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Skills Planning and Development for Biodiversity
Human ResourceDevelopment Toolkit
for Biodiversity
The Organisational and Human Resource Development Network was convened between
2010 and 2012 as part of the Biodiversity Human Capital Development Strategy (2010 to
2030) implemented through the GreenMatter skills development for biodiversity partner
ship, led by the South African National Biodiversity Initiative and the Lewis Foundation. At
the launch of the Biodiversity Human Capital Development Strategy in December 2009,
a group of Human Resource Management Practitioners recommended the establishment
of an Organisation and Human Resource Development Network to address key issues of
organisational design and human resource management and development associated
with attracting, enabling access to, growth and retention of key professionals for bio
diversity and the environment.
This network initiative, commonly referred to as the HRD Network, was launched at an
inception workshop in May 2010, through the participation of 21 human resource man
agement practitioners from nine organisations in deliberations around the key challenges
in organisation and human resource development. The aim of this initiative is to creat e a
supportive space for communities of practice in organisational and human resource de
velopment to meet, engage with good practice and develop key workplacebased actions
through which to address the challenges. Funded by the Lewis Foundation and the De
partment of Environmental Affairs, eight workshops were convened between May 2010
and October 2012 around key organisation and human resource management challenges.
Deliberations and interactions through these workshops have culminated in the develop
ment of a set of six modules, with contributions from all participants collated into the
Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity.
This toolkit is aimed at supporting skills planning and development in organisations to
enable growth and development of individuals as well as the organisations for which they
work, ultimately aimed at strengthening the environment sector to deliver on its mandate
of environmental protection for the benefit of all and the sustainable development of our
country.
Human Resource Development Toolkitfor Biodiversity
Module 1 Working Well with SETAs
Module 2 Improved Workplace Skills Planning
Module 3 The Organising Framework for Occupations
Module 4 Relevant and Quality Training
Module 5 Engaging Diversity and Inclusivity in the South African Workplace
Module 6 Managing Performance for Growth and Development
Skills Planning and Development for Biodiversity
Module Working Well with
SETAs
Contents
Introduction 2
All the players and what they do 3
Choosing your SETA 5
Choosingaparkingbay 7
PrioritisingenvironmentalskillsacrossSeTAs 8
Shop around 9
Registering as an employer 10
Registrationasanewemployer 10
Inter-SeTAtransfers 11
Accreditation as a training provider 12
Storiesfromtheaccreditationtrenches… 13
Engaging with SETAs 15
SkillsplanningwithyourSeTA 16
Funding for skills development and training 18
TheNationalSkillsFund 18
TheSeTAmandatorygrant 18
TheSeTAdiscretionarygrant 18
2 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Introduction SETAs are mandated through the Skills Development Act of 1998 to oversee and man-
age skills development in South Africa. They do this through a range of processes such
as Sector Skills Planning, informed by Workplace Skills Plans (WSPs) submitted by em-
ployer organisations. SETAs work with various institutions and structures, including, for
example, Institutes of Occupational Excellence, Communities of Expert Practice and the
Quality Council for Trade and Occupations. Skills planning is done through collaboration
between employer organisations that make up a particular economic sector represented
by the SETA and a range of education, training and development partners, such as the
National Skills Authority, the South African Qualifications Authority and the South Afri-
can Revenue Services, among others.
Even though skills development falls within the mandate of the SETA representing the
sector, it isn’t the sole responsibility of that SETA. It requires input from employer or-
ganisations through workplace skills planning and participation in skills development
structures to effectively address the skills needs of a sector.
This module has been written to support those involved in skills planning and devel-
opment to demystify the many acronyms used, clarify roles and responsibilities and
encourage more active and effective engagement with SETAs for improved skills plan-
ning and development in our environment and biodiversity sectors.
3MODULE 1 – Working Well with SETAs
All the players and what they doIn 2009, with the restructuring of key government departments, the responsibility for
national skills development shifted from the Department of Labour (DoL) to the Depart-
ment of Higher Education and Training (DHET). Various associated structures, such as
SETAs, ETQAs and the QCTO, shifted to the administration of DHET. In addition, DHET
has to work in close collaboration with other institutions, such as SAQA and SARS, which
also have a role to play in skills planning and development. Who is who and what do they
do?
Sector Education and Training Authorities
SETAs are the institutions mandated by the Skills Development Act of 1998 to oversee,
quality assure and finance the provisioning of skills for all economic sectors in the coun-
try. Economic sectors in South Africa are organised around 21 SETAs that assess skills
needs in particular economic sectors and ensure quality skills development responses.
SETAs also manage the skills development funds on behalf of an economic sector.
SETAs report to the Deputy Director-General for Skills Development in the DHET follow-
ing the ministerial restructuring in 2009.
Department of Higher Education and Training
The DHET is the ministry mandated with skills planning and development. It focuses on
post-school provisioning of quality education and skills training. The scope of its man-
date spans artisanal, vocational, academic and professional training.
Skills development is one of five branches in DHET, together with corporate services, hu-
man resource development, universities and vocational education and training. The skills
development branch manages skills planning and development through the 21 SETAs in
association with SAQA and its quality assurance bodies, such as the QCTO which will take
over from the former ETQAs.
Department of Labour
With the review of SETAs in 2008/2009, the mandate for national skills development
shifted from the DoL to the DHET.
South African Qualifications Authority
SAQA is mandated through the South African Qualifications Act of 1998 to oversee the
implementation of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). It has the status of a
legal entity independent of the government ministries involved in skills planning and de-
velopment. SAQA is responsible for guiding the planning, development and registration
of qualifications. Its role is also to quality assure learning and register the accumulation
and transfer of learning credits.
4 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Quality assurance is in the process of shifting from ETQAs registered with SAQA to the
single quality assurance body for post schooling skills training and development, of the
QCTO.
National Skills Authority
The NSA was established in terms of the Skills Development Act. Reporting to the Minis-
ter of DHET, it advises on skills development policies, strategies, regulations and levies;
liaises with the SETAs on skills development policies, strategies and regulations; and
advises on the collection, allocation and disbursement of the National Skills Fund.
Education and Training Quality Assurers
ETQAs are the legal entities registered with SAQA to quality assure the development
of qualifications, provisioning and assessment of skills training. ETQAs are registered
with each of the SETAs, and their functions involve accrediting providers, monitoring the
provision of training, evaluating assessment and registering assessors. With the 2008
constitution of three quality councils in SAQA, the quality assurance function of ETQAs
will shift to the QCTO.
Quality Council for Trade and Occupations
The QCTO is a single quality assurance council to oversee, manage and co-ordinate the
development and provisioning of qualifications for trades and occupations. It replaces
and takes over the quality assurance function from the 23 ETQAs, including designing
and developing relevant qualifications, managing and quality assuring the provisioning
of training, and assessing learning. The QCTO falls under the administration of DHET and
is required to work closely with SAQA as the mandated institution for the development
and implementation of the NQF.
South African Revenue Services
SARS is the ‘big brother’ that has a hand in it all, collecting and allocating skills levies to
the different SETAs. SARS also plays a role in employer allocations to SETAs, although it
does not have the last word on where an employer organisation registers. It does, how-
ever, hold the details of employer organisations’ registration with SETAs to enable the
flow of skills funding from levy payment to the respective SETA.
5MODULE 1 – Working Well with SETAs
Choosing your SETADo you get to choose your SETA or does the SETA choose you? It’s a bit (or maybe a lot)
more of the latter as your ‘choice’ is defined by your core business, the Standard Industry
Classification (SIC) codes and how this links to the demarcation of the different SETAs.
Skills planning and development is organised around 21 SETAs (formerly 27). The demar-
cation of SETAs is organised around the SIC codes, which are an organising framework
for broad groupings of economic activity. The SIC codes are an international standard
used for industry classification and define 10 major industry groupings. These, together
with criteria defined in the Skills Development Act (1998) – such as industry size, nature
of economic activities, capacity to generate revenue, training needs and career pathing
potential – have guided the demarcation of SETAs.
The 21 SETAs include:
¢ Agriculture (AgriSETA)
¢ Banking (BankSETA)
¢ Chemical industries (CHIETA)
¢ Construction (CETA)
¢ Culture, arts, tourism, hospitality and sports (CATHSSETA)
¢ Education, training and development (ETDPSETA)
¢ Energy and water (E&WSETA)
¢ Financial and accounting services (FASSET)
¢ Fibre, processing and manufacturing (FP&M SETA)
¢ Food and beverages manufacturing (FoodBev)
¢ Health and welfare (HWSETA)
¢ Insurance (INSETA)
¢ Local Government (LGSETA)
¢ Mining (MQA)
¢ Manufacturing, engineering and related services (MERSETA)
¢ Media, information and communications technology (MICTS)
¢ Safety and security (SASSETA)
¢ Public services (PSETA)
¢ Services (Services SETA)
¢ Transport (TETA)
¢ Wholesale and retail (W&RSETA)
6 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
One of the key challenges for employer organisations is that qualifications and unit
standards relevant to employee job profiles are often registered with another SETA, dif-
ferent to the one with which they are registered. Some employer organisations are then
unable to access training and/or funding for this training.
Similarly, some accredited training providers are registered with one SETA but the train-
ing needs they respond to are linked to qualifications registered with a different SETA.
A detour through the history of SETAs…
The Skills Development Act of 1998 made provision for the establishment of SETAs
as the mandated agencies for skills planning and development. Under the executive
authority of the Ministry of Labour, 27 SETAs were established and operationalised
in and around 2001.
A review of the effectiveness and efficiencies of SETAs in 2008/2009, under the
new executive authority of the Minister of Higher Education and Training, identified
many key challenges related to the governance and functioning of SETAs. One of the
DHET’s key responses to these challenges was to reduce the number of SETAs from
27 to 21 and to reorganise the economic sectors within them, guided primarily by the
SIC codes and the capacity of the represented economic sectors to generate revenue
for skills development.
In October 2010, Minister Blade Nzimande announced the revised SETA landscape
which in summary included:
¢ 12 SETA mandates remaining the same and renewed
¢ the merging of two SETAs into one – CTFL and FIETA into FP&M SETA
¢ the shifting of mandates between eight SETAs, including the shifting of water
from LGSETA to ESETA to become E&W SETA
¢ the disappearance of one SETA and the reallocation of its sectors across two
others.
In addition, Minister Nzimande made a commitment in an address to the SETA Forum
in December 2010 to address key issues of governance, skills planning and skills
development funding and to establish key partnerships with SETAs to improve skills
development in South Africa.
7MODULE 1 – Working Well with SETAs
How do we manage the need for this multiple SETA engagement? The word from the
pros is: choose a parking bay – then shop around!
Choosing a parking bay
Registration can only be done with one SETA. This is determined by the core business of
your organisation – for example tourism, conservation, environmental management, wa-
ter resource management – and its link to the SIC codes and ultimately the demarcation
of the SETAs. On registration to pay the skills levy to SARS, employer organisations are
allocated a SETA. An employer organisation can appeal against an initial SETA allocation
if a strong argument can
be made for registration
with an alternative SETA,
based on its core business
and links to the SIC codes
and SETA demarcation.
See below for more on the
process of registration and
inter-SETA transfers (ISTs).
Organisations in the HRD
Network are mainly reg-
istered with Agri SETA,
CATHSSETA, E&WSETA and
LGSETA. A smaller number
are registered with MER-
SETA, MICTS, PSETA and
TETA.
For example…
SANBI was registered with Theta, as CATHSSETA was formerly known. Some of the
horticulture training needs are linked to qualifications with the AgriSETA. Theta,
which focused quite strongly on tourism and hospitality, had few qualifications that
responded to the conservation training needs of most employer organisations in this
sector.
The Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa is registered with the ETDP
SETA as an accredited provider. They offer qualifications for municipal officials linked
to qualifications registered with LGSETA.
ENVIRONMENT
CATHSSETA
ETDPSETA
E&WSETA
AgriSETA
TETA
MICTS
MERSETA
LGSETA
PSETA
8 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Prioritising environmental skills across SETAs
In 2009, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) developed an Environmental
Sector Skills Plan (ESSP). Described as the first of its kind, the ESSP involved a compre-
hensive assessment of the nature and scope of environmental skills requirements in
South Africa.
Thomas Mathiba, Director of Sector Education, Training and Development in the DEA,
describes the development of the ESSP as a premonition. Shortly after its development
in April 2010, the Ministry of DHET announced a proposal for a revised and more effi-
cient SETA system to support the third generation National Skills Development Strategy
(NSDS III). Organised constituencies and members of the public were invited to submit
comments to the NSA on the proposed NSDS III and the revised SETA landscape.
Drawing on the ESSP, a National Environmental Skills Planning Forum – under the aus-
pices of the DEA Sector Education and Training Directorate, in partnership with associate
government departments and civil society – made a submission to the NSA arguing for
greater attention to and inclusion of the cross-sectoral environmental driver in national
skills planning. This submission was facilitated through DEA to DHET. The outcome was
a footnote in the draft NSDS III that required all SETAs to integrate the environmental
driver into their respective Sector Skills Plans (SSPs) and DEA was requested to engage
with the different SETAs to ensure its inclusion.
DEA convened a meeting with skills planning professionals in the sector to review and
suggest the inclusion of key environmental skills in all SSPs. In a general meeting DEA com-
mitted to providing ongoing support to SETAs to address environmental skills planning.
