Evaluation of employee needs satisfaction in a 
mining company 
 
EK Kgekoane 
orcid.org  0000-0003-1227-9099 
 
 
Mini-dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the 
requirements for the degree Master of Business Administration 
at the North-West University 
 
 
 
Supervisor: Prof JC Visagie 
 
 
 
 
Graduation ceremony: May 2019 
Student number: 28247019 
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Table of Contents 
 
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... 5 
1.1. Background of the Study ................................................................................................... 9 
1.2. Problem Statement ......................................................................................................... 10 
1.3. South Africa’s Vision 2030 .............................................................................................. 11 
1.4. Research Setting ............................................................................................................ 11 
2.1. Job Benefits Satisfaction ................................................................................................. 16 
2.2. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs .......................................................................................... 16 
2.3. Herzberg’s Two Factors Theory ...................................................................................... 17 
2.4. Contributing Factors to the Need for Stable Housing ...................................................... 18 
1.1 Housing and employee dignity ........................................................................................ 19 
2.5. Employee welfare linked to housing ................................................................................ 19 
2.6. Mining companies and labour intensity ........................................................................... 20 
1.2 Contributing factors to the need for stable housing ......................................................... 20 
2.7. Mine Employee Struggles: Lessons from Marikana ........................................................ 21 
2.8. Conceptual framework .................................................................................................... 21 
2.9. Links in Literature: Welfare, Housing and Mineworker Status ......................................... 24 
2.10. Research Aim’s basis in Literature .............................................................................. 25 
2.11. Summary of the Key Theories ..................................................................................... 26 
2.12. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs ...................................................................................... 26 
2.13. McClelland Three Needs Theory ................................................................................. 26 
2.14. Motivation-Hygiene Theory .......................................................................................... 27 
2.15. LMX Theory ................................................................................................................. 27 
3.1. Research Strategy .......................................................................................................... 29 
3.2. Research Method ........................................................................................................... 29 
3.3. Literature Review ............................................................................................................ 29 
3.4. Research Setting ............................................................................................................ 30 
3.5. Entrée and Establishing Researcher Roles ..................................................................... 30 
3.6. Sampling ......................................................................................................................... 30 
3.7. Data Collection Methods ................................................................................................. 30 
3.8. Recording of Data ........................................................................................................... 31 
3.9. Data Analysis .................................................................................................................. 31 
3.10. Strategies Employed to Ensure Quality Data ............................................................... 32 
3.11. Reporting .................................................................................................................... 32 
4.1. Provinces ........................................................................................................................ 34 
4.2. Age Demographic ........................................................................................................... 36 
4.3. Educational Attainments ................................................................................................. 37 
4.4. Period Working in the Mine ............................................................................................. 37 
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4.5. Salary Bracket ................................................................................................................ 39 
4.6. Trade union membership ................................................................................................ 39 
4.7. House Ownership ........................................................................................................... 40 
4.8. Citizen/Worker Benefits .................................................................................................. 41 
4.9. Years Living in Current Residence .................................................................................. 42 
4.10. Medical Aid Subscription ............................................................................................. 43 
4.11. Staying with family during work days and work holidays .............................................. 44 
4.12. Access to Housing and Employee Needs Satisfaction ................................................. 46 
4.13. Income ........................................................................................................................ 46 
4.14. Family ......................................................................................................................... 47 
4.15. Company Housing Support ......................................................................................... 49 
4.16. Motivation for House Ownership .................................................................................. 50 
4.17. Employee Needs Satisfaction ...................................................................................... 51 
4.18. Factor Analysis and Correlations ................................................................................. 53 
5.1. Reflections of Key Literature Tools: Employee Needs Satisfaction and Human Resource 
Management ..................................................................................................................... 57 
5.2. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs .......................................................................................... 57 
5.3. McClelland Three Needs Theory .................................................................................... 59 
5.4. Motivation-Hygiene Theory ............................................................................................. 62 
5.5. LMX Theory .................................................................................................................... 62 
5.6. Objectives of the study .................................................................................................... 63 
5.7. Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 64 
5.8. Recommendations, Implications and Limitations ............................................................. 65 
5.9. Implications ..................................................................................................................... 65 
5.10. Conclusions, Limitations of the study and directions for future research ...................... 66 
Bibliography and References..................................................................................................... 67 
 
LIST OF TABLES 
 
Table 1 Research Questionnaire Items ..................................................................................... 12 
Table 2 Independent, Dependent and Outcome Variables ....................................................... 23 
Table 3 Reliability Statistics ....................................................................................................... 33 
Table 4 Descriptive Statistics: Demographic Information ....................................................... 34 
Table 5 Income ............................................................................................................................ 46 
Table 6 Family ............................................................................................................................. 48 
Table 7 Company Housing Support ........................................................................................... 49 
Table 8 Motivation for House Ownership .................................................................................. 50 
Table 9 Employee Needs Satisfaction (Well-being & Job Performance) ................................. 51 
Table 10 McClelland's Three Motivators (Needs) Theory ......................................................... 60 
 
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LIST OF FIGURES 
 
Figure 1 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................ 23 
Figure 2 Research Process……………………………………………………………………………...28 
Figure 3 Home Province ............................................................................................................. 35 
Figure 4 Age Group .................................................................................................................... 36 
Figure 5 Educational Attainments ............................................................................................. 37 
Figure 6 Period Working in the Mine in Years ........................................................................... 38 
Figure 7 Salary Bracket .............................................................................................................. 39 
Figure 8 Trade Union Membership ............................................................................................ 40 
Figure 9 House Ownership ......................................................................................................... 41 
Figure 10 Citizen/Worker Benefits ............................................................................................. 42 
Figure 11 Period Living in the Current Residence .................................................................... 43 
Figure 12 Medical Aid Subscription ........................................................................................... 44 
Figure 13 Staying with Family During Work Days? .................................................................. 45 
Figure 14 Staying with Family During Work Holidays .............................................................. 45 
Figure 15 Income ........................................................................................................................ 47 
Figure 16 Family .......................................................................................................................... 48 
Figure 17 Company Housing Support ....................................................................................... 49 
Figure 18 Motivation for House Ownership .............................................................................. 51 
Figure 19 Employee Needs Satisfaction (Well-being & Job Performance) ............................. 52 
Figure 20 Factor Analysis - Correlation(s) ................................................................................ 54 
Figure 21 Chapter Plan……………………………………………………………………….………….56 
Figure 22 Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs ………………………………………………………..…….58 
 
 
5 
 
Acknowledgements 
 
This project was made possible through support and guidance from my supervisor. Further 
institutional support was received through the statistics office and training sessions about research 
during the MBA study week. 
Prof. J. Visagie is acknowledged for his robust and practical feedback from the proposal stage until 
the final stages of this research project. His guidance helped improve this research in many areas 
including the direction of literature. 
I received support from the university’s Research Statistics department. I worked with the 
department to test the internal reliability of my questionnaire and in developing the relevant 
spreadsheets. The department also helped with data capturing sparing me time to focus on the 
analysis and presentation of the data. 
The administrators at the NWU Business School made it easier for me to get in touch with the 
relevant offices in times of need. They assisted in facilitating appointments with supervisor and 
providing guidance on the ethics approval processes. 
My family offered support and patience during the time of my MBA studies. This research project 
also took most of my family time. However, my family had still encouraged me to work on this 
research project and get the best out of it. I thank them for their kind support and encouragement. 
Finally, I acknowledge the programme leader of the MBA, fellow candidates and teams. They were 
a source of inspiration and seeing them do their work encouraged me to do my mini-dissertation 
with strength and energy even when it was hard to do so. 
I dedicate this mini-dissertation work to all the mine workers of South Africa, my company and 
other industries that can benefit from the findings of this research. 
  
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Abstract 
Employee needs satisfaction is an area of research that has received numerous attention from the 
early 1970s. This is evident from the work of key theorists and writers in the field of people 
management and human needs. The work of Herzberg, McClelland and Maslow enjoyed attention 
from the 1970s followed by the focus on Leader Member Exchange. The focus of this study was on 
employee needs satisfaction in a mining company with a specific focus on housing. The theoretical 
framework of this study demonstrates the link between employee needs satisfaction and job 
performance. The links are the well-being of an employee, their dependents, health and the 
employee’s ability to cover all his or her basic needs. The concept of employee needs satisfaction, 
refers to the efforts of an employer in fulfilling the needs of the employee as prescribed by 
company policies and other workplace agreements.  
The research question of this study was concerned with the housing needs of employees and the 
centrality of house ownership in the set of needs that employees have. The objectives of this mini-
dissertation were to bring to the surface this area of employee needs satisfaction, to suggest 
consultative processes in addressing employee needs and to add new perspectives to the 
research field by means of the developing a theoretical framework. 
The research data was collected using a research questionnaire that consisted of two sections. 
Section A, consisting of biographic information and Section B, focusing on questions constructed 
based on the literature and theoretical framework of the study. Questionnaires were self-
administered to 118 employees. Participants were from the group of workers in the underground 
shaft operations. 
The findings of this research show that 73% of employees are from the Northern Cape Province, 
which is an interesting indicator of the employment of local people. However, about 60% of 
respondents reported that their income did not cover all their basic needs besides that they 
received other allowances. This raised questions about their ability to afford housing and other 
necessities and informed a proposal for a holistic financial literacy and advisory programme for 
employees. The research instrument demonstrated reliability with a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.86. 
The conclusion of this study is that employee needs satisfaction is a big issue in the mining 
industry. It is about the reasons why people are working. These reasons include working to support 
family, to achieve goals and to live. Therefore, it is important that individual employees are 
provided support and guidance in their financial planning and expenditure. Over and above a big 
mining company such as the one referred to in this study has to opt for a housing scheme if it is to 
address to challenges of employee needs with regards to housing. It is shown in this research that 
there is a significant relationship between family, housing, employee’s well-being and job 
performance. It is therefore important that employee needs are satisfied to enhance job 
7 
 
performance. Limitations and future directions for research are highlighted on the final chapter of 
this mini-dissertation. 
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Keywords and abbreviations 
 
Keywords: Employee Needs Satisfaction | Human Resource | Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs | 
Family | Mining Company | Sector | Industry 
 
AMCU    Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union 
BCEA    Basic Conditions of Employment Act 
COSATU   Congress of South African Trade Unions 
CSI    Corporate Social Investment 
CSR    Corporate Social Responsibility 
HIV/AIDS   Human Immune Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 
HRM    Human Resource Management 
LRA    Labour Relations Act 
MBA    Master of Business Administration 
n    Sample 
N    Population 
nAch    Need for Achievement  
nAff    Need for Affiliation 
NC    Northern Cape Province 
NDP    National Development Plan 
nPow    Need for Power  
NUMSA   National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa 
NW    North West Province 
LMX    Leader Member Exchange 
NWU    North West University 
OHSA    Occupational Health and Safety Act 
 
 
 
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Chapter 1 Introduction 
 
The introduction of the research study proposed here has five components namely the background 
of the study, points out directions of critical literature, problem statement, research question and 
objectives. This research study focused on the mining sector in the North West region of South 
Africa and it pursued a strong academic inquiry about the welfare of employees in relation to their 
ownership and access to housing (Chamber of Mines of South Africa, 2017). This research finds its 
place in the academic field of Human Resource Management (HRM). Details about this research 
study are provided on the sections which follow. The human resource management function is 
responsible for employment relations, employee welfare and labour affairs in a company 
(Masvaure, Ruggunan, & Maharaj, 2014). This function ensures that employees are adequately 
skilled and they meet the requirements to perform their work (Wang, 2001). In the mining sector 
the human resource management function also ensures that employees have access to 
accommodation during their period of employment and it is also responsible for managing the entry 
and exit of employees (Chenga & Cronje, 2007). The following is the background of the research 
study. 
1.1. Background of the Study 
The background of this study provides that mine workers have for a long period of time worked 
under harsh conditions in the apartheid South Africa and this has not changed post-apartheid era 
(Stewart, 2015).The lives of many mine workers are still characterised by poverty associated with 
lack of access to housing, sanitation and health care (Humby, 2016). The lack of safe and 
acceptable working conditions has led to the detraction of trust amongst mineworkers and mining 
firms (Rajak, 2016). The failure of trade unions and mine representatives to reach amicable 
solutions about mineworkers’ fair wages and housing lead to the Marikana Massacre where 34 
mineworkers lost their lives (Webster, 2017). This research focuses on a mining organization 
based in North West and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa. This mining enterprise is 
among the oldest mine houses in South Africa (Chamber of Mines of South Africa, 2014). This 
mining company has employees which come from different corners of South Africa that have come 
to seek opportunities with which they hope to better their lives (Neves & Du Toit, 2013). Often the 
mineworkers are left disappointed due to the lower salaries they earn, their poor living conditions in 
the mining towns and for their inability to provide adequately for their families or dependants 
(Stewart, 2015). One of the demands that employees of Anglo American mine have demanded 
consistently is the need for support with housing which they believe could better their living 
conditions and those of their dependants (Salim, 2001). Mines get disrupted from time to time 
when employees through their trade unions have to organise and demonstrate to get the attention 
of senior management about their housing and other related needs (Webster, 2017). Employees of 
the mine get sick and as they grow older they end up having nowhere to go especially when there 
10 
 
has been disorganization with family or no provision of a stable house (Phillips et al., 2014). It is 
against this background that a study on the effect of housing on mining employees’ welfare and job 
performance is proposed. 
1.2. Problem Statement 
Historically mining companies provided single gender (male) hostels to accommodate their 
employees to be near their places of work (Hammond, T; Cooper, C; van Staden, 2017). Hostels 
were used by employees that were earning lower salaries while the middle and upper managers 
were offered houses (Marais & Cloete, 2009). Today companies have changed hostels to become 
family accommodation and this was done to address the legacy of the historic and harsh mine 
workers’ living conditions (Humby, 2016). But this has not addressed the problem of employee 
investment in property. The research will concentrate on three platinum mine operations in 
Rustenburg. The mining company referred to here, it provides company accommodation for their 
permanent employees. Company accommodation is offered according to company policy. 
Company policy covers, accommodation offered to employees who hail far from the mining town 
and this also aims to assist newly recruited employees in need of accommodation. Allocation of 
company accommodation is done by the Human Resource department. While some employees 
benefit from the temporary company accommodation some tend to neglect investing in their own 
houses, which may lead to displacement into the streets, when employees are retrenched, retired 
or out of the mine employment. 
The company has several accommodation support systems in place. These systems include giving 
employees company accommodation, giving rent allowance to employees and providing home 
ownership allowance for those who already own houses. The company assists employees with 
company accommodation and rent allowance which becomes a problem at a later stage as some 
employee tend to neglect investing in their own property. Investing in property is important for 
current and long-serving mineworkers, because it provides a permanent accommodation and 
security when they are no longer working for the company.  There are several ways that 
employees can lose their job, and which is problematic for employees which have not invested in 
property. Loss of jobs can occur due to resignations, retirement, retrenchment, medical incapacity 
and employee being suspended due to misconduct. This problem has not been neglected as 
company and employees’ representative are having conversations about it. The company assists 
employees with Home Ownership Allowance every month if they have their own properties. Those 
whom have not purchased homes do not benefit from this scheme. 
The rationale of the proposed study is based on the idea that the problem of property investment 
by employees is underemphasized by the company and trade unions. This research project seeks 
to unpack the elements of home ownership, welfare of mineworkers and value in investing on a 
decent home property. Mines are downscaling in South Africa and this trend is happening rapidly 
since the 2008 recession, which means loss of jobs for miners and reduction in accommodation 
11 
 
