No abstract

The research aimed at assessing management's personal attitudes and behaviour on HIV & AIDS at the work place in Gweru urban industries, Midlands Province in Zimbabwe. A qualitative survey was conducted on three private organisations in Gweru. Due to the sensitivity of the information of HIV & AIDS names of the organisations will not be published. Stratified random sampling was employed to come up with a sample size of 30 respondents. Findings revealed that indeed management was not personally involved with HIV & AIDS programs at workplace and their behaviour and attitudes were not in support of an HIV & AIDS free generation. The research concluded that there was need for people in positions to personalise HIV & AIDS in the workplace. The research recommended that management should be actively involved in HIV & AIDS at the work place as leading by example will help influence the employees to take HIV & AIDS seriously which will eventually help improve organisational culture and conduct of employees in the workplace.

For organizations to measure the performance of its employees there is a need to have key performance indicators and performance standards set. The current study at Gweru and Kwekwe City Councils in Zimbabwe assessed eight (8) performance aspects, which are quality work, employee output, communication and dependability (customer), controlling of costs (financial), planning, team working, problem solving and technical understanding (internal methods/organization procedure) and leadership management (learning and growth potential). The study was a quantitative descriptive survey that allowed managers to appraise employee performance. All 32 line managers participated in the research, and 400 employees were selected using stratified random sampling by departments, as employees reported to the same managers. The constructs that measured employee performance were reliable with Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficients ranging from problem analysis and resolution (0.734), employee controlling costs (0.794), planning and organizing (0.796), employee output (0.778), employee communication (0.823), employee leadership (0.8333) and employee dependability (0.861). Generally, employee performance with regard to quality service for customer needs, financials, internal procedures and learning and growth was low. The technical understanding attribute of performance among employees as determined by managers had the least mean score (12.4%), indicating that public sector organizations like city councils in Zimbabwe, may still engage 'Rocks' kind of employees. Rocks are the kind of employees who are incompetent because they do not have the technical understanding to do the job and they seem not to care. It is recommended that managers in Gweru and Kwekwe city councils should come up with rigorous training and development policies and practices that help employees acquire relevant skills. Performance indicators should be clearly communicated to all employees. The Gweru and Kwekwe city councils should develop a performance management system that is linked to their performance goals. Constant performance feedback should be given to both managers and employees.

Interrogating the precariat who soldier on in the face of numerous challenges in the agricultural and hospitality industries in Zimbabwe has become necessary in the light of the dilapidating economic environment in Zimbabwe. This study sought to unveil the factors behind the precariat who soldier on despite challenges faced at the workplace. A sample size of 16 participants was chosen from each company through convenience and purposive sampling. Data were gathered using a combination of unstructured interviews, content analysis of secondary sources and self-administered questionnaires. A thematic analysis approach was used to interpret and analyse the study findings. With the use of the employment strain model, the research established that despite the myriad of challenges faced by the precariat, there are motivating factors that help them to endure all the hardships. The findings revealed that entrepreneurial activities, counterproductive behaviours, and working hard helped to endure hardships. Organisations are on the receiving end of poor performance, poor quality service, high costs and high accident rates, among other things. Recommendations are for the companies to develop precarious employment policies to govern the working conditions for the precariat, to adhere to the existing legal frameworks for precarious work, and for the HR department to advise workers and management that the precariat should be treated equitably and enjoy workplace representation and protection against unfair labour practices.

The research was an assessment on the uptake level of a fully integrated HRIS at Midlands State University in Zimbabwe. The research was aimed at assessing at if the university human resource department has adopted a fully integrated HRIS, the challenges being faced as well as the benefits accrued. A combination of research instruments like interviews and participant observation were used in an effort to elicit as much information as possible which was articulated in detail under research method. A total of six out of a population of seven participated in the research and these were selected using the purposive sampling method. It was discovered that the Human Resourced Department had not adopted a fully integrated HRIS but nevertheless they had incorporated some of its areas (i.e salary administration, advertising, employee personal record) in the current system. The department was still working on having the system fully integrated to incorporate areas like logging in of the employees, the process succession planning, the training, the development that can ensure a cohesive system. The major challenge was that the employees within the human resource department were not fully knowledgeable on how the system works due to the fact that they only have basic ideas and therefore could not implement a fully integrated HRIS. The researchers recommend that more training programmes should be conducted and experts in the area should teach the employees on how the system operates.