This signified a breakthrough for the environment in national skills planning and develop-
ment. Sadly, however, the final NSDS III, though retaining reference to the ESSP, is silent
on sustainable development and the footnote on integrating the environmental driver
into skills planning has disappeared. All is not lost, however, as some traction has been
achieved with some of the SETAs, including Services SETA, MQA , CHIETA, and TETA com-
mitting to paying more attention to environmental skills planning over the next five years.
Thomas Mathiba, Director: Sector Education, Training and Development in the DEA,seesanadvantageinHRdNetworkparticipantorganisationsbeingspreadacrossanumberofSeTAs.Thomasarguesagainstshifting
allenvironmentalorganisationsintooneormoreSeTAssothatthesectorhasa
greaterspreadofrepresentationacrossmultipleSeTAs.
Whatifourtrainingneeds
arenotprioritisedbythe
SeTAofregistration?
…staywhereyou
areandtrytomake
environmentapriority.
9MODULE 1 – Working Well with SETAs
Shop around
Some organisations, like the Plastics Federa-
tion, WESSA and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife have
done just that. They have registered with what
we refer to as a primary SETA, like ETDP SETA in
the case of the first two and CATHSSETA in the
latter. Through ongoing interactions they have
developed relationships with secondary SETAs
and Memoranda of Agreements have allowed
them to work across the SETAs to ensure skills
provisioning in key areas.
You have probably already parked in a specific
parking bay with your primary SETA. This might
be CATHSSETA, MICTS, AgriSETA, PSETA or one of the others. The Sustainability Institute
has parked in the ETDP SETA parking bay and is currently considering AgriSETA as an item
on its shopping list. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has parked with CATHSSETA and shopped
with SASSETA to secure a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two. The
Department of Water Affairs (DWA) is parked with E&WSETA and facilitated a MoU with
LGSETA. Plastics Federation has parked with ETDP SETA and must work closely with MER-
SETA to address the skills needs of the plastics industry, which is their client base. What
does your organisation’s SETA shopping list look like? Some colleagues see this as a very
scary shopping mall; others have advice on how to handle the sellers and their wares.
SETA shopping list:
¢ CATHSSETA
¢ AgriSETA
¢ PSETA
¢ LGSETA
¢
¢
¢
Mumsie Gumede, former CEO of WESSA,advises:‘IttookthreemonthsofworkingwithbotheTdP
SeTAandlGSeTA,andnotrelyingoneitheroneofthetwotodrivetheprocess,beforetheMouthatmeets
WeSSA’strainingneedsastheaccreditedprovideroflearningprogrammesregisteredwithlGSeTA.’
Mbali Ngcobo, former Human Resource Development Manager for Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife,supportingtheformerCeoofWeSSA,reiterates:‘IfyouareregisteredwithoneSeTAyouhavetoliaisedirectly
withtheeTQAintheother.’
Nwabisa Ntantiso, former Training and Development Manager for Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency,saysthat,inthisshoppingmaze,‘theWSPgoesonlytotheprimarySeTAwithwhichyouare
registered.ongoingandconsideredengagementiswhatachievesworkacrosstheSeTAsthroughMous.’
Prudence Ramsery, of the Sustainability Institute,remindsusthatworkingwithSeTAsisvery
differentdependingonwhetheryouareanemployerorganisationoratrainingprovider.
10 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Registering as an employerAs defined by the Skills Development Levies Act (SDLA), it is the responsibility of the
employe r to apply to the Commissioner of SARS to be registered for payment of the
skills levy. The employer has the right to indicate the preferred SETA of registration,
based on its core business and the demarcation of the SETAs according to the SIC codes.
The allocation of the SETA of registration is binding on the employer, unless the Com-
missioner directs otherwise or the employer motivates for an Inter-SETA transfer (IST).
Initial registration and ISTs are guided by the Standard Operating Procedures: Guidelines
on the Classification of Employers with SETAs and the Inter-SETA Transfer of Employers and
Skills Levies (Standard Operating Procedures [SOPs] – DoL, May 2007). These guidelines
have been developed to ensure uniformity in processes of registration, skills levies col-
lection and disbursements.
Registration as a new employer
Step 1
TheapplicationtoregisterwithaSeTAissubmittedtoSARSthroughthesame
processofregisteringforemployeesTaxandtheunemploymentInsuranceFund.
employersusetheSARSguidelineson(i)corebusinessoftheorganisation;(ii)SIC
codes;and(iii)SeTAdemarcation.
Step 2TheCommissionerofSARS,inconsultationwithdHeT,verifiestheregistration
applicationwithreferencetotheSdlA(section5)andtheSeTAdemarcationin
termsoftheSICcodes.
Step 3TheCommissionerregisterstheemployerorganisationwiththeappropriateSeTA
inrelationtotheSICcodesandtheorganisation’scorebusiness.
Step 4TheCommissionerrecordstheemployerorganisation’sregistrationontheSdl
employersdatabase,whichisusedtomanagethecollectionanddisbursementof
theskillslevy.
Step 5TheCommissionerinformstheemployerorganisationofregistrationthrougha
SARSform,theEmployees Tax: Notice of Registration.
Step 6SkillslevyallocationsaremadeaccordingtolistingsontheSdlemployers
database.
Step 7
TheSeTAverifiesregistrationofthenewemployerorganisationontheSdl
employersdatabaseforcorrectSeTAallocation,usingtheemployer’score
businessasperbusinessregistrationandSICcodes.IftheSeTAhasgroundsforthe
classificationbeingincorrect,itsubmitsanappealtodHeTforreclassification.
Step 8
TheSeTAacknowledgestheclassificationinwritingandinformstheemployerof
thechamber,chambercodeandgrantsystemtowhichithasbeenallocated.If
theemployerhasanygroundsforconsideringtheallocationtobeincorrect,itcan
submitanappealtothedirectorGeneral:dHeT.
11MODULE 1 – Working Well with SETAs
Inter-SETA transfers
Step 1SeTAsreceiveapplicationsforISTsbetweenAprilandJuneofeachyear.employers
registertheinteresttotransferfromtheSeTAofcurrentregistration.
Step 2TheSeTAverifiestheapplicationandensuresthattheemployerorganisation’s
corebusinessisinlinewiththeSICcodesandtheSeTAdemarcationtowhichitis
requestingtransfer.
Step 3
IftheapplicationforregistrationisapprovedbytheSeTA,itisforwardedtothe
dHeTwitharecommendationfortransfer.Ifnot,theemployerorganisationis
entitledtoawrittenexplanationofwhytheapplicationhasnotbeenapproved.
TheemployerorganisationhastherighttoappealagainsttheSeTAdecisiontothe
dHeTusingprescribedappealforms.
Step 4dHeTverifiestheapplicationandrecommendationrelativetotheorganisation’s
corebusiness,theSICcodesandtheSeTAdemarcation,andforwardsthe
applicationwithrecommendationtotheCommissionerofSARS.
Step 5TheCommissionerwillapprovetheapplicationandreclassificationonlyifsatisfied
thattheskillslevyispaiduptodate.onceapproved,thetransferisrecordedon
theSdlemployersdatabase.
Step 6
dHeTisresponsibleforcommunicatingthetransfertobothSeTAs.Thenew
SeTAacknowledgesthetransferandcommunicatesitscodesandsystemstothe
employerorganisation.ThenewSeTAliaiseswiththepreviousSeTAregarding
employeeinformation.
Inter-SETA transfers have implications for
the transfer of skills levies from the previous
SETA to the new SETA. This is done through
engagement between the two SETAs ac-
cording to the SOPs on inter-SETA transfer
of skills levies. Theoretically, ISTs sound
quite straightforward. However, consider-
ing the many role players involved and the
challenges of skills development, it might
be best to heed the advice of colleagues:
SANBI was provisionally registered with CATH SSETA (formerly Theta), given its
tourism focus linked to conservation. Taking this directive from SARS, it cemented
registration with CATHSSETA. However, learning programme provision in CATHS-
SETA does not respond to some of SANBI’s skills needs, for example horticulture
and professional scientists. SANBI is currently considering re-registration with the
AgriSETA, which is more likely to meet the skills needs of the organisation to deliver
on its core mandate.
Choose a parking bay, stay where you are and
prioritise the environment.
Engage primary and secondary SETAs to make the
skills training happen for your organisation and
the environment.
12 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Accreditation as a training providerThe Skills Development Act (SDA) of 1998 requires ETQAs in each SETA ‘to accredit con-
stituent providers for specific standards and qualifications registered on the NQF’ for
quality assurance of training provision. SETAs define a three-phase process of accredit-
ing providers. There may be only three phases, but many colleagues have described the
process of applying for accreditation as a two-year ordeal of blood, sweat and tears. Not
in vain though, as accreditation is eventually achieved and these experiences might help
others navigate the system faster and easier.
The ETQA regulations 1127 define the criteria against which training providers are ac-
credited. These include:
¢ registration as a service provider;
¢ providing evidence of sound financial and organisational structure to deliver the pro-
posed learning programmes; and
¢ providing evidence of the development and implementation of rigorous quality man-
agement systems.
Phase AExpression of
Intent
ProviderssubmitanexpressionofintenttotheSeTAto
registerasatrainingprovider.Thisexpressionofintent
issubmittedontherelevantformsandfocusesonthe
businessregistrationstatusoftheentity,theorganisational
structure,financialviability,availableresourcesand
theintendedscopeofprovision.TheSeTAassessesthe
organisationalandfinancialfeasibilityoftheproviderto
offertheproposedscopeoftraining.
Phase BApplication for
Accreditation
WithSeTAapproval,theprovidersubmitsaformal
applicationforaccreditation.Thisisaccompaniedby
aportfolioofevidencetosupporttheapplication.All
SeTAsprovideguidelinesforcompilingtheseportfoliosof
evidence,whichincludeevidenceof:
¢ organisationalstructure(andmanagementofquality,
programmedesign,development,assessmentand
moderation,staffandadministration);
¢ financial,administrativeandphysicalresources,including
staff;and
¢ detailsofprogrammedesign,developmentand
assessment.
SeTAsencourageproviderstoundertakeaself-evaluation
throughthedevelopmentofaportfolioofevidence.Thisis
followedbyadesktopevaluationbytheSeTA.
13MODULE 1 – Working Well with SETAs
Phase COn-site
Evaluation
TheSeTAverifiesPhaseBwithanon-siteevaluation
withtheprovider.SeTAthenaccreditstheproviderfora
minimumoftwoyears,accordingtoCATHSSeTAguidelines.
eTdPSeTAaccreditsprovidersforthreeyearstocoincide
withthereviewperiodofqualifications.Theproviderthen
hastoreregisterasaprovider.
Stories from the accreditation trenches…
Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) first applied for registration in September 2009, and
after three evaluations and resubmissions of the portfolio of evidence, was accredited
as a provider with CATHSSETA in January 2011. Adam Pires, who managed this process
of accreditation for EWT, says that Phase B of the process was a big one and describes it
as the equivalent of developing a company
training portfolio of evidence. The biggest
challenge, he says, was the programme
evaluation, which includes the course con-
tent, materials, assessment, alignment to
unit standards, etc.
The Wildlife and Environment Society of
South Africa (WESSA) submitted its inten-
tion to become accredited and received a
self-evaluation pack to guide the develop-
ment of the application. As a requirement
for accreditation they had to develop a
quality management system which Jona-
than Wigley – a trainer with the organisation
– describes as the most challenging part
of the process. They developed a fairly
rigorous system that was integrated with
everyday operations. At the same time they
had to develop the qualification for which they were seeking accreditation. This included
a needs analysis, developing the curriculum framework, the course materials, learner
manuals and assessment guides. They submitted the application and were accredited
the first time round, which Jonathan says is rare.
Adamsaysthat,‘ourapplicationonlyincluded
oneunitstandard…purposelydonetosimplify
analreadycomplicatedprocess…wehadthe
trainingmaterialsandassessmentsonhandsoit
madethingsslightlyeasier.’
likeeWT,Jonathan says,‘Wewereonly
accreditedtooffertheeTdPlevel5qualification
…wearecurrentlyexpandingourscope.’
Prudence Ramsery of the Sustainability Institute,withreferencetotheiraccreditationjourneyadvisesthefollowinginresponsetothechallengeoflengthy
processesandhighstaffturnover:‘Keepapapertrailasareferenceincasepeople
moveonandnewpeoplepickuptheprocessmidway.’
14 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Getting to know your SETA
Colleagues in the know advise that rather than waiting for the SETA to engage with you,
be proactive and get to know the SETA – initiate the engagement.
Relationships
Developing and maintaining relationships seems to be key to effective engagement with
the SETAs.
WESSA gives two examples of success based on developing strong relationships with
the SETAs:
Nwabisa Ntantiso, formerly Training and Development Manager for Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency,scoutstheCATHSSeTAwebsiteabouteverytwoweeksforpeopletoengagewithandupcomingeventsandprojects
withwhichtheycangetinvolved.
Jonathan Wigley, from the SustainEd Unit at WESSA,sharesthat
accreditationwasapprovedonfirstsubmissionoftheapplication,whichisveryrare
intheSeTAlandscape.
Someexamplesofbuildingandmaintainingtheserelationshipsinclude:
¢ invitingtheeTdPSeTAQualificationsdevelopmentManagertoastrategic
planningsessiontoreviewandrevisetheeTdPlevel5qualification;and
¢ ongoingengagementswithlGSeTAtoappointWeSSAasanInstituteforSector
andoccupationalexcellence.