provided by mining companies (Marais, 2013b). The problem in this research can be summarized 
as follows: 
“The problem can be described as the lack of investment and purchases of private housing 
property by mineworkers in a Rustenburg based mining company. The impact of this problem is 
often seen when employees end up homeless after retiring, or when they lose their mining jobs for 
various reasons. As part of this problem some employees do not benefit from the Mine Housing 
Allowance especially if they are not permanently employed workers. The lack of investment in 
housing property does impact negatively on the families of mineworkers and also their life after 
employment. The poor living conditions of the mineworkers also lead to protests and violent 
demonstrations in a number of occasions, including the Marikana incident which was about wages 
and the demand for improved living conditions (Bond & Mottiar, 2013).” 
Humby (2016) states that mining companies had for a long period of time exploited employees and 
they need to address issues on the welfare of employees with urgency. Low wages have always 
been the main point of disputes in the mining belt and has often lead to demonstrations and 
lowered job performance of mineworkers (Stewart, 2015). The above and previous sections show 
links in literature, that welfare of employees has impact on their job performance. 
1.3. South Africa’s Vision 2030 
The Department of human settlement’s Vision 2030 has a vision to ensure South Africans have 
their own property by 2030. There are different ways for a person to acquire houses, one can 
either buy houses or apply for RDP Houses. Most of the people that are working do not qualify for 
RDP houses because of their salary status. They are bound to apply for bonds from the banks. 
There are challenges in bond applications for employees that earn lower salaries because of 
affordability assessments which they fail. Employees that are earning lower salaries are in between 
R3500 and R15000, they can apply for subsidy from department of human settlement but not all 
applications get to be successful. Residential property is essential to poverty alleviation for low 
income earning households and if a company provides a subsidy to an employee to buy an 
affordable residential property, they may get tax related rebates (Kamdar, 2014).  The 
departmental housing subsidy has a potential to assist low earning workers to gain access to 
decent housing. Other mining companies have started providing homes for their employees and 
they have made progress in addressing the housing needs of their employees. Employees have 
some investment plans on the provident fund and pension fund, but housing is another investment 
that they can take in to consideration if well supported by the mining company. 
1.4. Research Setting 
This research was conducted at a mining company, based in Rustenburg and Postmasburg areas. 
This research has a unique characteristic as the questionnaires during the data collection process 
12 
 
will be split equally between the two operations of the mine. This  provided an opportunity to make 
comparisons where necessary. The following are further characteristics of the research setting: 
• Mining company 
• Permission to conduct research has already been granted 
• Easily accessible to the researcher 
• Research project has company support  
The company's support did not interfere with the independence of the research study and it is also 
not restrictive in any way. The nature of company support was that which enabled the research to 
be conducted and it included granting of access to company records which contain information that 
was relevant to the research questions of this study. 
Chapter 1: Introduction 
This introduction chapter provides a thorough background of the research study and it provides an 
overview of the key components of the research. It introduces all the other chapters on this mini-
dissertation. 
Chapter 2: Literature Review 
This chapter consists of the essential scholarly literature which informs and shapes the proposed 
research idea. A critical review of the available literature was done, and timeliness of sourced 
literature was carefully assessed.  
Chapter 3: Research Methodology 
This chapter explains and describes the step by step process of how the research was conducted, 
and it identifies the mitigated errors and the analysis techniques used. The questionnaire items on 
the table below are explained in detail on this chapter. These questions were used in the study and 
informed the research process. 
Table 1 Research Questionnaire Items 
QUESTION 1: TO WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING GENDER DO YOU BELONG? 
 
Female 1 
Male 2 
QUESTION 2: FROM WHICH PROVINCE DO YOU ORIGINATE? 
 
Eastern Cape 1 
Free State 2 
Kwa-Zulu Natal 3 
Gauteng 4 
Limpopo 5 
Mpumalanga 6 
13 
 
North West 7 
Northern Cape 8 
Western Cape 9 
Other 10 
 QUESTION 3: WHAT IS YOUR AGE GROUP  
 
16 - 25 1 
26 - 35 2 
36 - 45 3 
46 - 55 4 
56 - 65 5 
QUESTION 3: WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATION ATTAINED 
 
No Education  1 
Grade 1-7 (Primary School) 2 
Grade 8 – 9 (High School) 3 
Grade 10 – 12 (High School) 4 
Diploma/Higher certificate 5 
QUESTION 5; NUMBER OF YEARS WORKING IN THE MINE (YEARS) 
NUMBER OF YEARS WORKING 
IN THE MINE (YEARS) 
1 – 5  1 
6 - 10 2 
11 -20 3 
21 - 30 4 
31 - 40 5 
QUESTION 6: WHAT IS YOUR MONTHLY GROSS SALARY BRACKET 
 
Below R 6000 1 
R 6000 to less than R 8000 2 
R 8000  to less than R12000 3 
R 12 000 to less than R15 000 4 
R 15 000 to less than R 20 000 5 
R 20 000 and above 6 
QUESTION 7: ARE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY TRADE UNION? 
 
Yes 1 
No 2 
I was but cancelled membership 3 
QUESTION 8: DO YOU OWN A HOUSE? 
 
Yes 1 
No 2 
QUESTION 9: DO YOU HAVE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING BENEFITS. 
14 
 
 
Work subsidy  1 
Housing allowance 2 
House that was inherited 3 
RDP home 4 
QUESTION 10: NUMBER OF DEPENDANTS LIVING WITH YOU 
 
No dependents 1 
1  2 
2 - 3 3 
4 - 5 4 
QUESTION 11: WHAT IS YOUR MARITAL STATUS? 
 
Single 1 
Married 2 
Living together  3 
QUESTION12: FOR HOW LONG DO YOU STAY IN THE CURRENT HOUSE? 
 
Less than 1 year 
 
1 
1 to 5 year 2 
6 to 10 years 3 
More than 10 years 4 
Questions 
QUESTION 13: INCOME: DOES YOUR CURRENT SALARY HELP COVER ALL YOUR BASIC 
NEEDS? 
13.1 My income is sufficient to meet my basic needs 1 2 3 4 
13.2 My income is sufficient to provide for my family 1 2 3 4 
13.3 I had demanded a salary increase in the previous year 1 2 3 4 
13.4 My salary covers my accommodation cost 1 2 3 4 
QUESTION 14: FAMILY: DO YOU HAVE ANY FAMILY DEPENDANTS THAT YOU NEED TO 
TAKE CARE OF? 
14.1 My family/dependants have a decent house 1 2 3 4 
14.2 My family house is my responsibility 1 2 3 4 
14. 3 I stay with my family during my work days 1 2 3 4 
QUESTION 15: COMPANY (MINE) HOUSING SUPPORT: DOES THE COMPANY PROVIDE 
SUPPORT FOR YOUR HOUSING NEEDS? 
15.1 My company provides a sufficient housing allowance 1 2 3 4 
15.2 My company supports homeownership 1 2 3 4 
15.3 My company has prioritise employee welfare through housing 1 2 3 4 
15.4 My job fulfils me because my company supported my house purchase 1 2 3 4 
15.5 I have a decent house because of my company’s support 1 2 3 4 
15 
 
QUESTION 16: WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION TO BE A HOMEOWNER? 
16.1 Purchasing a house is an attractive option for future of my family  1 2 3 4 
16.2 Purchasing a house was (or will be) for my family 1 2 3 4 
16.3 Purchase a house influence (or will ) influence my job performance 1 2 3 4 
16.4 Purchasing a house is good for my wellbeing and my family 1 2 3 4 
16.5 Purchasing a house will or can improve my standard of living  1 2 3 4 
16.6 Homeownership provide my family with security 1 2 3 4 
16.7 Homeownership provides stability for my family 1 2 3 4 
16.8 House ownership will assure me a secure retirement 1 2 3 4 
16.9 House ownership gives me work stability 1 2 3 4 
QUESTION 17: WELL-BEING & JOB PERFORMANCE:  HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR 
WORK-PLACE NEEDS SATISFACTION? 
17.1 Proper housing is essential for my wellbeing 1 2 3 4 
17.2 The security of my family is important for my wellbeing 1 2 3 4 
17.3 My company offers me stable employment 1 2 3 4 
17.4 My job provides steady employment 1 2 3 4 
17.5 My salary meets all my needs 1 2 3 4 
17.6 Company policies are put into practice for employees 1 2 3 4 
17.7 Job progression will help me secure a better future 1 2 3 4 
17.8 I am able to use all my abilities in my job in order to progress 1 2 3 4 
17.9 Owning a house will empower me 1 2 3 4 
 
Chapter 4: Results and Findings 
This chapter of the project highlights results and data collected in a form of frequency tables, 
graphs and other numerical displays. This chapter also informs the interpretations on chapter 4. On 
this chapter, a detailed analysis was done, it compared literature with the findings and also 
reflected on the data collected. 
Chapter 5: Recommendations and Conclusion 
This last chapter proposes a way forward and provides recommendations for adoption. It is also 
this chapter that will discuss the implications of acting. This chapter highlights the limitations of the 
study and directions for future research. 
The next chapter is the literature review on employee needs satisfaction and relevant theories.  
 
16 
 
Chapter 2 Literature Review 
 
On this literature review linkage between job benefits satisfaction, Maslow’s hierarchy of human 
needs, Herzberg’s two factor theory and McClelland’s three needs theory are identified and 
explained. A common agreement in this literature is that humans have needs and they provide for 
those needs by selling their labour (Tan & Waheed, 2011). In working for companies or businesses 
employees as humans seek to satisfy their needs and those of their immediate dependants 
(Parkes & Langford, 2008). It is for many employees important, to have job satisfaction and 
general quality in work-life balance (D. J. Lee, Yu, Sirgy, Singhapakdi, & Lucianetti, 2018). 
2.1. Job Benefits Satisfaction 
There has been a heated debate about benefits provided to employees both in academia and 
practice (Mochama, 2013). The debate has been sparked by a need for balancing issues such as 
gender empowerment (Wheatley, 2017), increasing employees sense of belonging through 
benefits and the definition of employee benefits satisfaction has been also part of the debate (Artz, 
2010). However, job satisfaction is still seen in terms of the provision of flexible work hours, 
housing allowance and other fringe benefits in addition to a basic salary (Artz, 2010). While there is 
not a unanimously accepted definition for job satisfaction authors agree that it remains essential for 
most employees to be able to provide for their dependants (Haider, Ahmed, de Pablos, & Latif, 
2018) and to be able to make valuable contributions in the life of their families (Gómez García, 
Alonso Sangregorio, & Lucía Llamazares Sánchez, 2016).  A family is a social group to which a 
person belongs to; through biological connections and even by choice of association they may 
share a space of living or deep relationships (Parkes & Langford, 2008). According to Nalla, Paek 
and Lim (2017) improving the job characteristics, providing fringe benefits and helping employees 
to balance their work and life can increase satisfaction. There are different levels of needs which 
are associated with human satisfaction hence the next section on the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. 
2.2. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 
Abraham Maslow in 1954 presented the pyramid of human needs, stating that human beings have 
physiological needs, safety and security, belonging, esteem and self-actualisation (Lester, 2013). 
In industrious and labour intensive mining operations the concern for most employees was found to 
be the need for safety of life and there was an increased awareness of this according to Zhou et 
al., 2015. This is influenced by the overall need for a good quality of life which includes health as 
part of physiological needs and ability to care for family (Cavaliere, Glasscock, & Sen, 2014). 
Based on the Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs people tend to fulfil the lower needs (Haider et 
al., 2018) first before they attempt to fulfil esteem and self-actualization needs (Cangemi, 2009). 
There is a correlation between working and saving to fulfil the different needs, such as when 
employees work to buy a house to fulfil their need for a decent shelter or house (Cabeza, Johnson, 
17 
 
& Tyner, 2011). According to Cangemi (2009) people are more concerned of survival needs 
because these influence lifestyle choices and the move towards the high end needs. The Maslow’s 
hierarchy of human needs, like McClelland’s three needs theory, it has been largely criticized for its 
limitation in presenting human needs as being progressive from one level to another (Forbes, 
2011). Since these are not completely perfect on their own a review is done on Herzberg’s two 
factor theory. 
2.3. Herzberg’s Two Factors Theory 
Herzberg’s two factors theory is based on the idea of fair reward and motivation (Ross, Valenzuela, 
Intindola, & Flinchbaugh, 2017). Motivation is defined as the internal force that propels an 
individual or a group of people to reach their target goal (Tan & Waheed, 2011).  The two factors 
are hygiene and motivators. The hygiene factors include salary, interpersonal relations, 
supervision, policies, working conditions and job security (Vijayakumar & Saxena, 2015). The 
motivation factors are recognition, achievement, responsibility and the work itself (Vijayakumar & 
Saxena, 2015). In order to achieve a satisfied workforce on the basis of the two factors managers 
needs to practice and live on the values of trust and deliver on their promises to employees 
(Zeffane, 2010). On top of the motivation factors is the basic hygiene factor of a decent salary 
which has remained top of numerous studies about the Herzberg’s two factor theory (Tan & 
Waheed, 2011). Similar to the Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, there is a common perception 
that employees tend to be concerned about the status of hygiene factors before they concern 
themselves about motivation factors (Lăzăroiu, 2015). While the Herzberg’s two factors theory 
adds value to the Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs and to job benefits satisfaction models; it 
was found to be not applicable to some settings such as in a construction industry of Thailand 
which shares similarities to other labour intensive industry settings (Ruthankoon & Olu Ogunlana, 
2003). In order to extend the understanding of this theory a further review is done on job 
characteristics model and McClelland’s three needs theory. 
 2.3.4 Job Characteristics and McClelland’s three needs theory 
Hackman and Oldham’s job characteristics model has five core job characteristics, namely; skill 
variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback (Pierce, Jussila, & Cummings, 
2012). Task significance characteristic is important to employees as they perceive it to be a source 
of job security and attraction to company benefits, as this means doing a worthwhile activity within 
a company (Allan, 2017). Part of the job characteristics is that it influences the overall job design of 
an employee hence its importance to understanding employee satisfaction (Pierce et al., 2012). On 
the other hand is McClelland’s three needs theory which presents a view that employees are an 
important organisational resource and they need to remain motivated (Gyan & Shukla, 2017). The 
three needs are achievement, power and affiliation. Employees aim to excel above set standards 
(achievement), they also like to have influence over others where an opportunity allows (power) 
and over their work, and finally they also value workplace interpersonal relationships (Farisha, 
18 
 
2014). The absence of understanding the value of human needs amongst managers and 
organisational leaders is a limitation to ensuring the attainment of balanced job benefits satisfaction 
for employees (Forbes, 2011).  
2.4. Contributing Factors to the Need for Stable Housing 
Human beings have physiological needs as specified in the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and these 
include the need for shelter (Hoekstra & Marais, 2016). In the mining sector employees relocate 
from homesteads to seek employment where the mining shaft is located and over time they grow 
their interest in the area in which they live (Marais & Cloete, 2013). This leads to an interest to 
relocate family members or a few family members from the homestead to come to the mining town 
which is often a challenge without housing (Neves & Du Toit, 2013). The common factors which 
contribute to the need for stable housing and homes for mine workers, include that most mine 
workers are migrant labour from other regions into the mining towns (Razavi & Staab, 2010), 
secondly, housing is seen as an investment to the progress of a mineworker’s dependants or 
family, thirdly, stable housing is necessary to reduce societal inequalities and also creates value for 
the owner (Chenga & Cronje, 2007) (Stewart, 2015) and finally housing provision by mining firms is 
an opportunity for them to ensure welfare of employees which could contribute to better health 
which can sustain an employee’s job performance (Humby, 2016).  
 
