4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions
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Item Perceptions of performance appraisals amongst civilian employees of the Department of Defence(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Gopane, Onkemetse Macphonia; Van Nieuwkerk, AnthoniThe purpose of this study was to explore civilian employees’ perceptions of the management of the performance appraisal process in the Department of Defence. To achieve this objective, a qualitative case study was undertaken whereby data were collected by using face-to-face semi-structured interviews. A sample of 15 purposely selected junior and middle management civilian participants from Defence Head Quarters was done whereby participants were interviewed and data collected analysed by using thematic analysis. The themes that emerged indicated how employees perceive and experience performance appraisal. The findings revealed that although employees understand what performance appraisal is, the management of the process remains a challenge. From the analysis, there is a lot of dissatisfaction among employees as they feel that performance appraisal is subjective, and the way performance bonuses are paid is based on favouritism and inconsistency which lead to grievances. The findings also indicated that some managers use performance appraisal to punish employees that they do not like regardless of their performance which often diminishes the morale of high performers. The absence of feedback, lack of training by Human Resource Development and lack of support and commitment by top management were also raised as challenges that impede proper management. It is therefore recommended that the Department of Defence should prioritise offering regular and detailed performance appraisal training and workshops to managers and employees so that they both have a common understanding of the objective of the process. Furthermore, the Department of Defence should benchmark with other state institutions and implement an automated performance appraisal system with the latest technology which might reduce human errors and biasednessItem The perception of the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on the production in South African mines(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Ledwaba, SolomonThe aim of the study was to explore the perception of Fourth Industrial Revolution(4IR) strategies and practices in relation to production process performance in the mining industries at selected mines in South Africa. The study followed a quantitative research methodology, and a sample of 110 employees at the selected mines in South Africa, consisting of 60 mine workers, 10 information technology employees, 10 middle managers, 10 operations managers, 10 health and safety personnel, and 10 executive officers were drawn using a simple random sampling approach. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire with a 5-point Likert Scale. Data were analysed using the SPSS version 4.1. Findings from the study reveal that employee level of awareness of the concept of 4IR and associated technologies had a significant impact on how employees perceived the current 4IR strategies. Though findings show that a high percentage of employees were involved in the 4IR strategy development process, most believe that the current 4IR strategies and practices did not fully represent the interests of all stakeholders. While some were of the perception that the strategies and practices were designed to improve productivity and reduce employment costs, others believe that it puts workers’ jobs at risk, as mines had started replacing humans with 4IR technologies such as robots and drones. However, findings reveal that the adoption of the 4IR technologies according to the perception of employees, has improved health and safety within the mines