1,721,202 research outputs found
Factors associated with employee engagement in South Africa
Full text linkOrientation: Knowledge of the factors associated with employee engagement is important for practitioners and researchers in industrial/organisational psychology in South Africa.
Research purpose: The objective of this study was to investigate the factors associated with employee engagement using two models, namely the personal engagement model of Kahn (1990), and the work engagement model of Schaufeli and Bakker (2004).
Motivation for the study: Scientific knowledge is needed regarding the factors that are associated with employee engagement.
Research design, approach and method: Survey designs were used with two samples taken from various South African organisations (n = 467 and n = 3775). The Work Engagement Scale, the Psychological Conditions Scale and the Antecedents Scale were administered for purposes of study 1. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Job Demands-Resources Scale were administered for purposes of study 2.
Main findings: The results of study 1 showed that two psychological conditions, namely psychological meaningfulness and psychological availability, were positively associated with employee engagement. Work role fit was the best predictor of psychological meaningfulness and employee engagement. The results of study 2 showed that all job resources were positively associated with employee engagement. Organisational support and growth opportunities were the best predictors of vigour, dedication and absorption.
Pratical/managerial implications: Interventions to increase employee engagement should focus on work role fit. Job resources, including an intrinsically rewarding job, organisational support and advancement opportunities should be made available to increase employees’ engagement.
Contribution/value-add: This study isolated the most important factors associated with employee engagement in South Africa
From happiness to flourishing at work: a Southern African perspective
No full textOrganizations around the world recognize the importance of measuring subjective well-being and promoting it as part of a strategic approach to human resource management. The focus is increasingly shifting to multidimensional indicators of employee happiness in the work context. The concept flourishing incorporates two dimensions of happiness; namely, feeling good and functioning well. This study aims to identify dimensions of employee flourishing, and to investigate the antecedents and outcomes thereof in the southern African work and organizational context. The findings of various studies were reviewed, and data gathered from a sample of managers in South Africa (N = 505) was used to explore the dimensions, antecedents, and outcomes of flourishing. The results showed that flourishing individuals feel good (i.e., are satisfied with their jobs and experience positive emotions at work), function psychologically well (i.e., are energetic, dedicated, self-determined, find meaning and purpose at work, and experience harmony), and function socially well (in terms of social acceptance, social growth, social contribution, social coherence, and social integration). It was found that flourishing in work and organizational contexts, and flourishing in everyday life, shared 54 % of the variance. However, flourishing in work and organizational contexts was better predicted by job contextual factors, and it also predicted organizational outcomes better than did flourishing in general.http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-94-007-6368-5_7#page-1http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6368-5_
Measuring happiness: results of a cross-national study
No full textThe aims of this chapter are to investigate the structural equivalence, item bias, and reliability of the Orientations to Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in the southern African context. Convenience samples were taken from employees in Namibia (n = 216) and managers in South Africa (n = 507). A biographical questionnaire, the OHQ, and the SWLS were administered. The results showed that structural equivalence of the three-factor model of orientations to happiness (i.e., pleasure, engagement, and meaning) was not supported. One subscale of the OHQ, engagement, was problematic in terms of validity and internal consistency in the South African and Namibian samples. Evidence was found for item bias in the OHQ. The results showed that one item of the SWLS under-fitted the data in both the southern African samples.http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-94-007-6368-5_9#page-1http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6368-5_
Burnout of academic staff in South African higher education institutions
No full textThe objectives of this study are to assess the psychometric properties of an adapted version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) for academic staff in South African higher education institutions and to investigate differences between the burnout levels of different demographic groups. A survey design was used, with stratified random samples (N = 595) taken of academics in six South African universities. Exploratory factor analysis with target rotations resulted in a three-factor model of burnout, consisting of Exhaustion, Mental Distance and Professional Efficacy. The scales showed acceptable internal consistencies and construct equivalence for two language groups. Practically significant differences were found in the burnout levels of academics with regard to their age
Occupational stress of academic staff in South African higher education institutions
No full textThe objectives in this study were to identify the indicators of occupational stress for academic staffin South African higher education institutions, to analyse the differences between the occupational stress of different demographic groups, and to investigate whether occupational stressors predict ill health and a lack of organisational commitment of academics in higher education institutions.A cross-sectional survey design was used (N = 595). An Organisational Stress Screening Tool(ASSET) and a biographical questionnaire were administered. Compared to the normative data, academics reported higher levels of stress relating to pay and benefits, overload and work-life balance. Analysis of variance revealed differences between the levels of occupational stress and ill health of demographic groups. Two stressors, namely, overload and work-life balance contributed significantly to ill health of academics. Four occupational stressors, overload, job control, resources and communication, and job characteristics contributed significantly to the commitment of academics to their institutions.http://search.sabinet.co.za/WebZ/Authorize?sessionid=0&next=ej/ej_content_sapsyc.html&bad=error/authofail.htm
Authentic happiness of managers, and individual and organisational outcomes
No full textThe aim of this study was to investigate managers' orientations to happiness and the relationship
thereof to individual and organisational outcomes. A cross-sectional survey design was used with
managers in the agricultural sector in South Africa {N = 507). The Orientations to Happiness Questionnaire
(Revised), Satisfaction with Life Scale, Affect Balance Scale, Job Satisfaction Scale, Organisational
Commitment Scale, and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Scale were administered. The
results showed that orientations to happiness (i.e. pleasure, meaning and engagement) had strong
direct effects on subjective well-being, job satisfaction and organisational citizenship behaviour.
