This study was based on the perceptions of lecturers and black CTA students at Unisa, a South African distance education university regarding on factors that contribute to black students’ academic success and failure. The main purposes of the study were to help black CTA students to understand the reasons for success and failure better, and to improve lecturers’ teaching approach(es). The research shows that students and lecturers have divergent views on what factors contribute to academic success or failure and the relative importance of the various factors.
Talent retention and employee turnover are major concerns for higher education institutions (HEIs) because they are losing highly qualified staff to the private sector and to other HEIs that are able to offer better rewards and benefits. The turnover of talented staff is therefore a major concern for the institution under investigation. The retention and voluntary turnover decisions among a workforce of 4 651 employees was thus investigated. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted by means of the objective analysis of organisational data in combination with the structured questionnaire (organisational climate survey). Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied to analyse the data across demographic groups, including age, employment category (academic as well as professional and support), etc. The results indicated that the institution’s turnover rate was acceptable (4.34%) and that dysfunctional turnover was marginal because employees with below-standard performance ratings had voluntarily resigned. Positive correlations and significant beta (b) values were reported between Organisational citizenship, Leadership, My manager and Compensation and the employees’ intent to stay in or to leave the organisation. These organisational climate factors were found to explain approximately 30 per cent of the variance in the employees’ intent to stay in or to leave the organisation. The article recommends that a talent retention tool be developed. In addition, it contributes to the literature on retention and turnover of high-performing employees, as it underscores the importance of measuring employee turnover
The war for talent remains a challenge that many organisations face but more so for distance education institutions to deliver on its mandate to provide effective online academic offerings. The question that remains is: How can intellectual capital be managed effectively in order to recruit and retain talent that is necessary for success? This study was conducted at a mega open and distance learning institution, and this institution has identified talent management as one of the key strategic initiatives to ensure institutional strategic goal attainment and adopted an inclusive/developable talent approach as its framework. The aim of this article is to report on the perceptions of senior line managers regarding their experience with implementing the talent management strategy in their operational areas at the institution. This study adopted a qualitative approach and purposive sampling was used to select interviewees. The population group included chairpersons of 26 talent committees who are senior line managers and 11 of them were interviewed. Participants were of the opinion that policies and strategies do not always support the implementation of talent management in their respective environments. The findings show that although the university embraces the inclusive/developable talent approach in its strategy, the impact thereof is inhibited by a lack of methodological implementation, a lack of integration of supporting Human Resources policies with talent management, and insular line manager discernment.
Against a backdrop of only 337 black chartered accountants in a total of approximately 20 000 in South Africa in 2003, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) is reviewing its current transformation targets for 2005. Information was required to review the obstacles that black trainees in general and accountants in particular experience en route to qualifying. Accounting as a career was investigated from a theoretical point of view. A questionnaire was designed, which focused mainly on problems and barriers in respect of career guidance; funding and bursaries; role models in the profession; knowledge of the profession; and exposure to business. The questionnaire was distributed to all 755 black trainee accountants that were registered with SAICA. A total of 313 questionnaires were returned, representing a response rate of 41,45%. A lack of knowledge about the chartered accountancy profession and careers related to the profession was identified as one of the main reasons for the small number of blacks in the profession. Career guidance at school was stated as the main contributing factor in this regard. A lack of funding and of bursaries was stated as the second most important reason why students do not choose a career in accounting. Other important barriers identified include the limited nature of the work given to trainee accountants to do and the resulting limited work experience that they gain; a lack of black mentors in firms; racial bias on the part of supervisors; and a lack of recognition of and respect for the work completed. Black trainee accountants suggest that academic support programmes should be introduced to assist them to prepare for examinations, a forum should be established for students of Accounting in which they can interact with accounting professionals through workshops; a network group of professional black mentors in the business sector should be formed; and the advancement and retention of black members within the profession should be encouraged. Awareness programmes should be accorded a high priority in the short term.
This article reports on a survey done among registered, enrolled and auxiliary nurses registered with the South African Nursing Council. The survey was carried out in the period from the end of December 1997 to the beginning of 1998. The purpose of the survey was to obtain the views of female nurses on various aspects of the workplace. The important findings were the fact that nurses liked working as part of a team and that this contributed the most to th eir job satisfaction. The item that contributed least to job satisfaction was pay. The most important problems were that they felt that they were not paid enough and that they need better benefits. The majority of nurses were however positive about their jobs and the items the highest on the list of career expectations were job satisfaction, followed by a need for recognition.
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