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RECRUITMENT STRATEGY IN THE RECRUITMENT STRATEGY IN THE PUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SERVICE

PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATIONADMINISTRATION

13 JUNE 200613 JUNE 2006

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OVERVIEW OVERVIEW

• Context• Legislative and PSHR Framework• HR Planning Framework

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CONTEXTCONTEXT

“What informs HR Recruitment?”

Finding the Right people, with the Right skills/competencies, at the Right time, for the Right place within the organisation/Public Service.

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CONTEXT (cont)CONTEXT (cont)

What constitutes an HR Recruitment Strategy?• Planning for needs of employees based on Supply and Demand• Taking cognisance of challenges in current recruitment practices including shortages of scarce skills and any review recommendations on recruitment • Job Analysis differs depending on the life cycle of the organisation whether it is in the embryonic, developmental, mature or decline phase

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LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK

• The Constitution, 1996• Employment Equity Act, 1998• Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997• Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000• Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000• Skills Development Act, 1998• Immigration Act, 2002

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PSHR LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK PSHR LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK

(cont)(cont)

• Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993• Government Employees Pension Law, 1996• Labour Relations Act, 1995• Public Service Act, 1994, as amended.• Public Service Regulations, 2001• Collective Bargaining Council agreements • Directives issued by the MPSA

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PSHR LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK PSHR LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK (cont)(cont)

• General Policy issues– White Paper on Human Resource Management in

the Public Service, 1997– White Paper on Affirmative Action in the Public

Service,1998

• Open employment system considering redress and equity

• Increased competition (Open, targeted and internal)

• Requirements should not be based primarily on educational qualifications, but also on skills and experience

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PSHR LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK PSHR LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK (cont)(cont)

• Only job-related criteria to be applied during selection

• Widest possible number of people in target group to be reached in most cost-effective manner

• Skills searches (head hunting) may be used in certain circumstances

• Legislative framework determines the rules/processes for Recruitment; Selection and Retention

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PUBLIC SERVICE ACT, 1994PUBLIC SERVICE ACT, 1994

• Original powers to appoint, promote or transfer rest with departments (Section 9)

• All persons who qualify must be considered (Section 11)

• Evaluation of candidates must be based on training, skills, competence, knowledge and the need to achieve representativeness of the SA-people, specifically according to race, gender and disability (Section 11)

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RECRUITMENT PRACTICERECRUITMENT PRACTICE

• Casual employees may be appointed for not longer than 12 months

• Appointments, transfers and promotions may be on probation for 12 months

• Advertising– Departments must ensure that vacancies are so

advertised that the entire pool of potential candidates, especially persons historically disadvantaged is reached

– An advertisement must reflect the inherent requirements of a post, the post title and core functions

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RECRUITMENT PRACTICE RECRUITMENT PRACTICE (cont)(cont)

• Specific measures on advertising:– Senior Management Service:

• Must be advertised nationwide

– Other posts:• At least within the department. Optionally within

Public Service and/or outside, nationally or locally• Option applied to be informed by scarcity of skills,

location of workplace, particular job requirements, need for career progression amongst own employees

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RECRUITMENT PRACTICE RECRUITMENT PRACTICE (cont)(cont)

• Post may be filled without advertising - – Absorb excess staff on equal grading– Absorb employees appointed under AA-

programme– Effect lateral transfers (multi-skilling,

organisational effectiveness) – Deploy heads of departments (Section 3B)

• Employment agencies may be utilised• Head-hunting may take place, but

preferably to supplement advertising process

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RECRUITMENT PRACTICE RECRUITMENT PRACTICE (cont)(cont)

• Advertising within the Public Service is done by means of a weekly bulletin issued by the DPSA

• Applications to be made on a standard form• In addition to advertising, departments could use other

methods of recruitment:– Study assistance– Recruitment of foreign workers (e.g. Health, Housing)– Exchange programmes– Deployment through Special Interventions

• Selection decisions are taken by departments. A selection committee must be used

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SELECTION RULES/PROCESS SELECTION RULES/PROCESS

• For the SMS, Cabinet approved that DPSA embarks on a pilot study to validate the competency assessments and the assessment battery for SMS in the public service. The pilot study results were submitted to Cabinet for a final decision in February 2005

• Cabinet approved that –– Competency-based assessments for the SMS be

implemented by departments on a voluntary basis for both selection and staff development purposes

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SELECTION RULES/PROCESS SELECTION RULES/PROCESS (cont)(cont)

• The aim of using competency assessments at SMS level is to enhance and improve -– Recruitment and selection practices– Performance management – Training and development i.t.o targeted

interventions and programmes– Career management and succession

planning

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RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES/RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES/ INITIATIVESINITIATIVES

• Policy on the Employment of Foreign Nationals• Internships• Leanerships• Mentorship• Sustainable Pool for Middle Managers• Training and Development Programmes• Bursary and Scholarship Programmes

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RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES/ RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES/ INITIATIVES (cont)INITIATIVES (cont)

• Provisioning of ICT Assistive Devices for Employees with Disabilities

• Memoranda of Understanding with SETAs which operate within the Public Sector to develop transportable qualifications relevant throughout the Public Sector

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RECRUITMENT CONSTRAINTSRECRUITMENT CONSTRAINTS

• Recruitment in general is not strategically aligned and tends to be transactional in nature