Orientations to happiness also impacted job satisfaction and organisational commitment indirectly
through subjective well-being. Subjective well-being had a strong direct and positive effect on job
satisfaction, as well as a positive indirect effect on organisational commitment.The results build on the
knowledge regarding individual and organisational outcomes of authentic happines
From South-West Africa to Namibia: Subjective Well-Being Twenty-One Years After Independence
No full textThis chapter, endorsed by Martina Perstling (Namibia) and Ian Rothmann (South Africa), takes us to a historical and fascinating journey addressing the relationships between Namibia and South Africa. It brings the studies of subjective well-being to the front line, at the radiance of such complex experiences as war, independence, and nation building. The relationship between the two countries, encompassed with the occasionally dramatic internal struggles for human rights, reconciliation, and equality within Namibia, is explored in the chapter while envisioning restorative processes, some of them under way, and to promote better futures that will fulfill the aspirations of the citizens of those countries, while honoring the best of the past.http://www.springer.com/us/book/9789400768680http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6869-7_13,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6869-7http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-94-007-6869-7_13#page-
Burnout and engagement of reformed church ministers
Full text linkOrientation: The ministry is one occupation where burnout is increasingly considered to be a consequence of the problems with which ministers have to cope. However, few studies focused on the positive antipode of a minister’s work. Research purpose: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of job-demands and job-resources on ministers’ burnout and engagement. Congregational commitment and health were included as possible consequences of burnout and engagement. Motivation for the study: Ministers’ well-being has become an important topic for both researchers and practitioners. Research design, approach and method: A survey design with a non-probability, purposive voluntary sample of 115 ministers was used. The Job-Demands–Resources Questionnaire, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Work Engagement Scale, General Health Questionnaire, and Congregational Commitment Scale were administered. Main findings: Regression analysis indicated that the pace, amount of work and emotional demands were indicators of burnout while growth opportunities, social support and job significance were indicators of engagement. furthermore, it was found that exhaustion predicted somatic symptoms and depression, while mental distance predicted depression. Engagement predicted social functioning and affective commitment. Practical implications: Interventions should be implemented to help ministers deal more effectively with any burnout symptoms experienced in order to prevent ministers who are already showing signs of burnout from getting sick to increase their engagement and to rehabilitate individuals who are ill as a result of the work place. Contribution: The study contributes to knowledge regarding the effects of job-demands and resources on the well-being of ministers.http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v36i1.825http://www.sajip.co.za/index.php/sajip/article/viewFile/825/88
Employee engagement: the effects of work-home/homework interaction and psychological conditions
No full textThe aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between work-home/home-work interaction, psychological conditions and employee engagement. A cross-sectional survey was used. The participants were 292 employees of a uranium mine in Namibia residing in towns distant from their workplace. The following measuring instruments were used: Survey Work-Home Interaction – Nijmegen, Psychological Conditions Scale and Work Engagement Scale. Positive work-home interaction and negative home-work interaction had direct positive and negative effects on psychological meaningfulness and psychological availability respectively. Psychological meaningfulness, psychological availability, positive work-home interaction and positive home-work interaction had direct effects on employee engagement. An analysis of the indirect effects showed that positive work-home interaction affected employee engagement via experiences of psychological meaningfulness and psychological availability. Negative home-work interaction affected employee engagement negatively via low psychological meaningfulness and low psychological availability. Implementing policies to promote meaningfulness and availability at work, to build positive workhome interaction and to protect employees against negative home-work interference, will contribute to personal engagement at work.http://www.sajems.org/index.php/sajems/article/view/419/44
Employee engagement: the role of psychological conditions
No full textThe purpose of this study was to investigate the
antecedents of employee engagement in the context
of a developing country. A cross-sectional survey design
was used with a sample of 309 employees in
organisations in Namibia. A biographical questionnaire
and questionnaires that measure employee engagement
and antecedents of engagement were administered.
Work-role fit and job enrichment showed the strongest
relationships with employee engagement, while rewards,
co-worker relations, resources, supervisor relations and
organisational support showed moderate relationships
with employee engagement.Work-role fit, job enrichment
and the availability of resources affected employee
engagement indirectly via experiences of psychological
meaningfulness, while the availability of resources
and co-worker relations affected employee engagement
indirectly through psychological availability. The results
confirm the important role of psychological
meaningfulness and psychological availability as
mediators between work-role fit, job enrichment,
resources and co-worker relations on the one hand, and
employee engagement on the othe
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