Monitoring and evaluation of training and development programmes within the office of the premier, KwaZulu-Natal province.
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Date
2019
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Abstract
The National Development Plan (NDP) highlights the need for a capable and developmental
state. This capable and developmental state will be enabled by, inter alia, a professional public
service that has internalised the developmental state agenda, and the development of technical
and specialist skills. Section 195 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996
outlines 10 principles governing public administration. These principles from the Constitution
are largely linked to the development of a professional public service.
The literature consulted by this study has raised a need for the training of administrators, and
the role that can be played by the training initiatives in realising the envisaged NDP priorities
and Constitutional mandates. The research had consulted numerous pieces of legislation at
national and provincial levels that echoed the NDP and the Constitution of the Republic of
South Africa of 1996.
The National School of Government (NSG) has the national mandate to provide training to the
public service, and the Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Public Service
Training Academy (PPSTA) has the provincial mandate to provide this training to public
servants. The PPSTA has been exceeding annual performance targets in terms of the number
of public servants trained in the province over a number of financial years. This study explores
the need for a subsequent phase, to measure whether the training provided by PPSTA has an
impact to the trainees (public servants) and to the provincial departments.
According to the Policy Framework for the Government-wide Monitoring and Evaluation of
2007 (M&E Framework of 2007) that informed the study, the outcomes assessment precedes
impact assessment. The study hence conducted outcomes assessment and not impact
assessment of training programmes provided by the PPSTA. The term ‘impact assessment’ has
been “borrowed” by the study for ease of reference. It transpired in the literature and during
the interactions with the respondents that the term ‘outcomes assessment’ was predominantly
understood by established Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) practitioners and aspiring M&E
practitioners. The respondents were familiar with the term ‘impact assessment’.
In conducting the impact (outcomes) assessment, the study randomly sampled 7 out of the
population of 14 provincial departments that had received training in the 4 chosen training
programmes during the 2013/14 financial year. The 2013/14 financial year was chosen for the
study, given the assumption that the department would have gained sufficient time to monitor
and evaluate the impact (outcomes) of training in accordance with M&E Framework of 2007
v
outcomes assessment and the Framework for Managing Performance Information of 2007
guidelines. A pragmatism paradigm was chosen by the study to allow for triangulation of
quantitative and qualitative techniques through a mixed methods approach.
The study discovered that the training programmes conducted by PPSTA could be generalised
to have had a positive impact (outcome) to the trainee individual’s professional growth, and
mainly impacted at the provincial department’s sub-directorate level. The study revealed that
the impact (outcome) of training programmes were less impactful at the higher echelons of
provincial departments such as the directorate, branch and organisational levels.
The findings raised the need for discussions on further research projects on the alignment of
training to the strategic objectives of the departments as stated by the Human Resource
Development Strategic Framework for the Public Service Vision 2015 (Strategic Framework
for HRD Vision 2015). The stance taken by the Strategic Framework for HRD Vision 2015
was that in order for an organisation to realise its strategic objectives, human capital must be
trained and developed. Further, the organisations should be focussed on training and
development investments than cutting or managing costs in order to attain organisational
effectiveness.
The narrative presented in this study raises the significance of training and development, the
alignment of training to organisational strategic goals as well as measuring the effects of
training and development programmes. The frameworks that inform the development of tools
of measurement for the effects of training and development programmes are also highlighted.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban