The disempowering faces of the flexible firm : a case study of Gaborone Private Hospital

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the ways in which the practice of the Flexible Firm Model (FFM) disempowered the non-citizen professional nurses at Gaborone Private Hospital (GPH) in Gaborone, Botswana. GPH is a member of the Life Healthcare group of private hospitals based in South Africa. This study sought to probe the manner in which the practice of FFM influenced the employment relationship for non-citizen professional nurses. It also sought to examine the impact of the nature of the employment relationship on career development and representation and participation. Both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were applied. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data. Thirty-five questionnaires were issued out to professional nursing staff and thirty-three responses were received. The response rate was ninety-four per cent. The qualitative research data consisted of twelve in-depth interviews with professional nurses, the human resources manager, a professional nurse agency owner and a private clinic coowner. Document analysis in the form of labour legislation, employee guides and employment contracts was used to validate data collected from the in-depth interviews. The results from the questionnaire revealed that an overwhelming majority of the professional nurses were Non-Citizens' dependent contractors. Although just under half of the participants held two or more previous contracts with GPH, an overwhelming majority had never been promoted. In addition, none of the participants were affiliated to the Botswana Nurses Association (BNA), the local equivalency of a professional nursing trade union. The in-depth interviews disclosed a sense of helplessness at their perceived disempowerment within the employment relationship, a poor career development and weak representation and participation. This study concluded that disempowerment at GPH was manifested through worker representation and participation and ineffective skill upgrade. These forms of disempowerment were made worse by the global professional nurse shortage and maladministration of available human resources. Effective use of human resources and continued education could be employed to circumvent the adverse results of disempowerment.