Over the past two decades, scholarly interest in employer branding has strongly increased. Simultaneously, however, employer branding research has developed into a fragmented field with heterogeneous interpretations of the employer branding concept and its scope, which has impeded further theoretical and empirical advancement. To strengthen the foundation for future work, this paper takes a brand equity perspective to review the extant literature and create an integrative model of employer branding. Using an analytical approach, the authors identify 187 articles, which they integrate along different employer brand dimensions and branding strategies: (i) conceptual; (ii) employer knowledge dimensions; (iii) employer branding activities and strategies. On the basis of this review, the authors develop an employer branding value chain model and derive future research avenues as well as practical implications.

https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6773&context=lkcsb_research

Employer branding: A brand equity-based literature review and research agenda

Orientation: Retaining staff with scarce and critical skills in the medical and information technology (IT) industry has become a top priority because of skills shortages. Research purpose: The objectives of the study were to investigate empirically: (1) the relationship between employees’ satisfaction with organisational retention factors (measured by the Retention Factors Scale) and their organisational commitment (measured by the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire) and (2) whether gender, age, race and tenure groups differ significantly in terms of these variables. Motivation for the study: Medical and information technology professionals have specialised and hard to replace skills. They also have strong tendencies to leave their organisations and countries. Understanding the retention factors that will increase their organisational commitment may benefit the organisations who want to retain their valuable talent. Research design, approach and method: The researchers used a cross-sectional survey design to collect data from a purposive sample of 206 staff members who had scarce skills in a South African medical and information technology services company. Correlational and inferential statistics were computed to achieve the objectives. Main findings: The results showed that the participants’ satisfaction with retention factors has a significant relationship with their organisational commitment and that the biographical groups differ significantly in terms of the variables. Practical/managerial implications: The measured retention factors were all associated with human resource management practices that influence employees’ intentions to leave. Contribution/value-add: The results are important to managers who are interested in retaining staff who have scarce skills and provide valuable pointers for designing effective retention strategies.

https://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/12052/sajhrm_v10_n2_a4.pdf?sequence=1

Retention factors in relation to organisational commitment in medical and information technology services.

Orientation: Construction human resource management. Research purpose: The study examines the skilled labour supply in the South African construction industry and determines whether there is a relationship between trade certification, quality of work output and scarce labour skills. Motivation for the study: The rationale for the investigation is based on the view of scholars that a skilled labour shortage is preponderant in the South African construction industry even though there is a high level of youth unemployment in South Africa and that the perceived skills shortage contributes to a decrease in productivity and product quality. Research design, approach and method: The paper reviews relevant literature and employs a mixed method research approach in collecting empirical data from contracting companies within the Western Cape Province of South Africa that are listed on the Construction Industry Development Board contractor register. Main findings: The study demonstrated that there is no shortage of manpower, but there is a shortage of qualified or skilled tradesmen, such as electricians, plumbers, welders, fitters and carpenters, whose professions are more technical and require formal training and certification. The level of supply of skilled tradesmen is attributed to the lack of high-quality basic education, the state of the economy, compulsory certification of tradesmen and an ageing workforce. It was also found that there is a significant relationship between skilled labour shortages and the requirement that labour be certified and that work output is unsatisfactory when there is no certification requirement. Practical/managerial implications: Based on these findings, the study concludes that skilled labour shortages and poor work output quality continue to be experienced in the South African construction industry when workers are unable to obtain formal certification for informal work experience acquired through years of practice on construction sites. Contribution: It is recommended that the South African government establish proactive strategies in the form of a framework for use in evaluating, certifying and grading the informal expertise acquired by workers through years of practice. This recommendation seeks to ensure that the supply of certified craftsmen capable of undertaking and producing high-quality construction work meets demand. Keywords: Artisans; Education; Experience; Expertise; Practice

/pdf/skilled-labour-supply-in-the-south-african-construction-4yh4fbo4n9.pdf

Skilled labour supply in the South African construction industry: The nexus between certification, quality of work output and shortages

ABSTRA C T The objective of the study was to determine whether employees’ satisfaction with retention factors (measured by the Retention Factors Scale) significantly predicted their job embeddedness (measured by the Job Embeddedness Scale). A quantitative survey was conducted on a purposive sample (n=206) of early career medical and information technology services staff, identified as scarce skills in a South African client services company. Retention factors such as training and development, career opportunities, supervisor support and the characteristics of the job (skills variety, challenge and autonomy) were shown to significantly predict the participants’ sense of job embeddedness. Satisfaction with training and development opportunities was the best predictor of organisational fit, while satisfaction with career opportunities was the best predictor of organisational sacrifice. The findings add valuable new knowledge that may be used to inform retention strategies for professional staff with scarce skills in the medical and information technology services sector.

