16th International Conference on HRD Research and Practice
across Europe, 3 -5 June 2015, University College Cork, Ireland
The Efficacy of Training and Development Programmes for New Administrative Staff at a Selected University, South Africa.
By
Bernard Matsoso
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town
Mowbray Campus, Highbury Road, 1st Floor, Office 1.34, Cape Town, South Africa
Stream 1: Assessment, measurement, and evaluation of Human Resource Development
As chaired by
Dr. Sue Mulhall
Submission type: A working paper
Introduction
One of the positive developments since the first free and fair democratic elections in 1994 in
South Africa has been the increased support and promotion of Training and development
(T&D) programmes provided by the South African government. This has resulted in a
number of organisational and policy changes that have been instituted at national and local
levels as well as business sector. For example, the South African largest Telecommunication
Company MTN is currently operating in six African countries (Daniel, Naidoo and Naidu,
2003:383). This company has bursaries and graduate development programme initiatives to
develop the South African economy, skill base and contribute to job creation. According to
Desimone and Werner (2012:12), T&D focuses on changing or improving the knowledge,
skills and attitudes of individuals. Ultimately, the improvement of knowledge, skills and
attitudes of the workforce empowers organisations to strive to compete in the global
economy (Aguinis and Kraiger, 2009:452). A highly knowledgeable, multi-skilled
workforce is the most important competitive resource available to organisations, (Truman
and Coetzee, 2007:4).
Training is defined by Armstrong (2009:664:665) as a process that involves the application
of formal processes to import knowledge and help people to acquire the skills necessary for
them to perform their jobs satisfactorily. The process involves learning a particular skill
related to one’s professional performance. Noe, Hollenbeck and Wright (2008:267) define
training as a planned effort to facilitate the learning of job-related knowledge, skills and
behaviour of employees. On the other hand, development is defined as the acquisition of
knowledge, skills and behaviour that improve an employee’s ability to meet changes in job
requirements and in client customer demands (Noe, et al, 2008:400).
T&D is one of the government’s interventions to curb the alarming high unemployment rate
in the country. Unemployment remains the major challenge for transforming the South
African labour market – the government has further facilitated the placement of new
entrants in the labour market through learnerships, apprenticeships, bursaries, internships
and new venture creation initiatives, (Truman and Coetzee, 2007:5). According to Daniels
(2007:6) learnerships were seen as a complement of apprenticeships, and a key method to
improve skills development for high, intermediate and low level skills. Despite all these
initiatives, the latest research shows that the unemployment rate in South Africa remains
unchanged at 25.5 per cent from 2012 to 2014, (Statistics South Africa Quarterly, 2014).
Given the amount of new legislation introduced, it remains a matter of great interest as to
whether such legislation, particularly training, is relevant to changing market demand or
passed merely for the sake of compliance.
The Department of Higher Education & Training (DHET) is gearing towards a skills
development system that will contribute to the growth of employment. The work done by
Truman and Coetzee (2007:4) indicates that skills development is viewed as an important
way to enhance the performance capability of people in organisations. Within the South
African context, skills development focuses on and improves the skills of the workforce. For
this to happen systematically, public universities have a mandate to implement the
principles of the Skills Development Act (SDA) No.99 of 1998 objectively. Such principles
are guidelines for all stakeholders engaged in skills development initiatives, to consider
during the implementation phase. Training programmes, specifically the Customer Service
Care Development Programme (CSCDP) offered at a selected South African University for
new administrative staff shows some gaps and flaws such as a lack of prior training needs
analysis. Despite this flaw, administrators are still compelled to attend the CSCDP.
This paper argues that the CSCDP, in its present form, is neither useful nor beneficial to the
daily duties of administrative staff. It leads to low morale and dissatisfaction. Existing non-
alignment of this Programme with individual expectations is of serious concern. If such a
problem is not investigated in time, it will negatively affect the performance and
productivity of administrative staff in the long run. This weakness may create a negative
perception among administrative staff towards training in general.
Problem Statement
CSCDP conducted at a selected South African university does not effectively and efficiently
address the training needs of new administrative staff. This can lead to low self-motivation
among them. Subsequently, the problem can negatively affect their perception on training in
general. The report on staff-development needs, and opportunities within the Higher
Education Institutions (HEIs), as released by the ETDP SETA (2012:15), highlights three
core functions as:
Post-school teaching and learning
Publication and presentation
Community engagement.
The report (2012:11) further mentions that the DHET is dedicated to addressing the
effectiveness of teaching and learning, the qualifications and research culture of teaching
staff and institutional practices supporting research and scholarship. This highlights the
anomaly that training in HEIs is largely concentrated on academic staff development. It
becomes patently clear that the opportunities for administrative staff, who provide essential
and professional support to the academics, is limited.
