect their perceptions.

Experiences of mental health professionals providing services to adults with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative research studies

Background: Mental health professionals play an important role in providing care and treatment for adults with intellectual disabilities. A number of studies use qualitative methods to explore the experiences of these professionals and their perspectives regarding the mental health services for this population. A systematic review using meta-ethnographic approach was undertaken to summarise this research. Method: A systematic search found 14 relevant studies which were critically appraised. Key themes from these studies were extracted and synthesised. Results: Three main themes were identified: 1) Understanding the person, 2) Relational interaction and 3) Organisational factors. Conclusions: The findings of this review identified the issues mental health professionals raised in relation to their work. They described the complex presenting problems as intense yet fulfilling therapeutic relationships with their clients and their wish to improve their knowledge and skills. They identified organisational issues that need to be addressed to improve staff morale and efficiency.