Mumsie Gumede, former CEO,saysthatthreemonthsisallittooktocement
aMoubetweeneTdPSeTAandlGSeTAtoenabletheofferingofskillstraininginthe
localmunicipalities.
15MODULE 1 – Working Well with SETAs
Engaging with SETAsA priority identified at the second Network meeting was the need for increased represen-
tation of the environment sector in the key structures of SETAs. SETAs must be made up
of organised labour, employers and government departments. In some cases interested
professional bodies may be represented, if approved by the minister. Key structures for
representation in planning, management and governance of skills planning in the sector
include:
¢ The SETA Board, which is appointed and approved by the Minister of DHET. The Board’s
overall function is policy and strategy development and general oversight and gover-
nance. Individual SETA constitutions make provision for the scope of representation
on the Board. Constitutions of SETAs similarly make provision for the establishment of
Standing Committees of the Board as required.
¢ SETAs make provision for the establishment of chambers for various subsectors. The
scope and the composition of these chambers are defined in the SETA’s constitution.
These structures provide opportunity for engagement in the policy and strategy devel-
opment, skills planning and development, and strategic oversight of skills training in the
sector.
CATHSSETA’s constitution
… makes provision for the composition of its Board as follows:
¢ nine members from organised labour
¢ nine members representing employer organisations – these must be members of
organisations registered with CATHSSETA
¢ one member each from the ministries of Sports and Recreation and Environmen-
tal Affairs – recommended by the ministers of these departments
¢ if deemed necessary, the minister will appoint a member of a professional body or
bargaining council linked to the sector
¢ two additional members based on expertise relative to the sector.
Board members are appointed for a five-year term of office up to a maximum of two
terms.
16 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Standing Committees of the Board of CATHSSETA
¢ The Executive Committee
¢ The Audit Committee
¢ The ETQA Committee
¢ The Operations Committee
¢ The Remuneration Committee
¢ The Tender Committee
The composition and the scope of representation of these committees are guided
by Annexure B to the constitution. The CEO of CATHSSETA sits on each of these
committees.
In February 2011, a process of nominations secured the participation of representatives
on both the CATHSSETA Board and the Conservation Chamber.
Skills planning with your SETA
Skills development is informed and guided by the third NSDS as an overarching national
framework. Sector Skills Plans are developed by drawing on the goals of the NSDS III and
contextualised by the WSPs developed by organisations.
The Conservation Chamber
… is provided for by the constitution as one of six chambers representing subsectors.
These are made up of eight members in equal representative proportions for organ-
ised labour and employers.
One Board member sits on these Chamber Committees.
Members serve on the Chamber Committees for a term of two years.
Each chamber can co-opt two additional members based on expertise in the sector.
These members have no voting rights on the Chamber Committee and they serve a
term of one year up to a maximum of two years.
17MODULE 1 – Working Well with SETAs
SECTOR SKILLS PLANSSSPs for an economic sector are the responsibility of
the SETA. This is the point at which a contribution is
made to the broader goals of the NSDS. The SSPs of
individual SETAs guide skills planning for their
respective sectors, the prioritisation of skills needs
and the allocation of SETA grants for training. The SSP
draws on the broad goals defined in the NSDS III.
Specific skills needs contextualised for each economic
sector are informed upward from the WSPs.
WorkplaceSkills Plans
NSDS III
THE EPICENTREFOR SKILLS
DEVELOPMENT
… if it is not in the WSP, it
won’t be in the SSP – and
it will most likely not be
funded
The NSDS proposes broad strategic goals to direct sec-
tor skills training for a period of five years. It similarly
proposes a framework for disbursement of skills levies.
In its third generation – April 2011 to March 2016 – the
NSDS draws on key lessons learnt from the NSDS I
and II.
WSPs are developed by and within individual organisa-
tions. These define the specific skills needs and training
requirements in an organisation. These WSPs inform the
development of SSPs, the prioritisation of skills training
and the allocation of grants for skills training. WSPs play
a critical role in ensuring that the right skills training is
planned and budgeted for.
18 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Funding for skills development and trainingThe payment and disbursement of skills levies is governed by the SDA. Employers pay 1%
of the total payroll bill in skills levies to SARS. This is disbursed as:
¢ 60% that can be claimed back from the SETA under the mandatory grant for skills
training (15% on submission of a training plan and 45% on submission of a training
report)
¢ 10% for SETA administration
¢ 10% for SETA strategic interventions under the discretionary grant
¢ 20% is contributed to the National Skills Fund.
Government agencies are exempt from paying levies but are expected to set aside 1% of
the total payroll for training. In most cases though, training and development budgets
receive the lowest priority in organisations and when budget cuts are necessary these
are the budgets that go first.
The National Skills Fund
The Fund is made up of 20% from skills levies paid. It is seen as a catalytic grant for
addressing strategic priorities in skills training, described in the NSDS as ‘training the
unemployed, non-levy paying cooperatives, NGOs and community structures and vul-
nerable groups.’ It is similarly available for addressing key projects that inform skills
development broadly but that fall outside the scope of SETAs, for example researching
workplace-based learning, monitoring and evaluation.
The SETA mandatory grant
This grant is available to fund training that has been planned in WSPs, SSPs and/or train-
ing plans and reported in the Annual Training Report. Only levy paying employers can
apply for this grant to respond to training needs. These need not be critical or scarce
skills, but must be contained in one of the above-mentioned plans and reported to the
SETA.
The SETA discretionary grant
This funds strategic priorities of the SETA, for example Adult Basic Education and Train-
ing (ABET), community based training and training for vulnerable groups. Spending on
the discretionary grant, as the name suggests, is at the discretion of and requires ap-
proval from the SETA Board.
19MODULE 1 – Working Well with SETAs
Few of the HRD Network member organisations have been able to claim against these
grants to meet training priorities. Those that have had success have claimed against the
discretionary grant for special projects.
Nwabisa Ntantiso, formerly Training and Development Manager for Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA),appliedforparticipationinanABeTprogrammethatwasadvertisedontheCATHSSeTAwebsite.
Theprogrammewasfundedasaspecialprojectfromthediscretionarygrantfund.
eCPTAreceivedR2.6millionforABeTtrainingforstaff.Sinceatrainingproviderhad
beenappointedbyCATHSSeTA,eCPTAhadlittlevoiceorcontroloverthequalityand
ultimaterolloutoftheprogramme.
Dennis Mtsweni, in Water Services: Sector Development in the DWA,describesaproposalsubmittedtothelGSeTAtoexplorewaysofimproving
skillsinthewaterandwastewatertreatmentworks.ThroughaMoubetween
lGSeTAanddWA,adiscretionarygrantofR40millionwasapprovedfortrainingin
Gauteng.dWAwassubsequentlyrequestedtosubmitproposalsforfurtherrollout
ofthetrainingintootherprovinces.Theseproposalswereapprovedandtrainingwas
scheduledforstart-upinFebruary2011.
To claim against the mandatory grant, training must be planned and described in the
WSP and/or Training Plan and reported in the Annual Training Report submitted to the
SETA of registration.
If you are a training provider supporting one of the strategic priorities of the SETA of
registration, you could apply for funding from the discretionary grant.
Funding for skills training is generally known to be poorly used. Working with SETAs to
better articulate and plan skills needs is a responsibility we have accepted through our
commitment to improving our WSPs. Further guidance around workplace skills planning
is provided in Module 2.
Module Improved Workplace
Skills Planning
Skills Planning and Development for Biodiversity
Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Contents
Workplace skills plans 2
Challenges in workplace skills planning 3
Preparing the workplace for learning 4
Registering a Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) 4
Setting up a training committee 6
Making the case for workplace skills planning 8
More on the ‘S’ in WSPs, SSPs, NSDS III and ESSP 9
Ensuring adequate resources for workplace skills planning 14
Workplace skills planning 16
Step 1 — Gathering information 17
Step 2 — Skills auditing 18
Step 3 — Compiling and submitting the WSP 25
Step 4 — Implementing skills development interventions 27
Step 5 — Reporting on skills development 29
2 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Workplace skills plansWorkplace skills plans (WSPs) document the skills needs in an organisation and describe
the range of skills development interventions that an organisation will use to address
these needs.
A WSP is developed annually – for the period 1 April to 31 March – by a registered skills
development facilitator (SDF) and is submitted to the SETA with which the organisation
is registered. The WSP facilitates access to the SETA’s mandatory grant for skills training.
Organisations are required to report on WSPs in an Annual Training Report (ATR) that
shows how they have addressed the priority skills defined in the WSP.
An equally important purpose of the WSP is to provide sector information to the SETA
on employee profiles, skills needs and skills development interventions. This information
supports the development of the SETA’s sector skills plan (SSP). The SSPs then contribute
to the national skills development agenda defined in the National Skills Development
Strategy, now in its third generation. Though developed at an organisational level to ad-
dress in-house skills development needs, the WSP has an important purpose in informing
skills needs at sector and national levels.
In response to a need identified by human resource development practitioners in the
environment and conservation sectors, this module has been written to support organi-
sations in strengthening the processes through which they develop WSPs, with the ulti-
mate aim being to support skills development at sector and national levels.
The module starts with an overview of some of the challenges that organisations and
professionals experience in the process of developing WSPs. This section looks at the
various aspects in human resource management and development that need to be ad-
dressed to ensure accurate and well-informed WSPs.
It explores a range of considerations in preparing an organisation for workplace skills
planning and deals with some key processes to strengthen such planning. Some of the
considerations and processes dealt with include registering a SDF, setting up a training
committee, engaging stakeholders in identifying and addressing skills needs, skills audits
and, ultimately, preparing and submitting the WSP.
3MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
Challenges in workplace skills planningMany human resource management and development professionals agree that various
challenges are experienced during workplace skills planning. Some of these occur at an or-
ganisational level and others at the sector skills planning level in the SETAs. These profes-
sionals also agree that, since the WSP feeds into the SSP, the skills planning issues could
potentially be addressed at a sector and SETA level if we start at the organisational level.
Reflect on the following list to identify and unblock the constraints to workplace skills
planning in your own organisation. These are some, although probably not all, of the
challenges at an organisational level. They are perhaps easier to address through change
in internal systems, orientations and engagements. This module makes some sugges-
tions for workplace skills planning to help you overcome and address these challenges.
¢ Poor information management from which data
are extrapolated for skills planning, for example
employee qualifications, experience profile, etc.
and WSPs of former years are seldom used as
baseline data to build up this information system.
¢ Poorly defined job descriptions which are seldom
aligned to organisational strategy and strategic
priorities.
¢ Skills needs often focus on immediate need, with
little consideration for change, organisational de-
velopment and future anticipated skills needs.
¢ Skills development and training is sometimes not
viewed as a strategic priority and at times lacks ex-
ecutive and broader management buy-in and sup-
port.
¢ The significance value and importance of skills
planning and development is sometimes not fully
understood in organisations, which results in skills
planning and development processes not enjoying
full line management and employee support, rep-
resentivity and engagement.
¢ Many WSPs reflect generic workplace-based skills
needs, like computer training, financial manage-
ment and report writing, among others, and criti-
cal and scarce skills related to key technical and
functional areas in the organisation are seldom
identified and addressed.
¢ Workplace skills planning is seldom aligned to
the performance management and other human
resources management systems, procedures and
practices.
¢ Workplace skills planning is often approached
from a compliance perspective and very frequent-
ly outsourced to consultants and not institution-
alised in the organisation to strengthen this level
of in-house capacity.
¢ Training and skills development is more often than
not ‘menu-driven’ and priorities are identified rela-
tive to course offerings marketed by training pro-
viders.
¢ Few organisations have skills planning and de-
velopment quality management systems, which
might result in poorer quality approaches to defin-
ing and addressing skills needs.
¢ Few organisations’ skills needs are defined in rela-
tion to the Organising Framework for Occupations
(OFO) used by the SETAs, which then results in a
misalignment of skills needs defined at an organi-
sational level and translated at a sector level.
¢ SETAs seem to overemphasise the administration
of completing the WSP and ATR, with much focus
on quantifying training and less space for reflect-
ing on issues of quality.
4 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Preparing the workplace for learningColleagues who have developed a number of annual WSPs advise us to prepare the in-
ternal environment well for skills planning and development. This preparation involves
setting up the necessary structures, identifying and ensuring the appropriate capacity
to lead the process of workplace skills planning, securing support and participation from
the executive committee, line management and the broader staff complement, and se-
curing the necessary financial and human resources to facilitate the timeous develop-
ment and submission of the WSP.
Registering a Skills Development Facilitator (SDF)
The SDF is responsible for providing strategic guidance, support and management to the organisation in devel-
oping and implementing a skills planning and development strategy. Key responsibilities of the SDF include:
Trish Persad from South African Weather Services (SAWS), whohasextensiveexperienceinworkingwithSeTAs,advisesregisteringanSdFas
soonaspossibleandusingtheSeTAtrainingsystems
toensurethedevelopmentofcapacityfortheSdFto
leadskillsdevelopmentinyourorganisation.
All SETAs require organisations to nomi-
nate and register an SDF to act as the link
between the organisation and the SETA
of registration around matters relating
to skills planning and development. Most
SETAs have an online system for registra-
tion. The SDF could be an employee of
the organisation or an external consultant
who represents more than one employer
organisation.
