Browsing by Author "Akbar, Khalida."

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Exploring strategies used to retain academic employees of University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus.
(2016) Ajadi, Taiwo Hassan.; Akbar, Khalida.
The rise of technology since the 21st century has seen the advent of the microprocessors, computer software and a rapid change in technological advancement has increased the hunt for talented experts and skilled employees. The global economy is faced with increased competition for knowledgeable employees; this has made knowledge a strategic value. South Africa is a faced with a shortage of skills across the service industries most especially the educational service industries. Retaining employees has become a problem for human resource managers. Many organizations including higher education institutions have become unproductive and lost competitive advantage because of the high turnover of their core employees. Higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa are faced with problems of high demand for academics of which there is limited supply. In spite of the extensive academic discuss on employee’s turnover and retention, the debate remains inconclusive. Employee retention is important for all business or organization, as employee loyalty has reduced drastically raising the problem of turnover. HEIs in South Africa are faced with lot of turnover of employees and shortage of staff. They constantly adopt and review strategies to retain key staff and employees in their institutions. UKZN presently is faced with problem of retention of its academics, and is relevant to the problem my dissertation aims to explore. Academic staff retention is a recurring problem across higher educational institutions in South Africa. Despite the gravity of the problem of turnover, there are still relatively few studies focused on academic’s retention across HEIs and literature in this area is sparse. To understand the motivations and the reasons academics leave or stay despite the strategies in place. The methodology adopted was a qualitative in-depth interview. Using a non- probability sampling technique, a sample of fifteen respondents were chosen purposively from one particular college consisting of four schools at UKZN. Fifteen respondents were interviewed, voices recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis was done with the aid of the Nvivo qualitative analysis software. The study found out compensation, training & development and academic workloads were high variables factors that influenced employees’ intention to leave. However, on its own, recognition programs do not influence turnover intentions among academics unless combined with other variables. The majority of the academics also stated that the performance management system is inadequate to capture their academic workloads. Based on the findings, the study recommends that compensation packages should be made competitive. Training & development programs should be sustained and new ones be adequately initiated in line with the UKZN’s goals and objectives. Academic workloads could be made more flexible or reduced, while recognition programs be made more frequent and informal. A conceptual framework on talent retention is also proposed for the University of KwaZulu-Natal. This dissertation will contribute to literature in this arena and provide a platform for further research.
The investigation of how reward and recognition impact on the levels of employee engagement of professional services staff at University of KwaZulu-Natal.
(2020) Gwambe, Thabisile.; Vajeth, Taahir Ahmed Akbar.; Akbar, Khalida.
In today’s high-paced and boundary-less organisations, businesses world-wide are competing for high quality talent. Human resources practitioners are faced with having to provide responsive business solutions like ensuring that once talent is employed in the organisation, they are fully engaged in order to drive and achieve business results. Employee engagement entails the extent to which employees are committed and involved with the organisation and its values. Literature has indicated a direct link between employee engagement and performance, which in turn ensures that organisational goals are achieved. This study investigated on the Professional Services sector employees of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, to determine their level of engagement, how do reward and recognition influence different demographic groups and work-life variables in Professional Services, as well as to determine the impact of reward and recognition on employee engagement. The mixed method approach was used to collect data for this study. The study revealed that there is a strong relationship between reward and recognition and employee engagement, irrespective of the employees’ demographic cluster. It was also showed that these two factors are not the only important factors that drive employee engagement. Other factors related to recognition, as determined in the study, also impact on engagement: working on an interesting assignment, participating in professional development activities, performance bonus pay, as well as being nominated for a monetary performance award. Given these findings, this therefore calls for holistic employee engagement strategies that will seek to maximise the engagement of employees by addressing all these factors to the employees’ satisfaction. Based on these findings, several recommendations were made, among them, the fact that the University of KwaZulu-Natal investigates more cost-effective benefit packages which will allow for more net pay in the staff members’ accounts. While the study revealed that benefits are important for all categories of staff, irrespective of age, race etc., it also came out strongly that the staff needs the flexibility and choices that will balance both needs for healthy benefit structure and enough cash in the pocket to make ends meet.
A phenomenological study of the employment experiences of persons affected by acquired brain injuries (ABI) in South Africa.
(2015) Akbar, Khalida.; Wissink, Henry Frank.
The rationale for conducting this study is, firstly, to encourage people with Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI) to become aware of employment prospects and, secondly, to provide organisations with recommendations on how they could assist these individuals by amending Human Resource (HR) policies and procedures. South African legislation stipulates that there is provision for employment with disabilities; however, there is a lack of literature to indicate how reasonable accommodation can be made for these particular individuals in the workplace. The study also seeks to establish the extent in which people with ABI’s are aware of legislation and policies that affect their employment opportunities. Studies need to be done in order to examine the experiences of people with Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI’s) regarding employment and survival in the workplace. South African organisations aim to attain diversity in the workplace; however, they lack accommodation for people with ABI’s. The study thus aims to examine specific experiences of people with ABI’s regarding employment so that Human Resource policies and practices can be tailor made to accommodate them in gaining and sustaining employment. The findings of this study provide an overview of the problems experienced and barriers faced by people gaining employment following ABI’s in South Africa. Thus it can be said that it is essential that the management of challenging issues should take place in terms of language and communication, promotions and development, motivation, the design of the programme and job security. The findings of this study also have several implications for future research that needs to be conducted in this area of study within the fields of Management and Entrepreneurship, Governance, Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations. In terms of research approach, the phenomenological approach used in this study may encourage other researchers to study ABI in South Africa through the lived experiences of persons with ABI, so as to understand the direct needs, challenges and success of people with this type of disability. The results of this study will provide managers with information that will facilitate early detection and strategies to assist in the employment of persons following an ABI in the South African workplace. This study responds to the numerous calls for research in the area of employment of persons following ABI’s in South Africa. The empirical and theoretical findings suggest that minimal research has been conducted in the area of the perceptions and experiences of employment of persons post ABI in South Africa. Therefore this study will contribute to the expansion of knowledge on this issue with the aid of the model of The Model of Employability for persons who are affected by Acquired Brain Injury in South African organisations, which was developed through this study. There is very little literature on employee perceptions and experiences of employment of persons following ABI in South Africa. Thus the understanding gained here on how South African employees understand and experience misfit will make a notable contribution to existing research, theory and practice in the fields of Governance, Entrepreneurship, Management, Psychology and HRM.