Methods to improve morale in state Owned Entities’ technical departments

Mrs Caroline van Heerden is an Asset Management Engineer and holds an MEng in Engineering Management. Her research interests include maintenance and asset-management performance, and the use of simple decision-support methods to prioritise improvement actions in complex environments.Prof Johannes L. Jooste is a Professional Engineer and holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering, Stellenbosch University, South Africa and focusses on asset- and asset management related research.Dr Philani Nduna Zincume is a Senior Lecturer in Industrial Engineering at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. His research focuses on human-centred operational excellence, organisational behaviour in operational teams, and decision-support approaches for improving performance in complex, resource-constrained environments.This study examines how employee morale influences the effectiveness of physical asset management in South African State-Owned Entities (SOEs) and proposes a practical way to improve it. Using a mixed-methods design, we first review the literature to identify morale drivers, then survey maintenance employees across three SOEs, and finally develop and validate a simple, Excel-based Decision Support System (DSS) that prioritises organisation-specific morale interventions. The quantitative analysis shows that no single model explains morale across all three organisations; the most influential factors differ by context. The DSS translates these findings into a ranked set of actionable levers for each organisation and was validated through laboratory checks and user assessments with managers and HR practitioners. The contribution is twofold: evidence that morale drivers are context-dependent in SOE maintenance settings, and a low-barrier tool managers can use to diagnose and act on the most promising interventions. The study offers a pragmatic pathway from measurement to action for improving morale and, by extension, asset management performance in SOEs.