scholarly journals Dimensionality of the UWES-17: An item response modelling analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deon P. De Bruin ◽  
Carin Hill ◽  
Carolina M. Henn ◽  
Klaus-Peter Muller
Keyword(s):  
Item Response ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Conflicting Evidence ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Value Add ◽  
Individual Scores

Orientation: Questionnaires, particularly the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-17), are an almost standard method by which to measure work engagement. Conflicting evidence regarding the dimensionality of the UWES-17 has led to confusion regarding the interpretation of scores.Research purpose: The main focus of this study was to use the Rasch model to provide insight into the dimensionality of the UWES-17, and to assess whether work engagement should be interpreted as one single overall score, three separate scores, or a combination.Motivation for the study: It is unclear whether a summative score is more representative of work engagement or whether scores are more meaningful when interpreted for each dimension separately. Previous work relied on confirmatory factor analysis; the potential of item response models has not been tapped.Research design: A quantitative cross-sectional survey design approach was used. Participants, 2429 employees of a South African Information and Communication Technology (ICT) company, completed the UWES-17.Main findings: Findings indicate that work engagement should be treated as a unidimensional construct: individual scores should be interpreted in a summative manner, giving a single global score.Practical/managerial implications: Users of the UWES-17 may interpret a single, summative score for work engagement. Findings of this study should also contribute towards standardising UWES-17 scores, allowing meaningful comparisons to be made.Contribution/value-add: The findings will benefit researchers, organisational consultants and managers. Clarity on dimensionality and interpretation of work engagement will assist researchers in future studies. Managers and consultants will be able to make better-informed decisions when using work engagement data.

scholarly journals Job demands and resources of workers in a South African agricultural organisation

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Doris N. Asiwe ◽  
Carin Hill ◽  
Lené I. Jorgensen
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Job Demands ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
Job Demands And Resources

Orientation: Understanding the job demands and resources experienced by workers in an agricultural organisation.Research purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Adapted Job Demands and Resources Scale (AJDRS) as well as to establish prevalent job demands and resources of employees in an agricultural organisation. Demographic differences were also investigated.Motivation of the study: The agricultural sector of any national economy plays a very important role in the overall welfare of the country. Identifying the prevalent job demands and resources in an agricultural organisation is therefore of paramount importance since the negative consequences of employees experiencing very demanding jobs with few resources have been well documented in stress literature.Research approach, design and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample consisted of 443 employees in an agricultural organisation. The AJDRS was used to measure the research variables.Main findings: The findings of this research show evidence for the factorial validity and reliability of the AJDRS. Statistical differences were found with regard to the job demands and resources experienced by employees in different positions.Practical/managerial implications: Interventions to improve the perceived job demands and resources in the organisation should focus on physical resources (equipment).Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to knowledge concerning the job demands and resources that are prevalent in an agricultural organisation in South Africa.

scholarly journals Psychological capital, work engagement and organisational commitment amongst call centre employees in South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet C. Simons ◽  
Johanna H. Buitendach
Keyword(s):  
Work Engagement ◽  
Psychological Capital ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Measuring Instruments ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Organisational Commitment ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Managerial Implications

Orientation: The development of psychological capital amongst call centre employees could have an impact on positive work-related attitudes and behaviour; such as work engagement and organisational commitment.Research purpose: The purpose of the research was to determine the relationship between psychological capital, work engagement and organisational commitment amongst call centre employees; and further, to determine whether psychological capital and work engagement hold predictive value for the organisational commitment of call centre employees.Motivation for the study: There is a gap in research in understanding and enabling positive resource capacities in highly stressful work contexts such as call centres.Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used. A sample of 106 call centre employees from a South African organisation participated in the research. The measuring instruments included a demographic questionnaire, the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ).Main findings: Significant positive relationships were found between psychological capital, work engagement and organisational commitment. The results showed work engagement as being the only significant predictor of organisational commitment.Practical/managerial implications: Call centre employers need to develop and implement workplace interventions that would increase the psychological capital of call centre employees.Contribution/value-add: The research findings will benefit both call centre employees and management. The study highlighted the importance of the role of optimism as a subdimension of psychological capital in developing work engagement and organisational commitment amongst call centre employees.

