To plan for adequate human resources

1. To plan for adequate human resources DPSA Medium Term Human Resource Plan 2010-2014 Presentation to the Portfolio Committee 12 May 2010

2. Outline of the presentation • Legal Requirements • Status Report • Alignment of Strategic Objectives with HR Planning Objectives • HR Planning Priorities • Monitoring Implementation of HR Plan • Conclusion

3. Legal Requirement Public Service Regulations , 2001 (as amended) Chapter 1, Part III.D requires all Departments to: • Develop and Implement a MTEF HR Plan aligned to the HR Planning Strategic Framework – Vision 2015 for the Public service. • The MTEF HR Plan must be adjusted and approved annually and be submitted to MPSA on or before 30 June, every year. .

4. Status Report Updated Status within DPSA: • The DPSA had an approved HR Plan for the period 2007- 2010,( in the old format) which expired on 31 March 2010. • However, this was not reviewed and updated annually during the said period as prescribed. • The DPSA HR Plan for 2010-2014 has been reviewed and approved on 30 March 2010 and will be reviewed again by 30 June 2010.

5. Current Staffing Data

6. Employment Equity Status DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE & ADMINISTRATION

8. Purpose of the HR Plan • Is a systematic and credible approach to human resource planning • Aims to better respond to and deliver on achieving both economic and social goals for South Africa • Is an essential component for effective performance of public services as it links strategic planning to operational planning and budgeting decisions • Is a dynamic plan which must be constantly updated

9. Alignment of Strategic Objectives with HR Planning Objectives To ensure that the adequate and appropriate capacity of the Department is efficient and sustainable for enhanced performance and service delivery To ensure the effective and appropriate utilisation of human resources in order to achieve the strategic objectives of the Department. To ensure that the development initiatives: i.e. mentoring and coaching, capacity building and job shadowing programmes within the DPSA are informed by realistic, actual and envisaged capacity needs. 9

10. Envisaged Structure • HR Plan Impacts on the previous configuration of the dpsa. • Changes to departmental nomenclatures, introduction of new functions, the splitting of existing branches, as well as the transfers of functions between branches. • Transfer of staff to new components or accommodation of existing staff in existing or new components. • The workforce analysis moving forward will be informed by the need for optimal efficiencies, effectiveness and economies of scale

11. Post Demand (Approved) • Demand for posts is determined by the functional mandate of each component • However, there is an • As is state of capacity • To be (future) state of capacity • Where mandates have been configured too narrowly, changes will be entertained if it enhances service delivery. • Capacity must conform to roles and mandates to enable effective delivery and not add-ons. • Competency gaps must be identified to justify needs

12. Supply (Filled) • This is the current status quo which must be evaluated against the life cycle maturity of function and systemic implementation of core mandates • Revisit mandate on an ongoing basis. i.e. if the function was not carried out by dpsa how would it directly affect service delivery and the legal mandate of the dpsa? • Percentage baseline supply of core business posts must be set as non-negotiables.

13. Shortage (Vacant) • Core business posts must be prioritised above Corporate Services posts • Reasoning as to why Funding is provided by Treasury is to drive core business and not to bloat support corporate functions • Operational support posts to branch heads • Posts that enhance speeding up of service delivery will be prioritised

14. Planning Priority issues • HR Planning Priorities • Demand for and Supply of adequate and competent human resources • Compensation Budget • Consideration of the Rate and Percentage of staff turnover • Employee Reward and Recognition • Employee Skills Training and Development • Employee work-life balance • Employment Equity DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE & ADMINISTRATION

15. HR Planning Priorities Demand and Supply in relation to the Compensation Budget: • In the MTEF HR Plan (2010-2014), the post demand for personnel capacity for the organisation is (466 posts). However, the budget allocation requires periodic alignment based on supply and demand needs. • The revised organisational structure will result in a costed and revised approved structure by end May 2010 as the department requires capacity growth to deliver on its strategic objectives within the medium term and it is envisaged that the org structure will show a significant change in capacity required at different strategic levels. • More than 90% of the department’s workforce are permanent employees on the fixed funded establishment. • Contract employees are employed for critical short-term projects/assignments and for skills development initiatives additional to the establishment, i.e. Learners, Interns and fixed term contract assignments. • These contract employees are recruited to fill permanent posts as a supply source.

