NSG Work Plan Implementation: Enhancing Public Service Skills Development Strategy

Implementation of NSG Work plan:First Quarter Performance A presentation by Prof. Richard M Levin September 2015

Outline of Presentation • Key Message • NSG Strategy for 2015-2020 • Summary of Performance • Branch: Specialised Services • Branch: Training Management & Delivery • Branch: Training Policy and Planning • Branch: Corporate Management • Office of the Chief Financial Officer • Organisational Matters • Recommendations • Conclusion

Key Message What the National Development Plan calls for… • The public service needs to be immersed in the development agenda but insulated from undue political influence • Staff at all levels must have the authority, experience and support they need to do • their jobs. This will require a more long-term approach to skills development • Build a skilled and professional public service from both the top and the bottom. At senior levels, recruitment and management should be based on experience and expertise, while at junior levels the focus should be on developing the skills and expertise that will be necessary for future public service cohorts • South Africa needs a strategy for recruiting dedicated young people, developing their skills and building an ethos of public service • Rather than creating new training bodies, the focus should be on drawing on existing expertise. This should include using government departments to provide training in areas where they have specialist expertise, as well as partnerships with universities and professional associations

Key Message • Over and above the priorities set out in the 2015/16 annual performance plan of the National School of Government the following issues are critical; • The Ministerial Directives with focus on the Induction and SMS training • Priorities in the May 2015 Budget Speech of the MPSA • Outcome 12 priorities in the 2014 – 2019 Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) • The National School of Government’s need to define its relevance and competitive advantage through the stability and novelty of education and learning opportunities • Prioritising plans to improve our internal capacity and efficiencies towards improved service standards and resources management • Piloting options for the future, as a way of testing integration and co-operation, towards high volume education and learning • Creating organisational stability, building stakeholder confidence towards NSG offerings and massified access to its learning and development programmes

Key Message How we are responding to the developmental imperatives of the State

NSG Strategy for 2015-2020 Strategic Outcome Goals • A fully established, well-resourced and high performance institution • Improved learning and development opportunities influenced by impactful research, strategic diagnosis and monitoring and evaluation • Cutting-edge learning and development tools, quality-driven curriculum, programmes and services responding to public service needs and training, staff development and support • Integrated and collaborative network of learning and development institutions and practitioners providing the public service with affordable access to quality learning and development opportunities

NSG Strategy for 2015-2020 Strategic Objectives for Programme 1 (Administration) • Implement effective policies, strategies and plans that comply with legislation, good corporate governance principles and improved organisational performance standards • Efficient and effective fiscal, infrastructure and human resource planning and management to support the sustainability of the institution • Co-ordinate the utilisation of donor funded resources and international co-operation agreements towards improving human capacity development

NSG Strategy for 2015-2020 Strategic Objectives for Programme 2 (Public Sector Staff and Organisational Development) • Implement effective research, knowledge management and diagnostic strategies to inform learning and development needs and opportunities • Implement an effective monitoring and evaluation framework to monitor the quality of learning and development interventions and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions on performance based on set norms and standards • Design and quality assure accredited and non-accredited curriculum which responds to public service needs, individual career pathing and lifelong learning • Manage an integrated and collaborative network of local and international learning and development institutions and practitioners to provide learning and development opportunities • Train on NSG curriculum, programmes and services with access to learning and development opportunities that provide quality training, learner materials and effective learner support • Provision of reliable and accurate learning and development information through the integration of core records management systems

NSG Strategy for 2015-2020 Training delivery targets per training stream • Year 1 is inclusive of addressing the CIP implementation backlog • Projected figures are not inclusive of new programmes based on ministerial directives, or the review of the current suite of programmes – Research as well as programme design and development work undertaken this year will be completed in 3rd- 4th quarters of this financial year therefore contributing to adjustment of above targets for 2015/16. • Targets reviewed annaully

Summary of QTR 1 Performance

Branch: Specialised Services • The NSG quality assured 8 programmes/courses: • 4 Human Resource Programmes (Human Resource Monitoring and Reporting; Developing HRD Implementation Plans for the Public Service; Recruitment and Selection in the Public Service; Strategic HR Planning for the achievement of organisational results) • Mentoring and Coaching for the Public Service • Organisational Design • Supply Chain Management for the Public Service • In-house course development for: Performance Management training; Finance for Non-financial managers; Compulsory Induction Programme (CIP)13-14; and Improvement of African leadership values and practices in the curriculum • Planning implementation of NSG programmes in collaboration with the provincial academies for the Lead Facilitator Development Programmes (Re-orientation of Public Servants and Citizen Centred Service Delivery) • Trained 30 ETD staff from Western Cape Provincial academy to design and develop its eLearning platform

Branch: Training Management & Delivery • The Branch instituted and customised the Harmonised Assessment Tool (HAT) for disability management with the Department of Social Development preparing for the roll out in the second quarter • Collaboration agreements being discussed with the Western Cape Provincial Training Institute, the Gauteng City Region Academy, Kwa-Zulu Natal Provincial Academy, and the Department of Cooperative Government (DCOG) • Contracting of 114 learning and development facilitators, moderators and assessors to support massified training • Three Evaluation Courses sanctioned by the DPME to institutionalise evaluation of programmes and organisational performance in Government • Preparation for the hosting of the Public Sector Trainers’ Forum (PSTF Conference) in Kimberly, Northern Cape (October 2015)

Total No of Quotations Issued, Confirmed Bookings and Actual Trained Average conversion from quotes to actual training is 47%