scholarly journals Performance appraisal as an antecedent to innovation: An analysis of its importance relative to other human resource practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Navin G. Matookchund ◽  
Renier Steyn
Keyword(s):  
Performance Appraisal ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Human Resource Practices ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
General Managers ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
Unique Predictor

Orientation: Innovation is essential to organisational survival, and several studies have shown that performance appraisals (PAs) contribute to innovation.Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the importance of PA as an antecedent to innovation relative to other human resource practices (HRPs).Motivation for the study: The specific HRP drivers of innovation among employees and across organisations are not well specified, hindering appropriate resource allocation.Research approach/design and method: The PA–innovation link was investigated among 3180 employees across 53 South African organisations, utilising a cross-sectional survey design involving quantitative data, and focusing on correlation and regression analyses.Main findings: Human resource practices accounted for approximately 10% of the variance in innovation when considering individual employees. Performance appraisal was neither a common nor a unique predictor of innovation. When focusing on the link across organisations, a significant HRPs–innovation link was established in approximately 60% of organisations, with PA playing a significant role as the predictor of innovation in 10 (out of 53) organisations.Practical/managerial implications: Other HRPs, specifically supervisor support and staffing, played a much bigger role than PA in driving innovation of individuals, also across organisations. This specifies the relative importance of PA amongst other HRPs.Contribution/value-add: General managers, human resource practitioners and researchers can now use data-driven evidence to select specific HRPs which significantly enhance innovation among employees and across organisations.

scholarly journals Dimensionality of trust: An analysis of the relations between propensity, trustworthiness and trust

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marita Heyns ◽  
Sebastiaan Rothmann
Keyword(s):  
Survey Design ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Dyadic Relationships ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Trust Formation ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
Trust Propensity

Orientation: Research concerning trust relationships on the interpersonal level, particularly when studied in dyadic relationships from the follower’s point of view, is relatively scarce. Only a few researchers have attempted to link multiple dimensions of trust in the same study.Research purpose: This study examined the dynamic interplay between trust propensity, trustworthiness beliefs and the decision to trust, as perceived within dyadic workplace relationships. Motivation for the study: No studies, as far as the authors are aware, have ever attempted to use a combination of Mayer and Davis’s well-known assessment of trustworthiness and Gillespie’s measure of behavioural trust within the same study. By including measures of main antecedents and the actual decision to trust in the same study, the multidimensionality of trust can be established more concretely.Research approach, design and method: A cross-sectional survey design with a convenience sample (N = 539) was used. The Behavioural Trust Inventory and the Organisational Trust Instrument were administered.Main findings: Results confirmed the distinctness of propensity, trustworthiness and trust as separate main constructs. Trust was strongly associated with trustworthiness beliefs. Trustworthiness beliefs fully mediated the relationship between propensity and trust. The observed relations between propensity and trustworthiness suggest that individuals with a natural predisposition to trust others will be more inclined to perceive a specific trust referent as trustworthy.Practical/managerial implications: Leaders should realise that their attitudes and behaviour have a decisive impact on trust formation processes: if they are being perceived as trustworthy, followers will be likely to respond by engaging in trusting behaviours towards them. Tools to assess followers’ perceptions of the trustworthiness of the leader may provide useful feedback that can guide leaders.Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to scientific knowledge regarding the influence of propensity to trust and trustworthiness on trust of leaders.

scholarly journals A temperature reading of COVID-19 pandemic employee agility and resilience in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristy Leask ◽  
Shaun Ruggunan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Temperature Reading ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
African Context ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Value Add