¢ Facilitating the process of identifying key organi-
sational skills needs to meet the organisation’s
mandate;
¢ Undertaking a skills audit in relation to the iden-
tified needs to pinpoint immediate, medium-term
and long-term skills gaps in the organisation;
¢ Defining a range of skills development strategies
to address skills needs in the immediate, medium
and long term;
¢ Developing an annual WSP, ensuring its endorse-
ment in the organisation and submitting it time-
ously to the SETA of registration;
¢ Overseeing, supporting and quality assuring the
implementation of skills development interven-
tions to meet the immediate skills needs as de-
fined in the WSP;
¢ Monitoring and evaluating skills development in
the organisation relative to needs and reporting
to the SETA through the ATR;
¢ Liaising with the SETA around access to the discre-
tionary grant and facilitating the development and
submission of appropriate proposals to access this
grant.
5MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
From this description of responsibilities, it is evident that the SDF needs to be someone
with knowledge, background and experience in skills development and training. It would
also be useful for the person to have extensive knowledge of the skills development
policies and systems in South Africa. The Education, Training and Development Practices
(ETDP) SETA offers training for individuals to become accredited SDFs. The SETA uses
six unit standards for identifying competence as an accredited SDF. These six standards
provide a useful framework around which to profile the job definition of the SDF in your
organisation and to identify the appropriate person to fulfil these responsibilities. They
also provide a framework for developing the capacity of the SDF to meet the skills plan-
ning and development needs of the organisation.
Unit Standard Registration
NumberTitle of Unit Standard
114924demonstrateanunderstandingofoutcomes-basededucationinthe
NationalQualificationsFramework
15217 developanorganisationaltraininganddevelopmentplan
15218Conductananalysistodeterminetheoutcomeofskillsdevelopment
interventions
15227 undertakeskillsdevelopmentadministration
15228Adviseontheestablishmentandimplementationofaquality
managementsystemandskillsdevelopmentpractices
15232 Co-ordinateplannedskillsdevelopmentinterventions
Alma Johnson, Deputy Director: Human Resource Development for Mpumalanga Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, outlinesthefollowingadditionalresponsibilitiesoftheSdFinherorganisation:
¢ Facilitatethecareerdevelopmentofemployeesin
theorganisation;
¢ Identify,evaluateandadviseemployees
andemployeronexternalandinternalskills
developmentstrategies;
¢ Setupandmanagetheskillsdevelopment
committee;
¢ Alignhumanresourcepolicytoskillsdevelopment;
¢ Supportthedevelopmentandimplementationofa
developmentalperformancemanagementsystem;
¢ Facilitateprocessesofrecognitionofpriorlearning
andenableformalisationofqualifications;
¢ Managetheuptakeoflearnerships,skills
developmentprogrammesandotherskills
developmentinterventions
initiatedthroughtheSeTA.
TheSAQAwebsite
www.saqa.co.zahasmoredetailson
theunitstandards
offeredbytheeTdP
SeTA.
6 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Setting up a training committee
The Skills Development Act requires skills planning and development to be representa-
tive and take place through extensive stakeholder consultation across the organisation.
The training committee, sometimes called Skills Planning Committee (SPC) or Work-
place Training Committee (WTC), is responsible for facilitating this representivity and
consultatio n.
The training committee must represent both employer and employee interests. All
SETA s suggest the inclusion of employee representative bodies on this training commit-
tee, as well as a representative for non-unionised employees. CATHSSETA, for example,
requires a training committee of at least five members, with two representing manage-
ment, two representing employees and the SDF as the fifth person.
The role of the training committee is to collectively and representatively determine
training priorities and needs and agree on interventions to address them. Organisations
that employ 50 or more are obliged under the Skills Development Act to establish a
training committee. They are also obliged to ensure that this committee meets regularly
and that elected members have the necessary capacity to represent the stakeholder
group in skills planning. The training committee is also required to keep detailed min-
utes of all meetings, as well as attendance registers for these meetings. The SETA could
call for these documents in skills planning and development monitoring and auditing
processes.
ThepersonalandprofessionalattributesthatAlmasuggestsfortheSdFinclude:
¢ organisationalauthority
¢ Maturity
¢ Credibility
¢ Assertiveness
¢ Flexibility
¢ Strongleadershipskills
¢ Astronginterestinpeople
development.
Forefficient
functioningof
representative
bodies,thetraining
committeeoften
doublesupasthe
Employment Equity
Committee.
¢ Strongorganisationalskills
¢ Self-motivation
¢ Problem-solvingskills
¢ Abilitytobesupportive
¢ Strongcommunicationsskills
Because the nature, size and structure of or-
ganisations differ, it is difficult to define ge-
neric guidelines for constituting the training
committee. However, a key guideline is to
ensure representation at all levels of man-
agement and staff. For example, if you have
a five-tier hierarchy in your organisation,
it would be ideal to have a representative
from each level on the training committee.
It is also useful to couple this representation
Desiree English, formerly the Senior Manager for Human Resource Development and Utili zation at Cape Nature, tellsusitisimportanttoensure
representivityacrossmanagementlevels,including
executiveandseniormanagementlevels,toensure
thecredibilityofthetrainingcommittee.
7MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
Rene Du Toit, SANBI’s Deputy Director for Training and Development, sharesthefollowingguidelinesforestablishingthetrainingcommittee:
¢ SANBI’strainingcommitteeiscoupledtoitsemploymentequitycommittee,calledtheemploymentequity
TrainingCommittee(eeTC);
¢ GuidelinesforrepresentationontheeeTCincluderepresentationfor:
¢ differentoccupationallevels,i.e.managementandemployeelevels;
¢ differentoccupationalcategories,i.e.functionallevels,e.g.research,education,gardens,bioregional
programmes,corporateservices,etc.;
¢ employeeunionrepresentative;
¢ regionalsites–SANBIhasninegardensacrossprovincesandrequiresrepresentationfromallthesesites;
regionalsiterepresentationmustbecoupledtothepreviousthreebulletedpoints;
¢ theemploymentequityManager,whoservesasthechairpersonforthecommittee;
¢ theemploymentequityCo-ordinator;
¢ theSdF;
¢ asecretaryfromtheHumanResourcedivision;
¢ ThesizeoftheeeTCwiththeseguidelinesforrepresentationis13members,withtheeeManager,eeCo-
ordinator,SdF,secretaryandnineregionalrepresentativesacrossmanagementandfunctionallevelsand
employeeunions;
¢ These13membersshouldberepresentativeintermsofgender,racegroupsandpeoplewithdisabilities;
¢ TenureofofficefortheeeTCisthreeyearsfromdateofelection,whichisausefultimeframetoensure
continuity;
¢ objectivesoftheeeTCwithrespecttoemploymentequityare:
¢ toachieveandmaintaineffectiveeetransformationatSANBI;
¢ toensurecompliancewithallrelevantlegislation;
¢ objectivesoftheeeTCwithrespecttoskillsdevelopmentandtrainingaretoconsiderandgiveinputinto:
¢ theidentificationofstrategicskillsdevelopmentpriorities;
¢ theprocesstobefollowedinthedevelopmentoftheWSP;
¢ SANBI’sproposedyearlyWSPandtheneedforitto:
¢ complywiththerequirementsoftheCATHSSeTA;
¢ bebasedonagapanalysisbetweenthecompetencyrequirementsoftheposition(existingandfuture),
andtheassessedcompetencyofeverystaffmember;
¢ beintegratedwithotherhumanresourcedevelopmentinitiativessuchastheemploymentequityPlan,
careerdevelopmentplansandsuccessionplans;
¢ befairandbenefitallraceandgendergroups,categoriesandlevels;
¢ bealignedwithnationalandsectorskillstargets;
across all key directorates and/or departments in the organisation. Ultimately, the guid-
ing principle is to give voice to all levels and functions of job profiles in the organisation.
8 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
¢ theproposedimplementation,monitoringandreviewmechanismsoftheWSPforeachyear;
¢ thedraftATRandtherequirementsoftheCATHSSeTAinthisregardforeachyear;
¢ ThesedetailsofthecompositionandfunctioningoftheeeTCarecontainedinofficialtermsofreference,
whichalsoincludedetailsof:
¢ thenumberofmeetingsandmeetingprocedures;
¢ members’codeofconduct;
¢ confidentialityanddisclosureofinformation;
¢ processingofdecisions;
¢ disputeresolution.
Making the case for workplace skills planning
One of the key challenges cited by many human resource development professionals is
the lack of strategic positioning, understanding and consequently significance afforded
to training and skills planning in organisations. When budgets are cut, the training bud-
get is usually the first to go. This is perhaps evidence of the generally held perception of
training and skills development as a lesser priority in organisations. Anecdotal evidence
also suggests that active training and skills development in organisations is almost al-
ways backed by support at an executive level. We believe that a critical part of preparing
the workplace for training and skills development is securing support and endorsement
at both executive management and line management level. Workplace skills plans must
be signed off in an organisation at executive management level and resources for the
process are also secured at this level. Line management is important in identifying skills
needs, supporting interventions through which to address them, and supporting the ap-
plication of learning in the work context.
Trish Persad, Senior Manager for Human Capital Development at South African Weather Services (SAWS),sharesaPowerPointpresentationthatshepresentstoseniormanagementinher
organisationtosecuresupportforskillsplanninganddevelopment.Theoutlineincludes:
¢ Astatementontheimportanceofidentifyingandrespondingtotrainingneedstomeettheperformance
standardsoftheorganisation;
¢ Thelevelofpotentialskillstrainingneedsatindividual,occupationalandorganisationallevels;
¢ TheresponsibilityforskillstrainingfromtheHRdManager,inconsultationwithseniormanagementandall
employees;
¢ Thetrainingcommittee,itscomposition,competencerequirements,rolesandresponsibilities;
¢ Internalprocessesofidentifyingneedsandrespondingtothem;and
¢ AflowdiagramthatshowsthepathoftheWSPintotheSSPandontotheNSdSIII.
9MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
More on the ‘S’ in WSPs, SSPs, NSDS III and ESSP
This section locates the WSP – its process and contents – in the broader context of skills
development in South Africa generally, and environmental skills specifically. It shows the
link from the WSP to the SSP, informed by the ESSP and contributing towards the goals
of the NSDS III. This flow might assist you in making the argument for strategic support
for skills planning and development.
Workplace Skills Plans
WSPs show the skills needs of an in-
dividual organisation and the skills
development interventions to meet
them. WSPs are prepared annually
and submitted to the relevant SETA.
They cover skills development for
the period 1 April to 30 March of the
subsequent year. Skills needs and
proposed skills development inter-
ventions in the WSPs are integrated
into the SETA SSP. Sector skills plans
are developed for a five-year period.
Those currently being used are for
the period 2011–2016.
Workplace Skills Plans feed into the SSPs. They make a significant contribution to iden-
tifying skills needs and skills development interventions to address these needs at a
sector level. It would therefore make sense at an organisational level to integrate a five-
year projection of skills needs into the annual WSP to inform skills development for the
coming five years of the SSP.
Another critical link between the WSP and the SSP is that spending on the SETA skills
grants (see Module 1) is determined by the SSP and the skills needs reflected in the WSP.
Access to the mandatory grant is enabled through the WSP, and access to funds on the
discretionary grant is enabled through the extent to which WSPs reflect the priorities
defined in the SETA SSP. This is another reason to critically consider the link between the
WSP and the SSP.
Sector Skills Plans
These can be seen as the epicentre of skills development. They are a collation of WSPs in
an economic sector. For example, SANBI, SANParks, CapeNature, ECPTA, MPTB and EKZN
Wildlife, among others, submit their WSPs to CATHSSETA, representing the conservation
sector.
SSP
NSDS III
ESSP
WSP
10 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Sector skills plans are also informed by and required to work towards the objectives of
the National Skills Development Strategy. The WSP therefore, via the SSP makes a con-
tribution to achieving the national skills development objectives, so serving not only the
organisation and the sector but also the broader South African labour market.
In the latter half of 2010 and early 2011,
DEA entered into collaboration with DHET
to inform the process of SETAs developing
their respective SSPs. Drawing on the En-
vironmental Sector Skills Plan (ESSP) – see
below – a resource was developed by a Na-
tional Environmental Skills Planning Forum
(NESPF) to guide SETAs in integrating the
environmental driver and environmental
scarce and critical skills into the SSPs.
An Enabling Document for All SETAs starts with an
introduction of new opportunities and challenges asso-
ciated with green growth and sustainability against the
backdrop of climate change, energy shortages, natural
resource degradation and other environmental chal-
lenges. It also then highlights the implications of this
context for developing new skills and reorienting ex-
isting skills to enable sustainable growth in the South
African economy. It provides a five-page spread of driv-
ers and potential environmental skills needs relevant
to each of the SETAs , as indicated in the outline below:
Thomas Mathiba, Director: Sector Education, Training and Development, Department of Environmental Affairs,saysthedeAistheonlygovernmentdepartment
tohaveenteredintosystemicengagementwith
skillsdevelopmentatanationallevel.
SETA’s name
Description of:
¢ the critical need to integrate the environmental driver into SSPs and into skills
planning and development;
¢ how a green growth path is relevant to that particular SETA;
¢ how MTSF Goal 9, Sustainable Natural Resource Use and Management, is relevant
to the SETA.
Recommended:
¢ cross-cutting programmes to address critical skills in that particular SETA;
¢ programmes to address scarce skills in that SETA;
¢ programmes for research and innovation relevant to that SETA.
And proposes some flagship skills development programmes.
11MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
This Enabling Document was shared with 18 SETAs at a meeting in 2010, to support
them in further developing SSPs. Various members of the National Environmental Skills
Plannin g Forum also availed themselves to work directly with SETAs to ensure integra-
tion of environmental skills into SSPs. Various SETAs have dealt differently with this
integration.