Total No of Persons Trained

Revenue from Training fees • Revenue generated from training activities for period to 30 June is R7.5 million • Excluded are prepayments invoices for future periods 1stquarter performance tend to reflect a dip in training uptake compared to other performance quarters in the financial year

Branch: Training Policy and Planning • Scoping for project on research capacity and culture in the public sector, instruments for implementation developed • The training needs analysis (TNA) tool for Finance and Human Resources developed and customised • Nineteen (19) selected onsite evaluations of education and learning programmes and courses were undertaken • Exploratory discussions on the creation of a concept framework related to the recognition of prior learning, development and experience of military veterans

Branch: Corporate Management • Fourteen (14) positions filled, with a reduced vacancy rate from 15.4 % to 11% • 2014/15 external audit completed with unqualified audit results and the annual internal audit plan finalised • MPAT reporting files assessed in preparation for the 2015 report submission • IT hardware and solutions upgrades, licence agreements and contracts reviews finalised • Annual policy review and updates completed and all compliance reports due this quarter submitted. • Employee training and development programme in accordance to the department’s workplaceskills plan ( WSP) implemented • Two donor funding proposals completed and “in principle approvals” obtained

Office of the Chief Financial Officer Vote: Allocation from National Treasury for the 2015/16 financial year is R139.5 million. The allocation is split between Programme 1: Administration referred to as the Vote and Programme 2: Transfer to Trade referred to as Training Trading Account (TTA).

Office of the Chief Financial Officer • The Training Trading Account budget for 2015/16 financial year amounts to R 201.1 million. The budget is made up of revenue from training course fees (70%), interest and transfer from the Vote (30%). Expenditure budget which matches the revenue is split between training costs and operational costs of the three branches in the Training Trading Account

Office of the Chief Financial Officer

Office of the Chief Financial Officer • Vote: Total year to date planned expenditure is R26.9m and actual expenditure is R25.6m • Actual expenditure for the 3 months period ended 30 June 2015 was below budget and resulted in under expenditure of R1.3 million. The variance is attributed to current vacancies, late invoices from suppliers and delayed completion of projects that have already commenced • TTA: Total year to date planned expenditure is R23.6m and actual expenditure is R22.1m • Revenue generated from training activities for June is R7.5 million - low uptake of courses in this quarter • The total expenditure excluding cost of sales. Savings made on expenditure on training venues

DEBTORS COLLECTION The outstanding debtors book at 30 June 2015 is R33.6 million made up of R5.2 million for 2011 and older, R2.3 million for 2011/12 financial year , R1.1 million for 2012/13 financial year and R6.2 million for 2013/14 financial year R16.6 million for financial year 2014/15 and R2.0 million for the current year.

30 Days Payments All payments were made within 30 days of receipt of invoice

Organisational Matters • The first quarter performance target is significantly lower than projected, and also impacts directly on the revenue-generation as part of the cost-recovery model of the NSG • The Compulsory Induction Programme (CIP) roll out is still accumulating a backlog on a monthly basis. In response, the NSG is considering a revised CIP Modular tariff, as well as the establishment of a Project Management Unit to cover the backlog • The NSG has engaged with SITA on ICT infrastructure projects towards improving business efficiency within the institution. Some of these projects include the enhancement of the existing Training Management System; NSG Learner Enrolment Centre; and NSG Library Management System. Systems challenges and project delays have been experienced in these projects • The NSG will focus on a feasibility study for infrastructure related to additional training facilities

Organisational Matters • The Portfolio Committee has previously been briefed on the piloting options being tested, focusing on the Compulsory Induction Programme (13-14), Performance Management & Development System, Government Leadership Platform, and an international exchange programme with the China Academy of Governance • The NSG also acknowledges the lack of capacity and strength in its marketing initiatives, and is committed towards a new approach • The NSG is also at advanced levels in the Trainer Capacity Development Programme, towards the capacitation of public servants as training facilitators. In this regard, a total of 775 public servants from all provinces were identified and trained as facilitators for the Compulsory Induction Programme • The NSG developed a proposal for an assessment centre, to develop and implement a diagnostic tool to identify and support appointment, promotion and development requirements in the workplace. The Centre will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will involve the development of a concept framework and diagnostic assessment tool for implementation in selected Departments, and the second phase would use the diagnostic tool to identify and support appointment, promotion, and learning and development requirements in the workplace

Recommendations • It is recommended that the Portfolio Committee: • Notes the first quarter performance, acknowledging the low numbers of public servants trained and the NSG commitment to raise performance in the succeeding quarters • Re-affirms support for the pilot programme testing, with commitment by the NSG to provide feedback to the Portfolio Committee on progress • Supports the initiative of “pre-payment” by government departments to ensure financial sustainability of the NSG, and avoidance of a burgeoning debtors book

Conclusion • The NSG cannot sustain a contracted brokerage service (not only from a financial perspective) but from the perspective of supporting the South African Capable, Developmental State. The piloting of an integrated delivery model will assist the NSG in finding the optimal means of providing high volume education and learning programmes • The NSG corporate governance record still remains in good stead, with another unqualified audit in this financial year • The NSG is also intensifying work on the continental and international fronts. Currently negotiating partnership agreements with Harvard Kennedy School of Government and with NSG equivalent institutions in Namibia, Lesotho, France, China and Malaysia • The NSG will be having meetings with Provinces led by the Deputy Minister, aim is to communicate the plans of the NSG and to foster cooperative arrangements with Provinces to aid the delivery of the NSG programmes

Thank you

NSG Work Plan Implementation: Enhancing Public Service Skills Development Strategy