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FROM THE HOD

Welcome to the first newsletter of the De-partment of Industrial and Organisational Psy-chology (IOP), NMMU! We have kept the good news of the Depart-ment under our hats

for so long now that it is crying out to be spread further than the little corner of our building. The purpose of the newsletter is multifaceted, with enlightenment being the primary one. It has been clear for many years that most do not know what IOP is, nor do many know what it entails. We would thus like to provide some information which will give some insight into the discipline, plus provide some clips of what has been happening in the De-partment.

It is difficult to imagine a career that is more focussed and innovative than IOP: one can be a scientist, developer, attorney, negotiator, statistician, inven-tor, architect, teacher, mentor/advisor, trainer, motivator, humanitarian, and engineer – all at the same time. In no other field today are there so many opportunities and challenges, along with the satisfaction of bettering the lives of others. The field is tremen-dously exciting, and yet there is very little to either express, or reflect that excitement! The more society realises that the human being is key to the suc-cess of the organisation in practice, the more IOP will come to the fore as being the discipline that will ensure that suc-cess. In short, it is concerned with psy-chological science and its application to issues of human capital in organisations in order to ensure satisfaction as well as productivity. Continued on Page 7...

It is said that a world class remu-neration strategy is key for win-ning the war for talent. It is critical that HR practitioners are fully abreast of developments in this exciting, but often overlooked, field. With this in mind, the De-partment of Industrial and Organ-isational Psychology (IOP) invited South Africa’s leading expert in remuneration, Dr Mark Bussin, to address members of industry and the Department. Dr Bussin is the executive director of 21st Century Pay Solutions Group, the largest remuneration consultancy in Af-rica. He has over 20 years experi-ence in the field, and has run

Global Reward Trends Leading expert in remuneration shares his wisdom

SHARING EXPERTISE… Dr Mark Bussin, a leading expert in remuneration, recently delivered a talk on global reward trends in Port Elizabeth.

large projects for more than half the companies listed on the Jo-hannesburg Stock Exchange. He serves on and runs numerous boards, and is currently the presi-dent of the South African Reward Association. On May 13, Dr Bussin addressed a diverse audience of managers, consultants, HR professionals, academics and students on the subject of global and local reward trends. In his presentation, he highlighted the top 15 reward trends worldwide, of which the top 3 include employee engage-ment, a total reward approach, and retention trends. Other areas Dr Bussin touched on were media scrutiny of high executive pay, glopats (employees who work abroad), paying for scarce skills, and the effect of branding in terms of rewards. Dr Bussin also took the time to present a guest lecture to the Department’s Hon-ours students, whose knowledge of the subject was significantly broadened. The Department is committed to continuing to bring in top global and local talent to share their knowledge and expertise with stu-dents, thus bridging the gap be-tween theory and practice and helping to build relationships with IOP experts.

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Visiting Professor

Postgraduate and final year IOP students had the privilege to be a part of a programme called Global Modules (GM). In this pro-gramme, students from around the world connect to a BLOG site where they have the opportunity to engage in academic discussion on a particular topic, with the as-sistance of computer technol-ogy. NMMU students engaged with American students from Champlain College in Vermont. They were presented with a case study on ethics and corporate governance, from which they were required to answer ques-tions and have discussions around these topics. NMMU students commented that they learned a great deal from their American counterparts and felt that the op-

portunity to interact with them dispersed any preconceived no-tions that they had about the American culture. To comple-ment the GM, it was decided to videoconference via Skype whereby both students and lec-

turers could discuss the GM and other issues of relevance. It was an interesting experience for learners and lecturers alike, and we are proud to be associated with the GM.

Industrial Psychology goes global!

Students meet in cyberspace. . .

VISITOR FROM ABROAD… Visiting Professor from Champlain University, Prof Gary Scudder, visited our campus in June. Prof Scudder is the Assistant Dean for Global Engagement at Champlain College, as well as the Director for the GM. The purpose of his visit was to find common topics of interest for the GM and to discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of the programme.

The opportunity to

interact dispersed

any preconceived

notions students

had about the

American culture

Graduating staff make de-partment proud

Congratulations to our staff who gradu-ated at the post-graduate ceremony on 20 April 2010. An-ton Botha received his MCom IOP cum laude. His disserta-tion was entitled “Motivation and complexity: An ex-ploration of the com-plexity approach in employee motivation with a specific focus on a Lacanian Model of Desire.” Michelle Paddey was awarded her BA Honours in IOP cum laude. Her treatise was entitled “An investigation into the work and family involvement of man-agers in the South African automotive industry”. Both An-ton and Michelle’s articles stemming from their research have been accepted at this year’s SIOPSA conference taking place in Johannes-burg in July 2010.

Pictured above is Anton Botha, who received his MCom degree cum laude

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Briefs

Professor Deon Rousseau at-tended the combined ANZMAC and ANZAM Conference in Melbourne, Australia in No-vember / December 2009. The conference, hosted by Monash University, dealt with sustain-able marketing and manage-ment in the 21st Cen-tury. More than 2000 dele-gates from across the globe attended the week- long con-ference. He acted as track chair for consumer behaviour and marketing research ses-sions and also reviewed con-ference papers on these topics. Anton Botha was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship for the 2011-2012 academic year. The main goal of this programme is to enhance mutual under-standing between South Afri-cans and Americans, through educational, cultural and pro-fessional exchanges. It offers opportunities for intellectual, professional, and artistic growth. The scholarship is funded by the US Government, and covers tuition, accommo-dation and travel arrange-ments of the recipients. The Department is pleased with Anton’s achievement and wish him well in his endeavours.

Students sit at the feet of a legend

Teleconference conducted with global HR guru Dave Ulrich Industrial & Organisational Honours students were given the opportu-nity to proverbially “sit at the feet of a legend” at the end of February, when they conducted a teleconference with world-renowned HR guru, Dave Ulrich. Ulrich is co-founder of The RBL Group, and is a professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. He has written fifteen books covering topics in HR and Leadership. Furthermore, he has been named the most influential person in HR by HR Magazine for three years, ranked the #1 Management Educator & Guru by Busi-nessWeek, and selected by Fast Company as one of the 10 most inno-vative and creative leaders. Ulrich has been on the World’s Top 50 Business Thinkers List since 2007, and is also the 2010 recipient of the Kirk Englehardt Exemplary Business Ethics Award.

Johan Schoeman, a Strategic HRM lecturer, organised the teleconfer-ence with Ulrich as he strongly believes that lecturers are responsible for opening up the ‘global village’ to students, especially at a post-graduate level. The teleconference occurred at 22:00 p.m. South Afri-can time on a Friday evening (13:00 p.m. in the United States of Amer-ica), with Ulrich speaking from Salt Lake City, Utah. After reading Ul-rich’s book, each Honours student had the opportunity to ask the guru a particular HR-related question. The teleconference lasted half an hour, and the 14 students were blown away by Ulrich’s knowledge on the subject. In a subsequent e-mail to Ulrich, Schoeman states that the intervention will never be forgotten by the students and staff alike, and thanked Ulrich for being instrumental in providing such valuable global input.

Honours student Kirsten Longe mentioned that she felt “privileged to have been a part of the experience”, and felt challenged by the ease with which Ulrich spoke “off the cuff” about the questions that the students raised. According to Schoeman, teleconferences and video-conferences with global experts should become standard in universities. Academics cannot become complacent in their lecturing style, but must start bringing more to the classroom. With the NMMU seeking to become a cutting-edge University, lec-turers need to create an “appetite for global orien-tations”, and assist in expanding the boundaries of students. The teleconference showed the Honours students how small the world really is, and encour-aged them to shift their own expectations in seek-ing to raise the status of HR as a profession.

Please communicate to the stu-dents the excellence of their questions. They are lucky to have you as a teacher who is teaching them well. Nice to see the future of our profession in better hands! Dave Ulrich

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Send any rele-

vant info, articles

or photos to

Chantel at

chantel.harris

@nmmu.ac.za

FIFA experience proves to be world class

Postgraduate studies prove valuable in the world of work

In 2009, Kim-Leigh Lloyd applied for a student post at the Host Broadcast Services (HBS), host broadcaster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Kim was selected as the assistant to the Venue Broadcast Manager, and in addition to completing her Honours studies in IOP, decided to take on this additional challenge. Her responsibilities include human resource issues relating to the events that will be broadcasted from the sta-dium, such as training, health and safety, and the like.

