Exploring indigenous beliefs of black Africans in the South African workplace

Abstract

The end of the apartheid era witnessed a move towards the decolonisation of the South African workplace. Individuals with diverse cultures were more readily accepted into the workplace, especially those from indigenous African backgrounds. As a result, indigenous cultural beliefs can no longer be negated in the current organisational context. While there is research that focusses on the benefits of integrating and acknowledging culture in the workplace, there is a lack of studies on what indigenous cultural beliefs employees bring to the workplace and how individuals manage workplace and indigenous identities. Considering South Africa’s diverse workforce, this study aimed to understand the indigenous cultural beliefs that Black African employees bring to the workplace in corporate South Africa and how they negotiate their cultural and corporate identities within the workplace. I applied a qualitative approach, using the grounded theory method. I interviewed 35 employees from both managerial and administrative levels using semi-structured interviews. The Atlas.ti qualitative data analysis tool was used to create codes and themes for the large sections of text obtained from the interview data. The findings of the study provided insights from the narratives of different employees regarding the indigenous cultural beliefs that they bring to the workplace. There are many challenges that Black African employees are presented with in the workplace, which leads them to engaging in cultural identity work. There is a lack of understanding regarding the role of traditional healers and how they contribute to promoting wellness among the Black African population. The study contributes to the literature by providing insights on the negotiation of identities of Black African people within the formal workplace and the balancing act that they play to secure and maintain employment while simultaneously trying to uphold their cultural traditions. For HR practitioners and managers in the workplace, the study opens channels of dialogue, to understand Black African cultural practices and to encourage the accommodation of these practices within the workplace.