Browsing by Author "Majola, Brian Kwazi."

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6

Assessing the impact of absenteeism policies on service delivery in the Umgungundlovu District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2019) Muthwa, Emmanuel Xolani.; Majola, Brian Kwazi.
According to Occupational Care South Africa (OCSA), absenteeism costs the South African economy between R12 and R16 billion annually. Therefore, absenteeism is a significant concern for the economy locally and globally. However, the policies developed around absenteeism in municipalities and their impact on service delivery are not well understood. Thus, the study investigated the impact of absenteeism policies on service delivery at uMgungundlovu District Municipality (UMDM). Two conceptual models were used to structure the problem under investigation in this study, namely, the Steers and Rhodes’ “Process Model” Theory, and the Grönroos service quality model. The former was used for the analysis of data related to absenteeism, while the later was used for analyses of information on service delivery. This study has opted for a qualitative approach, structured interviews were distributed to forty-four respondents. Content analysis as an analysis strategy was employed in this study. Interestingly, the study finding reveals that working conditions and environment; work overload or pressure, and; leadership style are the main causes of absenteeism at UMDM. It also reveals that the policies developed around the problems of absenteeism at UMDM are good and they are enough to minimise absenteeism. However, the internal mechanisms to implement, monitor and evaluate the policies are very fragile. The study, therefore recommends that the consistency in policies implementation, monitoring and, evaluation should be geared-up; the policies be work-shopped more regularly; also, the employer should ensure that the working conditions and environment are improved, and; the motivational incentive is provided for employees who are punctual and regular at work.
The effect of employee turnover on performance: a case study of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture.
(2017) Ogony, Steve Mawere.; Majola, Brian Kwazi.
Employee turnover influences both employees and the performance of an organisation. When employee turnover occurs in an organisation, the remaining employees have to acquire new skills. Organisations endure the loss of certain skills that are not easy to replace and bear the cost of recruitment and performance level equal to the person who has the left the organisation. Employee turnover is a major component that destabilises the performance of organisations. Government departments in South Africa have been struggling with the issue of retaining skilled employees, as they have been moving to better paying corporate organisations in the private sector. When employees depart from an organisation, the remaining employees tend to perform additional work until another employee is recruited, which influences the performance of the organisation. The study aims to assess the effect of employee turnover on performance at the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) and make recommendations on how to reduce employee turnover and improve performance at the department. The study’s objectives are to identify the factors that cause employee turnover and identify performance challenges faced by the DAC as a whole because of employee turnover. The study will benefit DAC and other government departments in South Africa to enhance performance. The study is exploratory and descriptive in nature. The study undertook mixed methods approach, which is qualitative, and quantitative research design. For data collection, a structured questionnaire was used that comprised of closed-ended and open-ended questions, and 127 KZN DAC employees participated in the study. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The findings show that the causes of employee turnover at the DAC were a lack of career advancement, lack of promotion, unsatisfactory salary, unsatisfactory working conditions, and work stress. Additionally, the performance challenges were wastage of resources, reduction in work productivity, disruptions in service delivery, increased workload and spending too much time training new staff. The study recommended that the Department should improve on mechanisms of getting feedback from its staff members regarding problems that have been identified as causes of high staff turnover rates.
Leadership development : is this skill important for students at UKZN?
(2018) Naidoo, Shushentha.; Majola, Brian Kwazi.
There are essential skills that contribute to the growth and development of individuals, and a large number of individual and collective bodies consider one of these skills to be that of leadership development. At tertiary level, the development of both students and their skills are considered critical, as tertiary institutions play a role in developing young individuals to become future leaders. Much benefit can be achieved from having students vested with leadership abilities, which would directly contribute, to the success of societies. However, minimal research has been done on this subject at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. This directed the research questions and the main objective of the study to the investigation of the importance of leadership development for students. Literature has pointed out that there has been a shift in developing countries with the expansion and improvements of its higher education, with this addressing student services that create for empowerment, growth, and emotional development. Research has shown that leadership is one activity that can influence, develop and groom individuals that employers’ seek and which societies desire. The research topic allowed for both an exploratory and descriptive investigation. The research questions were rooted from the qualitative design of the study and further directed the sample design that was used for this investigation. The sample design had taken on a non-probability technique and respondents were selected purposively. This investigation made use of a questionnaire as its primary data collection instrument. Using a cross-sectional approach, the questionnaire was administrated to 45 respondents. Data was analysed in two parts, firstly the demographics of the respondents and thereafter closed-ended questions and open-ended questions were analysed with reference to the research aims of the study. Statistical software and content analysis was used to analyse the data. Significant findings pointed to students being aware of the importance of student leadership, and their perceptions reflected the need for student leadership development at the university. Findings showed that the university does cater for leadership development however; the respondents revealed that more should be done for this skill development.