The Enabling Document has been written with the aim of…
…assist[ing] SETAs to adopt a proactive approach to environmental skills devel-
opment in order to address MTSF Goal 9 and also to maximise new development
opportunities and job creation possibilities.
Together with the SSP of the SETA with which you are registered, it can also help you and
your organisation to identify scarce and critical environmental skills and define specific
interventions to address them, in the short, medium and long term.
Through collaborative efforts between DEA and DHET, the final drafts of the SSP must
be signed off by the Human Resource Development Strategy for South Africa’s (HRDS-
SA) Task Team and the minister of the relevant government department, in this case the
Minister of Environment. The minister’s signature ensures that the environment is given
adequate consideration and that the implementation of quality skills training is aligned
to the Medium Term Strategic Framework’s Goal 9.
MTSF Strategic Priority 9: Sustainable Natural Resource Management and Use
…to encourage sustainable resource management and use through various inter-
ventions, including promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy alternatives,
waste reduction practices, zero tolerance to illegal and unsustainable exploitation
of natural resources, improved air and atmospheric quality, supporting local and
sustainable food production, sustainable water use, enhancing biodiversity and
preserving natural habitats.
12 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
The Environmental Sector
Skills Plan
The Department of Environ-
ment’s Directorate: Sector
Education and Training com-
missioned the development of
an ESSP in 2009, in partnership
with Rhodes University. The fi-
nal ESSP was released in 2010.
It provides a comprehensive
assessment of scarce and
critical environmental skills
– to meet immediate and long-
term needs – to ensure green
growth and sustainability in
the face of increasing envi-
ronmental challenges, such as
climate change, increased energy demands, increased waste generation, water availabil-
ity and increasingly degraded ecosystems.
Key findings in the ESSP to guide our approaches to environmental skills develop-
ment include:
¢ The need for a proactive (rather than reactive), co-ordinated (rather than ad
hoc) and systemically integrated (working collaboratively into the skills devel-
opment systems, structures and institutions) approach to environmental skills
development;
¢ The need to more effectively utilise the national system for skills development;
¢ Skills development is needed at all levels and in all environmental sub-focus areas,
such as waste, water, air quality, biodiversity, climate change, coastal zone man-
agement, etc.;
¢ Scarce environmental skills identified include, among others:
¢ Environmental compliance and environmental management inspection skills;
¢ Sustainable development and green economy leadership skills;
¢ Adaptive environmental management and sustainable development planning
and implementation;
¢ Climate change risk and opportunity assessment and monitoring;
¢ Environmental monitoring and modelling skills;
¢ Environmental/resource economics and green economy planning skills;
¢ Environmental scientific skills;
¢ Environmental technical skills.
13MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
As with the Enabling Document, the ESSP also provides a useful framework within which
to define scarce and critical environmental skills in the short-term framework of the WSP,
as well as in the medium-term framework of the SSP.
The National Skills Development Strategy III
The NSDS III provides an overarching framework for skills development nationally. It
should be considered in the development of SSPs as well as the WSP, particularly if one
argues for the relevance of training in a broader national skills development context.
An outcome of the consultative process
outlined above and in Module 1 is the
integration of environment as a key con-
sideration in skills planning. As reflected
in the abstract on the left, the new en-
vironment strategy, which refers to the
ESSP, is up there among other key gov-
ernment priorities, signifying the greater
consideration afforded the environment
in skills planning.
The eight goals of the NSDS III define broad priorities that should inform skills devel-
opment at organisational, sector and national levels. They do not cover economic
sector-specific content, but rather indicate critical means towards addressing skills short-
ages in South Africa.
NSDS III Goals
1 Establish credible institutional mechanisms for skills planning.
2 Increase access to occupationally directed programmes.
3 Promote the growth of public sector FET colleges.
4 Increase youth and adult language and numerical literacy to enable access to
further training.
5 Better use of workplace-based skills development.
6 Support co-operative, small enterprises, worker-initiated, NGO and community
training.
7 Increase public sector capacity for improved service delivery.
8 Build career and vocational guidance.
These goals are unlikely to inform the identification of scarce and critical skills in any
particular economic sector, other than local government as its mandate relates to service
Page 10 of the NSDS III describes this strategy as being ‘…
informed and guided by other overarching government
programmes, especially the Human Resource Develop-
ment Strategy for South Africa, requirements of the New
Growth Path, the Industrial Policy Action Plan … the Me-
dium Term Strategic Framework, the rural development
strategy as well as the new environment strategy…‘.
14 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
delivery. They would, however, be particularly useful in defining means to address skills
needs, particularly at an organisational level. For example, ‘better workplace-based skills
development’ can only be addressed at an organisational level, since organisations host
this kind of training. Youth and adult literacy and numeracy can also be improved at
an organisational level to enable access to further training, for example through ABET
programmes. ‘Credible institutional mechanisms for skills development’, with a strong
emphasis on workplace-based training as in the NSDS III, will require strong partnerships
between work organisations and training institutions. This indicates a critical role for
organisations in the landscape of skills development.
Ensuring adequate resources for workplace skills planning
One of the key requirements in the Skills Development Act of 1998 is broad stakeholder
consultation in developing and implementing skills development and training. Stake-
holder engagement is achieved through representation in the training committee, and
engaging both senior and line management as noted earlier. This consultative process is
likely to demand both time and financial resources.
Give yourself enough time…
Ensuring adequate time for consultation demands careful planning of all processes in-
volved in workplace skills planning. A guide to developing this plan should be the due
date for submitting WSPs, which is 30 April of each year. Working backwards, some of the
milestones to be considered in getting the WSP ready for submission include:
¢ Sign off by the organisation’s executive committee at the last executive committee
meeting prior to 30 April that will enable adequate discussion, timeous signing and
submission of the WSP;
¢ Sign off by the training committee so that any changes can be integrated before ta-
bling at the executive committee meeting;
¢ Compiling the WSP: many SDFs struggle with the administrative load of compiling the
WSP which is often one of many other tasks that this person is responsible for, so
ensure that there is sufficient time;
¢ Collecting organisation-specific information: this is probably the most time-consuming,
consultative process; the processes of competence profiling, skills auditing, perfor-
mance appraisals, skills needs identification and consultation and reaching agreement
on priority skills needs must all be carefully considered in your plan;
¢ Collecting necessary information outside of the organisation: be sure to factor in time
for collecting supporting documents like the NSDS II, the final SSP, the ESSP and other
information that will ensure a good-quality WSP.
Colleagues
experiencedin
developingand
submittingWSPs
advisethatwe
shouldnot wait until 30 April is looming,butmake
atimeousstartto
thedevelopmentof
theWSPtoensure
timeforallnecessary
proceduresahead
ofsubmission.
Perhapsaim for 30 March andleaveAprilfor
anyunforeseen
eventualities.
15MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
This list of activities in workplace skills planning suggests that an annual plan of activities
may be appropriate to ensure timeous submission of the WSP.
…money…
Consultations informing workplace skills planning are likely to require a budget. If your
organisation is geographically dispersed, you may require a travel, accommodation and
subsistence budget for convening staff meetings in different regions and for the various
meetings of the training committee. You may also require a budget for catering, addi-
tional travel to engage with other stakeholders in the sector or beyond and training the
SDF as well as other training committee members.
It might be useful to develop an annual budget to match the WSP process plan discussed
above.
Most importantly, it is necessary to identify a ring-fenced training budget to implement
the interventions necessary to address the organisation’s skills needs. It would be futile
to identify skills needs without having the means to address them.
…and people
Ensure that you secure the availability of the necessary people in the organisation. For
example, you might require a significant amount of time from the HR Director to do
competence profiling. You might also require administrative help in compiling the WSP
or accessing necessary information. It would be useful to match your human resource
needs to the WSP process plan as above.
Trish Persad, from SAWS,suggeststhatitmightbeusefultocouple
engagementwithseniormanagementonthesignificanceofskillsdevelopmentand
trainingtobudgetnegotiationsforimplementingtraininginterventionswithina
financialyear.
16 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Workplace skills planning Having prepared the workplace for learning, you are ready to embark on the actual
journey of workplace skills planning. This is not to say that preparing the workplace for
learning falls outside of the ambit of workplace skills planning. It should be considered
the preparatory phase. The process flow diagram below is discussed in more detail in the
sections that follow.
Thisprocess flow hasbeensuggested
byanominatedtask
teamtosupport
WSPs,ledbySolly
Mosidi(Independent
TrainingConsultant)
withkeyinputs
fromReneduToit
(SANBI)andNwabisa
Ntantiso(formerlyof
eCPTA).
STA
KE
HO
LDE
R E
NG
AG
EM
EN
T T
HR
OU
GH
OU
T
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Implement, monitor and evaluate actions
of the WSP
Information gathering to inform
the WSP
Skills auditing
Compile and submit the WSP
Report on implementation of
the WSP
17MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
Step 1 — Gathering information
A WSP is only as good as the understanding that informs its develop-
ment and implementation. Our task team suggests that a range of
information is considered, processed and shared in workplace skills
planning.
External information to be considered in workplace skills planning
includes:
¢ Broader skills planning and development that should shape the
development and implementation of the WSP. Some of these infor-
mation sources include:
¢ The Human Resource Development Strategy for South Africa
(HRDS-SA) 2010 to 2030, which defines a number of key goals to
be addressed through skills planning at a national level and is a
key informant of skills priorities in the SSPs;
¢ The NSDS III (see earlier), which provides key guidelines on skills
development and training strategies and methodologies that
will be adopted and prioritised by SETAs in the SSPs;
¢ The Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO – see Module
3), around which national skills planning and development is
organised;
¢ DHET policies, strategies and structures for skills development
and training (see Module 1);
¢ SAQA policies, strategies and structures for skills development
and training (see Module 1) and particularly the QCTO (see Mod-
ule 1) as the quality assurer of occupationally directed training
and skills development.
¢ Sector-specific skills development information sources, including:
¢ The ESSP (see earlier), which defines critical and scarce skills
generally across the environment sector and could help you
identify those scarce and critical skills in your organisation;
¢ The Enabling Document (see earlier), which draws on the ESSP
and defines scarce and critical skills per economic sector and
provides some guidelines for interventions to address them;
¢ SETA SSPs with which you are registered and associated (see
Module 1), for example CATHSSETA, AgriSETA, LG SETA, etc.
These sources of information should guide you in:
¢ Identifying scarce and critical skills for inclusion in your WSP (ESSP,
Enabling Document, SSPs);
Engagements
External stakeholders that
youarelikelytoengagein
thisprocessofinformation
gatheringinclude:
¢ SAQA
¢ dHeT
¢ SeTA
¢ deA
¢ HRdNetwork.
engagementwithexternal
stakeholdersmightinvolve:
¢ gatheringinformation;
¢ buildingupuseful
networks;
¢ lobbyingsupportfor
developingandimple-
mentingtheWSP.
Internal stakeholders
mightinclude:
¢ executivemanagement,
tosecuresupportand
resourceallocationfor
theprocessofplanning
andimplementingthe
WSPandunderstanding
strategicprioritiesinthe
shortandmediumterm;
¢ linemanagement,to
sharenationalandsector
prioritiestotakeintoac-
countindefiningjoband
competenceprofiles;
¢ HumanResources,to
ensureanunderstanding
oftrends,patternsand
developmentslikelyto
18 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
¢ Identifying strategic trends and patterns for skills development in
the sector that will shape skills needs in your organisation (ESSP,
SSPs);
¢ Understanding the systems, structures and processes through
which to address skills needs and support implementation of skills
development strategies (HRD-SA, NSDS III).
Internal information to be considered includes:
¢ Strategic organisational priorities over the short and medium term;
¢ Competence requirements to meet these strategic priorities over
time;
¢ HR priorities over the short to medium term that relate to, for
example, planned changes to technology, employment equity strat-
egies, transformation strategies, growth, change or retrenchment
plans, vacancies that are difficult to fill and recruitment trends.
shapeskillsplanningand
training;
¢ HRprioritiesovertheshort
andmediumtermthatwill
shapeskillsplanningand
development;
¢ Summaryofemployeeper-
sonaldevelopmentplans;
¢ Trainingcommittee,to
ensurethisgroupofrep-
resentativesmovesinthe
samedirectionofworkplace
skillsplanning.
Employee information is another critical source of information that can be summarised
from personal development plans. This would make explicit the career development
plans and skills development needs identified by the individual employee.
Step 2 — Skills auditing
Skills auditing is the process through which skills gaps in an organisation are identified –
the difference between what we need in an organisation and what we have at any given
time.
To do an effective skills audit you must have a well-structured baseline of skills needs
against which to compare the skills that the organisation already has. This baseline of
skills needs we refer to as a competence profile. The skills audit also requires a clear
profile of existing employees’ skills. The difference between the two is the skills gaps to
be addressed through skills development and training.
Itiscriticaltolink skills planning
prioritiesto
national,sector
andorganisational
priorities.
The Theory
COMPETENCEPROFILES
...competence required by individual employees
to deliver on the organisation’s mandate
Skills auditingis the process
through which this gap is identified...
...and fed into the WSP
The Gap
Theory – Reality
The Reality
EMPLOYEEPROFILES
...competence that employees have, as
reflected in their academic background
and experience
19MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
This section encourages you to consider skills needs in relation to the competence re-
quirements of your organisation.
Trish Persad, Senior Manager: Human Capital Development at SAWS,sharesthisprocessof
competenceprofiling,
employeeprofilingand
identifyingskillsneeds.
