3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Work engagement, high-performance work practices, and job outcomes :an empirical study of millennial frontline employees in the Kenyan hospitality industry(2019) Kibatta, Juliana N.Frontline Employees (FLEs) are considered as the most important link in the service delivery process. They are the initial point of contact between the customer and organization, thus representing a unique set of employees that organizations must actively endeavour to engage and retain. Despite their uniqueness, they are predisposed to numerous work demands and challenges due to the nature of their jobs. Nevertheless, they have the potential to influence the retention of satisfied and loyal customers. As such, organizations must ensure the retention of highly engaged frontline employees, which is vital for organizational success. Further, the ongoing shift in the global workforce characterized by a rapid predominance of younger, millennial, employees in the workplace, has compelled organizations to identify avenues that enhance work engagement levels among this generational cohort. This is largely attributed to millennials’ characterization as being less engaged in their work, relative to preceding generational cohorts. Due to its potential impact on behavioural outcomes in the organization, management practitioners and academics have, increasingly, had to focus on effectively addressing the concept of work engagement among employees. Despite this attention, there is a gap in empirical evidence on the concept of work engagement among millennials, not only in developed, but also developing countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. This represents a significant problem because a lack of such evidence would constitute a major obstacle for organizations mandated with effectively implementing measures that would otherwise foster work engagement among millennial employees, thereby resulting in less desirable behavioural outcomes and overall organizational performance. This thesis was motivated to address this problem in the context of millennial frontline employees, in the Kenyan hospitality industry. Based on the extant literature, the relationship between a set of determinants (antecedents) and outcomes (consequences) of work engagement, was investigated in this study. An explanatory, predictive research approach was adopted for the study. Specifically, a survey design with a quantitative research strategy was used to empirically examine the relationships between study variables. Using the cross-sectional survey data collected from a sample of full-time frontline employees (n = 405), Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were conducted to test the validity and reliability of the study’s conceptual model variables. Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypothesized relationships between the study’s conceptual model variables. Further, to establish the potential mediating role of work engagement, mediation analysis with bootstrapping procedures were implemented. Subsequently, post-hoc Importance Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) tests, at both the construct and indicator levels, were conducted to further examine the relationships between each of the HPWPs indicators and work engagement, to extend and enrich the results obtained from hypotheses testing. In addition, a test for non-linear quadratic effects was conducted to further investigate the relationship between work engagement and the job outcome variables creative performance, extra-role customer service, and turnover intention, further enriching study findings. Results from the study revealed that training, empowerment, rewards, career opportunities, and job security, are human resource practices (HPWPs) among millennial frontline employees, with rewards being the most important. The results also showed that HPWPs in form of training, empowerment, rewards, career opportunities, and job security, positively influenced work engagement among millennial frontline employees. In addition, the results showed that work engagement is positively associated with extra-role customer service and negatively associated with turnover intention. The findings of this study further showed that work engagement partially mediates the relationship between HPWPs as manifested by training, empowerment, rewards, career opportunities, and job security, and the three job outcome variables. While results of the study have mostly empirically supported prior findings from the extant literature, findings concerning the hypothesized relationship between work engagement and creative performance were contrary to existing empirical evidence. Results from this study showed that work engagement did not have a significant effect on creative performance among millennial frontline employees. Further, results from post-hoc analyses showed that empowerment was a key priority construct for performance improvement by management in enhancing work engagement among millennial frontline employees. Additionally, results showed that work engagement had a curvilinear relationship with turnover intention, while the linear relationships among work engagement and creative performance, and extra-role customer service, were upheld. The findings from the study comprise a significant and meaningful contribution to existing literature on the concept of work engagement by providing substantive empirical insights into its determinants and outcomes in a non-conventional context such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Further, the findings of this study constitute empirical evidence on the important role of work engagement as a significant mediating influence intervening between antecedent HPWPs and consequent job outcomes among frontline employees of the millennial generational cohort in the empirical context of Kenya. Overall, the relevance of effective human resources practices (HPWPs) in enhancing work engagement among frontline employees in the millennial generational cohort, as well as the impact of work engagement on organizationally-valued outcomes, was demonstrated. Additionally, the present study evidences important insights for managers in the hospitality industry who seek to foster engagement among millennial frontline employees. Implications of the study’s findings, limitations, and recommendations of the study are discussed, and provide useful guidance for future research. Keywords: Millennials, Frontline Employees (FLEs), High-Performance Work Practices (HPWPs), Work Engagement (WE), Creative Performance (CRP), Extra-Role Customer Service (ERCS), Turnover Intention (TI), Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA), Non-Linear (Quadratic) Effects, Human Resource Management (HRM), Hospitality Industry, Hotels, Kenya, Sub-Saharan Africa.Item Employer attractiveness, career orientation and self-perceived employability(2019) Meehan, LaurenHuman capital is becoming extremely valued in the competitive and dynamic modern working environment. It has thus become very important that employers identify what potential employees find attractive in order to recruit and retain high quality employees. Potential employees’ own career goals, attitudes, and perceived strengths seem likely to play a role in determining what they find attractive in a prospective employer, however there is a need for further research to examine the direct links between these. This research therefore explored the nature of the relationships between different aspects of employer attractiveness and various career orientations, whether any of these various career orientations predicted different aspects of employer attractiveness, and whether these relationships were moderated by self-perceived employability. The study used a quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional, correlational design in order to answer the research questions. The sample consisted of 193 third year and postgraduate students registered at the