Kim says that she has enjoyed working for HBS thus far. In addition to gaining valuable experience in HR, she is interact-ing with a diverse range of international professionals from as far as Britain, North America, Germany, and Ukraine. Al-though dealing with diverse people comes with its chal-lenges, Kim feels that she is learning a great deal being ex-posed to all these cultures. This is giving her the opportunity to prepare for working in an international company and trav-elling the world, which she intends doing once she has com-pleted her Honours degree. Kim says that her postgraduate studies, in particular organisational behaviour (OB), have prepared her well for the work she is doing. OB has helped her communicate with and grasp the work ethic of the differ-ent cultures she is dealing with. Kim has found this to be a valuable experience and encourages students to take oppor-tunities such as these to prepare them for the world of work.

Welcome to new staf f ! The Department is pleased to wel-come 3 new staff members. Miss Michelle Paddey (pictured left) is currently working towards her MA degree. Mr Johan Schoeman (pictured right), has 30 years experi-ence in national and international organisations, where he has held the positions of HR Director and Manag-ing Director. He is currently doing his coursework PhD. Mrs Karen Piro has also come on board, and will be lecturing a module on training and development.

From the classroom to the office... Stu-dents gain valuable experience at Kelly. The IOP Honours students of 2010 spent a total of three days gaining practical ex-perience in the field of recruitment at Kelly Recruitment Agency. The goal of the programme was to see how the recruit-ment process is practically applied in in-dustry. During the programme, students were exposed to the entire recruitment proc-ess through being given practical tasks to complete. This included the receiving of clients, screening of CVs, choosing suit-able candidates, reference checking and interviews, as well as the final job offer. This opportunity allowed students to re-ceive feedback on their performance, and thus develop the skills necessary to be effective in the field of recruitment and selection. The experience supplemented the theoretical knowledge given in class, and contributed to the holistic develop-ment of all students involved. Students were also given insight into the world of work and the dynamics that occur within the workplace. Continued on Page 5...

Hands on experience

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Antoinette du Buson Resource Consultant: Quest Flexible Staffing Solutions

As a resource consultant, Antoinette is involved in the entire selection process, from receiving CV’s all the way to complet-ing the contracts when candidates are hired. According to Antoinette, her BCom Honours (IOP) gave her a more in-depth knowledge of how the recruitment indus-try operates. It also provided her with “a more detailed knowledge of the processes and procedures that need to be conducted within the process of recruitment.”

Anzel Gerber

HR Graduate Trainee: Nestlé Pty Ltd

Anzel has been exposed to elements of all HR functions since joining Nestlé. She has completed two to three large pro-jects in the past 14 months, which have all been implemented. These projects require the trainees to think out of the box, be innovative, and network. Anzel’s BA (HRM) gave her a lot of book knowl-

edge required to perform her job effectively. The degree prepared her to implement this knowledge and use it to solve complex problems as well as make new recommen-dations and suggestions to continually improve their HR Department. Furthermore, it taught her to think outside of the box. “If I didn't have the IOP background that I do, I might not have been the success I am today. The degree doesn't only prepare you for your job, but also for life in general.”

I O P G R A D U AT E S

Jan-Louis Werner, one of the students involved, felt that the programme was highly beneficial in his de-velopment, and resulted in him gaining a greater understanding of the recruitment process. According to Jan-Louis, “the experience at Kelly Recruitment Agency has helped me increase my competence in the recruitment arena. Practical skills such as interviewing and reference checking were developed and this is of high value for the future.” Another student, Masechaba Letsela, commented that the time at Kelly was enjoyable and that it gave her more insight into the world of work. She felt that the process promoted her thinking beyond theory and her previously limited view of recruitment. Masechaba stated that “the field of recruitment has been opened to me and I would now feel comfortable working in the area of recruitment within an organisa-tion.”

Hands on experience continued...

Reshma Abraham Retail Operations Management (ROM) trainee: Spar

The SPAR EC distribution centre sent Reshma to their head office in Durban, where she will be positioned for 18 to 24 months while attaining a SETA-accredited ROM qualification. Thereafter, she will work for Spar EC. Reshma explains that the experience has been challenging but enjoyable thus far. Her BCom Honours

proved to be valuable: even though ROM revolves around employees and customer service, many managers under-stand little about keeping their employees happy in or-der to achieve good customer service. Reshma believes that the Honours experience has equipped her for this challenge, as she currently has to “continuously give presentations, as well as juggle studying while working.”