Analyse service delivery requirements
What are the short-, medium- and long-term objectives?
What products or services must be delivered to achieve these?
Identify skills requirements
What skills are needed to achieve the goals and objectives?
In which occupations will you find these skills?
Develop Human Capital Development Strategy
What staff are needed to fulfil the skills requirements?
How will you acquire or retain these skills?
Develop Human Capital Development Plan
Including establishment of posts, restructuring, recruitment of new staff, succession management, retention strategy
What competence requirements are required for all posts?
What should employees in these posts know, understand and be able to do?
What other competences should they have?
What posts are required?
What roles must be performed by incumbents in these posts?
Pha
se 1
: Det
erm
ine
skil
ls r
equi
rem
ents
Pha
se 2
: Des
crib
e co
mp
eten
cy p
rofi
les
Develop atraining plan
Evaluate training
Facilitate learning
Conduct assessments
IT Specialist OtherFinance Officer
HCD Practitioner
Admin Officer
20 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Pha
se 3
: Id
enti
fy s
kill
s ne
eds
Pha
se 4
: Id
enti
fy t
rain
ing
and
no
n-tr
aini
ngin
terv
enti
ons
to
ad
dre
ss s
kill
s g
aps
Measure individuals against competence requirements
Does the person demonstrate the competence requirements for this post?
Select the most appropriate intervention to address the skills need
What type of formal or informal training or other form of development intervention is best suited to developing this skills need?
What is the cause of the performance gap?
Why is performance not what it should be?
Identify performance gap and training needs
What is the gap between what performance should be and what the individual’s performance currently is?
Where are the gaps in performance?
What competence is lacking or needs improvement?
Which new skills must be developed?
Formal or informal training is the most appropriate
option
Identify the most appropriate learning route, e.g.:¢ Full-time study¢ Part-time studies¢ Internship¢ Learnership¢ Short course ¢ Skills programme
Other workplace-based development intervention is
more appropriate
Identify the most appropriate option, e.g.:
¢ Formal mentoring¢ Coaching ¢ Demonstration¢ Workplace-based
training
Inform
edbyem
ployeeself-assessm
entandfo
rmal
perfo
rmanceap
praisal
Cause of the performance gap: lack of skills
Cause of the performance gap: not a lack of skills
In this case the person has the required skills and underperformance is related to other factors, for example inappropriate tools and equipment for the job, unsuitable disposition for current job, demotivated (for example, due to remuneration),
inappropriate supervision, etc.
This requires a non-training intervention to ad-dress the causes of underperformance and is not
the focus of WSPs.
21MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
Phase 1: Human resource planning
A well-known saying in human resource circles is that ‘people are our most valuable as-
set’. Any organisation is only as strong as its human resource complement. The first step
in identifying skills needs is to understand what the organisation actually needs to fulfil
its mandate.
The flow chart above provides some key questions to ask when establishing the human
resource needs of an organisation. The short-, medium- and long-term goals and objec-
tives of an organisation are most commonly found in its strategic and business plan.
Most organisations translate these broader goals and objectives into departmental/
directorate/unit goals and objectives. These are all critical sources to consult in defining
the organisation’s needs in the short, medium and long term.
Organisations do not, however, operate in isolation and are often influenced by the
external environment. DPSA’s Strategic Human Resource Planning: Guidelines and Tool-
kit (2008) encourages consideration of both the external and internal environments in
human resource planning. This is in order to identify factors that will influence skills
needs as the organisation grows and develops. The DPSA suggests the use of the PESTEL
framework, which SETAs are also using in skills planning. The PESTEL framework identi-
fies external factors likely to shape change in the internal organisational environment.
The six PESTEL factors should
be considered at international,
regional and national levels as
influences that shape what we do
and how we do it in our organisa-
tion. In the context of WSPs, these
factors are likely to shape our
organisational strategies and con-
sequently our job and competence
profiles.
Various factors in the internal environment similarly affect the goals and objectives of
an organisation. These include a changing mandate, restructuring of an organisation,
changes in systems and structures, staff turnover rates, and challenges in finding the
right skills sets.
Strategic human resource planning requires consideration of both the external and in-
ternal factors that shape the skills needs of an organisation. Consult the DPSA guidelines
for a comprehensive list of factors to consider when identifying the short-, medium- and
long-term skills needs of your organisation.
Phase 2: Job and competence profiling
Job profiles define the number and nature of positions required in an organisation to
meet its short-, medium- and long-term objectives, as defined in Phase 1 above. Job
ThedPSA’sStrategic
Human Resource
Planning: Guidelines
and Toolkitprovides
adetailedprocess
forstrategichuman
resourceplanning
inanorganisation.
Thisdocumentin
availableonthe
dPSAwebsite,
www.dpsa.gov.za.
P Politicalfactors
E economicfactors
S Socialfactors
T Technologicaldevelopments
E environmentalfactors
L legislativefactors
22 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
profiles define the number of employees in a range of different posts, organised into
different directorates, departments, units and/or programmes in an organisation. They
also define what each employee should be able to do to contribute to the organisation
meeting its goals and objectives. A job profile is made up of an individual’s key work areas
and is informed by the organisational strategy and business plan, as well as the purpose
of the job in achieving the organisation’s objectives. Most employees have a range of
between five and 10 key work areas, also called key performance areas, which are gener-
ally outlined in employment contracts. These describe the work that employees should
be able to do to fulfil their role in the organisation.
Competence profiles are developed from job profiles and define, for each key work
area, the competences that will allow the individual to perform his or her role in the
organisation:
¢ knowledge – what people know and understand about their work, their organisation,
the sector and broader environment in which they work;
¢ skills – what people are able to do with the knowledge and understanding in their
workplace; and
¢ work orientation – the values and attitudes with which people approach their work,
drawing on their knowledge and understanding and their ability to translate this into
what they are expected to do in the workplace.
Competence profiles are not the same as job profiles, but they are developed from job
profiles. One cannot do competence profiling without having done job profiling. A key
challenge in many organisations is weak processes of job profiling, which leads to weak
processes of competence profiling. This in turn leads to poor skills auditing, and so has
a significant knock-on effect for strategic training. Though time consuming, we believe
that effective WSPs start with well-defined job profiles, which inform competence pro-
files, which then form the basis for skills auditing.
There is a significant lack of methodologies for competence profiling. There does not
appear to be a generic and agreed methodology for such profiling and many profession-
als understand competence differently. From our experience, we suggest two possible
methodologies to help you define the competence required for different job profiles in
your organisation.
drawingonexamples
onpage23,which
framework for competence
worksbestinyour
organisation?
JobProfiles
Key work areas informed by organisational strategy
and job purpose
CompetenceProfiles
Knowledge, skill and work orientation to fulfil key
work areas
23MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
Applied competence in the National Qualifications Framework
In 1998, when the NQF was being developed and implemented, an applied competence
framework was defined against which to develop qualifications and assess competence.
It is called the applied competence framework in the NQF. Although not generally used
in defining competence these days, it continues to provide a useful framework. Applied
competence is a composite of practical, foundational and reflexive competences.
Practical Competencethe ability to perform work-related actions
Foundational Competenceunderstanding the knowledge and thinking
that underlies the action
Reflexive Competencean integration of doing and understanding to
adapt and change practice over time
APPLIEDCOMPETENCE
is the ability to
perform work-related
tasks with
understanding and
reflexivity, and is a
composite of three
kinds of
interconnected
competence
Changed and
improved
work-related
practice
+
=
Below is an example of the job profile and associated competences of a Field Ranger,
drawn from ECPTA. Note the relation between the organisation’s mission, the job purpose
of the Field Ranger, the key work areas (job profile) and the associated competences.
Organisation mission
Best practice conservation management and sustainable utilisation of natural resources in the
Eastern Cape, in partnership with communities and other stakeholders.
Job purpose Support conservation through conservation actions, monitoring and reporting on the condition
of natural assets in the reserve.
Key work areas (job profile) and associated competences
Practical competence(actions to be performed)
Foundational competence(knowledge underpinning actions)
Reflexive competence(integrating doing and understanding)
1. Monitor and record condition of natural assets in the reserve
¢Performroutinepatrols
¢Readandrecordanimal
movementandmigration
¢Trackanimals
¢Identifyandcommunicate
conservationchallenges,
likeovergrazing,soil
erosion,changesinwater
levels,firepatterns,etc.
¢Knowwhatequipmentis
neededanditspurposefor
patrols
¢Knowthegeographyof
reserveandlocationofnatural
andculturalassets
¢Knowbasicfirstaidprocedures
¢Identifyandknow
characteristicsofanimalsand
plantsinthereserve
¢Identifychangesin
patternsandtrendsof
naturalassets
¢Actimmediatelyon
criticalthreats
¢Contributetothe
developmentof
conservationactionsto
addressthesethreats
24 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
2. Support
conservation
actions in the
reserve
¢Performminorrepairs
¢disarmsnares
¢Fightfires
¢Maintainheritagesites
¢Supportgamecapturing
andmoving
¢Knowalienspecies
¢Knowfightingprocedures
¢understandconservation
threatsandactionstoaddress
them
¢Actimmediatelyand
efficientlyinresponseto
anyconservationthreats
¢Participateindeveloping
andimplementinglonger-
termactionstoconserve
naturalassets
3. Communicate
with
stakeholders
and promote
conservation
and sustainable
use of natural
resources
¢Communicate
informationonnatural
assets
¢engagecommunities
onsustainableand
responsibleuseof
resources
¢Knowandunderstandusesand
usersofnaturalassets
¢Knowarangeofoptions
forcommunicatingwith
stakeholders
¢developandimplement
partnershipapproaches
withcommunitiesto
conserveresources
4. Perform law-
enforcement
duties
related to
transgressions
¢Carryoutanarrest
¢layacharge
¢Provideexpertwitness
¢Knowallregulationsand
conditionsofpermitsrelating
tonaturalassets
¢Knowfirearmregulations
¢Knowledgeoflegalprocedures
ofarrest
¢Knowledgeofcourt
proceedings
¢understandanti-poaching
measures
¢developproactive
approachesto
engagestakeholders
inconservationand
minimisingtransgressions
One of the key challenges in job and competence profiling is that we often start with
what we have. Job and competence profiles should be based on where we are headed
and what we will need in the future as the organisation develops. This kind of profiling
should have a future, theoretical focus; it is the vision, the dream. The reality is found in
the current employee profiles.
Because the external and internal environments are always changing, we cannot assume
that job and competence profiles will remain the same indefinitely. It is therefore advis-
able to review and reconsider these profiles about every five years. This is a feasible
timeframe, as most organisations develop strategic and business plans in this period of
time. The job and competence profiles should ideally be developed in relation to the
organisational strategy and business plan for a specified time period.
Phase 3: Finding the skills gap
The skills gap is the difference between the job and competence profiles defined through
Phase 2 and the current competence and resultant performance of employees. Current
competence and performance is assessed through profiling current employees. This pro-
vides insight into the reality of skills in the organisation, as opposed to the theory and
vision of the job and competence profiles.
Jobandcompetence
profilesarethe theoryofwhatourorganisationsshould
looklike.
employeeprofiles
arethe reality ofwhatour
organisationslook
likerighthereand
now.
Thedifferenceis
the skills gap tobeaddressed
throughworkplace
skillsplanning.
25MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
A profile is undertaken for each employee relative to their job and competence profile
and is informed by:
¢ academic qualification, which includes all forms of formal study;
¢ additional skills programmes, training and short courses, both formal and informal;
¢ work experience and competence gained through key work areas over time;
¢ personal and professional attributes;
¢ curriculum vitae;
¢ employee self-assessments; and
¢ performance appraisals.
In the process of workplace skills planning, the gap between expected performance
and current performance is of most concern. As noted in Trish Persad’s example earlier,
the gap can be ascribed to a lack of skill or may be the result of other factors in the
workplace (see earlier diagram for examples). The WSP must capture any lack of skills
and suggest formal training or other developmental interventions to respond to these
skills needs.
Step 3 — Compiling and submitting the WSP
Colleagues in our WSP task team suggest that once all the relevant information has been
collected in Steps 1 and 2, there should be wide consultation on the skills development
priorities identified. They further suggest compiling a draft WSP detailing interventions
for addressing the needs as well as the associated budgets for implementing these
interventions. The final step in preparing the WSP is getting it signed by the relevant
authorities and submitting it to the relevant SETA.
Consult management and employees on needs identified
Up to this point, much information has been gathered. In summary, it includes:
¢ International, regional and national trends and factors shaping the work done in the
organisation;
¢ National and sector-specific skills priorities;
¢ Organisational priorities;
¢ Human resource priorities; and
¢ Skills needs of all employees.
This information will support you in making the case for scarce and critical skills to be
addressed through training. It will also support you in securing the necessary resources
for implementing skills development and training.
Bearinmindthat
knowingdoesnot
necessarilytranslate
intoapplyingthis
knowledgein
context.Itmight
benecessaryto
triangulate competenceacrossacademic
qualification,short
coursesandtraining
andaccumulated
workexperience.
Thiswouldprovide
afullerpictureof
theemployee’s
competenceand
performanceatany
givenpointintime.
