Adaption challenges faced by recent graduates in South African multinational organisations
Date
2015-08-19
Authors
Mmatli, Thato Valencia
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Abstract
Multidisciplinary research has focused primarily on the recruitment and development
of graduates in the workplace, particularly in South Africa where exorbitant rates of youth
unemployment and the shortage of skills are of great concern. To contribute to the extensive
body of research exploring aspects which impact graduates as new members in the labour
force, the aim of this study was to investigate adaptation challenges faced by recent graduates
in multinational organisations in South Africa. Twenty four participants were recruited from
four industries; Human Resource consulting, Engineering and Product Development,
Banking and Accounting/Auditing. To gain comprehensive insights into the factors which
facilitate or impede graduate adaptation, the final sample comprised of nineteen recent
graduates who were employed for a period of one to two years, and five training and
development managers.
The study design was qualitative; the instruments used to collect data were two selfdeveloped
interview schedules of twelve questions each, which elicited the nuanced
perspectives of recent graduates and training and development managers. Data were analysed
and emergent themes were acquired through the use of thematic content analysis. The results
showed that factors which hinder successful graduate adaptation in organisations included
four main themes, two of which had subthemes. The main themes were generational gap
differences, insufficient collaboration between tertiary institutions and employers,
organisational attributes and graduate attributes. Subthemes of organisational attributes
included; the neglect of succession planning, managerial styles and unstructured induction.
Findings showed that undesired graduate attributes such as; entitlement, overdependence on
managers, unrealistic ambition and perceived lack of emotional intelligence.
On the other hand, desired graduate attributes which aided adaptation into the
workplace comprised of; resilience, initiative and openness to learning. Directions for future
studies could focus on a regulatory framework for stakeholder collaborations to ameliorate graduates’ adaptation and transition into the working environment.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of
Master of Arts Organisational Psychology
The University of the Witwatersrand
May 2015