Bianca Westerdale HR Intern: Department of Transport

Bianca works in Personnel Provisioning and is pleased to be an intern with “a fantastic manager”. She works on the PERSAL sys-tem, and has been involved in the recruit-ment and selection process from start to finish. Her BCom (HRM) gave her the theo-retical knowledge needed in order to have a good background within the work place. She believes that “real learning be-gins when you start working”. However,

her degree has given her the background information to understand the basic principles of certain issues.

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To Give or Not To Give…

Mentoring for the future

That is the million-dollar question asked to professionals, academics, en-trepreneurs and business people in the Eastern Cape. We are not talking about giving away the pennies in your pockets, but your time and valu-able experience through the process of mentoring. The Business Women’s Association (BWA) embarked on a mentoring programme a few years ago with the aim of empowering and inspiring women in business. This programme has continued to run and is currently spearheaded by Salma Munshi of Joubert Galpin Searle. Salma believes that South Africa is still a very unequal society, and mentoring programmes are of huge as-sistance in addressing those inequalities. In a very broad sense, it’s about sharing skills, knowledge, expertise, contacts, resources – and more. She explains that mentors and mentees are matched up to ensure that the needs of the mentee can be met by the experience, expertise and qualifi-cations of the mentor. Two mentors, whose skills and experience comple-ment one another, are assigned to one mentee. Over the years a number of academics from the NMMU have generously given of their time to assist with the development of aspiring career women. Prof Dave Berry (Director of School) and Chantel Harris from the School of Industrial Psychology and Human Resources have recently been involved in this programme. Prof Berry got involved to share his knowl-edge and skills with individuals who were aware of the value of consulting with mentors, and passionate about the development of others. It was encouraging for him that a number of people were willing to give of their time and expertise, without compensation. He believes that his role as mentor was to assist his mentee to identify training and developmental needs. In addition, he took a keen interest in helping his mentee establish action plans to address these needs. “Mentoring programmes can play an extremely useful role in assisting South African organisations to meet their Employment Equity objectives, reduce high labour turnover, espe-cially in terms of high flyers (AA candidates), and increase the morale and motivation of employees,” said Prof Berry during an interview. He feels that academics contribute to mentoring by serving as role models to stu-dents and by informal coaching in the classroom. Chantel Harris was approached by Salma to act as a mentor for the first session of the 2010 Virtual Board. She believes that the mentor-mentee relationship has a critical role to play in the upliftment of women in busi-ness. Often people know in which direction they want to head, but they are vague as to how to get there. That is where the mentor is able to bring expertise and experience to assist the mentee in achieving their goals, by giving them guidance on the path to success. “One of the things that attracted me to the program was the thought of giving back to oth-ers”, says Harris. “That is a reward in itself.” Salma Munshi mentions that the following Virtual Board commences in July, for which she is still sourcing new mentors. Should you wish to par-ticipate in the programme as a mentor, please contact Salma on 078 456 9711 or email her on salmam@jgs.co.za.

Back to Afr ica . . .

Fulbright Scholar, Judy Sikuza, shares her experiences…

“I still cannot believe that my time here in New York City has finally come to an end. Time really flies when you are having fun! I have learnt so much about myself during my 22 months abroad. It is amazing how you truly get to face yourself when you are taken out of your comfort zone. I came to New York City not know-ing a single soul. So even though I am very social by nature, I was challenged to step out in this different context and establish new networks and friendships. This proved to be a very rewarding experience for me, where I befriended people who really encouraged me in my journey.

Academically, Columbia University has some of the best Professors in the Organisational Psychology field. I learnt many valuable and practical skills from being in their classes. I really do believe that my Honours years in the NMMU IOP program laid a solid foundation for my Masters studies here in the USA. The depth and rigour of the program truly prepared me to deal with the pressures and demands of postgraduate studies. I know that we would often complain as the Honours class about the work load and assignments. However, retrospectively, the thoroughness of the NMMU Hon-ours year was the best preparation I could have asked for both for my Masters here at Columbia and for my future endeavours as I enter the world of work.

The Fulbright Scholarship was not only related to academics. The program allows students to engage in cultural exchange where Americans get to learn about the places we come from, while we simultaneously learn about the various cultures within America. A large part of this endeavour for me was achieved through the travelling that I did. It was a joy to be able to share about where I come from with those who honestly ad-mitted that they did not know much about my country. I felt very proud to be South African and was always very open to discuss some of the challenges we face, as well as our strengths as a country.

