Job insecurity: investigating the role of perceived performance and managerial communication in a South African mine
Abstract
In the changing world of work it is necessary for organisations to stay competitive in their respective markets. One result can be that organisations revert to organisational restructuring. Organisational restructuring may involve downsizing, lay-offs and retrenchments. In South Africa, the mining industry follows a trend of on-going restructuring in order to function as global leaders in mineral resources; therefore mine workers face various work-related job stressors, job insecurity being one of these stressors. Job insecurity affects the employee's personal life (household situation) and working attitudes (perceived performance). The level of experienced job insecurity may differ in terms of the employee's marital status and number of children supported. Consequently an employee's attitude and perception towards his future career development may be affected with the employee not performing adequately. Clear and effective managerial communication is necessary to guide and support employees during periods of organisational restructuring. The first objective of this study was to investigate the internal consistency of the job insecurity scale in terms of the quantitative job insecurity scale and qualitative job insecurity scale. The second objective of this study was to investigate the moderating effect of managerial communication with the manager between job insecurity and perceived performance in the South African mining industry. A reliable measuring instrument can serve as a true assessment for South African participants. Participants in this research were office-bound employees of the South African mining industry. The statistical analysis was carried out with the Mplus and SPSS programmes. The study made use of a quantitative research approach. The research was descriptive and made use of a cross-sectional research design. An availability sample of 137 office-bound mine workers in Limpopo and Free State participated in the study. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the model fit between job insecurity, perceived performance and managerial communication. The factor loading for the item “I always do my best at work" in regards to perceived performance, was non-significant (p>0.05). Therefore, this item was removed. Re-specified model fit indices were statistically drawn up with acceptable values for the fit. Secondly, descriptive statistics of the data were presented in terms of the mean, standard deviation, statistical significance and practical significance. Thirdly, Cronbach alpha was administered to determine the reliability of the measuring scales. Fourthly, a Post Hoc Test for Homogenous subtests was used to determine level of experience of job insecurity between married parents and single parents. Fifthly, a correlation matrix was statistically drawn up to determine the relationship of the dependent variable (perceived performance and managerial communication) on the independent variable (job insecurity). Lastly, a regression analysis was used to predict the outcomes of perceived performance in relation to job insecurity and managerial communication. Results confirmed internal consistency for the quantitative job insecurity scale, but not for the qualitative job insecurity scale. Married individuals with children experienced higher levels of job insecurity than single individuals with children. Equal, married employees without children experienced higher levels of job insecurity than single employees with children. Overall, individuals experience higher levels of qualitative job insecurity than quantitative job insecurity. The results revealed that job insecurity had a negative relationship with perceived performance and managerial communication. Also, perceived performance predicted statistical significance in quantitative job insecurity and managerial communication, but was non-significant with qualitative job insecurity. Finally, results found in the structural equation modelling indicated a moderating effect of managerial communication in the relationship between job insecurity and perceived performance. Lastly conclusions and recommendations were provided for future researchers and practice.