Key Success Factors for a Workplace Skills Plan: A Case of a Developing Country

Thea Van der Westhuizen; Proctus Lucky Shange

doi:10.25159/2664-3731/10076

Authors

Thea Van der Westhuizen University of KwaZulu-Natal
Proctus Lucky Shange University of KwaZulu-Natal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2664-3731/10076

Keywords:

workplace skills plan, skills development, strategic human resource management, human resource development, organisational performance

Abstract

Questions have been raised by organisations such as the South African Department of Education regarding the value of the investment made towards employees in respect of the implementation of a workplace skills plan in their organisations. A further question pertains to the levels of competencies of human resource officials, who are often saddled with the responsibility of implementing a workplace skills plan in their organisation. In this article, we focus on the role of strategic human resource management across the implementation of a workplace skills plan throughout the twenty-first century to improve the performance of organisations in developing countries. The recent advances in the structure of organisations demand robust employee development, especially regarding role players who are involved in the implementation of a workplace skills plan for the improved performance of their organisations. We conducted and investigated a quantitative analysis of an existing structure for development and implementation of a workplace skills plan in the Limpopo Department of Education with regard to its adoption and performance. A total of 75 managers were sampled through probability sampling based on data gathered from the Limpopo Department of Education which indicated a population size of 1 019 managers. In the study, we provide insights for organisations into implementing a workplace skills plan in public sectors, identifies bottlenecks encountered in the process of implementation, and propose strategies that can be employed to overcome relevant challenges.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Thea Van der Westhuizen, University of KwaZulu-Natal

Dr Thea van der Westhuizen (PhD; CPRP) is the academic leader of the Management and Entrepreneurship discipline at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is the chairperson of Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE)’s community of practice for entrepreneurship learning and teaching. Her entrepreneurial and academic projects received multiple awards, both locally and internationally. Being an entrepreneur, she was the founding director of the Garden Route Tourism Academy, Tesen Tourism Planning and Paddle for the Planet. As a scientist, she founded SHAPE (Shifting Hope Activating Potential Entrepreneurship), a social technology for systemic action learning and action research. She has over 20 years of teaching experience, working in several countries.

Proctus Lucky Shange, University of KwaZulu-Natal

Mr Shange is a postgraduate student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

References

Al-Jedaia, Y., & Mehrez, A. (2020). The effect of performance appraisal on job performance in governmental sector: The mediating role of motivation. Management Science Letters, 10(9), 2077–88. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2020.2.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2020.2.003

Botha, C. T., Bezuidenhout, A., & Schultz, C. (2018). A generic competency framework for labour relations practitioners in the South African public service. African Journal of Employee Relations, 42(1). https://doi.org/10.25159/2520-3223/4848 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25159/2520-3223/4848

Cooke, F. L., Xiao, M., & Chen, Y. (2021). Still in search of strategic human resource management? A review and suggestions for future research with China as an example. Human Resource Management, 60(1), 89–118. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22029 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22029

Department of Higher Education and Training. (2011). National skills development strategy III. Department of Higher Education and Training. https://www.nationalskillsauthority.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/NSDSIII.pdf

Fischer, K., & Yan, Z. (2018). The development of dynamic skill theory. In D. J. Lewkowicz, & R. Lickliter (Eds.), Conceptions of development (pp. 279–312). New York, NY: Psychology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315804569-13

Gratton C., and Jones, I. (2004). Research method for sport studies. London: Routledge.

Grobler, P., & Warnich, S. (2006). Human resources management in South Africa (3rd ed.). Cape Town: Boston.

Hamadamin, H. H., & Atan, T. (2019). The impact of strategic human resource management practices on competitive advantage sustainability: The mediation of human capital development and employee commitment. Sustainability, 11(20), 5782. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205782 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205782

Hattingh, S. (2003). Learnership: A tool for improving workplace performance (4th ed.). Randburg: Knowres.

Hattingh, S. (2004). High impact skills development: A practical implementation guide on three inter-related processes. Randburg: Knowres.