I feel very excited to be returning home in a few weeks. I know that our country has its challenges, but so does every country, even the “big players” such as the USA and the UK. Being away from home made me realise just how far we have come in such a short period of time. South Africa is still a burgeoning baby that needs to be nourished through the coming together of the different cultures. We need to find avenues to col-laborate in a way that celebrates our diversity. I have hope that we can achieve this end!”

DEPARTMENTAL SU-

PERSTAR...

Fulbright scholar Judy

Sikuza, pictured left,

will be returning to

South Africa after al-

most two years abroad

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(VWSA) attended the presentation at the NMMU Conference

WORDS FROM THE HOD CONTINUED...

Organisations often have sophisticated systems for assessing the costs and benefits of everything except their management of peo-ple. It is often said by senior management that people are their greatest asset, but more often than not people do not feel that they are being treated as valuable assets. People are complicated, and they do not necessarily do what others would like or expect them to do. Thus, one reaction to this is for managers to focus on issues that are not as complicated in their request for participation and satis-faction, such as profit and loss accounts or organisational strategy. Another is to adopt a highly controlling autocratic/bureaucratic ap-proach to dealing with employees. Either way, the thinking behind how employees function, and how they might be managed, tends to be rather linear, bureaucratic, simplistic, and even humanistic. In-dustrial Psychologists seek to counter that tendency by carefully studying people’s behaviour, thoughts and feelings regarding work, developing participative systems, and then applying this knowledge to the many human resource based aspects of the management of organisations.

Even with this rather summarised definition of the discipline in mind, it would be short-sighted to believe that the field is all aca-demic endeavour! Most Industrial Psychologists do not practise as academics, but are at the forefront of developing proactive organi-sations. Hence, it is the aim of this Department to prepare practi-tioners who will be successful at doing just that.

With the above in mind, it is a pleasure to also provide some insight into what the Department has been doing. Recently the Depart-ment has been involved in expanding its postgraduate offerings, such that students of the discipline are able to register as Industrial Psychologists subsequent to completing the coursework Master’s degree. A coursework Doctoral programme has also been devel-oped and put into place. We have been fortunate enough to pro-duce a number of Mandela-Rhodes as well as Fulbright Scholars, which is a tribute to both the staff and the content of the pro-grammes. Our intention has also been to expand the understanding and view that the public has of IOP. One way of doing so, has been to focus on targeting schools’ sports teams in our marketing ap-proach by sponsoring them with branded IOP / NMMU shirts.

Engagement with overseas colleagues and students has assisted in providing a global IOP perspective. Professors Mark Anstey and John Beck from the University of Michigan regularly visit our cam-pus to teach on the postgraduate programmes. More recently, Pro-fessor Gary Scudder from Champlain University, Vermont, visited our campus and a teleconference was held with global HR guru, Dave Ulrich. In short, the Department is intent on expanding its vision and influence to unveil the secret science of IOP. One of the ways of doing so is through this newsletter. We trust that you will enjoy it, and will look forward to future newsletters, as well as the growth in the influence of this discipline.

Thanks to both Chantel and Michelle for taking the trouble to gather, collate and edit, so that this newsletter could become a real-ity.

Yours in IOP, Prof Rob Snelgar

Photo gallery... GLOBAL REWARD TRENDS… L-R: Khanyisa Marawu (Nedbank), Pumeza Pepeta & Olwethu Mkiva (ABSA) all attended Dr Bussin’s presentation in May

REMUNERA-TION ENLIGHTEN-MENT… L-R: Michael Jarvis (KeyPoint Consulting), Dave Berry (NMMU), Duncan Grenfell (CDC) & Anthony Hunneyball

SHARING DR BUSSIN’S WISDOM… L-R: Maura Jarvis (KeyPoint Consulting) & Tracy van Goeverden (Investec) also attended the talk, together with IOP Honours students Masechaba Letsela, Alex Kizito, Gracia Senga & Jan-Louis Werner

SOCCER FEVER… L-R: Johan Schoeman, Dr Gerrit Louw & Prof Deon Rousseau from the IOP Department all donned their Bafana Bafana gear in support of our national team. The sound of vuvuzela’s echoed on the 6th floor and apparently beyond!

A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS… We hope that you have enjoyed reading this first edition as much as we have en-joyed compiling it! Looking forward to news for the next edition.

Yours in IOP, Chantel & Michelle

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