In summary, the above literature shows that the different models in understanding employee needs 
satisfaction are compatible to advance functioning of workforces (Jungert, Van den Broeck, 
Schreurs, & Osterman, 2018). It is also this literature that shares the view that employees may 
encounter personal conflict in trying to fulfil and prioritize their own needs (Maycock, Gruzinskaite, 
& Field, 2018). However, people tend to fulfil their lower level needs before attempting to fulfil the 
higher level ones (Haider et al., 2018). This helps in understanding the role of the Maslow’s 
hierarchy of needs and its place in literature as a way to help build a better view about human 
needs (J. M. Lee & Hanna, 2015). The role of Hertzberg two factor theories, LMX and McClelland’s 
three needs theory has played a great role in practice and in industrial psychology research to 
unpack the centrality of work in fulfilling human needs (Dashtipour & Vidaillet, 2017). Organisations 
when they fulfil their employee needs they increase the chances to have a satisfied workforce and 
that also has a potential to increase loyal and satisfied customers (Clemmer, 2005). 
 
Out of the above discussion the following problem statement could be derived namely the under-
evaluation of employee needs and high levels of dissatisfaction among employees which leads to 
industrial action from time to time when negotiations for salaries and housing benefits fail. 
The proposed research study draws literature from the knowledge areas of human resource 
management, mining employees working conditions, welfare and from performance studies. This 
19 
 
research project alludes to the common challenges towards achieving the welfare of mine workers 
and their dependants, in China the reform of housing policies and involvement of industrial private 
companies in Beijing proved that it was possible and rewarding for both the industrial firms and 
employees to have housing (Wang, 2001). This literature review consists of a conceptual 
framework which considers income, family, company support, house purchase, welfare and job 
performance. There are sub-topics which are also given attention which include employee dignity, 
welfare and house ownership, mining enterprises and labour intensity, the need for stable 
accommodation, lessons from Marikana and linking the core literature. 
2.4.1. Housing and employee dignity 
Home ownership refers to access and control of a decent shelter for accommodation and one’s 
identity (Wang, Ya Ping & Murie, 2000). The need for stable housing is also driven by the fact that 
the government project for housing provision has not be steady and quick as it was expected to be. 
The Reconstruction Development Programme (RDP) also did not yield the expected results for 
most parts of South Africa and also due to its strict qualifying criteria employees earning low wages 
could not qualify as beneficiaries of the programme (Seekings & Natrass, 2016). When employees 
work for organisations they seek to satisfy their needs with their earnings and one of the primary 
needs is that of shelter, which plays a role in protecting an individual’s identity (Chen & Hsu, 2013). 
The ability to provide for family, personal needs and welfare is important to working people. There 
is a strong drive to provide a safe and dignified shelter for dependants and family amongst working 
people. Often housing is not affordable for numerous reasons such as lack of collaboration 
between government and private enterprises, housing policy shortfalls and the slow paced delivery 
of low cost housing targeted to the working class such as mine-workers (Chen & Hsu, 2013). This 
literature description is deliberated upon on the following sections. 
2.5. Employee welfare linked to housing 
Welfare amongst employees means personal and wellbeing of immediate family and dependants. 
Mine-workers often relocate from their homes or hometowns to stay in the mining cities or towns 
where they work. Overtime they start new families or grow their existing families. However, the 
suffering of their family members hits hard on their wellness and when there is no proper housing 
in place for them and their family members the problem becomes a welfare issue. This kind of 
problem normally raises feelings of dissatisfaction amongst distrust and dissatisfaction about the 
mining company especially when the company is generating high revenues but employees are 
homeless and feel that they earn less (Moon, 2017).  Mine-workers also aim to provide for their 
families back in their homelands or hometowns and at the same time be able to have dignified 
housing in the mining town or place of work. The lack of housing creates a feeling of displacement 
amongst mine workers especially those that have migrated from their home regions to a mining 
town or city with hopes to improve life and even escape poverty (Li, 2016). Mining and other 
industrial enterprises tend to focus on occupational health and safety within the premises of their 
20 
 
operations, which is correct and required by law, but there is an established perception that these 
industrious enterprises take no interest in the wellness of their people when they are outside of 
their premises or their dependants. This perception is influenced by lack of support from 
enterprises which should be at the forefront of employee wellness, which can be described as the 
enrichment of the life of employees to keep them happy, healthy and mentally fit by helping them 
reach their goals and provide for their loved ones the basic needs (Tiwari, 2014). The historic poor 
working conditions in mining companies have, in the new era, generated an expectation that 
mining houses will provide housing and welfare for their workers. However, this expectation has 
not been met by most mining houses. The focus has been on HIV/AIDS treatment, other personal 
health treatments and other Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects intended for local 
communities, which has not addressed the problem of housing adequately (Rajak, 2016). The 
mining company’s inability to support and provide for the welfare support of employees beyond the 
premises of performing labour duties created and still is a contributing factor to conflicts, protests 
and unrests in the mining sector particularly in the Southern Africa (Masvaure et al., 2014). The 
next section of this literature addresses the labour intensiveness of mine operations and the 
personal expectations of employees involved in intensive work. 
2.6. Mining companies and labour intensity 
South Africa has had a reputable name about its mining sector and its ability for mineral 
production. The mining sector is dependent on semi-skilled labour for mineral extraction, grilling 
and other underground operations. The mining sector also is the largest employment creator in the 
country of South Africa. While the mining sector has been a central role player in employment 
creation it has had several unrests and added to the list is the 2012 Marikana massacre where 
demands for fair wages, welfare and work place improvement were met with an unfortunate head-
to-head confrontation between workers and law enforcement officers (Iwu & Iwu, 2015).  Industrial 
action has been thought to be a platform for conversations, dialogue and debate about employees’ 
living conditions within the organisation and at home. The failure conversations and negotiations 
between employees and employers often lead to the failure to meet the social-welfare needs of 
employees, which also result in long time protests and the loss of productive time. If an 
organisation generates big profits at the expense of its poor, semi-skilled and hard labour 
employees it perpetuates inequality and it is a challenge to social welfare of employees in that they 
cannot meet their personal needs, including providing basic housing for themselves and their 
dependants (Bond & Mottiar, 2013). The following section extends to describe the contributing 
factors for the need of stable housing by employees in the mining sector. 
2.7. Contributing factors to the need for stable housing 
Human beings have physiological needs as specified in the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and these 
include the need for shelter. In the mining sector employees relocate from homesteads to seek 
employment where the mining shaft is located and overtime they grow their interest for the area in 
21 
 
which they live. This leads to an interest to relocate family members or a few family members from 
the homestead to come to the mining town which is often a challenge without housing. The 
common factors which contribute to the need for stable housing and homes for mine workers, 
include that most mine workers are migrant labour from other regions into the mining towns, 
secondly, housing is seen as an investment to the progress of a mineworker’s dependants or 
family, thirdly, stable housing is necessary to reduce societal inequalities and also creates value for 
the owner (Stewart, 2015) and finally housing provision by mining firms is an opportunity for them 
to ensure welfare of employees which could contribute to better health which can sustain an 
employee’s job performance (Humby, 2016). The following literature section is devoted to notable 
housing struggles encountered in the mining sector and draws lessons from theories which were 
because of the lessons from the Marikana incident. 
2.8. Mine Employee Struggles: Lessons from Marikana 
Mine workers in South Africa are mostly men and semi-skilled. There has been a move to more 
inclusive gender policies in the mining sector. Mining firms extract minerals and depend on these 
extracts to generate most of their profits. While the business of extracting minerals is a good one 
for the mine magnates it presents social and economic struggles for those who go underground to 
drill and extract those minerals. In August 2012 South Africa witnessed the Marikana massacre 
where 34 mineworkers lost their lives. Their struggles included weak health due to silicosis 
infections, other struggles are basic which included low wages, poor living conditions and a set of 
social struggles which lead to bad interpersonal relationships amongst the mineworkers; which 
impacted negatively on the general labour performance and the overall performance of LONMIN 
which was the company implicated (Phillips et al., 2014). The struggle with basic needs by 
mineworkers has created a volatile work environment in different mine shafts. The neglect of 
economic needs of miners leaves them dissatisfied and the constant failures of negotiations by 
trade unions also diminishes their hopes for housing in particular as this need has been highlighted 
as one of the demands that keeps coming up when collective mineworkers disputes are registered 
(Webster, 2017).   
 
The literature interrogated on the previous sections is further enlarged with an aid of a conceptual 
framework. The following conceptual framework consists of independent and the proposed 
dependent variables which are income, family, company support, and the dependent variables are 
proposed as welfare because of housing. 
2.9. Conceptual framework  
The sustainability of mining operations and jobs created by the mining sector are not sustainable. 
Certain mines have closed shafts in South Africa living scores of mineworkers unemployed and 
having nowhere to go. The mine downscaling has become an international concern for labour 
22 
 
movements hence the demand for just benefits for mine workers and their families or dependants. 
These benefits include income raise and housing allowances which could be beneficial towards a 
property or a home investment (Marais, 2013b). The well-being of employees and their families or 
dependants is interdependent. The ability to provide a safe and acceptable living environment is 
one of the priority areas for those who are sole providers for their families which is a characteristic 
shared by many mine workers. 
Family members play a crucial role also in taking care of a mineworker who is one of their own. 
Mine work is physically demanding especially for those involved in its hard-labour processes and 
requires mental fitness which comes from emotional support and wellness. A house is a space 
shared by family and allows for social conversations, support and assurance about the purpose of 
life. When mine workers have to separate themselves from the families due to relocation and lack 
of housing they miss out on the opportunity to gain emotional and physical support towards whom 
they are and the performance of their duties (Marais & Cloete, 2009). 
 
Company support and house financing is regarded as one of key areas of support for employees 
by their employers. Mine work settings have never embraced the need for social support of 
employees based on the historical context of the sector. The failure of government to enforce the 
social and labour support plans by mining companies is owed to the incapacity of the government 
to enact this legislative requirement and as a result mine workers social support has not been 
achieved in mines such as the downscaled Goldfields mine in the Free State province of South 
Africa (Marais, 2013a).  
 
A decision to purchase a house is informed by the income earned, dependants and for working 
individuals, the kind of support provided by their employer is important. Family disorganisation is 
described as one of the problems faced by mineworkers who are family heads or have a 
responsibility to take care of dependants. This kind of challenge impacts their mental well-being as 
the loss of family structure can have an impact on any person but a great impact if an adult or the 
family provider is unable to provide a dignified shelter for their family. Moreover, the need for a 
decent home is also influenced by expectations that are created when a person is in employment 
and a house is an investment that one can fall back to when employment is finished or no longer 
able to work due to health or even during retirement (Chenga & Cronje, 2007).  
 
The welfare of employees is directly linked to their homes, families and social connections with 
other people. Industrial work is physically demanding and requires mental fitness which is crucial 
for safety within the work space. To maintain these crucial social relationships a dignified house is 
crucial. Hostels have long serve as stay-in dormitories for migrant industrial labour in major cities 
23 
 
and mining towns. These were strategically used to host imported labour to work in the factories 
and even mines. Upon the dawn of democracy there need for reform in housing of labour 
promulgated the urgent need to resolve on housing mineworkers. The trade union movements also 
raised their demands for decent housing for their members in the mining sector. The demand for 
decent housing relates to the need for employees’ social well-being and job performance. The 
social welfare of industrial employees is driven by interpersonal relationships with co-workers, 
connection with family and society in which they belong. Thus, having a home is important for 
sustenance of physical and mental fitness of all employees (Hoekstra & Marais, 2016). The 
following is a conceptual framework of this proposed study and seeks to map out the crucial 
literature which underpins this idea of housing and welfare of mineworkers. The independent and 
dependent variables are shown here. 
 
 
 
 
Figure 1. Theoretical Framework 
The above framework is an illustration of the core elements of the literature presented. The 
problem of housing is one that is seen to be holding back efforts to reduce poverty by providing 
decent living conditions and sanitation. The following table classifies the independent and 
dependent variables based on the above theoretical framework. 
Table 2. Independent, Dependent and Outcome Variables 
Independent Variables Dependent Variable Outcome Variable 
Income 
House purchase Welfare & Performance Family 
Company support 
 
The income of mineworkers is split across for many purposes like any other worker’s income. The 
expenditure of working class individuals is to a large extent on basic needs such as food, health 
and fulfilling the needs of other family members or dependants such as paying for education. Over 
and above there is an element of paying for entertainment and other social expenses. Without 
company support, financially and otherwise, it is difficult to predict the affordability of buying a 
decent home by industrial workers given the need to provide for their own needs and those of their 
immediate families or dependants. Houses are expensive properties and to purchase a home 
Income 
Family 
Company Support 
House Purchase Welfare & Performance 
24 
 
through a loan is also not easy given the careful scrutinization of home loan applications and also 
the careful assessment of the ability to pay back the mortgage which interest. Often low-income 
earners such as mine workers find it challenging to meet the requirements to buy houses and even 
worse when they do not have land ownership where they can build houses off the ground. The 
ability to live with family has benefits employees’ welfare, socialisation and mental well-being given 
the immediate support that can be provided by close family members or dependants when needed. 
When organisations create systems to support their employees’ welfare they simultaneously create 
trust and confidence amongst employees. The important period is when the welfare systems of an 
organisation yield the intended results for both employees and the employer. It takes effort to 
develop a welfare system that ensure that the housing needs of employees are taken care off and 
in that they can maintain sound relationships with their families or dependants. The housing gap 
amongst mineworkers also creates hostile relationships between the workers where others are 
provided with housing while other workers do not benefit from the housing schemes. Those 
mineworkers not benefiting from housing schemes particularly those set up by mining companies 
may lose their trust for the mining company and also distrust those who are beneficiaries (Hoekstra 
& Marais, 2016). Therefore, the housing gap has to be filled with care and there should be 
transparency in such systems as employees like any other human they require the social support 
and dignity provided by a decent housing infrastructure where both the employee and his or her 
family or dependants can live.  
 
