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Item Thriving in clinical veterinary practice : a strengths-based, qualitative investigation of thriving in clinical veterinarians in Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Veterinary Science at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2025-11-21) Cantley, Charlotte Emily LouiseVeterinarians play an important role in society, contributing to animal health, public health, and environmental sustainability. However, there is growing international concern about the well-being and workforce stability of veterinarians, particularly those working in clinical practice. Much of the existing research has focused on the negative impact of veterinary work on well-being, emphasising that veterinarians experience high levels of psychological distress and burnout. However, there is a lack of understanding of what enables veterinarians not only to cope in clinical practice but also to thrive and enjoy fulfilling careers. This research employed a qualitative approach, grounded in positive psychology, to explore the factors that help veterinarians thrive in clinical practice. Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews, this research investigated the lived experiences of clinical veterinarians in Aotearoa New Zealand, to identify the factors that contribute to a fulfilling and sustainable career. Participants across the three studies represented veterinarians from a wide range of clinical practice types, including companion animal, production animal, equine, and mixed practice. They included late-career veterinarians (n = 19), new and recent graduates (n = 22), and mid-late career veterinarians who were not practice owners or senior managers (n = 29). Reflexive thematic analysis was utilised to identify key themes from the data. Three final key concepts emerged as critical to thriving in veterinary clinical practice: positive leadership, a psychologically safe clinic culture, and a strong sense of purpose and meaning in work, referred to as the “3Ps” of thriving. For early-career veterinarians, positive mentorship in a psychologically safe environment was crucial for developing confidence, self-efficacy, and a professional identity suitable for general practice. Mid- and late-career veterinarians who experienced positive leadership and a healthy, safe workplace culture reported an evolving sense of purpose that included providing care to patients and expanded to encompass mentoring and supporting others in the profession, as well as philanthropic work and community commitment. These veterinarians expressed high levels of engagement and were often motivated by fostering thriving in others. The attitudes and behaviours of clinic managers were noted as particularly important. Thus, a thriving veterinary career can be considered an odyssey — a long, transformative journey shaped by challenges, growth, and continuous learning. It reflects an evolving sense of purpose, making the role of a clinical veterinarian far more than just a job. Based on these findings, a practical framework of evidence-based recommendations was designed to foster thriving throughout a veterinarian’s career. These recommendations target three levels of influence: the individual, the clinic, and the broader veterinary profession, and may help address the ongoing issues of recruitment and retention in veterinary practice. This research provides valuable insights into the benefits of pursuing a clinical career, contributing to the growing body of literature on positive well-being in the veterinary field. It highlights the importance of leadership and psychological safety — topics that have received relatively little attention in veterinary contexts — and shows how they enable veterinarians to find purpose and meaning in their work. Importantly, the research highlights that fostering thriving is a collective responsibility, shared between veterinary businesses, individual veterinarians, and the profession as a whole.Item Best practices in rewarding and recognising employee achievements : submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Philosophy, Institute of Technology and Engineering, College of Sciences, Massey University(Massey University, 2008) Campbell-Allen, NicolaManagers and Human Resource professionals are constantly seeking answers to the issue of how best to reward and recognise (R & R)their employees. Whilst there is a raft of international information the need for New Zealand-based research has been identified. The focus of this study is on Reward and Recognition (R & R) practices in New Zealand organisations so that key findings, best practices and/or recommendations in this important area can be identified and shared with other New Zealand organisations. This study involved a three phase methodology (1) a review of international and national literature on R & R, (2) the collection and analysis of quantitative data using an electronic e-mail survey, and (3) the collection and analysis of qualitative data using a structured interview process with eight organisations considered to be best practice. This thesis provides discussion on: • The impetus for this study; • Key themes from the literature; • The development of a model for rewarding and recognising employees; • Quantitative results from the survey. • Qualitative findings from the interview process; and • Key findings for organisations wishing to implement a R & R strategy.Item Leadership and employee engagement in the New Zealand dairy farming industry - is there a link with milk production performance? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand(Massey University, 2017) Rolfe, ChristinaThis study sought to investigate which leadership styles were more effective at increasing employee engagement and/or overall milk production performance in the context of the New Zealand (NZ) dairy farming industry. This study also sought to investigate whether psychological needs satisfaction mediated the relationships between leadership styles and employee engagement. A cross-sectional self-report survey was used to collect data. Results indicated that transformational-contingent reward leadership was related to higher levels of employee engagement, while passive-avoidant leadership, management by exception active, and destructive leadership styles were all negatively related to employee engagement. Satisfaction of the need for autonomy was found to fully mediate the relationship between transformational-contingent reward leadership and employee engagement, between passive-avoidant leadership and employee engagement, and also between destructive leadership and employee engagement. None of the independent variables were found to have significant relationships with overall milk production performance. Theoretical and practical implications for effective leadership styles are discussed along with recommendations for future research.Item Listen to me : the relationship between an organisation's listening environment and employees' openness to change : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Business Studies (Communication) at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2016) McFaull, NicolaChange is a reality of organisational life. New technologies, globalisation, the vagaries of the economic climate, and internal organisational pressures drive change today faster than ever before. Yet failure rates for change can be up to 70%. Understanding the different drivers of change, and what promotes change success, is therefore critical. Researchers are recognising that change is essentially a human event, and that individuals have a major role in determining whether organisational change will be successful. Employees’ attitudes towards change determine whether they will support or resist it. The focus of this study is on employee’s openness to change, and the extent to which this variable is affected by the listening environment created in the organisation by the supervisor and also that created between team members. An online survey was carried out of 485 employees in one public sector organisation in New Zealand. Measures were taken of employee openness to change, team listening environment, supervisor listening environment and potential demographic contributors. Findings were that the supervisor listening environment had a moderate effect on employees’ openness to change. It also had a similar effect on the team listening environment. However, the team listening environment was found to have only a small little impact on openness to change. Four employee variables—position, tenure, age and gender—were considered, and all were found to influence the relationship between the supervisor listening environment and openness to change. This was especially so for managers, employees between 35 and 54 years of age, and female employees. The impact of employee characteristics on the openness to change variable was also looked at. The only demographic variable that had an impact on openness to change was the position an employee holds in the organisation. The implications of these findings for management is that the quality of the interpersonal relationship between an employee, and their supervisor, as demonstrated by how the supervisor listens to them, creates an environment where employees feel listened to, cared for and connected. This influences an employee’s willingness to support new and different things, that is, their openness to change. This contributes in turn to whether the employee will embrace change or resist it, and ultimately influences whether the organisational change will be successful.Item Is the boundaryless career an organisational benefit, liability or irrelevance? : an investigation into boundaryless career competencies, career success and intention to leave : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University(Massey University, 2009) Boyd, Charlotte RebeccaThis thesis asked whether contemporary organisations are faced with a paradox: are boundaryless career competencies linked to career success but also organisational turnover? Employees of a large New Zealand organisation (n= 568) were surveyed using an intranet based questionnaire. Through analysis using structural equation modelling, the best fit model showed that people who demonstrate a high level of investment in career competencies were also likely to show a high level of career success but, contrary to expectations, people who are successful in their careers are less likely to think about leaving the organisation. Therefore, contrary to boundaryless career theory, inter-organisational movement is not necessarily the goal for contemporary career actors. It may be that people stay in an organisation despite, or even because, they are investing in boundaryless career competencies. Furthermore, people who see internal opportunities for mobility are less likely to consider leaving, while people who see external opportunities for mobility will have a higher intention to leave. Hence whether people with high career success stay or go may depend on whether the organisation allows for expression of career competencies. It may be that internal opportunities trump external opportunities, or vice versa. This research is valuable in three key ways, providing: (1) the operationalisation of career competencies, tentatively shown to link to career success, for use in career management and further research (2) findings which question the key boundaryless career assumptions of mobility and the end of the organisational career (3) an interpretation of results suggesting non-significant effects of age and gender may be due to allowance for shifting priorities and context in the model. In light of these findings the Chameleon Career is suggested as an alternative metaphor to the boundaryless career, to reflect the need for the individual and the organisation to adapt to the changing environment.Item Empowerment in a New Zealand organisation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University(Massey University, 2003) Jones, KatharineThis research examined the structure and behavioural outcomes of psychological empowerment among a group of non-managerial employees, in a New Zealand workplace. Participants worked for a large, complex, multi-site manufacturing organisation, and responded to a self-report questionnaire measuring dimensions of empowerment, affective commitment, and work performance. The main aims of the study were to investigate a four factor structure of empowerment, and the associated "gestalt" of empowerment formed by the combination of these factors. The remainder of the study was devoted to investigating the extent to which the empowerment construct predicted desirable work-related outcomes, such as affective commitment and work performance. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test the four factor empowerment structure, and the contributions of the factors to the overall empowerment construct, while a structural path model was used to test the predictive value of the empowerment construct. Results of the analyses demonstrated that the four factor structure, combining to form an overall empowerment construct, is a meaningful way to describe empowerment in the New Zealand organisation. Results of the structural path model supported the utility of empowerment in predicting the outcomes variables of affective commitment and work performance in the New Zealand organisation. Future research directions were discussed, with suggestions that researchers could profitably explore cultural dimensions specific to New Zealand, which could be implicated as factors in New Zealand employees' experience of empowerment.Item Merit pay in the public service : a preliminary study of public service employees attitudes to performance related pay increases : a research report presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Studies at Massey University(Massey University, 1989) Mbanga, Basil AdamThis study was designed to investigate the criteria on which public service employees would prefer their annual pay increase to be based. Two major variables of preference for pay increase based on merit and preference for pay increase based on length of service were examined. Also, demographic variables of age, sex, educational qualification, length of service, job level, and union membership were investigated. Two departments; the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and Public Trust were chosen for their accessibilty. Data collection involved a self-administered questionnaire. 