The aim of this research is to find out if a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college in Mpumalanga, South Africa has any CPD programme for its lecturers and how it is managed. Through personal experience, interaction with fellow lecturers and literature review, I noted the evident lack of college-driven continuous professional development (CPD) of lecturers. I discovered that most TVET college lecturers are holders of teaching qualifications suitable for schools and not the TVET college sector. The research was qualitative. I conducted in-depth interviews with the senior management of the college, a focus group interview with lecturers and finally document analysis. Data analysis was inductive and verbatim quotations from participants were used. I found that although the college did have a CPD programme, there were many shortcomings. Strengths of the programme include funding and a planned CPD committee. Deficiencies relate to non-communication between staff members and management and a laissez-faire attitude of management in the handling of CPD. Based on the findings numerous recommendations are made concerning the way CPD is managed at this college and by the Department of Higher Education. These recommendations may relate to other colleges to make their CPD programme more effective for their academic staff. / Educational Management and Leadership / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Absenteeism in the workplace is a longstanding challenge practised by employees for various reasons. It persists despite the numerous efforts undertaken to curb it. The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality is concerned with excessive employee absenteeism. Present research evaluates the City of Tshwane’s human resources policy for managing absenteeism. Causes of absenteeism are critically examined, particular attention being paid to the different leave-types that impinge on service delivery within the City of Tshwane. Within a qualitative research framework, personal semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from staff members of the Leave Capturing Office of the City of Tshwane. The targeted office is responsible for leave management, which includes capturing, recording and encashment of leave. In addition to the questionnaire, the leave management policy as well as sick-leave statistics were brought to bear on this study of absenteeism at the City of Tshwane. Study findings highlighted factors such as job dissatisfaction, unpleasant working relations, favouritism, low wages, lack of resources, stress at the workplace alongside boredom with routine unchallenging tasks as significant causes of absenteeism. The study also found sick-leave to be the form of reported absence most misused by employees. In general, employees take two days sick leave, which is the maximum an employee can take without requiring a medical certificate. Recommendations include that management should invest in a total process that can control and mitigate absenteeism related risks that may adversely affect operations at the City of Tshwane. / Public Administration / M. Admin. (Public Administration)

The objective of education authorities worldwide is to enhance teachers’ professional capacities and practices through the supply of quality continuous professional development (CPD) activities. The South African education system has been subjected to many changes during the past two decades which have seriously affected the quality of education provided in schools country wide. Professional development (PD) of teachers has been found to be a key factor in raising standards in South African schools. Although the National Department of Education has identified teacher development as important, very little has transpired in the education system. School leaders should, therefore, take on the responsibility of providing their staff with PD opportunities. To support teachers in special schools and to enhance their professional capacity, the researcher designed, implemented and evaluated a collaborative PD model in six special schools in Gauteng. The aim of the study was to establish the value of the CPD programme on teachers’ learning, learners’ outcomes and whole school change. This multi-phased case study research was positioned within a bigger study conducted by the Gauteng Department of Education and in particular the Early Childhood Development Institute (ECDI). This larger study was based on the fact that most of the burn related accidents in South Africa occur in the 0-4 age group, which served as the rationale for including the fire safety programme in the ECD curriculum. The focus during the research was on the adaptation of fire safety activities and learners and teacher support materials for an inclusive classroom. This research reports on a two year study on the implementation of a CPD model based on collaboration and peer coaching. The theoretical framework for this study links to theories of constructivism, organisational theory of Senge, network and social capital. This research serves as an example of where valuable internal and external networks were formed for the benefit of all involved with the study. During this research theory and practice were successfully integrated for the benefit of the individual, the school and external organisations. / Department of Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

The growth and expansion of the Haven Night Shelter Welfare Organisation has been accompanied by a pattern of emotional and negative dismissals and resignations of senior managerial personnel. The research project explores how the management capacity of the managers could be enhanced through training, development and maintenance functions of human resource management. The literature study focused on reviewing outcomes-based education, training and development methodology. The empirical study involved examining the biographical information of the research participants. It also sought to explore the organisational culture by identifying managerial competencies of skills, interpersonal relationships, management style, attitudes and beliefs. Investigating the knowledge base of participants, included exploring human resource management practices, training and development legislation and labour relations. The conclusions and recommendations are based on the findings of the survey as completed by the participants. The guidelines for a training programme include outcomes-based learning principles to raise morale, skill and knowledge. / Social work / M. Diac. (Social Work)