26 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Our colleagues advise that the information be prepared in a clear and coherent man-
ner, to be communicated to executive management and employees through the training
committee. This may take the form of a skills audit report and a PowerPoint presentation
that summarises the key findings. A suggested format might include:
¢ The external environment and implications this has for the business strategy;
¢ The internal HR environment and its implications for staff, training and skills
development;
¢ Sector trends and patterns and resultant skills priorities;
¢ Skills needs identified relative to job and competence profiles;
¢ Suggested training interventions to address these needs; and
¢ A suggested budget requirement.
Compile the WSP for review
Preparing the information as above could be regarded as a draft WSP. However, many
who have worked with the WSP formats provided by SETAs agree that the level of detail
provided for in the proposed skills audit report above bears little resemblance to the
SETA WSP format. All SETAs use a particular format for the WSP. For the most part these
formats provide for more or less the same information: administrative details of the
SDF and organisation, employee profiles, scarce and critical skills identified according
to OFO codes (see Module 3), and proposed training interventions to address the skills
needs.
Many colleagues express frustration with the prescribed format as it limits one to a fairly
superficial presentation of organisational skills needs. Bear in mind, however, that the
WSP has two purposes for the SETA: (1) to provide pertinent employee information with
which to profile the economic sector, and (2) to provide a summary of skills needs for
the coming financial year. With this twofold purpose in mind, the prescribed format is
perhaps not the worst, given that the SETA processes a good number of these WSPs
depending on the size of the sector.
Our recommendation is to regard the skills audit report as your internal working WSP
document, and the WSP for submission to the SETA as a summary of your organisation’s
employee profile and skills needs for the next financial year. This allows you the latitude
to more comprehensively describe the skills needs in your organisation over both the
short term, as required by the SETA, and the medium and long terms, as required for
organisational growth and development.
When preparing the WSP in the prescribed SETA format, ensure that you are familiar with
the requirements for doing so. All SETAs provide detailed guidelines to support SDFs in
preparing the prescribed WSP. If all information is collated through Step 1 (Gathering
information) and Step 2 (Skills auditing), the process of completing the SETA-prescribed
WSP format will be less daunting. It might then be useful to circulate a draft WSP to the
training committee for review in preparation for final sign-off.
Youwouldideally
haveengaged all levels of
management and staffin
theskillsaudit.
Thesummaryof
prioritiesshouldnot
comeasasurpriseto
thematthisstage.
Thesesuggested
engagements
shouldbeseen
asconfirmingthe
scarceandcritical
skillsneedsin
theorganisation,
throughastrongly
motivatedcase.
Considerpreparinga
comprehensiveWSP
foryourinternaluse,
with a summary drawnfromitfor
submissiontothe
SeTA.
27MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
The WSP must be signed off by the SDF, the training committee and a member of the
executive committee of your organisation. If the comprehensive and internal WSP was
presented and approved by the executive committee and the training committee, the
final one for the SETA ought to be similarly endorsed, as it summarises the former.
Submit the WSP to your SETA
WSPs are submitted annually to the SETA of registration on 30 April (formerly 30 June).
Information from the WSPs, over a five-year span, is integrated into the SSPs. The WSP
provides the primary source of information for profiling the sector in the SSP. Skills pri-
orities identified in the WSP signal sector priorities to be addressed through the SSP.
It would seem that quality assurance for implementing the WSP in the organisation is
the responsibility of the SDF. This is evident in the competence profile of the SDF pre-
sented earlier.
Step 4 — Implementing skills development interventions
Depending on the size of your organisation and the scope of skills needs identified,
implementing the WSP could be a small and manageable or a mammoth task. Our WSP
task team recommends developing an annual training schedule through which to plan
and direct implementation of skills development interventions. Equally important is to
communicate this plan to all affected staff members, to secure participation and sup-
port. Some of the affected staff include:
¢ The incumbent identified for skills development. It is important that participants in
skills training do so willingly to ensure greatest return on the investment.
¢ The line manager of the incumbent, who needs to approve participation, particularly
in the event of the staff member being away from the workplace for an extended
period of time.
¢ Support staff in the form of mentors or peer learners who avail themselves to support
the incumbent in the skills development programme.
Stakeholder consultation is emphasised throughout the WSP development process and is
equally important at this stage of implementing various skills development interventions.
The nature of skills needs identified through the skills audit will define the range of in-
terventions required to address them, as per Phase 4 of the process. Ideally, engagement
with executive management around the outcomes of the skills audit will have secured a
reasonable budget with which to implement some of these interventions. Options for
skills training and development include:
28 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Formal training
Formal training is often the first option in responding to skills needs. There are different
forms of formal training, including:
¢ Full-time study in longer-term degree, diploma or certificate courses that support
intensive growth in a particular career direction. However, this means that the incum-
bent steps out of the work space for an extended period of time;
¢ Part-time study in longer-term learning programmes, which perhaps best suits mid-
and senior career professionals;
¢ Short courses that address a specific skills development need;
¢ Learnerships that integrate a theoretical component with work-integrated learning;
¢ Short skills programmes that address specific skills needs.
One of the key challenges with formal training continues to be its sometimes abstract
nature, with little attention to the application of learning in work contexts. The NSDS III
makes a strong argument for work-integrated learning and stronger partnerships be-
tween training service providers like universities and colleges and work organisations
where learning is taken up.
The NSDS III introduces the concept of PIVOTAL programmes – professional, vocational,
technical and academic programmes – that are occupationally directed and integrate for-
mal learning in a university or college with supervised practical learning in the workplace.
To enable this key objective, provision has been made for the establishment of a PIVOTAL
grant that ring-fences 10% of a SETA’s mandatory grant as a subsidy to employers who
offer these integrated learning programmes.
Workplace-based learning
Some skills needs could be addressed through supervised learning in the workplace and
could include:
¢ On-the-job coaching;
¢ Counselling around particular skills;
¢ Demonstrations;
¢ Mentoring; and
¢ Peer learning.
Monitoring and evaluating skills development
Module 4 provides a guideline to ensure relevant and quality training and might provide
a good framework for monitoring and evaluating your responses to training needs in
your organisation.
Inthepasttherewas
anoveremphasis
onskillstraining
atNQFlevels1–3,
predominantly
through
learnerships.The
NSdSIIIargues
forprogression
towardsmore
intermediate and higher-
level skills.Thisisanimportant
considerationin
arguingforarange
ofskillsdevelopment
interventionsacross
alllevelsoftheNQF.
TheC.A.P.e.
Bioregional
ProgrammeofSANBI
hasdevelopeda
sourcebookon
mentoringinthe
workplacethat
couldprovideideas
forsupporting
workplace-based
learning.Seewww.capeactio n.org.
za.
29MODULE 2 – Improved Workplace Skills Planning
Step 5 — Reporting on skills development
Reporting to the SETA on skills development is done through the ATR. An ATR is sub-
mitted on 30 April, covering the previous skills development period from April of the
previous year to March of the current year. The ATR of the previous skills development
cycle is submitted together with the next WSP.
As in the case of the WSP, the ATR is completed in a specific SETA format. And as with
the prescribed format for the WSP, many who have worked with the ATR acknowledge
its limitations in providing comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis of skills
development. So, as with the WSP, we recommend completing a comprehensive internal
skills development report and summarising the findings in the ATR as required.
Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Module The Organising
Framework for Occupations
Skills Planning and Development for Biodiversity
Contents
Introducing the Organising Learning System 2
Someadditionstothealphabetsoup 2
The Organising Framework for Occupations 4
ThestructureoftheoFo 4
Mapping job titles to OFO codes and occupations: 17A Case Study
The significance of the OFOs in skills planning 19
SomepitfallstoavoidbeforeyoustartworkwiththeoFos 19
Mappingyourorganisation’sjobtitlestotheoFo 22
Using the OFO codes in workplace skills planning 25
SowhathappensifIcan’tfindamatchforoneormoreofmy 25jobtitles?
Working with the OFO in human resources 28management
Aligning job profiles 28
developingcontextualisedjobadvertisements 28
Guidingperformancemanagement 29
Guidingcareerdevelopment 29
The Occupations Qualification Framework 31
QualificationsandcertificatesintheoQF 32
learningcomponentsintheoQF 33
developingqualificationsintheoQF 34
Appendix A:ConservationJobsMappedtooFooccupations–2012 36
2 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Introducing the Organising Learning SystemFollowing the 2007 review of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), the Occupa-
tional Learning System (OLS) is proposed as an occupationally directed approach to skills
development to meet the continuing skills needs in South Africa. Guided by the Organis-
ing Framework for Occupations (OFO), in which jobs are categorised into generic occu-
pational groups with related titles, descriptors and tasks, qualifications and certificates
will be developed relative to these occupational groups. The development, offering and
assessment of qualifications will be guided by the requirements of the Occupational
Qualifications Framework (OQF), which defines specific curriculum requirements for oc-
cupationally directed learning.
Some additions to the alphabet soup
The Occupational Learning System
The OLS proposes an approach to skills development that is focused on learning to do
the job, described as job-focused and occupationally directed learning. Its development
and implementation is the responsibility of the Quality Council for Trade and Occupa-
tions (QCTO) and is guided by the OFO and enabled through the OQF.
The Organising Framework for Occupations
You need a clear definition of what the job requires in order to frame skills development
within those requirements. The OFO provides this standardised framework within which
to understand and describe a range of related jobs. It provides the framework for occu-
pational categories (groups of related jobs) and offers descriptors and tasks for each cat-
egory. The OFO offers a common language to describe the range of jobs in organisations
and sectors and to articulate skills needs relative to specific job groups. All role players
(employer organisations, Sector Education and Training Authorities [SETAs], providers,
assessors, etc.) then speak the same language in skills development, so minimising the
risk of misunderstandings.
The Occupational Qualifications Framework
The OQF provides guidelines for developing occupationally directed curricula that meet
the job-related skills requirements for occupations in the OFO. The OQF defines three
curriculum components for occupationally directed qualifications:
i) a knowledge component (what one needs to know to do the job effectively);
ii) a practical component (translating the knowledge into work practices); and
iii) a work experience component (an integration of knowing and doing in an authentic
workplace).
3MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
These curriculum components are developed relative to the occupation descriptors and
tasks as defined in the OFO.
Skills development in the NQF was structured around ‘learning fields’, for example, agri-
culture and nature conservation, physical planning and construction, and manufacturing,
engineering and technology. A myriad of qualifications were developed in relation to
these learning fields, in many cases duplicated across different economic sectors. The
review of the NQF recognised that this skills development framework was not that ef-
fective and efficient in ‘hitting the nail on the head’ in terms of developing necessary
skills for specific jobs or occupations. In response, attempts were made to more closely
link skills development and training to skills needs in specific jobs and occupations, for
example skills training specifically related to the occupational tasks of a Field Ranger,
such as law enforcement, species monitoring and recording, game capture and fire
management.
This demand driven, occupationally directed learning approach is intended to move
skills development away from the generic nature of learning fields and closer to skills
development for occupations, such as horticulturists, research managers, environmen-
tal managers, research technicians and veterinary technicians. This approach to skills
development is known as the Occupational Learning System (OLS), the development,
implementation and quality assurance of which is the responsibility of the QCTO.
In the OLS, in order to know what skills development and training is needed, a clear
framework of occupations is required within which these needs originate and to which
they contribute. The OFO provides the framework for categorising jobs across all eco-
nomic and service sectors into occupational groupings with a range of titles, including
alternative and specialist titles. Each occupational grouping has clear descriptors and
tasks.
The development and offering of qualifications and courses and the assessment of learn-
ing in the OLS is undertaken in relation to the occupational groupings categorised in the
OFO.
This module focuses on the OFO as the guiding framework for the OLS, its application in
skills development and broader human resource processes, and the opportunities for
engagement in qualifications development to meet skills needs in environment, conser-
vation and natural resource management.
OccupationalLearning System
guided bythe OFO
enabled throughthe OQF
for occupationally
directed learning and skills
development
4 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
The Organising Framework for OccupationsThe OFO is best described as a skills-based coded classification system that captures all
jobs in the form of occupations. It provides the framework for identifying, articulating,
reporting and monitoring skills demand and supply in the South African labour market.
The OFO has been constructed from the bottom up by (i) analysing all jobs according
to similarities in tasks and skills required, (ii) categorising similar jobs into occupational
groupings, and (iii) classifying occupations into these groupings at increasing levels of
generality.
The OFO provides everyone involved in skills planning and development with a common
language within which to understand and describe the many jobs in our organisations,
sector and country and to define the demand for and supply of skills in relation to these
jobs. The aim ultimately is to describe all related jobs in occupational groupings, using
the same language irrespective of the nature of your organisation. So, for example, the
Ecologist will be described relative to the same occupational group regardless of wheth-
er he/she is employed by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) national of-
fice, the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency on a reserve, the City of Cape Town in
scientific services, or a private conservancy in the Paarl mountains providing input into
conservation planning. The Environmental Manager will be described in the same way,
whether working in the waste management sector, the conservation sector, the forestry
sector or the food production sector.
The structure of the OFO
The OFO is structured according to
five levels of classification. Each level
is derived from the one preceding it.
Starting with the major groups, each
has a number of sub-major groups.
Each sub-major group has a number
of minor groups. Each minor group
has a number of unit groups. Each unit
group has a number of occupations
related to it, wherein occupation-
specific titles, alternative titles and
specialist titles are found. This can be
visualised using building blocks across
the levels.
TheoFohasgone
througha15-year evolution and
refinementsince1998,to
moreaccurately
reflectjobsin
theSouthAfrican
labourmarket.The
QCTocontinues
tocallforannual
recommendations
tofurtherpopulate
andrefinethis
framework,which
isrepresentativeof
labourmarketneeds
inSouthAfrica.
