“ALIGNMENT OF FET & HET PROVISION OF SKILLS NEEDS FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE”

  

BY 

PROF D R THAKHATHI FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT AND COMMERCE

A PAPER DELIVERED DURING THE 14TH ANNUAL PSTF CONFERENCE

HOST: EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

:EAST LONDON ICC,REGENT HOTEL

DATE: 4-6 SEPTEMBER 2010

1. INTRODUCTION • In the preamble of the RDP White Paper, our first President, Dr Nelson

Mandela, said: “Our people have elected us because they want change. Change is what they will get. Our people have high expectations which are legitimate. While the government cannot meet all these needs overnight, we must put firmly into place the concrete goals, time frames and strategies to achieve this change.” These are the powerful words by our statesman of all times. This is about transformation and service.Our FET colleges and

• universities must take this statement seriously and take action steps to address the skills needs of this country.

  • Nitini Desai, Under-Secretary General for the UN-EOSOC, said: “It is

increasingly being acknowledged that the state is a good key actor in the development process. It has a major role to play in making globalization work for all, in alleviating poverty and income inequality, in advancing human rights and democracy, in protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development and in managing violent conflict and combating international crime. Public Administration has a vital role to play in the quest for peace, greater freedom, social equity and sustainable development.”

• Both former President Thabo Mbeki and our present one Jacob Zuma in their speeches at the official opening of Parliament emphasized the importance of and the need to accelerate service delivery and transformation by all government departments and other state organs. President Zuma called for extensive exploration of new and innovative mechanisms by government departments to deliver effective, efficient and economic services to the citizens.The message was calling upon our institutions to come up with programmes that address the skills shortages in our country.

•  The transformation of the Public Service and the effective delivery of services are sine qua non for a better life for all in South Africa.

2. WHAT IS TRANSFORMATION? • According to Rossen: “Transformation means to change something

in a way that alters its shape and form so fundamentally that it is turned into another entity. It is usually a deliberate action with the aim of creating something better, better looking, better working, more usable and more valuable.”

• Paul Frere says: “Transformation is only valid if it is carried out with the people, not for them. Liberation is like childbirth and is a painful one. The person who emerges, is a new person, no longer an

• oppressor or oppressed, but a person in the process of achieving freedom.”

• Our transformation agenda must improve service delivery at all levels of government. Policies have been put in place to drive transformation in the Public Service and what is challenging is the capacity to implement those policies.The FET and HET institutions should engage the Publis Service to address these needs.

• The vision and mission of Government are clear and what is left is the will and the commitment of civil servants to drive and champion those transformation goals and objectives.

• The Public Service should be united in search of service excellence and effective service delivery, good governance, professionalism, accountability, equity and effective administration and management.These challenges need our institutions to align themselves sufficiently in supplying the right skills to the country in particular the public service.  

• In accelerating transformation and service delivery, we need public servants whoa re visionary, caring and capable.

• 3. HOW DO FET AND HET ACCELERATE TRANSFORMATION AND SERVICE DELIVERY

(a) Going back to the Basics • Introduce the curriculum that is relevant to the skills needs of the

public service  

• Revisit and revise the training programmes to address the skills needs of our Public sector

• Communicate Public service HRD needs, plans and programmes effectively to the FET and HET

• Create a positive climate and a strong relationship with these institutions and other providers and enhance a new culture of excellence service.

• Engage regularly the SETAS and FET/HET institutions

(b) Translating Strategic Plans into Implementation Plans • Crafting business and operational plans for implementation by the

Public Service with clear targets and programmes needed for capacity building

• Engaging all the key HRD strategic alliances and role-players in dealing with skills gaps and needs

• Improving coordination and implementation of transformation policies and alignment of programmes

• The involvement of all layers/levels of the Public Service from the lower levels to the top.

• Enhancing effective public participation on all service delivery policies and programmes.

(c) Moving from tradition to innovation and creativity • Inculculating a sense of love and pride for the nation. • Introducing a sense of care for the public. • Always geared for prompt results and responses.

• Making a Public Service a performance-driven organisation. • Developing capacity for high standard performance and high

processing of cases. • Establishment of high caliber leadership and top management

programmes that are transformationary and value adding • Putting into place Total Quality Management mechanisms in all the

training materials • Create an environment where civil servants become passionate

about training and education

(c) Turning the Public Service into a Learning Organisation • Let us introduce the culture of research and studies.

• Let us accelerate the establishment of learning networks within all the departments.

• Let us harness intellectual debates and discussions. • We must make HRD a core element of all our programmes and

plans. • We must open doors for learning to promote productivity, efficiency

and excellence. • Establish learning teams, U-Turn Groups, Quality Circles, Think-

Tanks, Work Improvement Teams, etc. • Establish curriculum groups that should coordinate Public Service

Training, Education and Development Programmes. • Effective utilization of skills and knowledge available.

