Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)

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    Management Style and Employee Engagement in Blue Collar Workers
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Moodley, Sheila; Maier, Christoph
    A noteworthy and important part of South Africa is that “blue collar workers make up the backbone of the country’s economy” and as such, it is important to pay attention to the work related well-being of these workers in order to become a more productive nation with a more satisfied workforce (Brand-Labuschagne, Mostert, Rothmann and Rothmann, 2012:6). In the State of Labour Report (2016) it is recorded that 3 out of every 4 people in the South African working population are blue collar workers. Thompson (2001) found that the blue collar environment is dominated by black South Africans and argued that it is worthwhile to attempt to identify the perceptions and behaviours of black South Africans in the blue collar environment to address the challenges facing South Africa. In the field of employee engagement it has been found that engaged employees “show higher job and organisational performance, positive job attitudes, higher psychological well-being and proactive job behavior” (Makikangas, Schaufelli, Tolvanen and Feldt, 2013: 136). It has further been established that employee engagement is directly linked to a number of positive organisational outcomes that include improved productivity, increased job satisfaction, higher levels of motivation, employee commitment, reduced turnover intention, increased customer satisfaction, better returns on assets, profits and shareholder value (Bakker, Demerouti and Schaufeli, 2003; Bakker, Schaufeli, Leiter and Taris, 2008; Harter, Schmidt and Hayes, 2002; Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004; Lee and Mohammed, 2006; Brand- Labuschagne, Mostert, Rothmann and Rothmann, 2012). The State of Employee Engagement Report (2019), found that leaders and immediate supervisors make the biggest difference in employee engagement and the research of Kahn (1990) points to engaging the mind, body and soul of the person in the performance of their work as a way of improving employee performance
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    The impact of human resource practices on employee productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic in the South African construction industry
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Makanza, Patience; Mati, Jacob
    The study examined the impact of human resource practices on employee productivity in the South African construction industry during the Covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, the study investigated four human resource practices - training, employee wellness, compensation, and employee engagement - to determine their impact on productivity, with the Covid-19 pandemic as the intermediary variable. The study found that training had a positive impact on productivity, indicating that regular training opportunities should be provided to employees to enhance productivity. However, no conclusive evidence was found to support the hypothesis that training improved productivity during the pandemic. The study further revealed that compensation was strongly linked to productivity, but participants were indifferent about the impact of changes in compensation during the pandemic. The empirical evidence showed that although superiors offered support to their subordinates, participants were neutral about the link between employee wellness and productivity. Although it was discovered that employee involvement has a beneficial effect on productivity, participants were unable to affirm if it enhanced their performances during the epidemic as also reiterated by Ramakrishnan and Yogarajah (2021) The results of the study have important repercussions for the South African construction sector, notably during the Covid-19 epidemic as also stated by Amoah and Simpeh, (2021).Construction businesses should follow the study's advice and pay attention to employee wellness, as it has a significant impact on productivity. Furthermore, companies should consider increasing compensation packages to improve productivity, and they should promote employee engagement as it positively impacts productivity. Overall, this study highlights the importance of human resource practices in improving employee productivity during the Covid-19 pandemic in the South African construction industry. The recommendations presented in this study are crucial for construction companies in South Africa as they provide a basis for optimising employee productivity during challenging times. This study contributes to the existing literature on the impact of human resource practices on employee productivity during the Covid-19 pandemic vi and calls for further research in this area to enhance the understanding of the best practices in human resource management during such crises.