Relationships between work-life balance practices and retention of academics at a South African University.
(2017) Bodhlyera, Ruth.; Majola, Brian Kwazi.
The study examined the relationship between work-life balance (WLB) practices and the retention of academic staff at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg campus. WLB practices have the ability to improve employee retention and this study sought to determine if perceptions on the University’s WLB practices by academics have any impact on their decision to stay or leave the organisation. The retention of academic staff is of paramount importance to every institute of higher learning. With the current exodus of academics from one institute to another, universities are faced with a mounting task of retaining this group of individuals for their survival and success. In order to carry out the stated evaluation a mixed method design was employed to gather primary data. Two non-probability sampling techniques were employed in the study. Convenient sampling for quantitative data with a sample size of N=111 and purposive sampling N=5 for the qualitative data. The key findings of the research are that there is a negative relationship between the existence and awareness of WLB programmes among academics and their intention to leave. Regression analysis indicated that a unit increase in WLB will positively increase organisational commitment by 0.349 units as measured on the 5-point Likert scale (regression coefficient=0.349, p-value<0.001). The study also established, through exploratory factor analysis, that staff retention can be factored into three dimensions, namely, Work Related Frustration or Dissatisfaction, Job Searching Drive and Risk Taking. If levels of these three dimensions are determined, then one will have a picture of how intent on leaving is academic employee. To university management, this implies that, when crafting retention strategies, they need to recognise how WLB practices can impact employee’s organisational commitment and retention in institutions of higher learning. The study managed to contribute to literature by providing new knowledge that helps to address challenges of retaining employees in organisations especially academic staff in universities.
The role of employee motivation in overcoming high rate of brain drain in the Lesotho Public Service.
(2017) Monyane, Likeleli Josephine.; Majola, Brian Kwazi.
This study aims to find out how employee motivation can assist to overcome high rate of brain drain in the Lesotho Public Service. Employee motivation refers to the process of boosting the morale of employees to encourage them to willingly give their best in accomplishing assigned tasks. Brain drain is the departure of skilled migrants from their place of origin to other countries to find jobs. Brain Drain weakens the structure of employment because it affects the performance of the home countries in term of economic growth and also causes huge losses to the human capital. The Lesotho Public Service is severely affected by brain drain. The country holds population of 2.1 million, of which 14 per cent, around 135,000, of its professionals continue to migrate and take up citizenship of other countries. The study tries to find out whether there are policies that address brain drain in the Lesotho public service and the extent to which these policies are being implemented. It identifies fields of professions that are mostly affected by brain drain. It also investigates whether there are policies that address employee motivation and how well they implemented in the Lesotho public service. The previous studies on brain drain and employee motivation in Lesotho were only focused on the health sector. There were few studies on other professionals such as teachers, lawyers, accountants and engineers yet they do migrate in large numbers and there was a gap in knowledge on the factors that cause their migration. The study covers different fields of professions that are affected by brain drain in the Lesotho public service and also evaluates how employee motivation can help to curb brain drain. The study followed a quantitative approach. The target population was composed employees from the Ministry of Local government, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Development planning. The sample was made up of 230 employees. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 for Windows was used for data analysis. Not sure why the number line was showing in text The study findings revealed that Lesotho government must enact policies that address brain drain, revise employee salaries and their working environment, provide training, recognise good performance and depoliticise the public service.
Women's representation and participation in the era of decentralisation.
(2015) Majola, Brian Kwazi.; Nzimakwe, Thokozani Ian.
The issue of women has been very complex when it comes to representation and decentralisation of power by governments in democratically organised societies. Decentralisation has been associated with good governance, as it brings government closer to the people; about half of whom are women. Studies have shown that women participate in greater numbers in local government to fight against under-representation in decision-making processes. This study focused on South African local government and investigated women’s representation and participation in the era of decentralisation. The main aim of the study was to investigate the extent to which women are represented and participating at local government level. The further objectives of the study were to establish the impact of women's representation and participation in decision-making processes at local government level, and to explore successful factors contributing to increased representation and participation of women at local government level. A qualitative approach was adopted and more than one hundred councillors were interviewed from the targeted population. The researcher interviewed councillors from different political parties in different municipalities as well as independent ward councillors. The findings have shown that although women are the majority at local government level, the number of women ward councillors was low. The study noted that politics is still male dominated. This is exacerbated by the historical background of the two provinces, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. Very little has been done by the political parties and other stakeholders in terms of supporting women councillors. The findings showed that no training or strategies are in place to empower women and political parties are not grooming women for representation and participation at local government level. It was also noted that women councillors are treated the same and no gender issues were entertained separately by the council. Findings indicated that the public perception concerning the role of councillors has been a challenge together with high unemployment and poverty level.