The purpose of this research was to investigate the factors affecting job satisfaction at the Coastal Kwa Zulu Natal (KZN) Further Education and Training (FET) COLLEGE - SWINTON CAMPUS in order to determine the factors that lead to job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction, to measure these factors and to present findings and make recommendations to management and the Department of Education in order to promote and improve job satisfaction at the college. The data was collected and administered by means of a structured questionnaire based on the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). It was discovered that most of the academic staff draw their job satisfaction from having a positive working relationship with management, their relationships with their peers, their training needs and the training provided from the college, and the condition of their staff room. It was found that educators mostly derive their job dissatisfaction from the absence of recognition for work done, remuneration and the benefits that they receive, company policies and practices, achievement and advancement, feedback and communication, the ability to work independently and creatively and the general working conditions of the college. It was found that staff was generally dissatisfied with their jobs. / Management Sciences / M.Tech. (Business Administration)

This investigation was undertaken to explore an incentive system to maximize performance in an automotive manufacturing environment. The unit under study was a motor manufacturing company in the Eastern Cape in South Africa. The approach to this investigation was to start with a quantitative analysis to identify if there was a relationship between the incentive reward and employee satisfaction. This was to be done by correlation analysis between the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and the performance related incentive reward (PBR) of the abovementioned company. The data was then used to develop an interview guide, which was used in a focus group study, to evaluate the current incentive system as a motivator of performance. The analysis of the qualitative interview data was to be done through the use of thematic analysis. Using a percentage based estimation per production line, 150 workers were selected from the 2100 shop floor workers. The Job Descriptive Index (JDI) questionnaires were used to measure the satisfaction index of the workers. The performance data was gathered from the company's incentive statistics over the past year, 2004. All other related data was obtained though thematic analysis by the researcher, who was interested to get the insiders' view. From the emic perspective, more data could be obtained by the researcher by probing with follow-up questions. After both the quantitative and qualitative procedures were completed, the results of the study were found to be much the same as those described in the reviewed literature. The quantitative analysis did not prove a significant correlation between incentive reward and satisfaction; and employees were most satisfied with work, supervision and co-workers and less satisfied with pay and promotion. The qualitative procedure (thematic analysis) highlighted that the current reward system was not motivating performance, but rather demoralised employees, as it was used as a punitive measure to encourage work attendance. The current system also confirmed the error made by many organisations, where the organization purely concentrates on motivating employees with extrinsic rewards and little thought is given to intrinsic recognition.

The Eastern Cape Department of Education has a constitutional and legislative mandate to provide quality public education in all public schools within the province. The commitment to improve also involves ensuring effective educator personnel provisioning in public secondary xii schools. However, despite various legislative and policy measures relating to educator personnel provisioning, serious concerns have been raised. There have been concerns over the shortage of educators. There are concerns over the lack of suitably qualified educators, especially in Mathematics and Science subjects. Disparities have been noted between legislative and policy directives with regard to educator personnel provisioning and the expectations of educators based on the realities in public secondary schools. The complications and challenges thereof have called upon for the appraisal of educator provisioning. The objective of the study is to describe and explain the nature and place of personnel provisioning in public secondary schools. Thereafter, evaluate its application at selected public secondary schools in the Eastern Cape Province. The basic intention is to prove that the educator personnel provision policy implementation in public schools needs to be examined and possibly changed for effective results. Basically, personnel provisioning is the first step in the personnel process. It is classified into: Human resources determination; and the Filling of posts The process of filling public personnel posts involves recruitment, selection, appointment, placement, transfer and promotion. In evaluating personnel provisioning policy in public secondary schools, a research study has to be conducted. As an integral part of scope of study, the survey area includes public secondary schools, provincial department offices and educator union/association offices. The questionnaire is used as the appropriate data collection instrument for this survey. The total population for the study are provincial department officials, public secondary school principals, school governing body chairpersons and educator unions/associations. xiii When data was analysed and interpreted, there were various significant findings. The respondents’ demographic details provided a significant insight into the study and its findings. They ensured divergence of opinions and understanding of the personnel provisioning. Regarding human resources determination and the filling of posts in public secondary schools, it was found that there are challenges in terms of the employment of suitably qualified educators. These include among other issues educator dissatisfaction and lack of effective procedures in the filling of posts. This also results in educator shortage in public secondary schools.