The underlying aim of this research is to understand the relationship between income, family, 
company support and the decision for purchasing a house. The presented literature provides some 
evidence that housing is an essential part to the welfare of workers and their families in prevention 
of social disorganisation and poor performance at work. The following section presents the key 
links in literature in relation to the study’s aim. 
2.10. Links in Literature: Welfare, Housing and Mineworker Status 
There are clear links in literature which connect welfare to housing and which further suggests that 
the status of mineworkers is dependent on their welfare. The mineworkers’ status could be divided 
into various categories. These categories include health, physical health, economic, family and 
social status. Society in particular holds a strong assumption that when a member of a family is 
employed they have to provide for members of their families or their dependents. The support for 
housing access and ownership provided by mining companies is a vital activity for various reasons 
such as the ones the different scholars refer to as stated below: 
• Housing access and ownership supported by mining companies for their employees 
improves their relationship with the state and accelerates the reduction of societal inequality 
(Hammond, T; Cooper, C; van Staden, 2017). 
25 
 
• The welfare of employees is based on their daily living conditions and tough working 
conditions combined with poor living conditions lead to physical and mental unfitness which 
is even more challenging without access to a decent house (Phillips et al., 2014). 
• When mines downscale employees lose their jobs and are not easily absorbed by other 
industrial sectors which if they are without houses they have no-where to go or to belong 
when they are out of employment. The misplacement of retrenched mineworkers amongst 
members of society has a potential to tarnish the mine companies image and for this 
reason, and others it shows that housing provision is an issue that mining companies 
should always aim to address (Stewart, 2015). 
• Mining companies have a social responsibility towards society which should begin by 
serving their labour stakeholders and by ensuring community development through the 
provision of housing infrastructure (Rajak, 2016). Mining companies have an obligation 
towards society’s development at various levels mainly due to beneficiation from natural 
resources of a shared soil (Humby, 2016). 
• The concept of “people-first” promotes the idea that organization both in public and private 
sector should take care of their own people to prevent common struggles that employees 
face outside of their workplace. Often employees have to endure tough working and living 
conditions which is not always good for their emotional, mental and even physical health. 
When these struggles happen with low income at their disposal and lack of housing these 
multiples to cause family disorganization which is not good for businesses and communities 
at large. Thus the need for housing support and investment remains important for 
employees and their employers particularly in the mining sector (Rajak, 2016). 
• Trade union movements have always been at the forefront of addressing the mineworkers’ 
struggles in the areas of wages, decent work conditions and also promoting equal 
opportunities in the workplace. There has been a strong move since 2011 by trade union 
movements demanding for adequate housing for mineworkers and their families, including 
supporting the worker’s dependents or families which are pursuing tertiary education. What 
literature tells us about these demands by trade unions is that if addressed they would 
strengthen the trade union and mining company relationship, also help the trade unions to 
support their members to perform work under acceptable living conditions (Moon, 2017). 
The following sections refer to the aim of this research and its basis in literature. Based on the 
above reasons for the needs for housing as cited from various sources it is evident that housing 
influences the well-being and welfare of employees. 
2.11. Research Aim’s basis in Literature 
Aim of this research is to focus on investigation of employee’s investment in property/houses. 
Mining companies are experiencing political challenges in the country. One of the political 
challenges is for government and company management to have a strategy on accommodation for 
26 
 
employees (Manky, 2017). The challenge for management is to motivate their employees. 
Companies have to use home ownership as the strategy to motivate their employees and to 
demonstrate that they care about their social needs (Boye Kuranchie-Mensah & Amponsah-
Tawiah, 2016).South African housing policy was established in 1994 to address the home 
ownership issue and up to today some mines employees did not invest in buying houses. Policy 
was drafted to concentrate on low class people and those who earn lower salary. Targeted area to 
build or buy houses is in or close to urban area because areas are next to town and employees will 
be close to work. 
2.12. Summary of the Key Theories 
Several research studies had been conducted about employee needs satisfactions in the mining 
sectors across the world (Söderholm & Svahn, 2015). Studies from Australia, United Kingdom, 
United States of America and from the continent of Africa record that there need for employee 
support in various ways in the mining sector is common (Naicker, 2016). The performance of 
employees in their job is dependent on external, internal and personal factors (Alagaraja & Shuck, 
2015). External factors are those conditions that a company must deliver on like infrastructure, 
means of production, machineries and all other elements of performing a job or task (Dong et al., 
2016). The internal considerations refer to organisational arrangements and set up for enabling the 
external conditions and personal related well-being of employees. Examples to internal factors are 
employee support policies, promotions policies, salaries, organisational welfare and health support.  
2.13. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 
Abraham Maslow’s theory of human needs has been largely used in social science studies for a 
long time. It is still used and relevant in studies focusing on human needs and development. The 
field of human resource management and people management has also used Maslow’s work to 
engage with the ideas of employee needs. This theory has encountered criticisms such as the view 
that human needs aren’t as hierarchical as the theory sometimes suggests. Other research have 
pointed out the context under which Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was developed. Context matters 
since communities, societies and people look at human needs differently even although there are 
views which are sometimes common.  
In addition, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is used in marketing and social science research 
initiatives focuses on consumer behaviour.  On this research Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was 
used to understand employee needs satisfaction and the ranking of the various components (J. M. 
Lee & Hanna, 2015). 
2.14. McClelland Three Needs Theory 
The three needs theory is traceable to the Maslow’s Theory of Human Needs. The author of three 
needs theory of motivation is David McClelland, who’s argument was that there are three 
27 
 
motivating drivers for people regardless of their demographic backgrounds such as age, gender, 
culture, race and ethnicity (Lăzăroiu, 2015). Although this theory and the argument by McClelland 
demonstrates inclusive it is not completely true in some contexts where people are still stratified in 
terms of their demographic backgrounds and in other communities where inequality between 
genders is still a problem. 
2.15. Motivation-Hygiene Theory 
This theory is known at the two-factory theory. The two factors are motivation and hygiene factors. 
Herzberg is the author of this theory and his views were that for work to happen there must be a 
good consideration of the factors affecting work itself (motivators) and those surrounding the job 
(hygiene factors) (Alshmemri, Shahwan-Akl, & Maude, 2017). The motivation factors are 
concerned with achievement, work itself, growth, responsibility and recognition. 
2.16. LMX Theory 
This theory emerged in the late 1970s focusing on the development of relationships between 
managers and their subordinates (Ross et al., 2017). On this research manager-subordinate 
relationships were not measured. This theory entails three stages namely role-taking, role-making 
and routinisation (Seo, Nahrgang, Carter, & Hom, 2017). 
The following section is research design which describes in detail the approach which will be used 
to collect data, analyse and provide empirical evidence for the proposed relationships as shown on 
the theoretical framework of this literature review. The methodological approach is quantitative at a 
glance, but full details are provided on the next section. 
 
28 
 
Chapter 3 Research Methodology, Approach and Procedure 
 
This research study followed a quantitative approach supported by a questionnaire. The 
philosophical stance of this research is positivism. Positivism "relates to the philosophical stance of 
the natural scientist and entails working with an observable social reality to produce law-like 
generalisations" (Hutson, 2016). The subject of this research focuses on an observable social 
reality of the South African mining sector and the aim is to provide recommendations on how the 
identified problem can be generally addressed (Mojtahed, Nunes, Martins, & Peng, 2014). It is 
essential that this research project follows the positivist approach as it is useful to address the 
identified problem and allows better framing for this proposed research project (Marshall, Bryan; 
Cardon, Peter; Poddar, Amit; Fontenot, 2013). The ontology of this research can be described as 
being real, external and independent; the phenomena of welfare and job performance are 
observable and measurable concepts (Mojtahed et al., 2014). The research method as already 
indicated it is quantitative. The following diagram shows practical steps of this study’s research 
process. 
Figure 2.  Research Process 
 
This study drew its preliminary data from the mining company’s research on housing and this data 
was accessed by permission. A previous study was done by a consultancy organization and some 
data about the state of housing. This data included numbers of company houses and numbers of 
employees benefiting from company houses scheme. The results of analyses reveal that 27.6% of 
the employees have their own houses and 40.4% of the employees staying in company 
accommodations while 32% are receiving the rent subsidy. By adding employees staying in a 
company (40, 4%) and (32%) of those that are receiving rent subsidy, it shows that more 
percentage of the employees did not invest in property.  However, there are obstacles to this 
Research 
Proposal (RP) 
RP Approval 
 
Data Capturing 
Piloting of 
Questionnaire 
Writing up of 
Findings 
Analysis of 
Data 
Data Capturing/ 
Questionnaire 
Improvement 
Questionnaire 
Administration 
Finalisation of 
other Chapters 
29 
 
investment and this study seeks to provide an academic foundation for the understanding of the 
problem. 
 
3.1. Research Strategy 
The strategy of data collection included reviewing of company reports and pointing out major 
differences from the data that was collected from this research study. The participants were 
permanent employees of the mining company. The process of participation was by means of a 
questionnaire (validated by the North West University Research Statistics division) which 
employees will completed with the assistance of the researcher. The participation was limited to 
underground mining forces in different ranks and roles. The study did not include all mine workers, 
but those who worked in the underground operations. 
 
3.2. Research Method 
The following research method sections provide essential and practical details of this research 
project. These sections entail the process of sourcing literature, the research setting and also the 
entrée and establishing researcher roles. 
 
3.3. Literature Review 
This research is an academic study and the topic focuses on welfare and job performance of 
mineworkers. Research databases and sources will be consulted to locate the most recent journals 
and articles, these databases include: 
• EbscoHost 
• Google Scholar 
• ResearchGate 
• North West University Library website 
• Academia Edu. 
 
Books covering subject areas such as human resource management, organisational effectiveness 
and employee welfare will be read. Books on research methodology will also be consulted. The 
internet will assist in accessing other foundational texts stored on the South African Chamber of 
Mines website. The search keywords include:  
• Worker welfare and human needs 
• South African Mining 
• Mine work conditions 
• Mineworker family 
• Mineworker accommodation 
30 
 
• Mineworker job performance and welfare 
 
 
3.4. Research Setting 
This research took place in a mining company. This research has a unique characteristic as the 
questionnaires during the data collection process will be split equally between the two operations 
of the mine. This shall provide an opportunity to make comparisons where necessary. The 
following are further characteristics of the research setting: 
• Mining company 
• Permission to conduct this research was granted 
• The research site was easily accessible to the researcher 
• Research project had company support  
The company's support did not interfere with the independence of the research study and it was 
also not restrictive in any way. The nature of company support was to enable the research to be 
conducted and it includes granting access to company records which contained information that 
was relevant to the research questions of this study. 
3.5. Entrée and Establishing Researcher Roles  
A permission to conduct this research at mining company was granted and a permit letter was 
obtained. This research was conducted by means of a self-administered questionnaire.  
3.6. Sampling  
This study focused on two mine locations which are Rustenburg and Postmasburg in South Africa. 
In Rustenburg, there are 2562 and 1258 employees in Postmasburg.  This research will follow a 
convenience sampling strategy (“Decisions About Sampling : Where , When , Who , and What,” 
2008). The sampling strategy was realized through the administration survey questionnaires. A 
sample was a select group of employees who do underground mine work, these include mine 
workers, rock drillers and those engage with under-ground work operations. The sample size was 
to be a total of 120 respondents for the research study to ensure reliability for statistical purposes 
(Case, 2002). The distribution was 60 questionnaires for each of the two mining sites of the 
company. A final total of 118 questionnaires was valid and full completed for use in this study. 
3.7. Data Collection Methods 
Data was obtained from both primary and secondary sources. The questionnaire consisted of two 
sections. The first is the biographic information collected which includes gender, age group, 
province, education, salary bracket, trade union membership and house ownership it informs the 
context of the study (Sanders, Cogin & Bainbridge, 2014:5). The collected is reported on Chapter 4 
31 
 
of this study and provides a full picture of the research context and for the reporting of 
representation of participants. The second section was informed by the foundational theories of the 
study and the theoretical framework. The following was taken into consideration: 
• Questionnaires will be self-administered to ensure accuracy. 
• The language on the questionnaire was simplified to ensure that respondents could easily 
understand and were able to complete it with minimal support from the researcher. 
• A pilot test was conducted before the official data collection through questionnaire was done. 
 
The secondary sources of data included company reports, records and other accessible document-
based information stored by the mining company about the problem being studied in this research. 
These secondary sources will be accessed within the rules of information and record management 
as prescribed by the company. Law of the country protects employees' information. Employees 
must give consent in witting that their information can be used. In this research, only figures and 
relevant statistics will be used. This research project focuses on permanently employed 
underground mine workers and other staff members such as those involved in over-ground general 
work. Data collection will be followed by the management of the data records and analysis with the 
help of North West University Research Statistics Department. 
3.8. Recording of Data  
The sets of data collected was recorded based on their nature and available media for recording. 
The following was done to manage the recording of data: 
• The self-administered questionnaires were completed with the target population. Appointments 
to have the questionnaires completed were arranged and shift supervisors were consulted to 
grant access to employees to have the questionnaires completed. 
• A spreadsheet was used to record the initial data collected through questionnaires. This 
process was managed with the help of the North West University Research Statistics division 
The quality of data was dependent on the full completion of questionnaires and having them self-
administered is one of the mechanisms put in place to prevent a return of incomplete 
questionnaires. The validation of data and recording was done by the North West University 
Statistics division. 
3.9. Data Analysis  
A two sections research questionnaire was used for this research project to collect data about the 
problem and hypothesis of this research study. Some secondary data was also considered in the 
data analysis. The data analysis of the study was supported by the following: 
32 
 
• A total of 118 respondents will be reached out to complete the questionnaire of this research 
study and this number of respondents would be sufficient to provide a sound numerical 
analysis for this kind of research study (Dawson, 2013:138). 
• The data collection instrument (questionnaire) was tested for accuracy as shown in figure 2 
and improvements were made on the questionnaire and pilot study was conducted to put the 
questionnaire to test.  
• The data was captured on a numerical spreadsheet and analysed on the Statistical Package 
for Social Sciences (SPSS) to understand the underlying relationships as shown in figure 1. 
Frequency tables will be generated, and data interpreted.  
• The analysis of data was supported by literature sourced from relevant sources and up to date 
databases. 
The data analysis of this study focused on addressing the research objectives of the proposed 
research study. The data analysis also provides statistical evidence to hypotheses and the 
underlying research questions. 
3.10. Strategies Employed to Ensure Quality Data  
The research design was based on the nature of the proposed research study and also the 
expected number of participants. The quantitative research approach suited the design and the 
purpose of this research study (Denscombe, 2012:22). There will be testing for relationships and 
identification of connections which is required as part of the quantitative framework used to 
numerically test for connections (Dawson, 2013:140).  The following strategies will be used to 
ensure quality data. 
• The researcher prevented biases by providing clear instructions on the research questionnaire, 
by also ensuring that participants remain anonymous and giving an assurance that all data 
collected is used for an academic purpose. 
3.11. Reporting  
The reporting of the data collected, and findings was done in a comprehensive academic writing 
style. Relevant and key findings were reported in response to the questions of this research study. 
An accessible academic language and style of writing was used in this mini-dissertation in 
reporting the results. The reporting complies with the following standards: 
• North West University academic writing standards 
• Ethical reporting standards as prescribed by the university ethical clearance 
 
33 
 
Chapter 4: Results and Findings 
The specific objectives of the study were to explore literature and identify links about worker’s 
needs in the mining industry (Kuranchie-mensah & Amponsah-tawiah, 2016), to describe 
extensively the value of housing on the lives of mine workers as part of human needs and to 
provide newer suggestions on the role of mining companies in providing accommodation and 
housing for employees (Manky, 2017). This research study as title Employee needs satisfaction in 
a mining company seeks to engage the concept of employee housing needs and this study uses 
quantitative data, graphs and tables to share the findings and results.  A questionnaire consisting 
of 46 items was used for data collection in this study. The questionnaire was administered to 118 
employees in a mining company and this was achieved through convenience sampling and the 
availability of employees to complete the questionnaire. A Cronbach’s Alpha test was run on the 
questionnaire to assess the internal reliability of the items on the questionnaire and the rating was 
0.86. This score is acceptable, and it is evidence that the questionnaire used was reliable (Bonett 
& Wright, 2017). There other tests for reliability analysis. However, this study’s questionnaire was 
best suitable to be put on a Cronbach Alpha’s test given the number of items on the questionnaire, 
purpose of the study and the time limit for conducting this research. 
Table 3. Reliability Statistics 
Reliability Statistics 
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items 
0,860 46 
 
