Positive employment relations and organisational outcomes : the role of the psychological contract and employability / Jakobus Petrus van der Nest

• Main Author: Van der Nest, Jakobus Petrus
• Language: en
• Published: North West University 2015
• Subjects: Psychological contract fulfilment; Psychological contract violation; Job satisfaction; Organisational citizenship behaviour; Turnover intention; Internal employability; External employability; Moderator
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10394/13092

Globally competitive businesses have gone through a lot of change over the last few years, even decades. Organisations need to keep abreast with what is happening around them in order for them to reach their strategic targets. Over the past few years, many organisations realised that their most valuable assets are their employees and the knowledge that they possess. The main key to retaining employees is nested in a positive employment relationship. Current organisations, and more specifically mining organisations, are encountering great difficulty in maintaining a positive relationship with their employees; the numerous strikes bearing testimony to this. Some of these strikes lasted for long periods and one even ended in lives being lost. These days, many mining companies find themselves in escalating financial turmoil, due to human capital problems resulting in labour unrest and subsequent inoperativeness. Therefore, establishing and maintaining a positive employment relationship is of cardinal importance in recruiting and retaining quality employees who will give the organisation a competitive edge. One factor that contributes greatly to a positive employment relationship which is conducive towards promoting positive individual and organisational outcomes is the psychological contract. Fulfilment of the psychological contract where employers offer employees opportunities for personal growth, career advancement, and a supportive work environment will lead to employees experiencing job satisfaction, organisational citizenship behaviour and propensity to remain with the organisation. Violation of the psychological contract, however, will lead to discontent, resulting in increased turnover propensity. The way in which employees perceive their own employability might also have an effect on their decision whether or not to stay with the organisation that has violated their psychological contracts. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of the psychological contract and employability in a mining organisation and to determine the outcomes thereof. A quantitative approach was used to gather data. The questionnaires were distributed to employees (N = 205) across all levels within a mining organisation. The measuring instruments used were the Psychological Contract Inventory, Violations of Psychological Contract Questionnaire, Employability Scale, Job Satisfaction Scale, Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Scale and Turnover Intention Scale. Results in Article 1 (Chapter 2) showed that job satisfaction displayed a strong, positive relationship with psychological contract fulfilment and with organisational citizenship behaviour. Job dissatisfaction impacted turnover intention negatively. Furthermore, psychological contract fulfilment had an indirect positive impact on low turnover intention and organisational citizenship behaviour via job satisfaction. Article 2 (Chapter 3) showed that external employability displayed a strong, positive relationship with internal employability; whereas psychological contract violation had a significant positive relationship with turnover intention. It was further found that external employability moderated the relationship between psychological contract violation and turnover intention. === MCom (Labour Relations Management), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014