The study employed a quantitative research method, which is descriptive in nature, to determine the role of Human Resource Management in supporting the strategic objectives of the Department of Environmental Affairs. This interest was explored with particular reference to the Environmental Programmes branch of the Department of Environmental Affairs. Data was gathered from senior, middle and junior managers through self-administered questionnaires and it was then analysed using statistical methods and graphs. The findings reveal that the role of Human Resource Management in supporting the strategic objectives of the Department of Environmental Affairs is not efficiently elevated or viewed to have any influence on the desired goals of the Department of Environmental Affairs. As a result, the Human Resource Management component is not considered a strategic partner. Furthermore, the senior, middle and junior managers know very little about the Human Resource Management strategy and there exists a lack of emphasis on the development and implementation of joint strategic human resource management plans between the managers and the Human Resource Management component. / Public Administration / M.P.A.

The shortage of nurses in any health care setting increases workloads and complicates workflow. In South Africa the shortage is exacerbated by multiple factors, one of which is the emigration of nurses to countries that offer better benefits and working conditions. The purpose of the study was to explore and determine the views of nurse managers regarding staff turnover and retention, and to recommend effective measures to improve the retention of nurses. The inquiry was conducted in a KwaZulu-Natal hospital, a natural setting for the participants. The study utilized a qualitative, explorative, descriptive design. The population of this study comprised of 36 nurse managers. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were applied to select a sample of 18 nurse managers. Data were collected through focus groups. Data were transcribed and analysed thematically, emerging patterns were noted. The researchers examined these categories closely and compared them for similarities and differences. identifying the most frequent or significant codes in order to develop the prominent categories. These were summarised in a narrative form. Four themes emerged from the findings: the staff turnover challenge; current retention strategies; measures to improve retention and strengthening management. The shortage of nursing staff was critical at this selected hospital, and this situation could be considered to be a microcosm of what is happening in public health care sectors in South Africa. Various measures were put in place to curb the high turnover. However, these measures had a fair to low level of success. Therefore, improved retention strategies are required to reduce the staff turnover. It is evident from the findings that needs to be done to investigate, plan and implement effective measures that are likely to retain nursing staff and recruit more nurses into the profession. / Health Studies / M. A. (Nursing Science)

This exploration investigates lecturers’ experiences of the role of professional development on TVET lecturers. Lecturers’ professional development is often viewed as the source to effective learning developments. Lecturer effectiveness at TVET Colleges depends on the constant professional development to avoid encounters that they face due to endless differences taking place in technology and national curriculum. The result of proper professional development of lecturers is that both students and the organisation benefit from it. Hence, lecturers are likely to be subjected to continuous professional development to be well informed with the constant adjustments taking place in the education system. This occurs as the lecturers are pressurised to participate in a variety of regular professional development programmes that are not designed to suit their specific requirements. This leads to, professional development becoming ineffective in assisting the lecturer developing their training in their specific areas of knowledge. A literature review was used to determine what other writers say about the concept of professional development. A qualitative study was employed and two research instruments were used: semi-structured interview sessions and document analysis.Information was collected through the interviews, centred on pre-planned interview questions. Purposive sampling was used and nine experienced participants were selected for this study. Lecturers’ were questioned about their experiences of professional development at a TVET College in the Kwazulu Natal district. The conversations were recorded, translated and scrutinised to discover lecturers’ opinions about professional development in their college. This investigation was guided by three important questions: How effective are staff development programmes managed for lecturers in their areas of specialisation? Secondly, How effective are the policies regarding staff development in TVET Colleges? Finally, what role does senior management play in CPD in Majuba TVET College? Findings indicate that the principals of the colleges are not managing the continuous professional development of lectures. It is left upon the lecturers themselves to manage their professional development. It is expected that this investigation and the literature review will influence the management of professional development for the advantage of lecturers and the college. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)