16. HR Planning Priorities Rate of Turnover/Attrition: • The department has a relatively high turnover rate. This factor often compromises the department’s ability to deliver on strategic deliverables. • The department’s staff compliment is relatively young. More than half of the department’s staff is below 44 years old. The rate of mobility is therefore high as employee-loyalty and the psychological contract is lesser in this age cohort. • The Plan has determined the number of people who will be eligible to retire over the medium term and does consider their possible replacement in time and within budget.

17. HR Planning Priorities Rate of Turnover/Attrition: • Filling posts is hampered due to compensation budget, constraints and the processes to fill posts suitably often takes long, due to various reasons. • It is often difficult to recruit the right person for the right job with the right competencies and even to retain them. • However, the labour market does supply our core and critical resource needs but areas of scarce skills, especially economists, IT specialist technicians poses a problem as these take longer to recruit and is more expensive.

18. HR Planning Priorities Employee Reward and Recognition As part of the performance management system, rewards are included for outstanding performance. The Department does have a performance bonus programme (PMDS) which is implemented annually through assessing above average performance of employees. The department will also look into other forms of recognition for deserving employees and teams. 18

19. HR Planning Priorities Employee Skills Development & Training The department does face a risk of not having enough people with the core and critical competencies at the right time and in the right job. The department invests more than the 1% of the wage bill expected in the development staff (between 2 and 3% in the past few years) to advance skills development of internal staff as well as people who require workplace experience, i.e. Internships and Learnerships. Our investment in skills development overall is expected to grow year on year. All employees are required to develop and Personal Develop Plan aligned to the needs of the department and to achieve their career aspirations. Targeted training for blacks, women and people with disability are key ongoing initiatives to increase the pool of suitably qualified and competent people to take up higher level and more responsible jobs. One of the risks however of developing staff is that many soon move up and out and offers of retention packages are often not sufficient to retain them. 19

20. HR Planning Priorities Employee Work-Life Balance Many employees are under severe stress due to high work loads (low capacity) , unrealistic deadlines (last minute assignments) and ad hoc nature (unplanned) assignments beyond their control especially when it is out of scope of their operational/work plan. The impact of the above mentioned often manifests in depression, increase in high blood pressure, diabetes, absenteeism, presenteeism, alcohol abuse, marital-family conflicts, etc, which negatively impacts on performance-service delivery and workplace relationships. The department’s response has been through counseling and other workplace programmes, i.e. wellness days, on-site gym, sporting codes and informal support groups, which helps to mitigate, but the impact on other colleagues is often leads to more work, longer hours and unrealistic deadlines and assignments. 20

21. HR Planning Priorities Employee Equity Plan The fast-tracking of designated groups in vacancies is a priority. The targeting of youth and female employees is evident in the employment profile of the dpsa. The increase in the number of female managers at SMS level has been maintained at . 21

23. Monitoring Implementation of the HR Plan It is the responsibility of every manager to implement the measures and recommendations of the HR Plan as it applies to their Branch. The HR Planning Committee has been established and one of its responsibilities is to monitor the implementation of the HR Plan and were necessary make further recommendations for change to EXCO or DG. This committee is comprised of the Employer and Union Representation in the Departmental Bargaining Chamber. Regular reporting on the implementation of the HR Plan is required to management meetings and to the MPSA. A communication strategy is required to ensure transparency in the implementation of the Plan. 23

24. Conclusion The Medium Term HR Plan (2010-2014) inclusive of the Annual Adjusted HR Plan (2010-2011)has been approved on 30 March 2010. The organisational structure currently under review once approved in May 2010 will result in an adjusted 2010-2011 HR Plan, to be approved by end June 2010. The costed organisational structure will inform the funded establishment, i.e. filled and vacant funded posts for 2010 -2011. Priority vacant funded posts under discussion at top management meetings will be advertised and filled within 6 months of the compensation budget being confirmed. Regular reporting on the implementation of the DPSA HR Plan to management structures will continue on a quarterly basis. 24

25. Siyabonga DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE & ADMINISTRATION