University of the Witwatersrand. All participants were asked to complete a self-developed demographic questionnaire, the Employer Attractiveness (EmpAt) scale, the Career Orientation scale, and the Self-perceived Employability scale. Data analyses run to answer the research questions included reliability calculations, descriptive statistics, correlations, multiple regression, and moderated multiple regression. The results showed that there were significant relationships between the different aspects of employer attractiveness, the various career orientations, and self-perceived employability. Development value was significantly predicted by the security and technical/functional career orientations. Social value was significantly predicted by the entrepreneurial creativity, service to a cause, lifestyle, and technical/functional career orientations. Interest value was significantly predicted by the entrepreneurial creativity, service to a cause, and technical/functional career orientations. Application value was significantly predicted by the entrepreneurial creativity, service to a cause, security, and technical/functional career orientations. Lastly, economic value was significantly predicted by the entrepreneurial creativity, lifestyle, managerial, and security career orientations. Self-perceived employability did not moderate any of the relationships between the different aspects of employer attractiveness and the various career orientations. The findings of the study are useful as they contribute to existing theory and can be used to inform recruitment practice and help companies to tailor their strategies to attract and retain high quality potential employees.Item Examining human resource management practices as mechanisms for enhancing organisational commitment in South African universities: a study in a private university(2018) Ukpabi, HopeHuman resources management practices are important factors within organisations which enable an organisation to achieve a competitive advantage. The possibility of an organisation to achieve a competitive advantage and maintain business sustainability is dependent on the organisational commitment of its staffs. As a result, organisations need effective human resource management practices to equip employees in other to obtain organisational goals and objectives. The objective of this study is to examine whether Human Resource Management practices influence the organisational commitment of employees in a private university. The study was conducted with academic staff members in a private university at Midrand, Gauteng province Johannesburg, South Africa. The researcher conducted a survey of 145 academic staffs from a population of 225. The research design which was used in this study was descriptive, cross sectional research design and a quantitative approach. The questionnaire method was used to collect data from the respondents using a survey instrument of 5-point Likert scale format. The analysis of the data was done using the SPSS software by using the linear regression analysis method after data was captured in Ms Excel. The Hayes process of moderation analysis was also adopted. The researcher found that performance appraisal, reward and training contribute to the enhancement of organisational commitment.Item The antecedents of employer attractiveness in local government in South Africa(2018) Mahlaba, NeoOrientation: Human capital has become one of the key sources of competitive advantage in the market, according to Backhaus and Tikoo (2004) organisations are investing considerable amounts of resources on employer branding initiatives. Organisations are forced to consistently differentiate themselves from competitors as the most plausible employer of choice. To effectively compete in this continuous ‘war of talent’ the Local Government, City of Johannesburg in particular, needs to understand the effect that the fundamental antecedents of employer attractiveness have on the municipality as they endeavour to become an employer of choice to skilled and qualified professionals; as well as establish who in the organisation is the custodian of the employer brand management function. Research purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine some of the antecedents that have an effect on employer attractiveness, as well as establish who in an organisation is responsible for the employer brand management function. Research design: A qualitative research design was followed and data collected through face to face interviews with 14 employees of the City of Johannesburg from across the various clusters within the organisation. The data was analysed using the thematic analysis method. Main findings: All three research objectives are supported with results indicating that the identified antecedents do have an effect on an organisation’s employer attractiveness and their absence results in unfavourable consequences. Implications: This study has implications for City of Johannesburg and Local Government as a whole, employees of City of Johannesburg, prospective and former employees of the City of Johannesburg. Contribution/value-add: This study shows the importance of employer brand management of an organisation and confirms its place within the organisational structure. iii Key words: Employer branding, employer attractiveness, employer value proposition, organisational communication, organisational factors.Item Personality traits, motivation and knowledge worker productivity(2016) Akure, Peace MajorieIn an economic environment where knowledge based-work is the strategic component of value creation and competitive advantage, knowledge workers have become the engine that drives sustainability and profitability. Knowledge workers are described as workers with high degrees of education, expertise and whose primary task is to create, distribute and apply knowledge. With the increasing demand and number of knowledge workers in the work force, the productivity of knowledge workers has become an imperative management task as well as a decisive economic factor. Despite the continuous stream of research on knowledge worker productivity, knowledge worker productivity continues to be one of the greatest challenges facing managers today. Knowledge worker productivity refers to ability of knowledge workers to effectively collect, create and use inherent knowledge to produce goods and services. Inherent knowledge is highly personal and cannot be separated from the person who holds it. Further, inherent knowledge is closely related to the technical skills that an individual has and are only known to the person who possesses those skills. If organisations wish to leverage this inherent knowledge to their competitive advantage, they need to know how to engage and stimulate the deepest parts of the human mind. However, no two individuals are the same. Personnel psychology literature has long stressed that meaningful differences exist between people. These individual differences influence individual work performance and behaviour. Although several studies have addressed the issue of personality predicting job performance, there is a lack of knowledge of the relationship between personality, motivation and knowledge worker productivity, specifically in the South African context. This study attempts to address this lack of knowledge through a quantitative study of the relationship between personality, motivation and knowledge worker productivity. The study investigated whether the intrinsic personalities of knowledge workers and motivation predict knowledge worker productivity. Although several studies have directly addressed the issue of personality predicting job performance, few studies have directly investigated whether motivation mediates the relationship between personality and specifically knowledge worker productivity. Consequently, there is limited evidence to support the arguments of the present study. The theoretical and practical implications for knowledge worker productivity are discussed.