Abstract
M.Phil. (Employment Relations)
Orientation: The employer-employee relationship is becoming increasingly strained, as evidenced through the increase in average cases referred to the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. This is presumed to be a consequence of breach of the psychological contract in terms of expectations or obligations not delivered upon. A proactive means of identifying the content of the psychological contract may improve how the employer-employee relationship is managed and maintained.
Research purpose: The aim of this research is to explore which inducements and obligations are made known by organisations.
Motivation for the study: Exploring these inducements and expectations may yield an understanding as to the foundation and development of the employer-employee relationship. This in turn could lead to better and proactive management of the employer-employee relationship.
Research design, approach and method: A content analysis design was followed to identify inducements and expectations on companies’ websites. A codebook based on content associated with the psychological contract was constructed and applied to websites listed in the 2015 Business Times Top 100 companies of past five years.
Main findings: Comparisons between different sectors (Manufacturing, Wholesale and retail, Financial services) yielded significant differences between Organisational policies and Career development inducements. Comparisons on the presence of a career section revealed that those companies with a career section convey more inducements and expectations than companies without a career section.
Practical/managerial implications: By applying the measure through a content analysis, companies can identify which inducements and expectations are conveyed through the websites as this informs the psychological contract...