• Regular sharing of knowledge, bench-marking and best practices through workshops,conferences,seminars etc.

• Learning from our counterparts across the globe.

(e) Moving from isolation to synergy • Promoting understanding of government vision and mission. • Encouraging exchange of staff /students through revolving door,

study visits among departments and the FET/HET. • Organize regular meetings of clustered departments at all levels

with these institutions • Encourage Quality Audit and Assurance Teams between the

governments and these institutions

• Encourage Team Work, Task Teams and Focus Groups to deal with weakest links in the whole Public Service.

• Promoting effective participation in SADC, AU, NEPAD and other International colleges and universities.  

(f) Doing the Spring-cleaning • Root out corruption anywhere in the Public Service. • Remove the dead-woods and negative influence. • Deal with all the risk-areas effectively. • Former President Mbeki said: “We must be impatient with those in

the Public Service who go to work late, who work as little as possible, who see themselves as pen-pushers and guardians of rubber-stamps, thieves intent on self-enrichment,

• who leave early from work and bureaucrats who think they have the right to ignore the vision of Batho Pele.”

4. THE ROLE OF LEADERS AND MANAGERS IN FOSTERING GOOD RELATIONS WITH FET AND HET

• Building capacity for strategic thinking, effective leadership and management.

• Facilitating synergy and cooperation within the Public Service for achievement of government goals and objectives.

• Leading and managing their human resources well and creating an environment where employers willingly and cheerfully participate fully in all government programmes excellently.

• Focusing on strategic issues at a time and coming up with strategies to enhance service delivery and transformation agenda.

• Creating an internal capacity to carry out the strategic initiatives and other mechanisms for speedy response to government policies and programmes.

• Setting up of strategic evaluation and monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the Public Service is moving in the right direction.

• Introducing new ways of working and creating structures that talk to each other in implementing policies and programmes.

• Creating an organisational culture which promotes excellence, unity and teamwork.

• Promoting talent management and encouraging the strength of the employees.

• Promote organisational rebirth and renewal to bring in new energy and drive

• to reach Public Service goals and objectives.

5. TECHNIQUES THAT CAN THE FET AND HET USE TO TRANSFORM SERVICE DELIVERY THROUGH SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

• The following could assist to accelerate transformation and service delivery:

• Use of the Project Management technique. • Action research. • Organisational development. • Work groups. • Organisational learning. • Balanced scorecard.

• Kaizen technique (Continuous improvement). • HRD Interventions. • Work improvement teams. • Quality circles. • The Public Service should also involve business and other

stakeholders in order to learn from them.

6. MOVING FROM BUREAUCRACY TO REVOCRACY IN SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

• Revocrats initiate change to improve service delivery but bureaucrats resist change and stifle progress.

• Revocrats are driven by change and transformation but bureaucrats are driven by desks and rules.

• Revocrats are passionate about their work and challenges but bureaucrats find pleasure in officialdom and status.

• Revocrats are results-orientated, but bureaucrats are position-conscious and very fond of lines of authority.

• Revocrats are quick to deal with issues but bureaucrats like long-winding procedures to delay the issues.

• Revocrats make things happen but bureaucrats watch things happening and try to block them.

• Revocrats are activists who are committed to progress and action but bureaucrats are full of delays and excuses.

• We must turn the Public Service around and improve service delivery:

• “One of the best ways to save time is to think and plan ahead: Five minutes of thinking can often save an hour of work.” Be a revocrat who can think and plan strategically.

7. CONCLUSION • We must never get tired to learn and to serve our people effectively and

efficiently • The Public Service is our home where things should happen.The FET

and HET are our valuable assets we must use. • We must all demonstrate the highest standards of personal integrity,

truthfulness, honesty and fortitude. • We must serve our people with respect, concern, courtesy, love and

compassion. • A policy on Service Delivery remains our pillar of strength and a strong

foundation to drive service delivery agenda effectively. • We must all strive for personal professional excellence and encourage

the professional development of those associated with and those seeking to enter into the Public Service.

• We must affirm the dignity and worth of the services rendered by our Public Service.

• Finally, I would like to refer you to the Chinese Credo devised by James Yen in 1920 which guided the rural development movement:

• Go to the people. • Live among the people. • Learn from the people. • Plan with the people. • Start with what people know. • Build on what people have. • Teach by showing, learn by doing. • Not a show-case but a pattern. • Not odds and ends, but a system. • Not a piece-meal, but an integrated approach.

Thank you and God bless you!!!

The End

Thank you