This research study’s intention is to answer the research questions which are stated below. The 
findings and numerical results are intended to provide concrete ideas about the state of the 
questions raised in this study and these results contribute to the broader topic of employee needs 
satisfaction in a mining company. 
• The primary research question of this study can be stated as  
           (1) What role does housing access play in fulfilling employees’ needs? 
  (2) What job benefits are perceived to be important among employees? 
• The secondary research question is (1) which role can the mining company play in the 
provision of employee needs?  This in terms of any systems designed to address human 
needs (Maslow), work-based satisfaction (Hertzberg two factors) and fairness in worker 
engagement as well as consultation (LMX theory). 
The distribution of the research instrument/questionnaire was constructed from a well define set of 
literature and a well investigated literature review. The data collected using the instrument is 
reported on this chapter by means of bar, pie and funnel charts. Custom tables and percentage 
frequencies are reported on this chapter. Mere reporting is insufficient on its own when presenting 
findings and results in academic research (Steffens, Weeks, Davidson, & Isaak, 2014). Therefore, 
34 
 
on this chapter analysis of the findings and literature is used to substantiate some of the data and 
the general findings and results. The reporting is based on the demographic information and Likert 
scale-based responses provided by respondents. The following table reports the descriptive 
statistics on the demographic responses collected in this study. The mean and standard deviations 
are reported. The sample size of this study ‘n’ was at total of 118 participants which is a fair 
representative of the population in terms of sites, time and purpose of the research study. Mean, 
std. deviation and ‘N’ (number of participants) are concepts of inferential statistics which help in 
reporting accuracy and the precision of data collected. Based on the table below which reports the 
mean and standard deviation the data collected can be used to make some generalisable 
recommendations for the mining sector in the final chapter of this dissertation. However, the 
demographic data tells a story about the background of the mineworkers, their well-being and 
employee needs that exist. The results on this table show that 7 of the questions received full 
responses (118), with 5 receiving 117 and the rest receiving responses between 100 and 116. 
These descriptive statistics were generated based on the 95% confidence interval of the mean. All 
the items on the demographics table below validates this study and results. 
Table 4. Descriptive Statistics: Demographic Information 
  Mean Std. Deviation N 
PROVINCE 7,25 1,726 118 
AGE GROUP 2,37 0,737 118 
EDUCATION 4,38 0,538 118 
YEARS IN THE MINE 1,68 0,775 117 
SALARY BRACKET 3,80 1,895 117 
TRADE UNION MEMBERSHIP 1,36 0,498 118 
HOUSE OWNERSHIP 1,76 0,427 118 
CITIZEN/WORKER BENEFITS 2,23 0,777 100 
DEPENDANTS 2,99 0,933 117 
MARITAL STATUS 1,63 0,651 117 
PERIOD IN CURRENT HOUSE 2,28 0,942 115 
MEDICAL AID 1,31 0,462 118 
DEMAND FOR SALARY INCREASE 1,58 0,496 116 
WORK DAYS STAY 1,51 0,502 117 
HOLIDAY STAY 1,53 0,501 118 
 
4.1. Provinces 
South Africa is made up of nice provinces. Mineworkers and other people categorised as labour 
force work in their home provinces, but many often relocate to other provinces for work (Faguet, 
2011). Relocation creates a new dimension about residence and accommodation. Upon relocation 
one must find temporary or even permanent accommodation. Most of the time the consideration of 
accommodation or place to stay in a new region of work is often a concern for workers relocating to 
work in other regions. In job posts for senior positions in big organisations successful applicants 
get to be offered relocation funds which is often not the case for the work class majority jobs. 
35 
 
 
Figure 3. Home Province 
Jobs in the mining sector are also offered to non-South African nationals. These include workers 
from the neighbouring countries namely eSwatini, Lesotho, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia. 
Specialist skills are also recruited from other countries other than the neighbouring or even African 
countries (Narula, 2017). The highest percentage of workers working in the mining company is 
from the Northern Cape which is reported at 73%, this also include the number of employees that 
permanently relocated to Northern Cape which is one of the provinces in which the mine 
operations are based and another 15% is from the North West province which one other operation 
of the mine is based. The study’s data was collected from the two mining operations in Northern 
Cape and North West. The other 11% of the workers came from other provinces. The lowest 
percentage is 1% from Mpumalanga. Although the study was widely accessible to workers it still 
shows low percentages of workers coming from other provinces other than Northern Cape and 
North West Provinces; the numbers are reflective of the home provinces and the worker diversity 
by province in the mining company (Hatipoglu & Inelmen, 2017). South Africa’s economy has for a 
long time been dependent on the mining sector and other industrial operations such as energy, 
construction and agro-processing (Kotsadam & Tolonen, 2015). The shift in job losses in the 
mining sector and low wages had often caused instability. Between 2012 and 2014 the platinum 
mining belt was plundered with constant strike actions and huge drops in production were recorded 
(Sil, 2018). The mining sector in the poor provinces remains one of the biggest economic 
contributors in the local economic development and to the well-being of the nearby communities by 
means of CSI programmes (Downes, Hanslow, & Tulip, 2014). However, for employees who have 
relocated and those from the province in which the mining company is based; stability in terms of 
satisfying employee needs is a common demand. 
 
36 
 
4.2. Age Demographic 
The age demographic representation shows that a large group of the employees is aged between 
26-35. This youth age range as defined by the South African National Youth Development Agency 
(NYDA) (Lannoy, Leibbrandt, Frame, & Initiative, 2015). Due to a large population of youth in 
South Africa (Stats SA), youth unemployment remains high in comparison to that of age groups 
beyond 35, besides the fact that there’s more youth than senior adults in South Africa. Life 
planning happens also in the youth stages for many people and decisions for stability are taken by 
people within specific age ranges. It is evident here that there is a need for support in terms of 
housing, employee well-being and advice given a large group of people that fall in the category of 
youth. Some although still youth they may have dependants which include their own children or 
even siblings and parents which need to be looked after. The needs of the youth employees 
sometimes differ from those of other age groups. Common areas of employee needs satisfaction 
regardless of age group is decent housing, accommodation, health and well-being. However, 
things like leisure, taking holidays and family planning differs by age group (Fernet & Austin, 2014). 
Some of the youth may be residing with parents and making some contributions as it already 
shown on the previous section that 73% of the work-force came from Northern Cape which 
supports the claim that this is youth either living with parents or in another form of accommodation. 
 
Figure 4. Age Group 
The other contributor into the understanding of the employee needs in the mining sector are the 
skills sets that employees bring with into the sector. Most of the mine-workers especially those 
involved with underground shaft do not have extensive education only a few who are engineers or 
specialists have obtained extensive and even university education. The mine sector has for a long 
time dependent on training its people on-the-job. The sustainability of this approach is questionable 
especially when mining companies have a large group of young people who could benefit from 
well-structured skills programmes in the mining sector.  The next graph reports the state of 
educational attainments of the mine-workers and an analysis of what this means is provided. 
 
 
37 
 
4.3. Educational Attainments 
Education and training plays a key role in workforce skills development (Ewart Keep, 2018). It 
creates personal mobility for employees wishing to change jobs from one organisation to another. 
Skills development also enables employees to perform their given job to the best of their ability 
(Keller & Utar, 2016). Mine-workers which include rock-drillers, shaft general workers and other 
general teams require continuous training and up skilling as technologies and practices change. 
 
Figure 5. Educational Attainments 
A total of 64% had education between grade 10-12 of high school education. This shows that many 
of the mineworkers have had access to basic high school education. However, this does not make 
them competitive mineworkers in terms of specialist skills and other advanced technical 
knowledge. The level of education and skill also has an impact on the mineworker’s earnings and 
only 36% has had post school education which is a group that has a potential to earn more. 
According to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs the basic and first level needs are often satisfied first 
and then people aim to fulfil the other needs from there (Amponsah-tawiah & Dartey-Baah, 2004). 
But for a mineworker whose education is only basic and dependent on being trained on-the-job it 
can be a challenge to get promoted and to even cope with the changing requirements of doing a 
job-task that used to be normal (Morkun, 2014). With technological advancements and automation 
skills development has become important to save jobs and to empower under-skilled workers 
(Ozguner & Ozguner, 2014). The mining sector is not growing, and it doesn’t create massive new 
job opportunities, the sector constantly lays off employees and keeps those who are well skilled to 
handle the new mining cost savvy techniques (Leonardi, 2017). In this case technical and 
vocational skills can be developed among the employees (Leclercq-vandelannoitte & Leclercq-, 
2018) and be educated about other mining related opportunities in order to have a better 
understanding of the sector in which they work (Hennekam, 2015). 
4.4. Period Working in the Mine 
The attainment of personal satisfaction has a close link to work experience and organisational 
knowledge (Amusan et al., 2017). In work contexts employees get a chance to save funds through 
pension schemes and the longer they have been in job the higher the pension pay-out upon 
38 
 
retirement (Verhofstadt & Witte, 2015). Not all employees qualify to be members of pension 
schemes as some are temporary or just fixed term contract workers. On this section reporting is 
done about the period worked in the mine. Some meaning is extrapolated to gain a better 
understanding of what the years of working in the mine means for housing and the broader 
satisfaction of employee needs. 
 
Figure 6 . Period Working in the Mine in Years 
The period an employee has been working in a mine has an influence on the material 
accumulation of the person and on how they relate with their work environment (Bandopadhyay, 
2015). In this instance the employees that have worked longer in the mine are most likely to have 
achieved a great level of stability and are able to invest in their housing needs. About 48% of the 
employees have worked between 1-5 years in the mining company and this period is mainly 
characterised by temporary or contract appointments. During this 1-5 year period many external 
contractors also work in the mine setting for limited time appointments. The group of workers that 
have worked for over 10 years in the mining company have opportunity to transfer organisation 
knowledge and experience to other employees in the company (Warren, Mcdonald, & Mcauliffe, 
2015). The general job performance and longevity in the organisation does grant stability in career 
planning and progression of employees. However, with retrenchments and other forms of layoffs it 
is becoming harder to guarantee permanence in employment regardless of the number of years an 
individual has worked in the mine. Knowledge sharing among employees also has a potential to 
enlarge the job scope of others and promotes synergy in the work setting. The retention of 
employees that have worked for a long term in the mine is beneficial for transfer of organisational 
and other tacit knowledge. The senior employees also can share their experiences of building their 
lives; like acquiring a house.  The reason housing is one of the dominant employee needs is 
because shelter is one of the basic needs, it provides protection, comfort and access to family 
social relationships (Šajeva, 2014). The immediate demand for employee housing needs 
satisfaction is due to the increasing number of retrenchments and labour broking in various sectors 
39 
 
which employees find threatening to their long-term employment prospects hence the need to 
achieve stability within the short period of time in employment (Dube & Maroun, 2017). 
4.5. Salary Bracket 
In this research participants were asked by means of the questionnaire to indicate their earnings 
using a salary bracket scale. The South African government promulgated a minimum wage act of 
R3800 in 2017 (Kurtulus & Kruse, 2017). However, not all employers comply with this requirement 
and provide decent basic conditions of employment.  
 
Figure 7. Salary Bracket 
These results show that 24% of the employees earns below R6000 and the same percentage 
earns over R20000. The gap stretch in the salary bracket is still great to the target goal of R12 500 
that the labour organisations called for in 2012. For those earning R6000 or below the gap to the 
ideal goal of mine salary earnings was agreed to with trade unions in 2012 is R6500+ and for those 
earning R20000+ the difference is that they earn R7500+ above the propose salary goal of 
R12 500. This salary bracket report shows the disparities in salary earnings. This section 
demonstrates the interlink that exists between the number of years worked in the mine, the salary 
bracket and trade union membership which leads to the next findings analysis and reporting. 
4.6. Trade union membership 
In reporting about trade union membership three options were given. A yes or no or membership 
cancelled option. Trade unions and their federations claim the position of being the voice of 
organised workers. The trade union movement of South Africa dates to early 80s when majority 
workers began to demand better working conditions and wages (Storm, 2016). Trade union 
movements were also organised around political organisations and represented certain groups 
until early 2000s where amendment to the  Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) enabled 
trade unions to play an active role in representing employees within the official structures and 
committees in organisations (Bhorat, Naidoo, & Yu, 2014).  
40 
 
 
Figure 8. Trade Union Membership 
Trade unions federations such as COSATU and its allies AMCU and NUMSA are predominantly 
large organisations representing the interests of their members in the mining sector of South 
Africa. Among other things that the trade union movement has been advocating for is decent 
employment, living wage and fairness in supporting employee needs. Figure 6 shows that 65% of 
the employees were members of a trade union and only 1% cancelled membership.  The other 
34% weren’t members of a trade union. Union membership is not a complete solution to job 
security and housing support for employees as it is sometimes portrayed by unionists. It is a 
caucus platform for ideas about improving the needs satisfaction of different employee groups. The 
critic about trade unions is also that productive time gets lost when demonstrations and industrial 
action takes place (Bhorat, Naidoo, Oosthuizen, & Pillay, 2015). The very same employees suffer 
the consequence of no work no pay, which partly explains the 34% of employees that aren’t trade 
union members. The salary negotiations by trade unions play a key role in improving the earnings 
of the working-class majority but the role of a trade union could be enhanced to focus on this like 
skills development and career progression in or outside the mining sector (Xu, 2017). Further into 
the inquiry of this study is house ownership which is one of the first level needs according to the 
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Although Abraham Maslow doesn’t specify how one must fulfil their 
need for shelter it common knowledge that housing is one of the ways to fulfil the need for shelter. 
With shelter comes safety, comfort and protection from vulnerability. 
4.7. House Ownership 
House ownership refers to having full rights to residential property and being the title deed holder 
(Webster, 2017). This area is central to the questions of the research study and the related 
objectives. The fulfilment of housing needs for workers is important and it affects the general 
income of the working-class majority as reported in this study. A total of 76% employees reported 
that they didn’t own a house. This information further contracted with those of the recipients of 
government and other housing subsidies. Although mining companies provided hostels and 
41 
 
dormitories for mine workers to live this has changed over time and employees are constantly 
calling for dignified housing.  
 
Figure 9. House Ownership 
On figure 3, earlier in this chapter it is evident that many of the people working at the mining 
company were from Northern Cape and Northwest provinces. Temporary accommodation is a 
common source of shelter for workers especially when they relocate to mining towns hence the low 
housing ownership which shows 24%. Housing ownership is dependent on one’s income, interest 
in housing property ownership and a credit record if considering a housing purchase. In the 
reporting of employees’ income on this study it was reported that 24% of employees earned R6000 
and less. This income bracket doesn’t qualify for housing finance from banks or other private 
housing developers. This income bracket also doesn’t qualify for benefiting from government free 
housing programmes such as the RDP (Draphor, Obando, Obiero, Gabiri, & Box, 2014). There’s 
limited access government subsidy for housing through mutual banks for low earners. Housing 
arrangements like JOSHCO (a Johannesburg Housing Company run by the Johannesburg 
Municipality) and others provide affordable access to housing that is suitable for a family. In mining 
some mining towns, the model of municipal run housing hasn’t been a trend and there’s reliance 
on hostel dwellings provided by the mining companies (Shackleton, Chinyimba, Hebinck, 
Shackleton, & Kaoma, 2015). This kind of accommodation or shelter is not always enough and 
cannot be provided to all employees. Recent attempts to expand access to decent accommodation 
by mining companies is leasing private residential properties for employees. There are other 
government programmes to provide housing over and above subsidies. These are reported on the 
next following results discussion. 
4.8. Citizen/Worker Benefits 
Citizen and worker benefits in this study refer to the assistance that is provided by employers and 
government. Although there hasn’t been extensive research and reports about private-public 
42 
 
partnerships targeting the challenge of housing ownership (Marais et al., 2018), but it is understood 
in most research about employee needs satisfaction that subsidies run by government through 
private banks enable the qualifying working-class majority to gain access to decent housing. 
 
