Qualities of work-related well-being in selected South African occupations

Abstract

This study investigated the structure of work-related well-being in four occupational groups in South Africa. The participants were 4 006 employees, namely educators and administrative personnel (n = 2501), insurance industry personnel (n = 613), and correctional services personnel (n = 892) from across South Africa. The participants completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the Job Demands-Resources Scale and the Organisational Stress Screening Tool (ASSET). The data was analysed by employing the SPSS program version 20.0. Descriptive statistics were determined for each dimension and for each occupation, while product-moment correlations were conducted to determine the inter-relationships between the variables. The results showed that the dimensions of work-related well-being of personnel in different occupations in South Africa are commonly affected by high job demands and insufficient resources. The employees showed higher levels of exhaustion, indicating that job demands could contribute to burnout. The exhaustion levels could further be indicative of a lack of support from the organisations and inadequate growth opportunities