67 valid responses (39 males and 28 females) were used in the survey. The data was analysed using the SPSSX computer program. The findings indicated that employees prefered their annual pay increases to be based on length of service than merit. However, some employees rated both criteria highly. With the exception of educational qualification where school certificate holders prefered merit pay to pay increases based on length of service, there was no relationship between demographic variables and expressed preference for merit pay or pay increases based on length of service. It was concluded that public service employees surveyed still wanted traditional annual pay increases based on length of service to continue. However, the near equal distribution of frequencies between preference for merit pay and pay increases based on length of service suggest that employees may want both systems to operate. This would mean that the Public service may have use both merit pay and pay increases based on length of service to motivate the employees.Item Turnover intentions of New Zealand employees : a multi-study comparison of skill levels : Master of Management in Human Resource Management at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2015) Eastgate, Lindsay RichardThis study investigates turnover intentions across three different skill levels of New Zealand employees: low-skilled (Study 1), semi-skilled (Study 2), and skilled (Study 3) using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Specifically, this study first compares job autonomy, supervisor support, and work-life balance towards job satisfaction and turnover intentions and then ultimately, tests a two mediator model in which firstly, work-life balance and then job satisfaction act as the mediators towards turnover intentions. These mediator effects were confirmed by Monte Carlo analysis. Overall, there is strong support across the studies that work-life balance predicts job satisfaction, which in turn predicts turnover intentions. Towards the antecedents, there is uniformity between low-skilled and skilled employee samples, with supervisor support predicting work-life balance and job autonomy predicting both work-life balance and job satisfaction. Finally, this study uses qualitative interviews (Study 4) to add depth to the quantitative results and explore any additional emerging themes, while also providing a personal narrative to the turnover literature, which is often missing. The interviews generally reinforced the quantitative findings although additional themes were found, and two mini-cases were explored regarding actual turnover. Overall, this thesis aids our understanding of turnover intentions across the various skill levels.Item Productivity and trust : applied research in a New Zealand workplace : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of M.A. (Social Sciences) in Sociology at Massey University(Massey University, 1999) Barnard, AdamThe literature on work and employment routinely postulates a post-Fordist era, the third industrial divide, with implications for the division of labour and the organisation of work in modern Western economies. Some see such changes as contributing to the success of the German, Japanese and Scandinavian models but others see the same changes as a managerial strategy to extend control and to exploit workers. In this context, this thesis seeks to explore new options for workplace reform to enhance worker satisfaction, the quality of working life and productivity. Workplace performance and satisfaction are built on the motivation of individual workers. This motivation can be created and sustained by a high-trust workplace culture. Traditional workplace cultures are often built on low-trust employer/employee relationships and these relationships ensure that workplace performance and satisfaction remain poor. This thesis argues that workplace performance and satisfaction can be improved if workplace culture can be shifted from low to high trust. New managerial practices espouse the rhetoric of high-trust workplace cultures and their positive relationship with productivity. This thesis argues that workplace change must go beyond the rhetoric to genuinely achieve a high-trust culture. Positive changes of work organisation are based on high-trust relationships between employer and employee, and among employees. In the context of the workplace examined in this case study, people assume poor productivity is due to the fact that there is a low skilled and special need workforce. However, it is demonstrated that productivity can be increased with a different workplace culture built on high trust. The key is the development of people through inter-related management practices such as leadership style, involvement, training and teamwork. As one of the employees of the research group put it: "Before, I couldn't care about my job but now my job means everything to me". This thesis provides an assessment of the success in developing high-trust work relations in a particular setting.Item Survivors of restructuring : an analysis of the impacts on psychological well-being and work commitment : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Psychology at Massey University(Massey University, 1998) Berkett, RachelDownsizing remains a popular management technique for restructuring organisations. This is despite evidence that, by itself, downsizing often fails to deliver promised benefits and can result in a range of other problems. In the prior literature, little effort has been focused on the people that remain within the organisation, the 'survivors', even though these are the very people who will carry the organisation forward. The present study was designed to examine the impacts of organisational restructuring on these survivors. Specifically, the impacts restructuring has on employees' work commitment and psychological well-being. A total of 98 employees of a large meat processing company participated in the study, which used a questionnaire-based methodology and had an overall response rate of 21%. The results did not identify a relationship between work commitment and psychological well-being, but due to various explanations, this result is not necessarily definitive. On the other hand, the results did indicate that restructuring had clear impacts on employees' levels of work commitment and psychological well-being and that these impacts slowly diminish over time. Site specific data was non-significant, but information on several demographic variables (for example, age, education level, income status, gender, the number of dependents a person has, their length of tenure with the company, and the number of years the employee had worked in their present job) provided very pertinent information.