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Masters Degrees (Human Resource Management)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/19592

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Human Resource Management) by Subject "Academics."

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    Assessing emotional labour practices amongst lecturers in private higher education institutions in KwaZulu-Natal.
    (2017) Maharaj, Vidna.; Ruggunan, Shaun Denvor.
    The purpose of this study is to assess emotional labour practices amongst lecturers in private higher education institutes. This study focuses on private higher education institutes in Kwa Zulu natal, specifically lecturers that are exposed to an environment which is emotionally demanding .Private higher education institutions are the main interest in which academics may experience emotional labour. For this reason the various private higher education institutions is the focus of this study. Literature on emotional labour was discussed. This terms plays an important role in higher education institutions, where lecturers are seen to be providing more of a service in this profession rather than just playing the role of an academic. Both the private higher education sector and emotional labour is discussed extensively and reviewed in relation to one another. Thereafter emotional regulation processes and concepts, coping mechanisms and management support is discussed as part of the literature. The research methodology applied was qualitative research. Qualitative research allows the researcher to make sense of people experiences and interacting with them, thereafter making use of qualitative research techniques to collect and analyse information (Blanche, Durrheim &Painter, 2006). A case study was used. This case study focused on the academic staff at private higher education colleges. Given that the research undertaken in this study is qualitative; a case study is also the most appropriate research design considering the contextual, iterative and phenomenological nature of the study. This study used in- depth interviews as a data collection instrument. Interviews are used to elicit imperative information during research, interviewing is more natural form of interacting with people rather than making them fill out a questionnaire, this is the reason as to why interviews fit well with the interpretive approach to research (Blanche et al., 2006) .In- depth interview allows the interviewer to extract maximum information needed from participants.The findings were that academics need to constantly regulate emotions in order to function effectively at work. There is a high degree of emotion suppression in individuals that work in private higher education institutions. Most individuals feel that there are no support structures to able them to cope better within this service related work environment. Stress and exhaustion was evident within this environment. For future studies, the researcher recommends a support structure for lecturers within private institutes and additional management support towards employee mental wellbeing including emotional support programmes.
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    An empirical study of the reward preferences of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) academics.
    (2017) Makhanya, Sharon Nosipho.; Maharaj, Ashika.
    The aim of this study is to investigate the ability of the rewards offered by UKZN to attract, retain and motivate academic employees. The Reward Preference Questionnaire (RPQ) adopted from Nienaber, Bussin and Henn (2011), and modified by Snelgar, Renard and Venter (2013) was used to collect the data for this study. A total of 140 questionnaires were administered to Westville, Howard College and Medical School campuses with 111 questionnaires completed and returned. Descriptive statistics were utilised to analyse the responses and presented in the form of tables and graphs. Principal component analysis was used to extract factors. Four factors were extracted and named; ie., base pay, benefits, performance recognition and career management and quality work environment.The study found that UKZN academics are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied by base pay, benefits, and performance recognition and career management. However, the study found that the academics at UKZN are highly dissatisfied by quality work environment. The study also found that age, level of education, job level and conditions of service influence reward preferences. In addition, the study found that the respondents view rewards offered by the institution to be unfairly and inconsistently implemented. The respondents indicated that they were unhappy with the way performance management was rated; differences in conditions of service; confusing rewards; unfair implementation of academic promotions and unfair, inconsistent implementation of sabbatical leave. This study recommends that the institution should create reward systems that are based on the academic’s preferences by focusing on benefits, base pay, quality work environment, performance recognition and career management as they were indicated as the reward categories that attract, retain and motivate academics. This study’s findings contribute to knowledge by investigating the most valued rewards categories and the contribution of rewards to attraction, motivation and retention of academic staff. This study will also be beneficial to policy makers, Human Resources Departments and to Higher Education institutions. Furthermore, this study provides evidence to assist the employer in developing suitable and improved rewards packages to enhance the attraction, motivation and retention of academics of high calibre.