MBA & MM Theses

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Author: search.filters.author.Shakwane, Sylvia BibiSubject: search.filters.subject.Black managers

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    Factors that influence black senior managers to leave South African organisations
    (2014-01-09) Shakwane, Sylvia Bibi
    The objective of this research was to identify factors that influence black senior managers to leave South African organisations. Past inequalities in South Africa and decreased access to tertiary education have resulted in a shortage of skilled black professionals. These professionals are currently in high demand by organisations eager to comply with current legislation regulating the inclusion and advancement of previously disadvantaged individuals in the workplace. In an attempt to secure these scarce skills and to keep them, organisations have to work harder as they compete against each other for a limited pool of candidates. They therefore need to obtain a deeper understanding of the factors that influence them to leave. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on a randomly selected sample of 12 very senior black managers from different industries. The outcomes differed from certain aspects of the literature review, while some consistencies were also noted. The study found that managers left mainly due to a lack of career development opportunities and also for better career prospects offered by other organisations. These findings depart from the literature findings, which revealed that black managers left primarily because they could not ‘fit in’ and were ‘resisted’ by presumably white organisational cultures. The black managers thus felt that they encountered racial discrimination, which led to their departure. The study revealed that organisational cultures were not only diverse but highly inclusive and racial discrimination was a small, largely inconsequential concern. In keeping with the literature findings, unpleasant senior managers, together with unfair organisational practices and policies also influenced departures. The career needs and aspirations of black senior managers are often neglected by organisations that are perhaps overly-focused on attaining equity figures. The research has revealed that black managers are highly career focused and the key message to organisations is that it is imperative to institute measures that can be used to effectively develop and manage career growth. These measures must be supported by good leadership and fair organisational practices and policies.