Orientation: Employee agility and resilience are central to the flourishing of employee and organisational life. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic amplified stressors and added new challenges for employees in South Africa. The study reported here provides a temperature reading of the agility and resilience of South African employees in the context of the pandemic.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to engage in a temperature reading of South African employees’ agility and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.Motivation for the study: The study was motivated by the need to understand how South African employees fare in terms of their agility and resilience levels in the context of profound social and economic disruptive events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.Research approach/design and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used employing quantitative methodologies. A total of 185 permanently employed respondents from South Africa were conveniently sampled. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data.Main findings: Whilst respondents reported high resilience and agility capacity, the findings also suggest that respondents’ gender, age, upskilling intentions, size of employer, organisational communication and individual renewal strategies influence their resilience and agility behaviours.Practical/managerial implications: The study prompts a discussion on how practitioners can better serve the wellness agenda of organisational life during sustained periods of organisational stress.Contribution/value-add: This study extends the theoretical and practical debate on employee agility and resilience in South African context.

scholarly journals Leadership empowering behaviour, psychological empowerment, organisational citizenship behaviours and turnover intention in a manufacturing division

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janie Bester ◽  
Marius W. Stander ◽  
Llewellyn E. Van Zyl
Keyword(s):  
Turnover Intention ◽  
Psychological Empowerment ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Intention To Leave ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
People Development ◽  
Value Add

Orientation: Employees’ perceptions of their leaders’ behaviour play a role in creating empowering environments where employees are willing to do more than what is expected, with retention of employees as a result.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to theoretically conceptualise and empirically determine the relationships between employees’ perception of their leaders’ empowering behaviour, psychological empowerment, organisational citizenship behaviours and intention to leave within a manufacturing division of an organisation.Motivation for the study: In the ever-changing work environment, organisations must capitalise on their human capital in order to maintain competitiveness. It is therefore important to identify the role of employees’ perception of leadership in contributing to the establishment of an environment where employees feel empowered, are willing to do more than what is expected and want to stay in the organisation.Research design, approach and method: A non-experimental, cross-sectional survey design was used. The total population (N = 300) employed at the manufacturing division was targeted. Two hundred completed questionnaires were obtained. The Leader Empowering Behaviour Questionnaire, Measuring Empowerment Questionnaire, Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Questionnaire and Intention to Leave Scale were administered.Main findings: Employees’ perception of their leaders’ empowering behaviour (keeping employees accountable, self-directed decision-making and people development), psychological empowerment (attitude and influence) and organisational citizenship behaviours (loyalty, deviant behaviour and participation) predict intention to leave the organisation.Practical/managerial implications: Organisations should foster the elements of a positive organisation, in this case leader empowering behaviours, if they want to retain their employees.Contribution/value-add: The results of this research contribute to scientific knowledge about the positive effects of employees experiencing their leaders as empowering.

scholarly journals Impact of positive practices on turnover intention, in-role performance and organisational citizenship behaviour

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kleinjan Redelinghuys
Keyword(s):  
Turnover Intention ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Role Performance ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Positive Practices ◽  
Value Add

Orientation: The literature on positive organisational scholarship (POS) could offer valuable suggestions on how to rekindle a sense of positivity amongst teachers. Under the POS umbrella, the current study specifically focusses on positive practices, as the research study shows the importance of a positive school climate for teachers and learners.Research purpose: This study set out to inspect associations amongst positive practices, turnover intention, in-role performance and organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) (towards others and the organisation).Motivation for the study: Although positive practices is not a novel construct, scientific enquiry into the topic has been scarce.Research approach/design and method: A cross-sectional survey design with 258 secondary school teachers from the Sedibeng East and West districts was used. The Positive Practices, Turnover Intention, OCB and In-Role Behaviour scales were administered. Structural equation modelling was used for hypotheses testing.Main findings: The results of this study confirmed the negative association between positive practices and turnover intention, whereas positive associations were established amongst positive practices, in-role performance (to a lesser extent) and the two different types of OCBs used in this study.Practical/managerial implications: Organisations are faced with two options: create a respectful, supportive, caring, inspirational, meaningful and forgiving organisational environment for employees and see them prosper and take the organisation to greater heights, or treat them poorly and bear the consequences.Contribution/value-add: This study makes a valuable contribution to POS through the assessment of outcomes associated with positive practices that have not been studied previously.

