Investigating the culture of employee empowerment in the South African public sector.
Loading...
Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
One of the many challenges that face the South African public sector other than resources
includes skills shortage, improper alignment of job descriptions, poor leadership and many
more. Workforce diversity, distrust in leadership and service inefficiency are the major
challenges facing South Africa. Such challenges make it hard to deliver proper services to
customers and stakeholders. Therefore, the key process for better service delivery from the
government is to strategically use their leadership skills effectively, capacitate and empower
employees with knowledge, skills and resources. The study focuses on the role of
empowerment in the public sector as a leadership tool to improve government services. The
main research problem was to make an in-depth analysis of the culture of empowerment in the
government sector and the effect it has on organisational performance. A qualitative research
methodology was followed during the research study. The study is mainly targeted at
government officials who have five years or more working experience. Managerial and nonmanagerial employees from different business units participated in face to face interviews. The
research study is based on the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affair
Tourism (DEDEAT) and East London Industrial Development Zone (ELIDZ). The researcher
interviewed a sample of seven employees, whom five came from DEDEAT and two from
ELIDZ. The Research study revealed that employee empowerment is a critical tool for
organisational success to improve service delivery within the public sector. The study revealed
that the public sector uses different strategies such as PMDS, mentorship, training and
workshops to empower their employees. But the study showed that there are gaps and room for
improvement in the strategies that it uses. Recommendations to improve those strategies have
been mentioned in the dissertation.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.