Hiller, T. (2020). Job profiles: Labour-law risks and grouping into wage categories. Applied Economics Letters, 1–6. https://doi.org10.1080/13504851.2020.1827131 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2020.1827131

Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S., & Jiang, K. (2014). An aspirational framework for strategic human resource management. Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), 1–56. https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2014.872335 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2014.872335

Lamptey, Y. A., & Debrah, Y. A. (2018). Skills training in the informal sector: Perspectives from Ghana. African Journal of Employee Relations, 42(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.25159/2520-3223/4501 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25159/2520-3223/4501

Lewis, M. D. (2000). The promise of dynamic systems approaches for an integrated account of human development. Child Development, 71(1), 36–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00116 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00116

Luthans, F., Rosenkrantz, S. A., & Hennessey, H. W. (2019). What do successful managers really do? An observation study of managerial activities. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 21(3), 255–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/002188638502100303 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002188638502100303

Mafini, C. (2016). Decrypting the nexus between organisational culture, quality of work life, job satisfaction and employee productivity in the public sector. South African Journal of Labour Relations, 40(1), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.10520/EJC189336 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25159/2520-3223/5860

Meyer, M. (2002). Managing human resource development: An outcomes-based approach (3rd ed.). Durban: LexisNexis Butterworths.

Mummenthey, C. (2010). Skills development in South Africa: A reader on the South African skills development arena. German Development Service.

Ntimba, D. I., Lessing, K. F., & Swarts, I. (2020). The relationship between employment relationship, employment relations satisfaction and psychological contracts in the South African public sector workplace. African Journal of Employee Relations, 44(1), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.25159/2520-3223/8129

Otoo, F. N. K., and Mishra, M. (2018). Measuring the impact of human resource development (HRD) practices on employee performance in small and medium scale enterprises. European Journal of Training and Development. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-07-2017-0061 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-07-2017-0061

Pertiwi, W., Pariyanti, E., & Dwiputri, R. M. (2021). The effect of job monitoring and organizational communication on employee’s job effectiveness. International Journal of Economics & Business, 1(1), 1–7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54199/pijeb.v1i1.40

Regenesys School of Public Management. (2010a). Human resources management workbook. Sandton: PDM, Regenesys Management.

Regenesys School of Public Management. (2010b). Monitoring and evaluation manual. Sandton: PDM, Regenesys Management.

Rojas, K., & Lusthaus, C. (2007). Assessing organizational performance—Level 1. International Development Research Centre.

Rosa, T. L. D., Barroa, J. K. H., Cruz, M. K. D. M., De Lima, M. M., Dimaano, T. L., & Obidos, F. A. (2017). Job profile and description of the administrative staff and research, extension and professional staff (REPS) in a college in a national university. Acta Medica Philippina, 51(2). https://doi.org/10.47895/amp.v51i2.583 DOI: https://doi.org/10.47895/amp.v51i2.583

Rowiński, T. (2020). Personality, analytical, and emotional intelligence among top and middle managers. Central European Management Journal, 28(2), 2–15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7206/cemj.2658-0845.19

Sehunoe, N., Viviers, R., & Mayer, C. H. (2015). Job satisfaction, organisational commitment and work engagement in an insurance company. South African Journal of Labour Relations, 39(2), 123–144. https://doi.org/10.10520/EJC179266 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25159/2520-3223/5875

Sellers, T. P., Alai-Rosales, S., & MacDonald, R. P. (2016). Taking full responsibility: The ethics of supervision in behavior analytic practice. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9(4), 299–308. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-016-0144-x

Shum, C., Gatling, A., & Shoemaker, S. (2018). A model of hospitality leadership competency for frontline and director-level managers: Which competencies matter more? International Journal of Hospitality Management, 74, 57–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.03.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.03.002

Sperry, L. (2011). The challenge of work: The influences of work orientation and stage of expertise on social interest. Journal of Individual Psychology, 67(2).

Thakhathi, D., & Kanyane, M. (2019). Analysing the credibility of local government workplace skills development planning. Civil Engineering/Siviele Ingenieurswese, 27(2), 53–55. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-14e3b7ff3e.

The national skills development handbook 2010/2011. RainbowSA.

Thompson, A. A., & Strickland, A. J. (2010). Strategic management: Concepts and cases (13th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

United Nations Development Programme. (2002). Handbook on planning monitoring and evaluation for results. New York, NY: UNDP, World Bank.

Van der Waldt, G. (2004). Managing performance in the public sector: Concepts, considerations and challenges. Juta.

Van der Westhuizen, T., & Shange, P. L. (2018). Key success factors for developing and implementing a workplace skills plan. In L. dall’Acqua, & D. Lukose (Eds.), Improving business performance through effective managerial training initiatives (pp. 147–176). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-3906-3.ch007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-3906-3.ch007

Wood, G., & Bischoff, C. (2020). Human resource management in Africa: Current research and future directions—Evidence from South Africa and across the continent. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2019.1711443 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2019.1711443