Burnout and work engagement of South African blue-collar workers: The development of a new scale

Research in South Africa on work-related well-being (specifically burnout and work engagement) has focused mainly on white-collar workers. Although blue-collar workers form a major part of the South African work force, no valid and reliable instruments exist to measure burnout and work engagement of blue-collar workers. The objectives of this study were (1) to develop a work-related well-being scale that measures burnout and work engagement of blue-collar workers; (2) to test the newly developed items using Rasch analysis; and (3) to test the factorial validity and reliability of the new scale. A cross-sectional survey design was used in a convenience sample of blue-collar workers in different industries in South Africa (N=2769). Following scale development procedures, a scale was developed to measure burnout (exhaustion and cynicism) and work engagement(vigour and dedication). Using Rasch analyses, two items were eliminated, resulting in an 18-item instrument. Five items were retained to measure exhaustion, five items to measure cynicism, four items to measure vigour and four items to measure dedication. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that a twofactor model with two higher-order factors – burnout (consisting of exhaustion and cynicism) and work engagement (consisting of vigour and dedication) – fit the data best. All the scales were reliable

Callings, work role fit, psychological meaningfulness and work engagement among teachers in Zambia

Our aim in this study was to investigate the relationships among a calling orientation, work role fit, psychological meaningfulness and work engagement of teachers in Zambia. A quantitative approach was followed and a cross-sectional survey was used. The sample (n = 150) included 75 basic and 75 secondary school teachers in the Choma district of Zambia. The Work Role Fit Scale, Work-Life Questionnaire, Psychological Meaningfulness Scale, and Work Engagement Scale were administered. Structural equation modelling confirmed a model in which a calling orientation impacted psychological meaningfulness and work engagement significantly. A calling orientation impacted work engagement directly, while such work orientation impacted psychological meaningfulness indirectly via work role fit. The results suggest that it is necessary to address the work orientation and work role fit of teachers in Zambia as pathways to psychological meaningfulness and work engagement.These results have implications for the recruitment, selection, training, and development of teachers in Zambia.Keywords: Africa, calling, engagement, meaning, teachers, work role fi

Job satisfaction in a chemical factory

Subjective well-being is regarded as an important goal given thepositive outcomes thereof for individuals. Job satisfaction is animportant indicator of the subjective well-being of individuals. Theobjectives of this study were to evaluate the use of the MinnesotaSatisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) for diff erent language groupsworking in a chemical factory, and to investigate the relationshipbetween job satisfaction and demographic variables. The studywas carried out with a sample (N = 583) representing diff erent joblevels in a chemical factory. The 20-item MSQ and a biographicalquestionnaire were administered. The results confi rmed that jobsatisfaction consists of two internally consistent factors, namelyextrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction. The factorial invariance ofthe MSQ was confi rmed for African languages and an Afrikaansand English group. Language was the only demographic variablethat statistically signifi cantly predicted extrinsic job satisfaction.Intrinsic job satisfaction was statistically signifi cantly predicted bytwo demographic variables, namely age and qualifi cation

Linking employee burnout to medical aid provider expenditure

Background. Healthcare has become a major expense. Burnout and its connection with psychological and physical health is well researched,yet little research has been done on the connection between burnout and financial outcomes, specifically as indicated by the costs incurredby medical aid providers as a result of members’ claims.Objective. To investigate the connection between employee burnout and medical aid claims and expenditure data in a sample from theprivate sector.Method. A cross-sectional design was used. The sample comprised 3 182 participants. The available objective medical aid expendituredata connected with each participant were: total insured benefits, general practitioner visits, specialist visits, general practitioner insuredbenefits, and claims for medicine. A low and a high burnout group were extracted, based on comorbidity of the two core components ofburnout. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was then applied to investigate the differences in estimated marginal means of the expenditureson the low and the high burnout contrast groups, while controlling for age and gender.Results. The high burnout group frequented a general practitioner more often, and the medical aid provider expenditure was nearly doublethat of the low burnout group, on all the variables. Specialist visits did not show a significant result.Conclusion. High burnout is associated with a higher expenditure by a medical aid provider, compared with low burnout, per member.Stakeholders should therefore address burnout to reduce expenditure and promote health

Thiol-yne crosslinked triarylamine hole transport layers for solution-processable organic light-emitting diodes

