Ensuring effective and sustained development of public sector employees by Prof SJH Hendricks

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Ensuring effective and sustained development of
public sector employeesby Prof SJH Hendricks
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Introduction

• Service delivery is closely linked to appropriate
  skilled human resources
• Integration and coherence between different role
  players in HRD affect the relevance and delivery
  of HRD
• Sustainable development is more than training and
  development and require Organisational
  Development as well as Learning Networks to
  support HRD
• Sustainability refer to the creation of internal
  growth and commitment by skilled public servants
  to continue productive work over time

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Public service context Governments commitments

• Despite progress since 1994, the States capacity
  to improve service delivery and its own
  efficiency continues to be a challenge.
• The goal of a better life for all South
  Africans, especially for those caught in the
  poverty trap of the second economy, can only be
  realised through improved service delivery
  (President, Mbeki State of the Nation address,
  2006).
• We must also focus especially on raising skills
  levels within the public sector and ensure
  managerial and technological modernisation driven
  by a clear understanding of the developmental
  tasks of our democratic state (President Mbeki,
  State of the Nation address, 2004).

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Public service context HRD framework

• White Paper on Public Service Training and
  Education, 1997.
• South African Qualifications Act 58 of 1995.
• National Skills Development Act 97 of 1998.
• National Skills Development Levies Act 1999.
• Dept. of Labour National Skills Development Plan
  (Phase 2).
• Various Sector Education and Training
  Authorities, e.g. Public Sector Education and
  Training Authority (PSETA).
• Various Human Resource Development strategies
  targeting different sectors.

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Public service context Special interventions

• ASGI-SA The Accelerated and Shared Growth
  Initiative is a vehicle aiming at reducing
  unemployment and to halve the poverty rate.
  (Targets economic growth).
• JIPSA The Joint Initiative on Priority Skills
  Acquisition aims to identify and advise on the
  shortage of scare skills required to help the
  country with economic growth rate of 6 by 2010.
• PGDS The Provincial Growth Development
  Strategy incorporates provincial Human Resource
  Development strategies, to accelerate economic
  growth in the provinces
• NSDP National Spatial Development Plan connects
  IDPs (Integrated Development Plans) at municipal
  level.
• NIDS National Infrastructure Development
  Strategy covers transport, energy, ICTs etc.

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Impact of Strategic planning

• The strategic planning developed according to the
  Treasury and Public Service Regulations must
  ensure clear operational plans link with
  individual work plans
• Managers must in consultation with employees
  ensure that they are equipped to perform their
  duty (Nadler and Vroom)
• HR Planning should inform the development
  programme of departments together with workplace
  skills plans
• Investment in skills development linked to career
  planning and development program
• Monitoring and evaluation of performance and
  reporting on capacity development in Annual
  reports

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Performance Management System

• All senior officials are required to perform work
  based on a performance agreement in line with a
  strategic plan
• All public servants must have an approved work
  plan for performance reviews on a quarterly basis
  during which Personal Development Plans (PDPs)
  will be determined
• The monitoring of implementation of PAs is
  inconsistent throughout the public service and
  linked to rewards rather than to effective
  services delivered

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Sector Education Training Authorities (SETAs)

• Implement and foster a culture of lifelong
  learning
• Develop skills for productivity and employment
  growth - and improved service delivery
• Coordination and quality assurance of skills and
  competencies development
• Assist new entrants to the labour market
• Facilitation of financial resources to capacity
  building
• Put in place functional work groups and for
  stakeholder consultation
• Accreditation of training providers and provide
  for registration of capacity building programs
  related to Government priorities

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Workplace Skills Plans

• The identification of key strategic skills
  shortage and priorities
• Identification of opportunities for learnerships
  development
• The tracking of the right skills for the right
  persons for the right tasks for the right
  outcomes
• Requires the linkage of skills plans to
  department objectives linked to service delivery
  outcomes
• The disjuncture between skills plans and
  department outputs achieved
• The poor monitoring evaluation of skills plans
  and application at workplace

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The proposed Academy Learning frameworks

• Portability of skills movement and
  re-deployment within a single public service.
• Standardised training for standardised skill
  levels and standardised delivery levels.
• Improved content and relevance of training.
• Creating a coherent framework for a multiplicity
  of training providers, both within and outside of
  the public service.
• Curriculum and materials developed, and
  quality-assured through the National
  Qualifications Framework (NQF).
• Monitoring and evaluation of provision.

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The proposed Academy Vision and activities

• Three mantras
• Provision to facilitation
• Competition to collaboration
• Selective coverage to massification.
• First main stream of activity
• Executive development programmes for senior
  management services (SMS)
• Entrant, lower and upper SMS programmes, short
  courses and events
• The collaboration with universities and
  counterparts.
• Second main stream of activity
• Generic and functional management training for
  junior and
• middle managers
• Training frameworks of curriculum, materials and
• monitoring and evaluation to regulate outsource
  providers
• The induction programme for new entrants at all
  levels.

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Way Forward

• Ensure that integration and coherence of
  processes performed by different role-players in
  HRD are taking place through improved interaction
• Create sustainability through internal growth and
  self development by a committed workforce
• Ensure that the expectations and needs with
  regard to employees are well understood to
  provide for the link between training and service
  delivery
• The need to ensure that service delivery is
  underpinned by workplace skills plans which are
  monitored and evaluated for relevance

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• Thank you
• Siyabonga