Orientation: Jobs in the financial services industry are in constant flux because of the ever-changing nature of the products and services provided to customers. This could result in employee disengagement and turnover intention.Research purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the role of job crafting, proactive personality and meaningful work in predicting employee engagement and turnover intention among employees in the financial services industry based on the central tenets of the Job Demands-Resources theory.Motivation for the study: Organisations or incumbents may redesign jobs. The self-initiated proactive behaviour that incumbents exhibit to shape the meaning of their work is known as job crafting. The relationships that exist among job crafting, proactive personality, meaningful work, employee engagement and turnover intention were, therefore, investigated.Research design, approach and method: A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was used to gather primary data in service-providing firms across South Africa (n = 391).Main findings: Results demonstrated that job crafting, proactive personality and meaningful work significantly predict variance in employee engagement and turnover intention.Practical and managerial implications: Specific human resource practices and interventions are proffered to foster job crafting, proactivity and meaningful work and, in doing so, address employee disengagement and turnover intention.Contribution or value-add: The study highlights the importance of encouraging employees to craft their jobs as it has specific implications for prominent work-related outcomes, such as employee engagement and turnover intention, among employees in the financial services industry.

The Job Characteristics Model is widely accepted as a conceptual tool for addressing problems related to employee demotivation, dissatisfaction and marginal performance. The validity of the Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham, 1980) was assessed by reviewing relevant studies of the model. The review and evaluation is based on studies which test the variables and the relationships between variables as contained in the model. The evidence confirms that the dimensionality of the job characteristics is best represented by the five-factor solution as proposed by the model. The subjective self-report measures of the five job characteristics as formulated by the theory and measured by the revised Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) are also supported. No evidence was found for the multiplicative Motivating Potential Score (MPS) and as a result the use of a simple additive index of job complexity is recommended as predictor of personal and work outcomes. Strong empirical support exists for the relationships between the job characteristics and the personal outcomes. Strong relationships between the job characteristics and the work outcomes, however, fail to materialize. Results fail to support the mediating effect of psychological states on the job characteristics/outcomes relationships as specified by the model. The postulated relationships between job characteristics and psychological states are also not confirmed by empirical evidence. The role of growth-need strength, knowledge and skill, and work environment characteristics as moderators of the relationships between job characteristics and psychological states, as well as the relationships between psychological states and personal and work outcomes, are seriously questioned. Directions for future research on the Job Characteristics Model and the attendant Job Diagnostic Survey are proposed.

Orientation: A ‘sacrificial human resource strategy’ is practised in call centres, resulting in poor employee occupational health. Consequently, questions are posed in terms of the consequences of call centre work and which salient antecedent variables impact the engagement and wellbeing of call centre representatives.Research purpose: Firstly, to gauge the level of employee engagement amongst a sample of call centre representatives in South Africa and, secondly, to track the paths through which salient personal and job resources affect this engagement. More specifically, the relationships between sense of coherence, leadership effectiveness, team effectiveness and engagement were investigated, thus testing the Job Demands-Resources model of work engagement.Motivation for the study: To present an application of the Job Demands-Resources model of work engagement in a call centre environment in order to diagnose current ills and consequently propose remedies.Research design: A cross-sectional survey design was used and a non-probability convenient sample of 217 call centre representatives was selected. The measuring instruments comprise the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale to measure engagement, the Team Diagnostic Survey to measure team effectiveness, the leadership practices inventory to gauge leadership effectiveness, and the Orientation to Life Questionnaire to measure sense of coherence. A series of structural equation modelling analyses were performed.Main findings: Contrary to the ‘electronic sweatshop’ image attached to call centre jobs depicted in the literature, results show a high level of employee engagement for call centre representatives in the sample. Also, personal resources such as sense of coherence and job resources such as team effectiveness related significantly to engagement. A non-significant relationship exists between leadership effectiveness and engagement.Practical/managerial implications: Both the content and context of jobs need to be addressed to increase the personal and job resources of call centre representatives.Contribution/value-add: The Job Demands-Resources model of work engagement can be used to improve the occupational health and performance of employees in call centres

Current literature on manpower problems in South Africa has hardly focused on what should be done to improve jobs in order to create job experiences that will fulfil employee goals and organizational goals simultaneously. While the focus has been on the environmental (economic, social, political) and organizational (human resources policies, e.g. affirmative action) components of human resources management, in this article the authors provide guidelines to facilitate a process through which South African managers can practically achieve the optimal fit between current employees and their jobs. A theory that specifies when workers will display motivation, satisfaction and productive behaviour is reviewed. The accompanying diagnostic instrument is presented with South African norms for use by managers of change. Where remedial action is required, guidelines are proposed to assist managers in planning for an enriched work-place. The authors conclude that this approach represents a powerful strategy that can help organizations achieve their goals as well as meeting the needs of contemporary employees for a more meaningful work experience. This approach ensures that changes in the workplace are brought about on the basis of relevant information regarding the characteristics of jobs and the needs of workers, which is, in turn, based upon fundamental psychological rules and buttressed by South African findings that the theory is empirically sound.