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

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found that labour turnover is high amongst knowledge workers who perceive that they cannot influence their work environment and where they are not growing. The findings also pointed to the fact that knowledge workers are highly mobile due to the high demand of their skills. All these factors were cited in earlier sections of the chapter thus showing consistency between causes of labour turnover globally and trends in South Africa. 2.4 Retention Strategies used to Attract, Develop and Retain Knowledge Workers Studies similar to those conducted by Hoosain (1999) and Kinnear (1999) on factors that influence retention were conducted amongst specialists in regulatory institutions in the Caribbean by Downes and Husbands (2003), regulatory agencies in developing countries (World Bank, 2004) and by Armstrong and Murlis (2004) among <strong>MBA</strong> graduates from leading United States (US) business schools. Organisations formulate and implement various strategies to influence knowledge workers to stay. The following subsection examines a number of these strategies. 2.4.1 Development of the learning organisation The concept of a learning organisation was introduced by Senge in the 1990s to describe an organisation that was motivated by innovation and empowerment of employees in the new economy (Senge, 1990). The learning organisation has its origins in companies like Shell, where Arie de Geus described learning as the only sustainable competitive advantage (Senge, 1990). The Learning Organisation is seen as a response to an increasingly unpredictable and dynamic business environment. For Dixon (1994), the essence of organisational learning is the ability to use the amazing mental capacity of all its members to create the kind of processes that will improve its capacity to continually transform itself. Senge (1990:4) defined the learning organisation as an "organisation where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to learn together". Put succinctly, learning organizations have systems, mechanisms and processes in place that are used to continually enhance their capabilities and those who work with it or for it, to achieve 32
sustainable objectives both for themselves, their team members and the communities in which they participate. The important points to note about this definition are that learning organisations: • are adaptive to their external environment; • continually enhance their capability to adapt; • develop collective as well as individual learning; • use the results of learning to achieve better results. In addition to these distinctive features, the learning organisation has five major characteristics that distinguishes it from ordinary organisations, namely the existence of a shared vision upon which everyone in the firm agrees and labour in its pursuit; discarding old ways of thinking and the standard routines used for solving problems; linking organisational processes, activities, functions, and interactions with the environment as part of a system of interrelationships, that is, encourages interaction across boundaries; open communication across vertical and horizontal boundaries without fear of criticism or punishment; and, setting aside fragmented departmental interests to work together to achieve the organisation's shared vision (Senge, 1990). Following these characteristics breeds success. These points are important to capture and understand if an organisation intends to retain its key employees. Organisations that seek to continuously improve their employee value proposition stand a better chance of retaining key talent. By becoming a learning organisation, the firm will have the ability to provide flexibility to cope with dynamically changing situations and allow knowledge workers to respond with initiative based on customer needs and not be constrained by business processes established for different circumstances (Dixon, 1994). With the pace of change ever quickening, the need to develop mechanisms for continuous learning and innovation is greater than ever and the learning organisation is the perfect vehicle to attain that. Hamel and Prahaled (1994) cautioned organisations to grow a broader range of managerial beliefs and a greater repertoire of managerial actions in order to cope with a more complex and competitive environment. This will enable them to organise around knowledge workers, honouring their need to feel in control, to overcome challenges and to embrace lifelong learning. The result will be successfully retaining employees for longer. 33
Page 1 and 2: AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION OF THE
Page 3 and 4: Declaration I, Thami Ignatius Nompu
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: ecruiters. In the United States top
Page 51 and 52: 2.5 The Work Dimension According to
Page 53 and 54: environment is more conducive to hi
Page 55 and 56: improved productivity and a longer
Page 57 and 58: 2.7.1 Quality of leadership Quality
Page 59 and 60: leave an organisation because senio
Page 61 and 62: 2.8.3 Capacity Building In an attem
Page 63 and 64: for staff working for regulatory in
Page 65 and 66: 3.1 Introduction CHAPTER 3: RESEARC
Page 67 and 68: inefficiencies of management may le
Page 69 and 70: 2004). Furthermore, because the int
Page 71 and 72: According to Walonick (2004), one o
Page 73 and 74: contained section one of the questi
Page 75 and 76: Wisniewski (2002) describes reliabi
Page 77 and 78: Of the 34 respondents, there were m
Page 79 and 80: As indicated in Figure 3.4, of the
Page 81 and 82: 3.8.7 Number of previous years work
Page 83 and 84: 3.8.9 Divisional distribution This
Page 85 and 86: The Chi test was used to test furth
Page 87 and 88: generated and these are attached as
Page 89 and 90: to a leader who believes in their v
Page 91 and 92: Senge (1990) introduced the concept
Page 93 and 94: According to the literature once kn
Page 95 and 96: 4.3.1 Job enrichment Seventy six pe
Page 97 and 98: 4.3.3 Control over work assignments
Page 99 and 100:
4.3.5 Challenging work For 70% of t
Page 101 and 102:
and RERA are continental initiative
Page 103 and 104:
Table 4.17: Exchange programmes wit
Page 105 and 106:
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
Page 125 and 126:
Dumas, J. and Redish, J. (1999). A
Page 127 and 128:
Kaye, B. and Jordan-Evans, S. (1999
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National Energy Regulator, (2006).
Page 131 and 132:
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
Page 139 and 140:
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
Page 149 and 150:
Table 26: Job enrichment Table 27:
Page 151 and 152:
Table 31: Adequate remuneration, be
Page 153 and 154:
Table 37: Management that values in
Page 155:
Table 43: Reputation of the organis
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