Triarylamine derivatives are widely used for hole transport in organic optoelectronic devices, but their excellent solubility in many common solvents limits their use for multi-layer device fabrication from solution. In this work, a novel process to the formation of conjugated triarylamine polymer thin-film networks by crosslinking of thiol-substituted and alkyne-substituted triarylamines is investigated. After deposition of the monomer blend and crosslinking under UV exposure, an insoluble thiol-yne polymer network is formed. The applicability of the thiol-yne polymer network as hole-transport layers is exemplified on organic light-emitting diodes. Its implementation reduces the device degradation as compared to OLEDs comprising hole-transport layers from PEDOT:PSS

Job insecurity and the emotional and behavioural consequences thereof

The aim of this study was to investigate the relations among negative emotional reactions (reduced affective organisational commitment and higher job-related stress), and behavioural reactions to job insecurity (coping behaviour). A non-experimental correlation research design was used and the participants were a convenience sample of employees working for a private hospital in Gauteng, South Africa (N = 242). The measuring instruments included the Job Insecurity Inventory, the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire, the Experience of Work and Life Circumstances Questionnaire, and the COPE Questionnaire. The results showed that job insecurity was associated with job-related stress. Affective job insecurity was associated with detachment from the organisation, while cognitive job insecurity was associated with low identification with the organisation. Experiences of affective job insecurity, job-related stress, and low organisational commitment were associated with the use of avoidance coping strategies. Employees who experienced cognitive job insecurity (compared to those who experienced lower cognitive job insecurity) were less inclined to apply active coping strategies, even if their job-related stress was low

Stress appraisal, coping, and work engagement among police recruits: an exploratory study.

This study investigated the influence of stress appraisal and coping on work engagement levels (Absorption, Vigour, and Dedication) of police recruits. Participants were 387 men, ages 20 to 33 yr. (M = 24.1, SD = 2.4), in their last month of academy training before becoming police officers. Partially in support of predictions, work engagement was associated with Stressor control perceived, but not Stress intensity experienced over a self-selected stressor. Although the three dimensions of work engagement were explained by Stressor control and coping, Absorption was the dimension better explained by these variables. Police recruits reporting higher Absorption, Vigour, and Dedication reported using more Active coping and less Behavioural disengagement. Results showed that stress appraisal and coping are important variables influencing work engagement among police recruits. Findings suggested that future applied interventions fostering work engagement among police recruits should reinforce perceptions of control over a stressor as well as Active coping strategies

Response of an International Triticale Collection to Puccinia triticina and Puccinia recondita sensu stricto and Assessment of Temperature Sensitivity in Leaf Rust Isolates

Triticale is derived from a cross between wheat and rye and the leaf rust pathogen of wheat, Puccinia triticina (Pt), and that of rye, P. recondita sensu stricto (Pr), can potentially cause disease in this crop. Recent studies showed that wheat rust fungi could adapt to warmer temperatures. In this paper, we report on the comparative virulence of three Pt races and one Pr isolate (all were collected in South Africa) on triticale as well as their in vitro response to temperature. Seedling infection types (SITs) of 169 triticale entries to Pt races 3SA144 (North American code SDDN), 3SA145 (CCPS) and 3SA248 (CFPS) and Pr isolate UVPr2 revealed that 3SA144 is the most virulent with 106 triticale entries found susceptible to this race. The three Pt races were avirulent to the four rye cultivars included as controls. UVPr2 was avirulent on all the triticale entries and 49 entries were considered resistant to the Pt races tested. Freshly harvested urediniospores of the above isolates were tested at constant temperature regimes of 10 °C, 22.5 °C and 35 °C to study germination characteristics. Mean urediniospore germination percentages as determined for 3SA144 (61.3%) and UVPr2 (62.6%) were significantly lower when compared to 3SA145 (83.7%) and 3SA248 (84.9%). Race 3SA144 was most sensitive to the higher temperature regime of 35 °C (5.2% germination). Among the investigated races, 3SA144 showed significantly lower mean germ tube elongation rates at all three incubation temperatures. This is the first report of differences in temperature adaptation between Pt races from SA

Concepts of health and well-being in managers: An organizational study

Global changes and new managerial challenges require new concepts of health and well-being in organizational contexts. In the South African context, health and well-being of managers have gained relevance in organizations and in management sciences. International organizations, in particular, attempt to address the increasing demand for health care and the delivery of health services to their managers. Careful and appropriate health management requires research to evaluate context-specific health concepts and strategies. The purpose and aim of this article is to assess managerial concepts on health and well-being that could be used by the organization to contribute to managerial well-being by implementing health promotion according to managerial needs. At the same time, this article contributes to salutogenetic health research that is very rare with regard to the South African organizational management research

Letter to editor

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