Figure 10. Citizen/Worker Benefits 
Figure 10 reports interesting information. It is in contrast with the figure 9 which shows 24% 
housing ownership amongst employees. It is reported here that 65% of the employees receive 
housing allowance but a small percentage invests these funds into housing. The work subsidy for 
housing is received by 11%. This refers to people who live in houses that were given to them by 
the mining company. It is a cost savvy alternative for employees as they need not to undergo time 
consuming and even costly processes of applying for home loans, credit screening and lawyer fees 
in housing purchase arrangements (Osei-kyei & Chan, 2015). The next highest percentage on 
figure 8 is that of inherited houses which is at 14%. This kind of housing is a transfer of a house 
from previous owners to an heir. RDP housing which is government housing programme is limited 
and is not available to people employed and earning above R6000 or a standard living wage as 
prescribed in South Africa. However, some people would have been employed by the company 
after they had already benefited from the RDP housing scheme hence the 10% but others could 
have inherited RDP houses from their parents. These varieties in housing benefit show that 
employees have alternatives to fulfilling their needs for housing and decent accommodation.  
4.9. Years Living in Current Residence 
The period in a certain residence is a measure of residential stability. Residence address is also 
important in accessing basic services. In order to open a banking account, register a cell-phone 
sim card and access other government services a proof of residence is required. Citizens in the 
context of South Africa are expected to produce a bills statement, or municipal bill or other letters 
to prove their residential address (Caldeira, 2017). The issue of housing ownership is the dignity 
that comes with it and the social stability that is associated with having decent housing as place to 
stay and live (Mas & Porteous, 2015). In this section a close review, based on the available data, is 
43 
 
done and meaning is extrapolated to understand the social stability and housing status of workers 
in the mine. 
 
Figure 11. Period Living in the Current Residence 
The residential status of 43% of the employees is that they have stayed on their current residence 
for between 1-5 years. This percentage shows good correlation to the percentage number that 
have worked in the mine for 1-5 years which is 48%. There’s an indicative correlation in the 1-5 
years period of working in the mine and the period of staying in the current residence. The longer 
the period working in the mine the longer the years living in current residence. This demonstrates 
the employees’ interest in having a stable place to live. The 21% of employees that have lived in 
their current residence for less than a year is indicative of constant movement and relocation of 
employees from one place of stay to another. This raises a concern as 65% of the employees 
received housing allowance.  However about 13% of employees has stayed in their current 
residence for over 10 years and 23% for 6 to 10 years. In total 33% of the employees have 
experience stability in the current residence. Housing and ownership play a role in creating stability 
as well as socio economic wellness overtime. 
4.10. Medical Aid Subscription 
Health access is essential for mining workforces due to the health risks that they are exposed to on 
daily basis in underground work (Power, 2017). In the mining company which the study was 
conducted; medical aid subscription is paid for in full or partly by the employer. An exclusion of 
temporary contract employees is also true for medical aid subscription. 
44 
 
 
Figure 12. Medical Aid Subscription 
A total of 69% of the employees reported being subscribed to a medical aid scheme and 31% 
reported no subscription. The mining sector for long period had been blamed for endangering the 
health of its workers and even exposing large groups of employees to silicosis. In the recent past 
families had had to carry the burden of sick family members that had returned from mines due to 
illness which was traceable to work conditions (Rodriguez-fernandez et al., 2015). It is against this 
background that the 31% must be enabled to gain access to a reliable medical aid scheme to 
improve general health and well-being of mine workers needing access to health services. The 
limitation of figure 10 is that employees may report subscription to a medical aid, but this doesn’t 
imply that they use medical care and check-up services from time to time. A further question that 
must be asked when last they visited a doctor or a medical care centre to further understand 
whether employees are actively using their subscriptions. However, the medical aid subscriptions 
in one hand enable the family members of the mine workers to also access decent medical care 
services which is why figure 10 is still significant to the findings of this study. 
4.11. Staying with family during work days and work holidays 
Family members are an essential part of one’s social network and socialisation with society. They 
play a role in providing support, help and general welfare (Goldblatt & Rai, 2018). Families are not 
without disputes or even division. But when there is an existing and functioning family structure, 
they tend to be supportive (Puślecki & Introduction, 2016). Those earning an income in a family 
they tend to make financial contributions towards basic needs and paying of bills (Chatters, Taylor, 
& Nicklett, 2018). This is no exception for the working class mine workers who provide for the most 
needs of their immediate and sometimes extended families. 
45 
 
 
Figure 13. Staying with Family during Work Days? 
The above results show that 49% of employees stayed with their families during their work days 
and 51% did not stay with their families. This is almost an equal split. Not all employees have 
access to their families, the 51% of employees that do not see their families after a work day is 
high. It half of the participants which is representative of the company’s workforce. The social 
connection with a support structure such as a family is important and when employees have stable 
housing can bring families closer to the places of work. However, the provinces and distribution 
can also play a role in terms of staying with family. It would have been expected that more people 
stayed with their families since 73% of employees came from Northern Cape which is the province 
of the mining operation. However, many of workers may be coming from other towns of the 
province into the mining town where shafts and mine operations are based. The work holiday plans 
play a key role in determining how the mine employees spend their time when not at work.  It is 
also by their choice of taking the given time off or to use it to earn extra from taking overtime work 
during the allocated holiday period (Klesment & Bavel, 2015). Friends and fellow colleagues may 
also take up the holiday time for travelling as groups and visiting different home regions of their 
fellows.  
 
Figure 24. Staying with Family During Work Holidays 
In these results 53% of respondents didn’t stay with their family during holidays.  Another 
consideration that explains this is that mining work is unlike other industries that shut down 
46 
 
operations for certain holiday periods. Also, the higher earnings for working during holiday periods 
are also the kind of reason that workers would remain at work for the holiday season (Bartel & 
Ruhm, 2018). Employees also make time during normal work days to visit families in hometowns if 
they do not stay with their families during work days. The 47% that said yes is not different from the 
reporting shown in figure 11 of the 49% that stayed with their families during work days and 
similarly 51% stated that they did not stay with family; on this reporting 53% still doesn’t stay with 
family during work holidays. This puts forward an argument that staying with family is not of great 
importance to 50% of the mine work force based on the reported results in this study. The following 
section reports the second section of the study and the associated variables about employee 
needs satisfaction with focus on income, housing, family and job fulfilment. 
4.12. Access to Housing and Employee Needs Satisfaction 
The model of this study is based on four independent variables which inform the topic of employee 
needs satisfaction. Income, family, motivation for housing ownership and company support are the 
independent variables and the dependent variable is fulfilment and wellbeing which affects job 
performance (Sriyasak, Almqvist, Sridawruang, Neamsakul, & Häggström-nordin, 2018). On this 
section results on these variables are discussed. 
Table 5. Income 
ITEM(S) 
Strongly 
Disagree 
Disagree Agree 
Strongly 
Agree 
B13N1 My income is enough to meet my basic needs 23% 63% 9% 5% 
B13N2 I had demanded a salary increase in the previous 
year 
24% 59% 12% 4% 
B13N3 My income is enough to provide for my family 15% 50% 24% 12% 
B13N4 My salary covers my accommodation cost 38% 36% 18% 8% 
QUESTION 13: DOES YOUR CURRENT SALARY HELP COVER ALL YOUR BASIC NEEDS? 
 
The income variable and other variables reported for section B of the study are based on a Likert 
scale measurement. The scale registers the selected options of the respondents who are workers 
of the mining company. The indications are from strongly disagree, disagree, agree and strongly 
disagree. The are two sets, employees either agree or disagree. 
4.13. Income 
On the income question, of whether does the current salary cover all basic needs, responses show 
that only 14% of employees agreed that it covered their basic needs. A total of 86% employees felt 
that their salaries did not cover all their basic needs. Only 16% of the workers demanded a salary 
increase which is about the same percentage of employees that agreed that their salaries covered 
all their needs. Besides that, over 60% of the workers are union members 83% of them did not 
demand salary increase in the previous year. This shows a huge drop in the confidence of workers 
to use the trade union mechanisms to demand salary increases. A shift can be observed on the 
47 
 
agreed part that 36% of workers could provide for the needs of their families based on the income 
they earned but over 60% of employees could not fulfil all the needs of their family. They reported 
that their income was insufficient to fulfil their family’s needs. The disparities in earnings and 
income show lack of improvement in the company’s remuneration schemes and categories.  One 
of the many things that the working class aims for is to provide for family needs which if this is not 
happening it creates problems in family setting especially when there one person who’s the bread 
winner in a family. The other consideration was whether the salary covers all accommodation costs 
including rent or municipal bills. Only 26% of employees stated that it did cover their 
accommodation costs. A staggering 74% of the workers reported that their salary earning did not 
cover their accommodation.  
 
Figure 15. Income 
The graph above shows among other things that there is an existing struggle to cover 
accommodation costs besides the company housing allowance that is received by about 65% of 
the employees as was reported here. The way the housing allowance is used by individual 
employees is questionable and whether there’s enough finance education for employees over and 
above the calls for salary increases and provision of company-built housing. The next table 
addresses the family question about employee needs satisfaction. 
4.14. Family 
Three items were developed for the family variable of the study. The question was inquiry about 
the need to care for family dependants by employees. A family in this study refers to one’s 
immediate and extended brothers, sisters, parents, siblings, children and partner (Puślecki & 
Introduction, 2016). This part is interesting as it shows that besides all struggles with income and 
not being enough high number of workers still provided for their families. A total of 49% agreed that 
48 
 
their families had decent housing. This is true of those that have relocated from homelands coming 
to work in the mine and building homes back home where they have come from.  
Table 6 Family 
ITEM(S) 
Strongly 
Disagree  
Disagree  Agree  
Strongly 
Agree  
B14N1 My family/dependants have a decent house 22% 29% 28% 21% 
B14N2 My family house is my responsibility 12% 28% 18% 42% 
B14N3 I stay with my family during my work days 11% 14% 19% 55% 
QUESTION 14: DO YOU HAVE ANY FAMILY DEPENDANTS THAT YOU NEED TO 
TAKE CARE OF? 
 
The family house responsibility was reported by 60% of employees. This means that the general 
housing improvements and other necessities are a responsibility to 60% employees. The 
employees’ family responsibilities have a potential to overburden employees. The reporting by 
many of the employees that their salaries didn’t cover all their basic needs is evidence of some 
degree of being overburdened. On section A questions of this chapter employees reported on their 
holiday and working days stay with families. Over 50% of the employees reported that they didn’t 
stay with family during work days and for holidays. In contrast 74% of employees report that they 
stayed with family on the second section of the study. However, this refers to either relatives one is 
living with during the work time which is not the immediate and even the well-known extended 
family. Also, the adaptation into new families is true. The 74% is not different from the fact that 
73% of the employees are from the Northern Cape Province as in figure 1 which means many of 
the employees had access to their families from time to time during work days. The family 
experience of employees does add to their reasons to keep on working in their jobs and it is a 
source of fulfilment to be able to provide for family hence interaction with family is also important to 
employees. 
 
Figure 36. Family 
The above figure 14 is self-explanatory in that it projects the statistical frequencies of the reported 
data. What stands out is the 55% employees that stay with their family during work days and the 
49 
 
19% of employees which bring the total percentage to 74%. Family responsibility ranks high for the 
employees based on this reported data and shows that being able to provide for the needs of the 
family or dependants is a source of personal fulfilment in this instance. The understanding of the 
kind of company housing support is discussed and analysed in the next section which will further 
explain the interconnectedness of the variables. 
 
4.15. Company Housing Support 
Company housing support refers to the action taken by an organisation to provide decent shelter 
and lodging homely facilities for their employees (Phang, 2015). This goes beyond hostels but 
includes funds such as housing allowances and support for house purchases by the company. 
Table 7 Company Housing Support 
  
Strongly 
Disagree 
Disagree Agree 
Strongly 
Agree 
B15N1 My company provides enough housing allowance 32% 36% 21% 11% 
B15N2 My company supports homeownership 46% 32% 12% 9% 
B15N3 My company has prioritised employee welfare through housing 29% 40% 23% 8% 
B15N4 My job fulfils me because my company supported my house 
purchase 
24% 29% 26% 21% 
B15N5 I have a decent house because of my company’s support 49% 29% 13% 9% 
QUESTION 15: DOES THE COMPANY PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR YOUR HOUSING 
NEEDS?  
Housing allowance is partial support to the actual cost of home purchase and related monthly 
mortgage payments (Victoria, Adetiloye, Akhanolu, & Tochukwu, 2016). Asked about this 68% of 
the employees reported that the company’s housing allowance was insufficient to cover the costs 
of housing. A total of 78% reported that the company didn’t support home-ownership. This refers to 
the company active programmes designed to promote home-ownership amongst employees. 
 
Figure 47 Company Housing Support 
 
50 
 
Employee welfare is important for employees and their job performance. Much of welfare is 
dependent on the support provided by the employer. Figure 15 shows that 69% of the employees 
disagree that the company prioritises employee welfare through housing. In addition, this is the 
53% of the respondents reported they were supported by the company in house purchase. 
However, this figure is also depended on the number of employees that have purchased homes or 
had been successfully supported by the company for their house purchase.  Although housing 
support is available in many organisations this is subject to internal application and approval 
processes. Which at time excludes many employees. Employees that had decent houses because 
of support given by the company is a total of 19% as reported on figure 15 above. The criteria for 
housing support are determined at times through internal stakeholder consultations and based on 
budget considerations. The period one has been employed, level of employment or post level and 
qualification background are some of the key considerations in the process of providing company 
housing support. Considering this section, the next variable reported on is the motivation for house 
ownership. 
4.16. Motivation for House Ownership 
The motive for house ownership is personal to many and can be associated with one’s work status 
(Jiang, Li, & Feldman, 2015). The ability to finance a house purchase or building one is an income 
dependent act and it requires planning by the buyer. In reporting on this variable, a table 6 
provides details about the motivation to purchase a house and a graphical representation is 
provided. 
Table 8. Motivation for House Ownership 
  
Strongly 
Disagree Disagree Agree 
Strongly 
Agree 
B16N1 Purchasing a house is an attractive option for future of 
my family 
9% 13% 27% 50% 
B16N2 Purchasing a house was (or will be) good for my family 9% 17% 23% 51% 
B16N3 Purchase a house influence (or will) influence my job 
performance 
18% 25% 25% 33% 
B16N4 Purchasing a house is good for my wellbeing and my 
family 
8% 12% 22% 58% 
B16N5 Purchasing a house will or can improve my standard of 
living 
8% 12% 28% 51% 
B16N6 Homeownership provide my family with security 11% 12% 28% 49% 
B16N7 Homeownership provides stability for my family 7% 11% 32% 50% 
B16N8 House ownership will assure me a secure retirement 9% 10% 23% 59% 
B16N9 House ownership gives me work stability 10% 13% 29% 48% 
QUESTION 16: WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION TO BE A HOMEOWNER? 
 