scholarly journals Interference between work and nonwork roles: The development of a new South African instrument

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen Koekemoer ◽  
Karina Mostert ◽  
Ian Rothmann Jr
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Personal Life ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Tertiary Institution ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
Work Family

Orientation: The interference between work and personal life is a central issue in the 21st century as employees attempt to balance or integrate their involvement in multiple social roles.Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to, (1) develop new items for a more comprehensive work−nonwork interference instrument, (2) evaluate the newly developed items to retain those items that accurately capture the different dimensions and (3) eliminate undesirable items from the different subscales in the instrument.Motivation for the study: Although the interaction between work and personal life has received extensive attention in the work−family fields of research, various theoretical, empirical and measurement issues need to be addressed.Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data.Main findings: Initially, 89 items were developed. During the pilot study among mineworkers (n = 245), 41 poor items were eliminated on the basis of descriptive statistics, inter-item correlations, item-total correlations and the qualitative investigation of items highly redundant in terms of wording. Thereafter, the instrument (48 items) was administered to 366 support and academic personnel at a tertiary institution. Using Rasch analyses and item correlations, 18 additional items were eliminated, resulting in a 30-item instrument (15 items were retained to measure work-nonwork interference and 15 items to measure nonwork-work interference).Practical/managerial implications: A major theoretical limitation to the measurement of work−family interference relates to the dimensionality and inconsistent measurement of the directionality of interference.Contribution/value-add: With the development of this new instrument, several of the theoretical and measurement limitations voiced by previous researchers have been addressed, providing this instrument with distinct advantages over previous work−family instruments.

scholarly journals Self-perceived employability among undergraduate students at a South African university

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doret Botha
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
The Self ◽  
The South ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Perceived Employability ◽  
Managerial Implications

Orientation: South Africa has been suffering from persistently high levels of unemployment since 2008. The youth is regarded as the most at-risk group in the South African labour market and unemployment amongst the youth is considered one of the most critical socio-economic problems in South Africa. Increasing one’s employability is essential to securing employment and enhancing one’s well-being.Research purpose: This study aimed to explore the self-perceived employability of undergraduate students at a South African university.Motivation for the study: Currently, there is a scarcity of published research on the self-perceived employability amongst undergraduate students at higher education institutions in South Africa.Research approach/design and method: The study was conducted within a positivistic research paradigm. A quantitative-based cross-sectional survey design was used. Convenience sampling was used to select the students who were included in the survey. Data were collected through a web-based survey, using a standardised coded questionnaire that consisted of a five-point Likert-type scale.Main findings: The results indicated that the respondents were relatively confident about their internal employability, but they were less confident about their opportunities in the external labour market.Practical/managerial implications: Understanding one’s employability and the accompanied issues creates awareness of one’s potential, skills and knowledge to become a successful citizen and employee.Contribution/value-add: The study shed light on the self-perceived employability of undergraduate students at a South African university and consequently contributes to the existing literature on employability in the South African context.

scholarly journals How Organizational Culture Affects Employee(s) Work Engagement in the Insurance Industries in Ghana: An Ambidextrous Approach [AAA]

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Aphu Elvis Selase ◽  
Xinhai Lu ◽  
Ekor Sophia Enyonam Abla
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Statistical Tools ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Pearson Product Moment Correlation ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Employee Work Engagement

The study assessed how organizational culture affects employee work engagement in the insurance industries in Ghana. A cross sectional survey design was used to purposively sample one hundred and sixty-one (161) employees from two leading insurance companies ambidextrously. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Independent t-test were the statistical tools used to test the three hypotheses of the study. The results of the study revealed that, there is a positive significant relationship between organizational culture and employee work engagement. Again it was established that managers are more likely to be engaged on their job than non-managers and gender has no significant influence on engagement levels. The study therefore concluded that, to increase employee work engagement, organizations must adopt a favorable culture. Therefore we recommend that organizations should maintain and sustain favorable culture in order to increase the level of employees work engagement.

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