The researcher has observed that the University does compile the Workplace Skill Plans
(WSPs) without prior needs analysis of the administrative staff; in a word, they offer
training programmes for the sake of compliance. This study believes that training practices
as commissioned by the DHET presently are not entirely adequate. For example, the annual
performance plan report (2011/12:17) shows that there were no records between 2008/9 and
2009/10 to indicate that the departmental staff trained in line with skills plan. The main
purpose of a WSP is the interaction between management and employees that emphasise
skills in the workplace. Such process is done through a skills audit. However, from my
reading it appears that most departments do not submit their Human Resource Development
Plans (HRDPs), and Personal Development Plans (PDPs), appear to be completed merely
for the sake of compliance. Barbazette (2006:06) asserts that conducting training without
establishing the needs is a waste of time and resources. Training is measured through
perceived change in employee knowledge, skills and attitudes that occur as a result of
training. Management responsible for training should carry out employee assessment after
training programmes have been completed. This would inform management about the
effectiveness of training administered to the employees.
Research methodology
The s tudy i n t ends t o g l ean in fo rm a t i on f rom r e l evan t pa r t i c ipan t s .
Th i s can pu rpose fu l ly i n fo rm an unde r s t and ing o f t he r e se a r ch p rob lem
and ce n t r a l phe nomenon i n t he s tudy , (C re s w e l l , 2013 :156 ) . The
r e s ea r che r i s emp l oyed i n t he i n s t i t u t i on w he re t he p rob l em i s be i ng
s t ud i ed ; t he r e fo re , a conve n ience app roach w as more f avou rab l e t o t he
r e s ea r che r due t o acc ess ib i l i t y o f admi n i s t r a t i ve s t a f f w ho pa r t i c ipa t ed
i n t he CSCD P .
L i t e r a t u r e s how s tha t t he r e a r e many des ign t ypes found and c l a s s i f i e d
f rom d i f f e r en t d i sc ip l i ne s s uch a s educa t ion , bus i nes s and
mana gemen t , (D e Vos , S t rydom, F ouche and D e lpo r t , 2011 :439 ) . The
study employed a mixed methods approach framed within a constructivism paradigm.
Creswell (2009:04) defines mixed methods as an approach to inquiry that combines both
qualitative and quantitative forms. This method involves philosophical assumptions, the use
of qualitative and quantitative approaches and the mixing of both approaches in a study.
According to De Vos, et al. (2011:442), this involves the concurrent, but separate collection
and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data in order to compare and contrast the
different findings. This enables the researcher to converge or emerge with quantitative and
qualitative data in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the research problem
(Creswell, 2009:14). The rationale behind selecting mixed method, derived from data
collection, analysis and mixing both approaches in a single study would ensure a
comprehensive understanding of the problem under investigation.
Research Aim and Question
This paper aims to investigate whether the CSCDP effectively and efficiently addresses the
training needs, expectations and necessary up-skilling of new administrative staff or not.
The main research question is: to what extent CSCDP, conducted within a selected
university, effectively and efficiently addresses training needs of new administrative staff.
Participants
The study used primary data obtained from new administrative staff members.
Questionnaires based on a purposive sampling were distributed to thirty one (31)
participants. The main goal of purposive sampling is to focus on particular characteristics of
a population who will best answer the research questions. For the purposes of this study,
only new administrative staff members with fewer than five years of service at one South
African university were included. Participants sampled are spread across four different
campuses. The sample was 9.7% male and 90.3% female. Both open- and closed-ended
questions which involved combination or integration of qualitative and quantitative research
were employed.
Findings
Demographic Criteria:
This section reflects the demographic characteristics of the participants.
Gender Composition
The statistical pattern shows a 90.3 per cent female compared to 9.7 per cent male
participation. The pattern clearly shows a dominance of females in administrative positions
lower than management.
Age Composition
The ages of participants range from 25 to 58 years. This was further categorised into six
datasets covering the groups- 25-30; 31-35; 36-40; 41-45; 46-50 and above. The majority of
the participants - 52 per cent- reside between 25 and 35 years, followed by 24 per cent and
14 per cent respectively.
Job Grade Composition
The purpose of the study was to target participants employed from lowest grade 13 to the
highest grade 10 as per university grading system. CSCDP is mainly designed to cater for
administrative staff between levels 10 and 13. The majority of participants occupy grade 12,
13, 11 and 10. This translates into 47 per cent, 33 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.
Qualification Composition
30 out of 31 participants responded to this section. 37 per cent (11 out of 30) have acquired
the university degree, 33 per cent of participants have also acquired a national diploma, 7
per cent have the highest qualification in master’s degree and 3 per cent have the national
certificate. The other 20 per cent is made up of the lowest qualification which is a school
leaving certificate. Given the range of highest qualification attainment, it is possible that the
majority of the participants have experience in customer skills. Therefore, they may have
other training needs beyond customer service skills.
Training Criteria:
The next section focused on the CSCDP
Participants provided categorical responses for the training under investigation. They were
asked about the relevance of this training (with response options of “yes or no”) in relation
to their prior knowledge on customer service skills. Participants were asked if they had
attended the CSCDP since its inception. Approximately 61 per cent have not yet attended
the training and only 39 per cent have done so. The other research question asked was
whether or not they had customer service skills prior to attending the CSCDP. Over 68 per
cent reported having prior knowledge on customer service skills and only 32 per cent did
not. The next question focused on the new knowledge gained from the course and its
effectiveness. Interestingly, 61 per cent compared to 39 per cent revealed that the course did
not lead to acquisition of new knowledge. This clearly indicates that the vast majority of
participants have previously acquired customer service skills, compelling those participants
to further attend the CSCDP.