The motivational factors to house purchase are family’s future, good for the family, job 
performance, well-being, security, standard of living, stability, retirement and work stability. In the 
reported data on this study 77% of employees considered a house purchase decision as being 
good for the future of their families. Another 74% of employees considered a house purchase as a 
good thing for the life of their families and 80% stated it was good for their well-being. 
51 
 
 
Figure 58. Motivation for House Ownership 
Figure 16 extends further on table 6. A total of 20% employees didn’t think that home-ownership 
would improve their standard of living. This demonstrates that housing on its own doesn’t 
determine the complete improvement of an employee’s standard of living. Stability for family and 
job performance are factors considered. In which 81% understand that their motivation home 
purchase is driven by the need for family stability. The next section is the dependent variable of 
this study which is employee needs satisfaction with focus on well-being and job performance. 
4.17. Employee Needs Satisfaction 
Satisfying employee needs has never been an easy exercise and even organisation with large 
human resource management teams struggle to deliver employment benefits packages that fulfil 
every employees’ needs. Employee needs satisfaction is traceable to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, 
LMX theory, and McClelland’s three needs theory (Olutade, Liefooghe, & Olakunle, 2015). Every 
organisation has its own philosophy regarding employee needs satisfaction and specific definitions 
are attached to the conceptualisation of what are the employee needs (Raineri & Paille, 2016). 
Furthermore, the size of an organisation also plays a role on how employee needs are understood 
organisation-wide. 
Table 9 Employee Needs Satisfaction (Well-being & Job Performance) 
ITEM(S) 
Strongly 
Disagree Disagree Agree 
Strongly 
Agree 
B17N1 Proper housing is essential for my wellbeing 6% 5% 19% 70% 
B17N2 The security of my family is important for my wellbeing 3% 7% 24% 66% 
B17N3 My company offers me stable employment 6% 6% 38% 50% 
B17N4 My job provides steady employment 4% 7% 27% 61% 
52 
 
B17N5 My salary meets all my needs 12% 16% 33% 39% 
B17N6 Company policies are put into practice for employees 29% 44% 14% 13% 
B17N7 Job progression will help me secure a better future 12% 24% 43% 21% 
B17N8 I can use all my abilities in my job in order to progress 6% 17% 31% 45% 
B17N9 Owning a house will empower me 4% 21% 44% 31% 
QUESTION 17: HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK-PLACE NEEDS 
SATISFACTION?  
Employees reported that housing was essential for their well-being (79%) which is backed by the 
findings on the motivation for house-ownership variable. The security provided by having a home 
was important for the employees as reported on the table above. A total of 88% of employees 
reported that the mining company provided stable employment and this besides their disagreement 
that their income did not cover all their basic needs. Steady employment refers to one that enables 
one to grow and experience job security. Only 11% of employees reported that the company didn’t 
provide steady employment. On the same question asked earlier on whether the salary covered all 
basic needs, employees on this question 33% agreed and 39% agreed strongly. Policies in the 
workplace facilitate implementation of management resolutions and external stakeholder 
requirements like government policies incorporated into internal practices. A total of 73% of 
employees reported that company policies weren’t actioned. They reported an interest in job 
progression as it would help them secure a better future (64%). 
 
Figure 69. Employee Needs Satisfaction (Well-being & Job Performance) 
 
 
53 
 
Employee needs satisfaction is directly linked to well-being and job performance. The day to day 
experience of the job affects the well-being of an employee and the performance. On one hand 
well-being at home does affect the job performance of an employee. On figure 17 above it is 
shown that 76% employees reported that they are given an opportunity to use all their job 
capabilities to make progress in their work.  Interestingly only 75% of the employees reported that 
house ownership would empower them. This is not a straight-line outcome and there many other 
factors that contribute to employee empowerment other than housing. Although housing has the 
potential to provide some form of employee needs satisfaction, but empowerment is another bigger 
element. Finally, employees have reported their discontent with their incomes, but they have 
reported again that generally the work context was acceptable in terms of employee needs 
satisfaction. On the following and final section factor analysis is considered and further discussions 
provided. 
4.18. Factor Analysis and Correlations 
This section shows the factor procedure and key correlations in the findings of this research. The 9 
coded items make up the dependent variable of the study which is employee needs satisfaction. 
The correlations closer to 1 had significance to the other related items. Proper housing and 
security for family correlates at 0.79. Other notable correlations are salary and steady employment 
at 0.84 and company policy on job progression for a better future at 0.84. 
                                       The FACTOR Procedure 
 
                           Input Data Type                    Raw Data 
                           Number of Records Read                  118 
                           Number of Records Used                  109 
                           N for Significance Tests                109 
 
 
                        Means and Standard Deviations from 109 Observations 
 
                               Variable          Mean       Std Dev 
 
                               B16N1        3.1467890     1.0076163 
                               B16N2        3.1467890     1.0167640 
                               B16N3        2.7339450     1.1025409 
                               B16N4        3.2752294     0.9800941 
                               B16N5        3.2018349     0.9601294 
                               B16N6        3.1467890     1.0348169 
                               B16N7        3.2385321     0.9219452 
                               B16N8        3.2844037     0.9821720 
                               B16N9        3.1192661     1.0158446 
 
 
                                           Correlations 
 
               B16N1        B16N2        B16N3        B16N4        B16N5        B16N6        B16N7 
 
B16N1        1.00000      0.78313      0.54389      0.65253      0.67734      0.65403      0.72944 
B16N2        0.78313      1.00000      0.58856      0.74887      0.77557      0.75375      0.75251 
B16N3        0.54389      0.58856      1.00000      0.56538      0.60225      0.49713      0.51847 
B16N4        0.65253      0.74887      0.56538      1.00000      0.83583      0.73580      0.75669 
B16N5        0.67734      0.77557      0.60225      0.83583      1.00000      0.74341      0.75055 
B16N6        0.65403      0.75375      0.49713      0.73580      0.74341      1.00000      0.83643 
B16N7        0.72944      0.75251      0.51847      0.75669      0.75055      0.83643      1.00000 
B16N8        0.63106      0.66247      0.50660      0.64896      0.65534      0.69647      0.74243 
B16N9        0.67023      0.63731      0.61556      0.59912      0.66810      0.59976      0.68117 
 
54 
 
Values less than 0.3 are not printed. 
 
                                          Correlations 
 
                                               B16N8        B16N9 
 
                                B16N1        0.63106      0.67023 
                                B16N2        0.66247      0.63731 
                                B16N3        0.50660      0.61556 
                                B16N4        0.64896      0.59912 
                                B16N5        0.65534      0.66810 
                                B16N6        0.69647      0.59976 
 
                                Values less than 0.3 are not 
                                printed. 
 
                                    Factor analysis Motivation                                 443 
                                                                   09:29 Thursday, August 16, 2018 
 
                                       The FACTOR Procedure 
 
                                          Correlations 
 
                                               B16N8        B16N9 
 
                                B16N7        0.74243      0.68117 
                                B16N8        1.00000      0.71739 
                                B16N9        0.71739      1.00000 
 
                                Values less than 0.3 are not 
                                printed. 
 
                                    Factor analysis Motivation                                 444 
                                                                   09:29 Thursday, August 16, 2018 
 
The factor analysis provides a review of the co-relations based on the gathered data and helps 
provide ideas about improvements to the initial theoretical framework of the study. The framework 
is shown below and with its item correlation scores. 
 
 
Income 
(B16N5 – Standard of 
living) 
Job Performance  
(B16N3/4 – 
Performance) 
Motivation 
(B16N2 -Future) 
Company Support 
(B16N7/8 – 
retirement) 
Employee Needs 
Satisfaction 
(Personal & Family 
Well-being) 
(B16N4) 
 
Figure 7 Factor Analysis - Correlation(s) 
0.84 
1.00 
0.75 
0.75 
55 
 
Income reporting on the table 4 and figure 15 shown that employees felt that they could not cover 
all their basic costs of living. A total of 86% employees combining those who disagree and those 
disagreeing strongly. Family responsibility ranked high for the employees in terms of the reported 
data based on the Likert scale options. The high motivation for housing ownership came from that 
housing was essential for wellbeing which was reported by 89% of employees. This is an indicator 
of the dependence of employee needs satisfaction on family needs satisfaction. Company support 
in terms of policies and allowances was also put to test and its correlation with employee needs 
satisfactions. Starting from the graphs and tables; employees reported that they didn’t receive 
direct company support for housing (78%) although 65% reported that they received housing 
allowance. Education about housing and financing was one thing that lacked besides the funding 
support the came through housing allowances hence the 78% of employees reporting that no 
support is directly provided for housing ownership. All the variables were put on one question set 
under employee needs satisfaction to test correlations about motivation for house-ownership with 
direct considerations of family and personal well-being when house ownership is fulfilled as a 
central employee’s need. The correlations are acceptable for the size of the study. As it is shown 
on figure 18, income and employee needs satisfaction correlate at 0.84, and there is a significant 
correlation between job performance and employee needs satisfaction which is at 1.00**. 
Motivation and company support variables indicated a correlation at 0.75 which is significantly 
closer to 1.00 which is the indicator of high significance. This study shows that employees value 
their families and work to achieve life goals that associate with those of their families (Goh, Ilies, & 
Schwind, 2015).  
The conclusions and recommendations of this study provide an overview of the critical literature of 
this study, discusses the recommendations in detail and the implication of the study. The 
limitations and generalizability of this research is also discussed on the final chapter of this 
research dissertation. 
 
56 
 
Chapter 5 Summary, Recommendations and Conclusion 
 
The aim of this chapter is to present the summary of the inquiry of this study. The findings of this 
study are used to offer recommendations and to share conclusions of this research project. This 
chapter is organised to provide the highlights of the study, reflect on key literature and authors, 
provide limitations of the study and propose directions for future research. The focus of this 
research was employee needs satisfaction with specific attention to housing for employees in a 
mining company (Chenga & Cronje, 2007). The following figure shows the structure of this final 
chapter of this dissertation. 
 
Figure 21. Chapter Plan and Contents 
Several research studies had been conducted about employee needs satisfactions in the mining 
sectors across the world (Söderholm & Svahn, 2015). Studies from Australia, United Kingdom, 
United States of America and from the continent of Africa record that there need for employee 
support in various ways in the mining sector is common (Naicker, 2016). The performance of 
employees in their job is dependent on external, internal and personal factors (Alagaraja & Shuck, 
2015). External factors are those conditions that a company must deliver on like infrastructure, 
means of production, machineries and all other elements of performing a job or task (Dong et al., 
2016). The internal considerations refer to organisational arrangements and set up for enabling the 
external conditions and personal related well-being of employees. Examples to internal factors are 
employee support policies, promotions policies, salaries, organisational welfare and health support. 
A baseline research study on housing in the mining sector was conducted in 2017. Findings were 
publicised and were considered by permission on this study. The only challenge with the research 
study is that it was conducted by a private contractor paid for by the company concerned and was 
conducted with the view that it would be used by internal management teams only. This was not an 
57 
 
academic inquiry and the research process was not open to the systematic academic research 
practices. This research dissertation addresses this gap and provides some depth insight about 
employee needs satisfaction with a specific focus on housing. Employee needs had been a centre 
of attention and focus for many organisations aiming to retain talent, recruiting of specialist 
practitioners and providing incentives to best performing employees (Stephen & Ayaga, 2014). 
However, the focus on employee needs satisfaction programmes prioritised the clerical group of 
employees than the low-ranking employees like general workers, workshop staff, cleaners and 
other semi-skilled labour (Bhorat & Rooney, 2017). The kind of programmes that stratify 
employees had been confronted by demonstrations and dialogue led by trade unions which in 
many instances had led to decline in productivity particularly in the South African mining sector.  
5.1. Reflections of Key Literature Tools: Employee Needs Satisfaction and Human 
Resource Management 
 
Employee needs satisfaction refers to the fulfilment of employees’ necessities and achievement of 
desires in and outside their work environment. Employee needs satisfaction is modelled on other 
human needs’ theories such as the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, McClelland three needs theory 
and Leader Member Exchange theory. These theories have also been useful to providing ideas 
about the purpose of work and earnings. The support of employee needs has been enforced by 
various legislative policies in South Africa such as the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) 
and the Labour Relations Act (LRA). BCEA focused on the enforcement of safe and fair working 
conditions for employees across sectors. This act is also enhanced by the Occupational Health 
and Safety Act (OHSA) in that the conditions under which employees work is essential to health, 
mental well-being and job performance. The Labour Relations act has opened an opportunity for 
employers, their organisations and labour movements to have platforms for engagement on issues 
of common interest. LRA provides that employees have the freedom of association; most 
employees exercise this right through union membership as shown in this research that 65% of the 
employees were active trade union members.  
5.2. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 
Abraham Maslow’s theory of human needs has been largely used in social science studies for a 
long time. It is still used and relevant in studies focusing on human needs and development. The 
field of human resource management and people management has also used Maslow’s work to 
engage with the ideas of employee needs. This theory has encountered criticisms such as the view 
that human needs aren’t as hierarchical as the theory sometimes suggests. Other research have 
pointed out the context under which Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was developed. Context matters 
since communities, societies and people look at human needs differently even although there are 
views which are sometimes common. The following diagram is the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 
and a summary is provided on how this model was applied to this study.  
58 
 
 
Figure 22. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs 
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is useful in the process of understanding human needs (Lester, 
2013). This has been already alluded to on this research. In addition, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 
is used in marketing and social science research initiatives focuses on consumer behaviour.  On 
this research Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was used to understand employee needs satisfaction 
and the ranking of the various components (J. M. Lee & Hanna, 2015). This research was based 
on five components namely demographic details such as age, province, family and earnings. 
Additional to these were housing support by company, sufficiency of the income earned, job 
performance and personal well-being. Over 60% of the employees reported that their salary 
earnings were not enough to cover their basic needs which refers to the physiological needs. 
Physiological needs include shelter, food, clothing and reproduction which are recognised as 
fundamental necessities to human life (Sadri & Bowen, 2011). In this research attention was given 
to the housing needs of employees in relation to their work obligations. In addressing this area, a 
set of elements was considered which consisted of employees’ personal well-being, time spent 
with family, income and work-related goals. Over 50% of the employees reported that that they 
received housing allowance from the company but only less than 30% of the employees had 
invested their housing allowance in buying houses. The fact that 60% of the employees reported 
that their income couldn’t cover their needs it is true that their housing allowances are diverted to 
covering other needs than housing. The distribution of employees was particularly interesting as 
73% of employees were from the Northern Cape (NC) and 15% from North West (NW); these are 
people who lived in the region where the mining company is running its two operations. It is a case 
of the employees whose change in accommodation is minimal as they work from their home 
residence. The second range of needs are safety needs which include personal protection this is 
essential in the mining context in which work itself can be an unsafe operation but also the 
challenges of violence and crime in the communities that people reside is also a concern for good 
59 
 
shelter and protection of families. Over 60% of respondents stated that their housing needs had a 
direct connection their wellbeing and that of their families. The third group of needs is love and 
belonging. A few research items focused on family and dependants. Questions included the time 
spent with family during holidays and work days. The reporting showed variance between 
employees in terms of how they spend their time with family. Many employees didn’t spend time 
with family during holidays and work days. Some of the things that explain such is the intensive 
nature of mine work especially for those engaged with underground operations as they were the 
focus of this study. The time availability for family and other social care engagements was a threat 
to the love and belonging of the employees in their immediate and extended family groups. Esteem 
needs in the context of this study are recognition, freedom, self-esteem and respect. When 
employee needs are satisfied, they have a potential to increase the esteem of employees and their 
pride to associate with their organisation. In this study it is clearly demonstrated that employees 
took pride of their work and thought their employer took good care of their housing needs besides 
that they didn’t earn enough. The availability of a housing allowance as reported by 60% of 
employees was diverted to covering other financial needs. Other organisations have focused on 
finance education programmes for their employees and supporting housing through organisational 
schemes to prevent the problem of the diverted use of allowances such as that for housing. 
Employees also reported that their future status and that of their families would be enhanced with 
an investment by purchasing a house. This research has not reported on self-actualisation needs 
given the nature of the set of employees’ needs and the specific focus on housing. The scope of 
this study is based on the lower level needs of the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which remain a 
primary concern for workers in the mining sector and the majority working class. 
5.3. McClelland Three Needs Theory 
The three needs theory is traceable to the Maslow’s Theory of Human Needs. The author of three 
needs theory of motivation is David McClelland, who’s argument was that there are three 
motivating drivers for people regardless of their demographic backgrounds such as age, gender, 
culture, race and ethnicity (Lăzăroiu, 2015). Although this theory and the argument by McClelland 
demonstrates inclusive it is not completely true in some contexts where people are still stratified in 
terms of their demographic backgrounds and in other communities where inequality between 
genders is still a problem. However, on this research what was interesting is that 80% participants 
regardless of the provinces they came from, age, salary bracket and family background reported 
that investing in a house purchase was good for the future of their families and they would consider 
an investment into a house. McClelland three needs theory entails the need for achievement, 
affiliation and power. This was put to test on this research and a few questions on the 
questionnaire address these areas as demonstrated on the table below. 
60 
 
Table 10 McClelland's Three Motivators (Needs) Theory 
Motivation factor Reflected on this research 
Need for Achievement 
(nAch) 
Most of the need for achievement was personally focused 
and to some extent job focused. Employees reported that 
they wanted to achieve better income and perform well in 
their work. They supported the link that if their housing needs 
were taken care of they would perform better in their work. At 
this stage their housing and other personal conditions affect 
their job performance.  The questionnaire was completed by 
individuals which enabled the research process to capture 
individual needs for achievement and motivation associated 
with employee needs satisfaction. 
Need for Affiliation 
(nAff) 
Several respondents reported that they were members of a 
trade union (65%). Others had cancelled their membership, 
and a few were never members of a trade union. This 
demonstrates some form of group affiliation. Over and above 
this were respondents’ affiliation to company schemes such 
as the medical aid and housing allowance. The sense of 
belonging amongst employees in various areas was clear 
and sharing of knowledge resources was also evident. In 
protection of employee rights and advancement of their 
programmes of action there was a reliance on trade union 
affiliation among employees. 
Need for Power (nPow) 
This area of McClelland’s three motivators theory places an 
emphasis on control, influence and the enjoyment of status. 
On this study although not directly related to the need for 
power; but respondents have shown in their reporting that 
housing was a property investment for them that would 
elevate their status. In other words, the satisfaction of 
employee needs is associated with a certain degree of 
status. 
 
