Thami Nompula MBA Dissertation March 2007 - Rhodes eResearch ...

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ABSTRACT Knowledge workers are the nucleus of the modern economy. Increasingly organisations are relying on this category of worker for their competitiveness and survival. To ensure that organisations succeed, they need to retain knowledge workers in a competitive labour market characterised by low supply of specialists and high demand for their skills. In the war for talent, firms are always faced with the challenge to retain top performing employees. Employees always have a choice to leave the employer whenever any form of unresolved dissatisfaction sets in. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) is facing a similar challenge. A high number of employees are resigning at an alarming rate. The success of NERSA is dependent on its ability to attract, develop and retain specialist in disciplines such as engineering, economics, law, customer services, accounting, information technology and other support professions. This study used a quantitative survey method to measure and analyse the responses to the questionnaire that aimed to identify and understand factors that cause labour turnover among knowledge workers and, secondly, to gain insight into the major factors that may influence the retention of knowledge workers at NERSA. The research was designed from a post-positivist paradigm. Data was gathered through the administration of a close-ended questionnaire to NERSA’s 59 knowledge workers, 34 of whom responded by completing and returning the questionnaire – a 58% response rate. The study is not an attempt to make generalisations about knowledge workers in the modern economy, but to seek to understand factors that are peculiar to NERSA in terms of their influence in retaining knowledge workers in this specific environment. The study found that, at NERSA, the broader needs of knowledge workers relate to development, career progression, sense of achievement, freedom to plan, goal orientation, quality of leadership, recognition for contribution and adequate reward packages, control over work assignments and job enrichment. Differences among the various categories of employees underscore the need to treat knowledge workers as individuals. The study concludes that knowledge workers need discretionary space to apply their individual talents to their work and to be recognised and rewarded adequately. Various possible strategies can help retain knowledge workers such coaching and mentoring staff, focusing on the individual and understanding expectations. ii
Declaration I, Thami Ignatius Nompula, hereby declare that this dissertation is my own original work, that all reference sources have been accurately reported and acknowledged, and that this dissertation has not previously, in its entirety or in part, been submitted to any University for assessment purposes. ________________________________ _______________________ Thami Ignatius Nompula Date iii
Page 1: AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION OF THE
Page 5 and 6: Acknowledgements A number of people
Page 7 and 8: 2.2.4 Definition of knowledge work
Page 9 and 10: 3.6.2 Factors that influenced the c
Page 11 and 12: CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMEND
Page 13 and 14: Table 4.21 Sense of achievement ana
Page 15 and 16: LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A: The
Page 17 and 18: 1.1 Introduction CHAPTER 1: INTRODU
Page 19 and 20: 1.3 The National Energy Regulator T
Page 21 and 22: 1.5 The Importance of Knowledge Wor
Page 23 and 24: continuous success. South Africa, a
Page 25 and 26: 1.6.2 Cost of turnover and opportun
Page 27 and 28: 1.6.5 Staff Turnover at the Nationa
Page 29 and 30: 2.1 Introduction CHAPTER 2: LITERAT
Page 31 and 32: Knowledge-based organisations rely
Page 33 and 34: 2.2.5 Definition of a knowledge wor
Page 35 and 36: • Knowledge workers tend to work
Page 37 and 38: esent unnecessary supervision; they
Page 39 and 40: equipment, exist and are worth cult
Page 41 and 42: the organisation that cause or are
Page 43 and 44: Although knowledge workers may be a
Page 45 and 46: Guest’s (2001) findings. The Hay
Page 47 and 48: ecruiters. In the United States top
Page 49 and 50: sustainable objectives both for the
Page 51 and 52: 2.5 The Work Dimension According to
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environment is more conducive to hi
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improved productivity and a longer
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2.7.1 Quality of leadership Quality
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leave an organisation because senio
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2.8.3 Capacity Building In an attem
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for staff working for regulatory in
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3.1 Introduction CHAPTER 3: RESEARC
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inefficiencies of management may le
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2004). Furthermore, because the int
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According to Walonick (2004), one o
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contained section one of the questi
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Wisniewski (2002) describes reliabi
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Of the 34 respondents, there were m
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As indicated in Figure 3.4, of the
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3.8.7 Number of previous years work
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3.8.9 Divisional distribution This
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The Chi test was used to test furth
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generated and these are attached as
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to a leader who believes in their v
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Senge (1990) introduced the concept
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According to the literature once kn
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4.3.1 Job enrichment Seventy six pe
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4.3.3 Control over work assignments
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4.3.5 Challenging work For 70% of t
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and RERA are continental initiative
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Table 4.17: Exchange programmes wit
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either work for two years for NERSA
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4.5.1 Sense of achievement and numb
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and Armstrong and Murlis’ (2004)
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Table 4.25 Freedom to plan and exec
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The next chapter explores in greate
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need to create a favourable environ
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5.3.3 Focus on the individual and g
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5.4.1 Factors Analysis: factors tha
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workers’ need for individualism a
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Branham, L. (2005). Keeping the peo
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Dumas, J. and Redish, J. (1999). A
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Kaye, B. and Jordan-Evans, S. (1999
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National Energy Regulator, (2006).
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Sturgess, J. and Guest, D. (2001).
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November 2006 Dear Colleague APPEND
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SECTION 2: FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE Y
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APPENDIX B: SOURCES OF RETENTION VA
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38 Opportunities for feedback, self
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Table 3: Opportunity to achieve per
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Table 9: Information sharing 127 FR
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Table 14: Scope to balance work and
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Table 20: Scope to create desirable
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Table 26: Job enrichment Table 27:
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Table 31: Adequate remuneration, be
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Table 37: Management that values in
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Table 43: Reputation of the organis
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