Sunshine Isn't Everything!

In recent years the decline in morale among Australian teachers has been reflected in the high drop-out rate of teacher trainees. In an attempt to account for this situation, a pilot study was conducted with a sample of experienced teachers in New South Wales. An overview is given of the hierarchical importance which the respondents ascribed to a number of professional, educational and social considerations.     

Leveraging psychological contracts as an HR strategy: The case of software developers

This article studies the management of software developers through the lens of the psychological contract and from the perspectives of employees and employers. Data were gathered through interviews with software developers and their human resources (HR) and/or direct managers in French high-tech companies. Our findings show the crucial role of HR and direct managers who shape a balanced professional psychological contract with developers as a specific HR strategy in order to respond to their job specificities and values. Specific HR practices (nature of the processes, involvement of developers in these processes, credibility of HR/direct managers and career development opportunities) and the working environment contribute to the development of trust and fairness, which form part of the content of the balanced contract.