The motivation factors are further reflected on the employees’ reasons to ensure that their 
employee needs are satisfied by both the company and through their behaviours. The need for 
housing is also two-fold as for some is a luxury but for others is the most basic thing they need 
regardless of size and other fixtures. This necessity has transformed into being a personal 
61 
 
motivation to work and perform one’s job in a manner that guarantees earnings, retention and 
allowances which adds value in the fulfilment of employee needs such as income and housing. 
The following snippets from the Kolomela housing survey further show in this summary that 
employees have always been concerned with both their first level needs as in the Maslow’s 
Hierarchy of Human Need and therefore the link between their work motivation and personal goals 
is clearly demonstrated using McClelland’s theory of motivation; which is more oriented towards a 
job than personal needs. What is interesting in this study is that employees have bridged a gap 
between the two theories based on their approach to personal needs and job performance. A 
survey conducted in 2017 is echoed by this research study on some of the following conclusions 
that the survey had registered with regards to the nature of the workforce, the area and the 
commonalities amongst employees (Kolomela Housing Survey, 2017). These show that employee 
needs satisfaction is not an event but a process. 
The majority of Kolomela’s relatively young workforce (60%) are not originally from the 
Tsantsabane area. There are notable demographic differences between employees coming from 
Tsantsabane and those coming from elsewhere. There are also significant demographic and other 
differences between employees in the bargaining category vs. those in the non-bargaining 
category. 
What the mine employees do have in common, are the following: 
- Uncertainty or fluidity of future plans and low levels of commitment to settle in Tsantsabane. 
Low percentages of employees plan to remain in or retire in Tsantsabane. High 
percentages are uncertain about their future plans, this include both those who originate 
from the area, and those who don’t.  
- Most employees have between one and three children living with them, likely aged between 
6 and 13 years old. 
- The majority of employees on all job levels, provide financial support to family members 
living elsewhere. 
- Appreciation for the affordable rental tariffs charged for mine housing. 
- Support for the intent of Kolomela mine’s housing strategy, although implementation was 
often criticised – especially with regard to housing allocation criteria which are perceived to 
be applied inconsistently by the mine. 
- High levels of agreement on the top two preferred criteria for housing allocation: (1) Time 
waiting for a house, and (2) What an employee can afford, and general consensus on three 
other preferred criteria: (1) Years of service at Kolomela mine, (2) Family size, and (3) 
Current position or job grade. 
- A love for expensive vehicles (the most expensive cost item in the household budgets of 
employees in the bargaining and non-bargaining category), and a tendency towards 
incurring debt – especially employees on lower job levels. 
62 
 
The above piece from the 2017 housing survey shows the variance and commonalities in 
employees’ needs. The satisfaction of the employee needs does exert pressure on the employer 
(the mine) and the employees themselves. The scarcity of jobs has also given employers a 
position of power in terms of employee benefits, reduction in additional allowances and other non-
financial support.  
5.4. Motivation-Hygiene Theory 
This theory is known at the two-factory theory. The two factors are motivation and hygiene factors. 
Herzberg is the author of this theory and his views were that for work to happen there must be a 
good consideration of the factors affecting work itself (motivators) and those surrounding the job 
(hygiene factors) (Alshmemri et al., 2017). The motivation factors are concerned with achievement, 
work itself, growth, responsibility and recognition. The research study conducted here shows that 
employees had concerns for their job performance and how their living conditions affected this. 
This was especially demonstrated when over 60% employees reported that their income did not 
cover all their basic needs. Also, the high need for achieving one’s job is driven by output targets 
and the need to ensure that their skill set is put to good use. The amount of responsibility that 
comes with the job was linked to health issues that arise from being an underground worker. The 
study focused on those who did underground or related work in the mine which came with a 
significant amount responsibility. Employees concern for growth in the mine was reported through 
the question of seeking stability. The lack of job stability and uncertainty influenced the house 
buying decisions and fulfilment of other personal employee needs. On job performance itself 
stability was essential in that if an employee’s personal well-being is compromised the job at hand 
will also be compromised.  Although employees seek achievement, recognition, stability and 
growth in their jobs there are other issues that can make this hard and the satisfaction of employee 
needs. These are company policies, supervision, salary (as already reported that over 60% of the 
employees reported that their salaries did not cover their basic needs), work conditions and 
relationships with fellow workers.  This research reports that employees’ needs satisfaction has a 
great potential to increase productivity, guide organisations into understanding the challenging 
issues faced by employees, support efforts of employees in buying houses and in making big 
financial decision which can affect their earnings; so, as their personal well-being. 
5.5. LMX Theory 
This theory emerged in the late 1970s focusing on the development of relationships between 
managers and their subordinates (Ross et al., 2017). On this research manager-subordinate 
relationships were not measured. This theory entails three stages namely role-taking, role-making 
and routinisation (Seo et al., 2017). The findings of this research show that most of the employees 
are young and in the age bracket of 26-35 and a large percentage of employees had been with the 
mine for between 1-5 years. This shows that most employees have just taken their roles and 
63 
 
there’s a need to have skills improvement done including the forming of new relationships with 
supervisors or team members. If this doesn’t happen in the mine and new staff is put to work 
without proper team orientation this might affect job performance. The role-making is a process of 
joining in teams and working together. The assumption is that new workers will work harder, and 
this is incorrect as it compromises team work relations. This area wasn’t addressed as part of this 
research. However, it was reported by employees that only about less than 10% had over 30 years 
of working in the mine. Therefore, power dynamics in the work environment weren’t a challenge 
created by the old work force given its numbers. A lot could be learnt from the senior workforce by 
the junior workforce about employee needs satisfaction in the mine this will help the flow of tacit 
knowledge. Finally, the routinisation is when a complete trust, empathy, patience and respect has 
been developed between managers and employees. In this research trust and empathy was 
mainly concerned with employee needs being satisfied, families taken care of and earnings 
improved from time to time. 
5.6. Objectives of the study 
The underlying objectives of this study provide the understanding of the purpose this research was 
conducted. The objectives of this study have served as a guiding map of what literature to collect, 
analyse and discuss. This set of objectives guided the data collection process, its design and 
reporting. 
The objectives of this study were: 
• To contribute to the existing knowledge regarding employee needs satisfaction in the 
mining sector. 
• To investigate and provide empirical evidence about the employee needs satisfaction 
factors amongst mine workers. 
• To suggest a strategy to improve housing access for mineworkers. 
 
This research has addressed the above objectives and it is clearly demonstrated in the research 
process, and finally in the findings chapter. The first objective was addressed by collecting and 
analysing literature in the areas of human needs and employee needs satisfaction. Statistical tests 
were done to validate the research instrument which was used in the investigation and provision of 
empirical evidence about employee needs satisfaction factors in the mining company. The 
suggestions to improve the processes of employee needs satisfaction are addressed further on 
this chapter. Some suggestions include developing holistic welfare approaches for employee’s 
needs satisfaction. This means the avoidance of providing for some and leaving other needs out.  
 
 
64 
 
5.7. Research Questions 
Mineworkers serve in mines with an aim to improve their lives and general welfare of their 
immediate if not also the lives of their extended families or dependants (Hoekstra & Marais, 2016). 
This is common for the working-class majority. The following questions were asked in this study. 
• There are two primary research questions of this study which are the following: 
- What role does housing access play in fulfilling employees’ needs? 
This question has had many responses and feedback from the study in which employees had 
participated in (n=118). It was clear from over 65% of employees that housing access and 
ownership played a key role in securing a future. In addition, employees reported that housing 
improved their well-being, social relations with family and this translated into improved job 
performance. What this research has also brought up is the central role that housing plays 
among other employee needs such as medical care, earnings and esteem. In addressing this 
question theories and literature were considered extensively. The evidence for this is the 
Cronbach Alpha score of 0.86 which proves internal consistency of the questionnaire that was 
used (Bonett & Wright, 2017). 
- What job benefits are perceived to be important among employees? 
Employees considered housing allowance, medical care and support for well-being to be 
important. Over 50% of the employees received a housing allowance. However, less than 30% 
had invested the funds into purchasing a house. This follows reporting by 60% of the 
employees that their income could not cover all their basic needs. It is evident here that the 
housing allowance went to cover other expenses other than to house purchase costs.  
• The secondary research question is (1) which role can the mining company play in the 
provision of employee needs?  This in terms of any systems designed to address human 
needs (Maslow), work-based satisfaction (Hertzberg two factors) and fairness in worker 
engagement as well as consultation (LMX theory). 
In summary the mining company concerned has played an active role in supporting employee 
needs and continues to improve on its existing strategies. Salary increments for semi-skilled 
employees and incorporation into the medical scheme are some of the efforts by the company to 
ensure fairness in the response to employee needs satisfaction. A total of not less than 60% of 
employees reported that company policies allowed for the support and provision of help with 
regards to employee needs. The area that still needs attention is how the company engages 
workers with regards to their needs and the consultation process in the design of programmes 
aimed at addressing employee needs. 
65 
 
5.8. Recommendations, Implications and Limitations 
One of the main contributions of this research is to provide recommendations. It should also be 
considered that by reading the findings of this study more recommendations can be drawn. 
However, for this research, its objectives and questions specific recommendations are made. 
Implications are provided based on the recommendations. The following are the recommendations 
on some of the findings of this study. 
• Over 60% employees reported that their income did not cover their basic monthly needs 
besides the fact that they received housing allowance and company medical benefit. Based 
on the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Humans needs it is essential to at least meet the first basic 
set of needs. The wellbeing of the mine employees is rather compromised if they are 
unable to meet their basic needs. It is recommended that comprehensive financial 
education programmes be developed as a human resourcing strategy and be made part of 
induction; with follow up financial advisory and planning (Fernandes, Lynch, & Netemeyer, 
2014). This has the potential to reduce financial management related problems among 
employees and might better their spending patterns to be able to cover most of their basic 
needs. This recommendation does not suggest that employees are paid enough but it 
rather suggests that their basic needs need to be managed by themselves based on their 
income. 
• About 50% of the employees reported that they received a housing allowance but 
approximately 24% stated that they had purchased a house. The problem here is the 
diverted expenditure of the housing allowance on other things other than housing itself. The 
Kolomela mine housing survey of 2017 shows that employees purchased expensive cars 
and other luxuries instead of houses which they still stated that were important. It is 
recommended that the mining company develops a housing finance scheme to which the 
housing allowances are to be deposited. Employees would then submit relevant house 
purchase documents to the scheme to claim their housing allowance. In this way the 
misuse of the company housing allowances would be put under control. 
• The treatment of employee needs requires a wholistic approach a one that looks at 
wellbeing and job performance. The recommendation is that employee consultations about 
wellbeing and job performance be held. Stakeholders such as trade unions and workplace 
groups need to be engaged in the process of employee wellbeing. Interventions by third 
parties such as social workers, financial advisors and housing companies need to be 
sourced. 
5.9. Implications 
Employee needs satisfaction is a sensitive area in human resource and people management 
research (Shuck, Collins, Rocco, & Diaz, 2016). This area involves multiple stakeholders and can 
66 
 
often course uncertainty about the next actions of the unsatisfied employees. Employees organise 
through trade unions and when negotiations fail with employers they tend to resolve to strike 
action. This has negative effects on company performance and employee’s earnings. This also 
creates a hostile relationship between employees and the employer. The following would be the 
implications of not taking in some of the recommendations proposed on this study. 
• The employees’ inability to cover their basic needs monthly will overtime threaten general 
employee fulfilment about their job and this will create an unfavourable work climate which 
is without fulfilment. 
• If a housing scheme is created this will relieve the employer of the burden to administer the 
housing allowances to individual employees but will also increase the number of employees 
who use their housing allowance for its purpose. 
• The development of a holistic approach towards employee needs satisfaction will enable 
the company to progress to other issues that require attention such as retirement age exit 
strategies and other programmes that support employees who are being laid off or 
retrenched. 
Bridging gaps between employee representatives, supervisors and company human resource 
specialists is also a useful process to help employees fulfil their needs especially that of housing. 
Building on the idea of private-public partnerships housing access for employees can be 
accelerated. 
5.10. Conclusions, Limitations of the study and directions for future research 
In conclusion this study has successfully brought to the surface the tough debate about employee 
needs satisfaction with regards to housing in the mining sector. It was able to address most of the 
research objectives. This research study was done at one mining company which has two sites in 
South Africa. It is therefore limited to the mining context of South Africa. It has potential to be 
compared to other mining industry contexts in the Southern Africa region. The number of 
participants was only 118 (n=118) in a population of about 600-700 (N=600-700). The number of 
participants is not big enough to make generalisations. The research instrument used in this study 
could be tested in a different mining company context to make comparisons and contrast some of 
the recommendations. Future research shall focus on the employee retirement exit strategies and 
those laid off through retrenchments. In retirement exit, employees housing should feature as one 
of the questions during the exit interview and whether this happens is worth studying and the 
action taken in supporting the needs of the retiring mining workers particularly those that have 
served for many years as under-ground mining workers.  
This research concludes that there is still a long way to go before the needs of the mining 
workforce can be fulfilled. The view maintained here is that through continuous consultation and 
engagement directly with individual employees their needs would stand a greater chance to be 
67 
 
fulfilled than depending on the one size fits all approach. The continued dissatisfaction with income 
amongst the mining workforce is a problem and does require attention by means of finance 
education programmes to assist in creating a financial stable and responsible workforce. In this 
way the employee needs satisfaction will improve as well as wellbeing and job performance. 
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