2026-03-20
Calvin Mabaso
Orientation: Pay transparency has gained prominence as organisations seek to enhance fairness, trust, and talent retention. While international research demonstrates that transparent pay practices shape employee attitudes and behaviours, limited research has examined how transparency is experienced in contexts marked by historical inequality, such as in South Africa. Research purpose: This study explores how pay transparency influences employee attraction and retention in South African organisations by examining employees’ and human resource professionals’ lived experiences of transparency practices. Motivation for the study: Despite legislative efforts to promote equitable remuneration, wage inequality and distrust surrounding pay decisions persist in South Africa, which is shaped by apartheid-era labour legacies. Qualitative research examining how transparency is interpreted within this socio-historical context, and how these interpretations shape fairness perceptions and retention decisions, remains limited. Research approach/design and method: An interpretivist qualitative approach was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 participants across multiple industries. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify patterns and shared meanings. Main findings: Five themes emerged: perceived fairness and trust; clarity in reward decision-making; preferred transparency principles; career growth and development; and managing internal pay equity. Pay transparency influenced attraction and retention primarily through procedural and informational justice, rather than distributive justice alone. Participants valued structured openness regarding pay principles, criteria, and salary ranges, without necessarily disclosing individual salaries. Practical/managerial implications: Organisations should adopt structured transparency models and strengthen explanatory communication to enhance trust and retention outcomes. Contribution/value-add: The study provides context-specific evidence from South Africa, demonstrating the centrality of procedural and informational justice in shaping employee responses to pay transparency.
2026-03-17
Mineshree Naidoo-Chetty, Marieta du Plessis, Jurgen Becker
Orientation: The transformation of the academic landscape, exacerbated by COVID-19, creates an urgent need to understand escalating demands on academics and how resources could help overcome these challenges. Research purpose: This study tested a structural model examining how job demands and resources directly and indirectly influence employee outcomes through burnout and work engagement in South African higher education institutions. Motivation for the study: While evidence links work engagement, burnout, and job demands–resources (JD-R) across workplaces, these relationships remain under-explored in South African academia, particularly during COVID-19. Research approach/design and method: Using a quantitative design, respondents ( N = 309) from several South African universities completed six instruments assessing burnout, work engagement, job resources (autonomy, meaningful work, organisational support) and job demands (workload, online teaching, work-home interaction and publication pressure). Structural equation modelling evaluated model fit and tested hypothesised relationships. Main findings: High job demands significantly increased burnout, while job resources promoted engagement and reduced burnout. Results highlight the need for institutional strategies to alleviate excessive demands while reinforcing key resources. Practical/managerial implications: Institutions should develop targeted interventions enhancing job resources, clarifying roles, and creating supportive environments, especially during organisational change. Contribution/value-add: This study advances understanding of burnout and engagement in South African higher education, challenging simplistic JD-R model applications and contributing to theoretical development and practical interventions tailored to South African academics.
2026-01-30
Louis van Tonder, Roslyn T. De Braine, Waliu M. Adegbite
Orientation: Work identity (WI) is developed and influenced by various factors in the workplace, which could include interdepartmental conflict (IC) and organisational trust (OT). Research purpose: To explore the effect that IC has on WI and the mediating role OT plays in the relationship between IC and WI within a temporary service organisation. Motivation for the study: There is a lack of empirical research examining the relationships that interdepartmental conflict has with work identity and organisational trust. Research approach/design and method: A quantitative, cross-sectional field survey was used to gather data. Applying a stratified sampling technique, the population of N = 952 yielded a response rate of 31.6%, amounting to n = 302. SmartPLS software was used to analyse the data and conceptual model using the partial least squares (PLS) technique. Main findings: The results revealed a weak relationship between interdepartmental conflict and WI, as well as a significant negative relationship between IC and OT. The results also showed a positive relationship between OT and WI. The mediation analysis results indicated that OT significantly and positively mediates the relationship between IC and WI. Practical/managerial implications: Leadership in organisations needs to be aware of the valuable impact of WI on organisational outcomes, and that it is negatively affected by IC and positively influenced by OT. Contribution/value-add: No previous WI studies could be found that tested the mediating role of OT in the relationship between IC and WI. Although studies have looked at WI, IC and OT in various settings and along with other variables, none have considered the interrelationship among these three variables.
2025-11-26
Lené I. Graupner
Orientation: Managing mental health in the workplace has gained considerable attention in the field of industrial and organisational psychology, particularly as an essential element to managing employee well-being in South Africa. Research purpose: This study reviewed a decade of progress made in training industrial psychologists as workplace counsellors, as well as in identifying the best practices and future directions for addressing workplace mental health needs. Motivation for the study: Despite its growing recognition, significant gaps remain in training practitioners to ensure their preparedness in managing mental health in the workplace. Research approach/design and method: An integrative review was conducted on the author’s workplace counselling project, spanning from 2014 to 2025. A total of N = 23 studies met the inclusion criteria. Study characteristics and key findings were grouped into three domains – counselling models, trauma management frameworks and counsellor training methods. Main findings: Key findings showed progress in addressing training inadequacies, resulting in a revised edition of the framework for inspiring growth 2.0, which integrates mental health initiatives at individual, group and organisational intervention levels. Practical/managerial implications: A comprehensive workplace counselling training initiative incorporating multilevel approaches might enhance industrial psychologists’ competency and readiness in addressing workplace mental health challenges. Contribution/value-add: This review provides insight into developments in workplace counselling, including a review of past research. These practices guide future training of industrial psychologists in counselling practices.