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Organisational climate, organisational practices and service delivery in a local government / Kedisaletse Doreen Ross

The success of any organisation depends on its ability to adapt to an ever-changing environment. In
order to be able to adapt, an organisation needs visionary leadership, a management team that is
passionate, professional and entrepreneurial, and employees that are engaged. With the right
strategies, organisational practices and management the hidden value of an organisation can be
unlocked. The traditional hierarchies in the organisation can be broken down in order to empower
management teams to be more entrepreneurial. The right organisational climate should also be created
to unleash potential.
As part of the business planning process and the drive to reconnect with citizens, to respond to the
need to do things differently, to build new relations and to improve service, the municipality should
continuously evaluate the human resource management practices in place, to determine whether they
are sufficient and effective to enable it to achieve its objectives. Knowledge of organisational climate
variables also enables management towards the accomplishment of organisational goals.
Local government is key to the realisation of a promise of a better life for all. It is therefore critical for
its employees to always perform at their optimal, and adhere to all the principles of the Batho Pele
when delivering service to the public. All the principles of this policy are intertwined and collectively
guide all three spheres of government efforts in transforming and accelerating service delivery.
Managers at all levels must support staff in service responsibility so that staff members feel valued,
motivated, informed and challenged to put forth their best efforts on behalf of the people they serve.
The objectives of this study were to determine the reliability and validity of the OCQ, the HRPQ, and
the SSPPQ instruments, as well as to assess the relationship between human resource practices and
organisational climate in the municipality.
In Article 1 and Article 3 employees from the municipality were targeted, and in Article 2 citizens
from the municipality were targeted separately. The study popUlation from the municipality included
employees from managerial and non-managerial categories, and the study population from the citizens
included the public which the municipality serve. A cross-sectional survey design was used to obtain
the research objectives. Three standardised questionnaires were used in the empirical study, namely the Organisational Climate Questionnaire, the Standardof Service as Perceived by the Public
Questionnaire and the Human Resource . Practices Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, factor
analyses, Cronbach alpha coefficients, correlations, MANOV AS and regression analyses were used to analyse the data.
In Article 1 the results indicated a four-factor structure for the OCQ. Statistically and practically
significant differences were found between organisational climate dimensions and some of the biographical characteristics, namely age, service years and job leveL Employees with more years of service experience higher levels of organisational climate, than emlpoyees with fewer years of
service. A significant difference in communication was found between job levelland job level 3. Employees in higher positions do not communicate well with employees at lower levels. In terms of Article 2 the study extracted a two-factor structure, namely Consultation and Efficiency.
The scales showed acceptable internal consistencies. Most of the Batho Pele principles received negative responses from the public. The results showed that customers who feel they are not
sufficiently consulted on services also feel that the services they received were not effective. Knowledge of the service environment was perceived as poor, and consultation on services was perceived as a challenge. The public also perceived responsiveness as poor.In Article 3 the scales showed acceptable internal consistencies and also confIrnled a relationship between human resource management practices and organisational climate Responsiveness!
cooperation and human resource development contributed most to people care. Supervision, human
resource development, responsiveness/cooperation, employee support andrecognition contributed to structure. Openness, feedback and responsiveness/cooperation contributed most to efficiency.
Recognition, responsiveness/cooperation, superviSIOn and openness contributed most to
communication.
Based on the results, recommendations were made for urgent actions to be implemented by the
municipality, as well as for future research / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/4299
Date January 2009
CreatorsRoss, Kedisaletse Doreen
PublisherNorth-West University
Source SetsNorth-West University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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