Skills Criteria:
The section focused on the skills of the participant. It addressed four research questions. It
was considered important to investigate whether or not CSCDP effectively and efficiently
addressed the training needs of the new administrative staff.
Research Question 1
Participants were provided with 33 set of soft skills as required by different administrative
positions. They were asked to indicate the skills they need training on. This was further
categorised into three datasets comprising of scores from the lowest to highest: 0-5, 6-10
and 11-15.
The second dataset score (6-10) reported that half of the participants (52 per cent) would
need training on skills such as project management, mentoring, coaching, writing, conflict,
database, budgeting, financial management, negotiation etc. When relating all these skills to
the CSCDP, the number suggests that training in this regard is irrelevant as it does not
necessarily address their training needs.
Furthermore, CSCDP aims to equip administrators with basic customer skills because of
their interactions with student clients on a daily basis. In contrast, customer skills which is
the main domain of the CSCDP, falls under the first dataset (0-5). That is, 33 per cent of the
participants would need training on skills such as interpersonal, communication,
administration, time management, recording, office administration including customer
skills. Finally, about 15 per cent (as represented by dataset 11-15) of the participants
reported that they would prefer to receive training on counselling, research, occupational
health & safety, computer and employee wellness skills.
Research Question 2
Participants were asked if their line managers had given them an opportunity to suggest
relevant training programme, with “Yes and No” as response categories. The data revealed
that 55 per cent of the participants were given the opportunity to suggest their own relevant
training program. Although this study does not allow for further analysis on an individual
basis, it would be of interest to ascertain whether the training programme suggested by the
participant was honoured and used as part of addressing that particular need. The fact that
personal development plans do not seem to be taken into account as it should, is cause for
concern and may require further investigation in future.
Research Question 3
Participants were asked to indicate the type of training intervention that they have attended
in line with research question 2. The response options were: none, short courses, formal
education, distance/online learning, skills programme, workshop, conference and other. The
findings show that an overwhelming number (39 per cent) of the participant did not receive
any training intervention. This means that training needs of the administrative staff is
merely a wish-list while they continue to be trained on competencies/skills they have
previously acquired. However, 26 per cent of the participants have received training
intervention through workshop and 10 per cent through attending short courses and
distance/online learning respectively, while only 6 per cent have attended conferences and
other intervention programmes. Only 3 per cent attended a formal education beneficial to
their current jobs.
Research Question 4
Participants were asked about how often they undertook a performance review with their
line managers, with a 4- point response scale ranging from “Never reviewed” to “Annually
reviewed”. Data shows that the majority of the participants (39 per cent) never had
performance reviews, 23 per cent were partly reviewed, and 19 per cent had their
performance reviews on a quarterly and annual basis respectively. Performance review is
done by line managers in order to obtain regular customer feedback, track actual
performance and most importantly, identify any performance deficiencies. Although
performance management is driven by human resources department, it is a process that is
really “owned” by line managers, (Mone and London, 2010:2). The training under
investigation is done without necessary consultation between management and training
department. This disjunctive relationship can be remedied if management engages with the
training department in order to identify relevant training needs of the administrative staff.
Research Limitations
This study is limited to administrative staff working across four campuses in Cape Town ,
South Africa namely; Mountain, District Six, Central and Ocean campuses. The target
population was restricted to participants with fewer than five years’ service and have
attended/ have not yet attended an induction programme as facilitated by the University’s
training department. The researcher included participants as per job grading system ranging
between levels 10 and 13. Since the training programme under investigation has been in
inception from 2013, participants were limited to those who started working at a selected
University between 2010 and 2014. The study does not look at all training programmes, but
rather CSCDP. For further data collection involving semi-structured interviews, the Head of
Departments (HoDs) representing these four campuses will also be targeted as they are
responsible for identification of the training needs in their respective departments.
Practical Implications
The findings of this research are expected to help the University’s internal training-
structures to carefully avoid offering inappropriate T&D programmes. This should be
achieved by providing administrative staff with relevant training programmes that are
addressed towards both organisational and individual goals. The findings should further
benefit the Human Resource Development Practitioners (HRD) responsible for policy
development and implementation-phase related to T&D programmes.
Conclusion
Based on the ground covered in this presentation, it is hoped that the shortcomings pointed
out in the T&D will be turned into positive policy-guidelines in respect of relevant training
for administrative staff. There is a clear need for management and training department as
discrete units to address the hiatus that is at the root of a problem. Perhaps my conclusion
could have been more cogent if I had the time to engage the HoDs across the four campuses
mentioned.
Training and development programmes should be tailor-made to meet both organisational
and individual goals. The principles of SDA should be implemented when designing a
training programme. This will ensure that training intervention is aligned with individual
expectations and needs. Training conducted this way is likely to increase administrative
staff’s motivation and general performance.
Keywords: training and development programme, skills development, customer
service care, administrative staff, training needs.
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