• Contractual employment, especially at SMS – level, are not used consistently within a department. The approach raises ethical concerns, grounds for unfair discrimination and limited pool of possible candidates because of non-security of tenure for permanent employees

• In general, there is an over-reliance on interviews as a selection technique and under-utilisation of other supplementary selection techniques

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RECRUITMENT CONSTRAINTS RECRUITMENT CONSTRAINTS (cont)(cont)

• Competency Assessments, Qualification and verification checks are done in an inconsistent manner

• Selection criteria are poorly defined and do not facilitate the assessment of potential and recognition of prior learning

• Proper human resource and employment equity planning rarely underpin recruitment and selection decisions

• Members of selection committees are not sufficiently representative and/or are prepared or capacitated for their roles

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RECRUITMENT CONSTRAINTS RECRUITMENT CONSTRAINTS (cont)(cont)

• People with disabilities are significantly under-recruited in relation to their labour market availability

• The application of the merit principle is predominantly conventional and not adequately focussed on potential and competency

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RECRUITMENT CONSTRAINTS RECRUITMENT CONSTRAINTS (cont)(cont)

• The use of information technology to streamline and monitor the recruitment and selection processes is limited

• Lack of deployment of scarce talent within the Public Sector

• Lack of accurate and standardised information to measure efficiency of recruitment

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HR PLANNING FRAMEWORKHR PLANNING FRAMEWORK

• HR Planning (includes Retention Strategies and Succession Planning)

• Transactional HR• Maintenance HR• HR Development• HR MIS

NB: DPSA has advertised a CD:HRP to oversee this evolving function

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HR PLANNING HR PLANNING

• Derives from departmental strategic and service delivery improvement plans

• Informs the following: – Recruitment and retention– Succession Planning– Skills Needed – Employment equity imperatives– Performance management – Informs Transactional HR Policies– Employee wellness and Quality of Work Life

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HR DEVELOPMENTHR DEVELOPMENT

• HR Development Strategy for the Public Service 2002-2006 focuses on the following areas: – Learnership Programmes– Internship Programmes– Mentorship Programmes – Scarce Skills Programmes

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LEARNERSHIP PROGRAMMELEARNERSHIP PROGRAMME

• PSETA was established in 2002 and its primary function is to develop learnerships for the Public Service

• To date the PSETA has identified 8 learnerships and an additional 5 learnerships are registered by other SETA’s in the Public Service.

• MoU’s have been signed for joint training • The learnership programme is aimed at

reducing unemployment amongst the youth and to fast track skills development in critical areas

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LEARNERSHIP PROGRAMME LEARNERSHIP PROGRAMME (cont)(cont)

• Cabinet approved a minimum number of learners and interns to an equivalent of at least 5% of department’s establishments for 2003/09

• The 8 learnerships comprise the following:– National certificate in Public Sector

Accounting – National Certificate: Public Administration

Practitioner level 3– Project Management– National Certificate in Information

Technology systems development

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LEARNERSHIP PROGRAMME LEARNERSHIP PROGRAMME (cont)(cont)

– Secretarial Administration– Human Resource management and

support– National Certificate in Local Employment

and Skills Development practices– Inspectorate and Enforcement Services

• During 2005/6 a total of 3050 learners participated nationally

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THE INTERNSHIP THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAMMEPROGRAMME

• The aim with the programme is to enable unemployed graduates to obtain work experience

• To date an internship guide has been developed and issued to the departments

• For the period 2005/6 a total of 2995 interns have received work place experience in various fields in the Public Service

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CHALLENGESCHALLENGES

• The employment of learners is subject to open recruitment

• Correct utilisation of learners by departments

• Solution is to absorb employees from learnerships in funded vacancies below salary level 6 without advertising to have ready available skills

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MENTORSHIP PROGRAMMEMENTORSHIP PROGRAMME

• This programme is aimed at addressing capacity and skills gaps

• A Mentorship guide has been developed and circulated to the departments,

• SAMDI has developed a training programme and an induction programme but implementation has been slow in this area

• As part of the process of exchange of expertise a partnership has been entered into with the Indian Government on the recruitment of mentors

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SCARCE SKILL STRATEGYSCARCE SKILL STRATEGY

• The strategy is aimed at redirecting training and development initiatives to scarce skill areas

• The Public Service has an oversupply of some skills and undersupply of others in spite of the 7.8 million of unemployed people in SA.(Stats SA 2002)

• The following critical skills have identified as the most pressing:– Engineering

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SCARCE SKILL STRATEGY SCARCE SKILL STRATEGY (cont)(cont)

– Information Technology– Project Management– Financial management– Supply Chain Management– Tendering Procedures

• The above have been highlighted as the priority skills to be focused on by the JIPSA initiatives.

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CONCEPT OF THE SUSTAINABLE CONCEPT OF THE SUSTAINABLE POOLSPOOLS

• Development of pools of high potential people towards predetermined sets of competencies

• Their development is not tied towards specific jobs or roles

• These individuals are to be enrolled in stretching developmental interventions

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OBJECTIVE OF THE SUSTAINABLE OBJECTIVE OF THE SUSTAINABLE POOLS POOLS

• Provide challenging, growth-oriented career opportunities

• Equip human capital admitted to the scheme with the requisite competencies to enter the senior management level

• Make employment in the Public Service more attractive for “high-flyers”

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Conclusion

THANK YOU