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Work engagement is a crucial ingredient that cultivates an individual’s physical and general well-being in the workplace. This, in turn, produces organisational effectiveness and contributes to organisational success and sustainability. Concerningly, work engagement remains under-researched in South African higher education institutions. This study investigated the work engagement experiences of employees in a technical services department of a South African institution of higher education. The study employed qualitative research methods and phenomenological research design. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 10 participants. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The findings suggest that employees who have optimal work demands receive adequate support to discharge their work and feel engaged and attached to their jobs. The findings further suggest that personal and job resources contribute to improved engagement levels among employees. Organisations should enhance the work engagement of employees by effectively managing their job demands while providing adequate job and personal resources. This study provides insights into the importance of cultivating work engagement within the workplace and the ways to achieve this. The study further provides guidelines for enhancing engagement by highlighting four elements to consider: workload, skills and self-efficacy, tools and equipment, and supervisor and co-worker support.    

Decent work has become an impetus behind business success and a critical factor for boosting job satisfaction and for alleviating deviant behaviour in the workplace. This study sought to examine the consequences of decent work perception on employee job satisfaction and workplace deviance among casual workers in Zimbabwe transport industry. The study adopted a qualitative research approach embedded in interpretivism paradigm and multiple case-study design. The findings revealed that casual employees experience indecent work characterized by unfair remuneration, job insecurity, and limited employee representation and limited time to rest which affects their overall satisfaction with work. Job dissatisfaction was also found to positively influence negative workplace deviance. An important implication of this study is the need for bus operator companies to understand the value of fostering decent work if they are to have satisfied employees who would be loyal to the organisation and contribute meaningfully to the organisation’s bottom-line. The study is expected to contribute to empirical evidence on the consequences of decent work on job satisfaction and workplace deviance and provide recommendations to human resource practitioners on the essence of addressing workplace deviance and boosting employee job satisfaction through upholding decent work standards in the workplace.

Decent work has become an impetus behind business success and a critical factor for boosting job satisfaction and for alleviating deviant behaviour in the workplace. This study sought to examine the consequences of decent work perception on employee job satisfaction and workplace deviance among casual workers in Zimbabwe transport industry. The study adopted a qualitative research approach embedded in interpretivism paradigm and multiple case-study design. The findings revealed that casual employees experience indecent work characterized by unfair remuneration, job insecurity, and limited employee representation and limited time to rest which affects their overall satisfaction with work. Job dissatisfaction was also found to positively influence negative workplace deviance. An important implication of this study is the need for bus operator companies to understand the value of fostering decent work if they are to have satisfied employees who would be loyal to the organisation and contribute meaningfully to the organisation’s bottom-line. The study is expected to contribute to empirical evidence on the consequences of decent work on job satisfaction and workplace deviance and provide recommendations to human resource practitioners on the essence of addressing workplace deviance and boosting employee job satisfaction through upholding decent work standards in the workplace.

Work engagement is a crucial ingredient that cultivates an individual’s physical and general well-being in the workplace. This, in turn, produces organisational effectiveness and contributes to organisational success and sustainability. Concerningly, work engagement remains under-researched in South African higher education institutions. This study investigated the work engagement experiences of employees in a technical services department of a South African institution of higher education. The study employed qualitative research methods and phenomenological research design. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 10 participants. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The findings suggest that employees who have optimal work demands receive adequate support to discharge their work and feel engaged and attached to their jobs. The findings further suggest that personal and job resources contribute to improved engagement levels among employees. Organisations should enhance the work engagement of employees by effectively managing their job demands while providing adequate job and personal resources. This study provides insights into the importance of cultivating work engagement within the workplace and the ways to achieve this. The study further provides guidelines for enhancing engagement by highlighting four elements to consider: workload, skills and self-efficacy, tools and equipment, and supervisor and co-worker support.