/pdf/satisfaction-with-retention-factors-as-predictors-of-the-job-446xs01z1k.pdf

Satisfaction with retention factors as predictors of the job embeddedness of medical and information technology services staff

With the rise of the ?knowledge for development? paradigm, expert advice has become a prime instrument of foreign aid. At the same time, it has been object of repeated criticism: the chronic failure of ?technical assistance? ? a notion under which advice is commonly subsumed ? has been documented in a host of studies. Nonetheless, international organisations continue to send advisors, promising to increase the ?effectiveness? of expert support if their technocratic recommendations are taken up. This book reveals fundamental problems of expert advice in the context of aid that concern issues of power and legitimacy rather than merely flaws of implementation. Based on empirical evidence from South Africa and Tanzania, the authors show that aid-related advisory processes are inevitably obstructed by colliding interests, political pressures and hierarchical relations that impede knowledge transfer and mutual learning. As a result, recipient governments find themselves caught in a perpetual cycle of dependency, continuously advised by experts who convey the shifting paradigms and agendas of their respective donor governments. For young democracies, the persistent presence of external actors is hazardous: ultimately, it poses a threat to the legitimacy of their governments if their policy-making becomes more responsive to foreign demands than to the preferences and needs of their citizens.

The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer: The Impact of Foreign Aid Experts on Policy-making in South Africa and Tanzania

Orientation: South Africa is currently experiencing a serious shortage of skilled workers. It has a negative effect on South Africa’s economic prospects and on global participation in South Africa (SA). This skills shortage severely affects socioeconomic growth and development in SA. Research purpose: This study focuses on the causes and effects of the skills shortages in South Africa. Motivation for the study: The researchers undertook this study to highlight the role that skilled foreign workers can play in supplementing the shortage of skilled workers in South Africa. The shortage is partly because of the failure of the national education and training system to supply the economy with much-needed skills. Research design, approach and method: The researchers undertook a literature study to identify the nature, extent and effect of skills shortages in South Africa. They consulted a wide range of primary and secondary resources in order to acquire an in-depth understanding of the problem. The article explains the research approach and method comprehensively. It also outlines the research method the researchers used. Main findings: This study shows that several factors cause serious skills shortages in SA. Practical/managerial implications: The researchers mention only two significant implications. Firstly, this article provides a logical description of the nature, extent and effect of skills shortages on the economy. Secondly, it indicates clearly the implications of skills shortages for immigration policy. Contribution/value-add: This study confirms the findings of similar studies the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) conducted. Opening the doors to highly skilled immigrants can broaden the skills pool.

/pdf/the-nature-extent-and-effect-of-skills-shortages-on-skills-323ana8kov.pdf

The nature, extent and effect of skills shortages on skills migration in South Africa

This article reports on leadership and management of a school, and how guidance can assist in the transformation process. The study further examines the effects of a principal’s leadership behaviour on the school’s learning culture in KwaZulu-Natal. Leadership is a critical component and needs to be responsive to the period of rapid socio-economic change and technological development. Significant restructuring of the fundamentals of the South African education and training system has been underway. The challenges brought to schools by restructuring have been cited as reasons for advocating transformational leadership in schools. Transformational leadership is well suited to the challenges of current school restructuring. It has the potential for building high levels of commitment to the complex and uncertain nature of the school reform agenda and for fostering growth in the capacities teachers must develop to respond positively to this agenda.

/pdf/management-and-leadership-in-secondary-schools-in-south-3evrzswlu0.pdf

Christoffel Jacobus Botha

Papers

The nature, extent and effect of skills shortages on skills migration in South Africa

Management and leadership in secondary schools in South Africa