Browsing by Author "Komle, Lindumzi Johnson"

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    Assessment of alignment of Training, Development and Personal Development Plans of South African Parliament employees: A case study of the Research Unit
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12) Komle, Lindumzi Johnson; Isaacs, Deyana; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Parliament is an organ of State that performs oversight over the Executive; consequently, it is crucial for Members of Parliament in their various committees to be well informed on the programmes and projects of various departments. Staff members in Parliament, and particularly researchers, are the ones that assist members of Parliament with the content knowledge of departments. In the dynamic nature of departments and Parliament, researchers need training from time to time; so that they can better advise the Members of parliament. The main objective of this study was to determine and explore the obstacles that hinder alignment between training and development, and the Personal Development Programmes (PDPs) of researchers in the Research Unit. A sample comprising 36 researchers was involved in this study. Using the mixed-method approach, where quantitative and qualitative methods were used sequentially, utilising questionnaires and interviews. The study found that researchers were not satisfied with the type of training to which they are exposed. This dissatisfaction is caused by various challenges, namely: Managers in the Research Unit fail to involve researchers in the planning phase of their training; although a training-needs analysis is done, researchers are not consulted on the form and type of training they need; funds are a challenge – to the extent that the Research Unit is unable to cater for each and every researcher’s training needs; and after training, evaluation is not conducted – so that the Research Unit can know the effectiveness of training, which could inform the Research Unit on its future training schedule. The study found that in answering the research question, the following obstacles were found to hinder the alignment between training and development, in addition to the researchers’ personal development plans: • The training policy is not adhered to because of the inadequate budget for training, as well as failing to respond to the employees’ training needs; • Where researchers without the necessary skills are appointed, the training provided is not aligned to the skills required; Even though the required skills are identified in the PDPs, the training provided does not appear to take the PDPs into consideration; • The budget is too small to accommodate the skills needed; and this is not always communicated properly to the staff. The study recommends the following: The Research Unit should ensure that ideally, it appoints researchers with the skills that are needed in Parliament. However, where this is not possible, training is required. It is fundamental that the appropriate training should be planned and provided for researchers requiring certain skills, in order to ensure that they perform their duties optimally. Managers should make sure that they communicate to researchers the details of their training budget, so that the researchers would know the kind of training for which they should apply. It is also important that the training sourced for the researchers is appropriate. Furthermore, the Research Unit should increase their training budget to cater for most, if not all, the employees. Another recommendation is that the researchers would need to be involved in the planning of the training programmes. The Learning and Development Unit of Parliament should make certain that all the units in Parliament follow the policy when it comes to training and development. A model, Nadler’s Critical-Events Model for training and development, is also recommended as a tool for an improved success rating in training and development in the Research Unit. It should be taken into cognisance that this study is a case study. It cannot be a generalisation for the entire Parliament.