Levels of classification in the OFO
Level 1: Major groups
Level 2: Sub-major groups
Level 3: Minor groups
Level 4: Unit groups
Level 5: Occupations, alterna tive
and specialist titles
5MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
Level 1: Major groups
The major groups are described by the Department of Higher Education and Training’s
(DHET’s) Guide to Using the OFO as the highest level of classification where one is distin-
guished from another according to skill level and the broadest concept of skill specialisa-
tion. There are eight major occupational groups in the OFO. Each has a one-digit classifi-
cation code that is carried through each level of classification into the occupational code.
Each major group also carries a broad description of the nature of the jobs related to the
group, as well as an overview of related tasks.
Classifi-cation code
Major group title
Major group title descriptors
1 Managers
Managersplan,direct,co-ordinateandevaluatetheoverall
activitiesofenterprises,governmentandotherorganisations,
oroforganisationalunitswithinthem,andformulateand
reviewtheirpolicies,laws,rulesandregulations.
2 Professionals
Professionalsincreasetheexistingstockofknowledge,
applyscientificorartisticconceptsandtheories,teachabout
theforegoinginasystematicmanner,orengageinany
combinationoftheseactivities.
3
Technicians and
Associate Professionals
Techniciansandassociateprofessionalsperformmostly
technicalandrelatedtasksconnectedtoresearchandthe
applicationofscientificorartisticconceptsandoperational
methods,andgovernmentorbusinessregulations.
4Clerical Support Workers
Clericalsupportworkersrecord,organise,store,computeand
retrieveinformationrelated,andperformanumberofclerical
dutiesinconnectionwithmoney-handlingoperations,travel
arrangements,requestsforinformationandappointments.
Increasing level o
f classificatio
n
from
level 1 to level 5
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5
8 major groups
43 sub-major groupsacross the 8 major groups
98 minor groups across the 43sub-major groups
378 unit groups across the 98 minor groups
1320 occupations, and 5103 specialisations, acrossthe 378 unit groups
6 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
5Service
and Sales Workers
Serviceandsalesworkersprovidepersonalandprotective
servicesrelatedtotravel,housekeeping,catering,personal
care,orprotectionagainstfireandunlawfulacts,or
demonstrateandsellgoodsinwholesaleorretailshopsand
similarestablishments,aswellasatstallsandonmarkets.
6
Skilled Agricultural,
Forestry, Fishery, Craft and Related
Trades Workers
Skilledagricultural,forestry,fishery,craftandrelatedtrades
workersapplyspecificknowledgeandskillstoconstructand
maintainbuildings;formmetal;erectmetalstructures;set
machinetools;ormake,fit,maintainandrepairmachinery,
equipmentortools;carryoutprintingwork;produceor
processfoodstuffs,textilesorwooden,metalandother
articles,includinghandicraftgoods;growandharvestfieldor
treeandshrubcrops;breed,tendorhuntanimals;producea
varietyofanimalhusbandryproducts;cultivate,conserveand
exploitforests;andbreedorcatchfish.
7
Plant and Machine
Operators and
Assemblers
Plantandmachineoperatorsandassemblersoperateand
monitorindustrialandagriculturalmachineryandequipment
onthespotorbyremotecontrol;driveandoperatetrains,
motorvehiclesandmobilemachineryandequipment;or
assembleproductsfromcomponentpartsaccordingto
strictspecificationsandprocedures.Theworkmainlycalls
forexperiencewithandunderstandingofindustrialand
agriculturalmachineryandequipment,aswellasanability
tocopewithmachine-pacedoperationsandtoadaptto
technologicalinnovations.
8Elementary Occupations
elementaryoccupationsinvolvetheperformanceofsimple
androutinetaskswhichmayrequiretheuseofhand-held
toolsandconsiderablephysicaleffort.
Jobs are classified in the major groups according to skill level. Skill level is associated
with an occupation and not an individual, and is measured by (i) formal education and/
or training, (ii) work experience, and (iii) the amount of on-the-job training required to
competently perform the tasks within an occupation.
The OFO is organised around five skills levels (see diagram on the next page), which are
correlated to the education and training levels of the NQF and the skills levels referred
to in the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS III).
For example, the jobs for which post-graduate professional qualifications are required
with extensive experience will be mapped to major groups 1 and 2. Where a professional
degree is required with some experience, these jobs will be mapped to major groups
3, 4 and 5. Where lower level or no academic qualifications are required, these will be
mapped to major groups 6, 7 and 8.
7MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
Major groups also define a set of tasks for related occupations. The examples below for
major groups 2 and 6 were chosen as bearing some relation to the jobs in the environ-
ment, conservation and/or natural resource management sectors. As can be seen, the list
of tasks is very broad. They provide an initial inroad into the OFO to begin mapping your
organisation’s job titles against the OFO occupational codes and titles.
NSDS IIIskills levels
NQF levels
OFO skills level
OFO major groups
Advanced
10
5 1 Managers 2 Professionals9
8
7
4
5 Serviceand sales workers
4 Clerical support workers
3 Technicians and associate professionals
6
Intermediate5
37 Pland and
machine operators
and assemblers
4 6 Skilled trade
workers
Elementary
3 2
28 Elementary occupations1
1
Major Group 2: Professionals
Tasks include:
¢ Conducting analysis and research, and developing concepts, theories and op-
erational methods, and advising on or applying existing knowledge related
to physical sciences, including mathematics, engineering and technology, and to
life sciences, including the medical and health services, as well as to social sci-
ences and humanities;
¢ Teaching the theory and practice of one or more disciplines at different educa-
tional levels;
¢ Teaching and educating handicapped persons;
¢ Providing various business, legal and social services;
¢ Creating and performing works of art; providing spiritual guidance; preparing sci-
entific papers and reports;
¢ Supervision of other workers may be included.
8 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
See the tasks in bold type in the two examples above. Can you link any of the jobs in your
organisation to these? List them below.
Major Group 2:
Major Group 6:
Major Group 6: Skilled Agricultural, Forestry, Fishery, Craft and Related Trades Workers
Tasks include:
¢ Sowing, planting, spraying, fertilising and harvesting field crops;
¢ Growing fruit and other tree and shrub crops, garden vegetables and horticul-
tural products;
¢ Breeding, raising, tending or hunting animals mainly to obtain meat, milk, hair,
fur, skin, sevicultural, apiarian or other products;
¢ Cultivating, conserving and exploiting forests; breeding or catching fish; culti-
vating or gathering other forms of aquatic life;
¢ Storing, and basic processing of produce;
¢ Constructing, maintaining and repairing buildings and other structures; cast-
ing, welding and shaping metal;
¢ Installing and erecting heavy metal structures, tackle and related equipment;
¢ Making machinery, tools, equipment, and other metal articles;
¢ Setting for operators, or setting and operating various machine tools;
¢ Fitting, maintaining and repairing industrial machinery, including engines and ve-
hicles, as well as electrical and electronic instruments and other equipment;
¢ Making precision instruments, jewellery, household and other precious-metal ar-
ticles, pottery, glass and related products;
¢ Producing handicrafts;
¢ Executing printing work; producing and processing foodstuffs and various articles
made of wood, textiles, leather and related materials;
¢ Supervision of other workers may be included.
9MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
Youcanfinda
copyofthe2013
oFoatwww.greenmatter.co.za.Havealookatthejobtasksfor
eachmajorgroup.
Completethe
taskontheleftto
familiariseyourself
withtheoFojob
titles,descriptors
andtasks.
TASK: Finding an initial match to the major groups in the OFO
Using the table below –
¢ List any five jobs in your organisation. Include jobs across the various employment
levels and grades;
¢ Review the key work areas or key performance areas (KWAs/KPAs) of the jobs
that you have selected;
¢ Review the tasks in the OFO major groups;
¢ See if you can find an initial match between the five jobs that you have listed and
the major groups in the OFO.
Jobs in my organisation Possible matches to the OFO
Number Job title KWA*OFO major
groupRelated tasks**
1
2
3
4
5
* Use only the KPAs/KWAs. In most organisations these are between 4 and 10. Higher-level jobs
often have more KPAs/KWAs than those at lower levels.
**Choose only those OFO tasks that relate to the job in your organisation. Remember that
these tasks in the OFO cover a broad spectrum, of which only some might be relevant to your
organisation.
The coding system in the OFO for all occupations starts with the
one digit of the major group. All occupations in major group 2 for
professionals will start with a 2, as in the case of Botanists (OFO code:
213106) and Zoologists (OFO code: 213109). All occupations listed
in major group 6 for skilled agriculture, forestry, fisheries, craft and
related tradeworkers start with a 6, as in the case of a Nurseryperson
(OFO code: 611304) or Landscape Gardener (OFO code: 611302), more
commonly known as Groundsman, Nursery Worker, Nursery Attendant
or Tree Breeder in conservation organisations. Look out for this as you
work with the OFO.
10 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Level 2: Sub-major groups
Each major group has a number of sub-major groups of related occupations. These sub-
major groups are the second level of classification and start to go into more detail of the
occupational context and related skill.
Major groupsNo. of sub-major
groups
1. Managers 4
2. Professionals 6
3. TechniciansandAssociateProfessionals 5
4. ClericalSupportWorkers 4
5. ServiceandSalesWorkers 4
6. SkilledAgriculture,Forestry,Fisheries,CraftsandRelatedTrade
Workers
8
7. PlantandMachineoperatorsandAssemblers 3
8. elementaryWorkers 6
The six sub-major groups for major group 2: Professionals are:
21 Physical, Mathematical and Engineering Science Professionals
22 Health Professionals
23 Teaching Professionals
24 Business and Administration Professionals
25 Information and Communications Technology Professionals
26 Legal, Social and Cultural Professionals
The ‘2’ is the one digit code drawn down from the major group and the second digit,
1–6, is the reference to the specific sub-major group.
The sub-major groups start to group occupations relative to their particular disciplines,
as can be seen in the above examples. They also define specific groups of occupations
with descriptors of what these professionals typically do and the tasks related to each
occupational group. The following example shows the relation between tasks in major
group 2 and sub-major group 25.
Fromthis
example,could
youguesswhich
sub-majorgroup
conservation professionals
arelikelytobe
mappedto?
11MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
Job tasks of major group 2: Professionals
Job tasks of sub-major group 25: Information and Communications Technology Professionals
¢ Conductinganalysisandresearch,anddevelopingconcepts,theoriesandoperationalmethods,andadvisingonorapplyingexistingknowledgerelatedtophysicalsciences,includingmathematics,engineeringandtechnology,andtolifesciences,includingthemedicalandhealthservices,aswellastosocialsciencesandhumanities;
¢ Teachingthetheoryandpracticeofoneormoredisciplinesatdifferenteducationallevels;
¢ Teachingandeducatinghandicappedpersons;
¢ Providingvariousbusiness,legalandsocialservices;
¢ Creatingandperformingworksofart;providingspiritualguidance;preparingscientificpapersandreports;
¢ Supervisionofotherworkersmaybeincluded.
¢ Researchinginformationtechnologyuseinbusinessfunctions;
¢ Identifyingareasforimprovementandresearchingthetheoreticalaspectsandoperationalmethodsfortheuseofcomputers;
¢ evaluating,planninganddesigninghardwareorsoftwareconfigurationsforspecificapplications,includingforInternet,intranetandmultimediasystems;
¢ designing,writing,testingandmaintainingcomputerprograms;
¢ designinganddevelopingdatabasearchitectureanddatabasemanagementsystems;
¢ developingandimplementingsecurityplansanddataadministrationpolicy,andadministeringcomputernetworksandrelatedcomputingenvironments;
¢ Analysing,developing,interpretingandevaluatingcomplexsystemdesignandarchitecturespecifications,datamodelsanddiagramsinthedevelopment,configurationandintegrationofcomputersystems.
Mark the words in both columns that show the relation between the major and sub-major groups.
Mark the words in this column that start to more specifically define this occupation group in job context and specialisation.
TASK
Go back to the five jobs you identified earlier. Have a look at the details of the
descriptor and tasks for each sub-major group in the major groups that you selected.
Which sub-major group would these jobs comfortably be mapped to?
Jobs in my organisation
Job title Sub-major group
Canyouidentify
anyjobinyour
organisationthat
mightbemapped
tosub-major group 25,asontheleft?
Bearinmindasyou
workwiththeoFo
thatsub-major groups have two digits,thefirstdrawnfromthe
associatedmajor
groupandthe
secondbeingspecific
tothatsub-major
group.
12 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Level 3: Minor groups
Minor groups are the third level of classification, with more detailed information focusing
on discipline-specific and context-related occupational groupings, for example:
Inwhichminorgroup
wouldyoufinda
conservation professional?
Whereareyou
likelytofind
Conservation Planners?
As in the major and sub-major groups, tasks are defined for minor groups with more
specific reference to the discipline and context, for example:
Job tasks for major group 2: Professionals
Job tasks for sub-major group 21: Physical, Mathematical and Engineering Science Professionals
Job tasks for minor group 213: Life Science Professionals
¢ Conductinganalysisandresearch,anddevelopingconcepts,theoriesandoperationalmethods,andadvisingonorapplyingexistingknowledgerelatedtophysicalsciences,includingmathematics,engineeringandtechnology,andtolifesciences,includingthemedicalandhealthservices,aswellastosocialsciencesandhumanities;
¢ Teachingthetheoryandpracticeofoneormoredisciplinesatdifferenteducationallevels;
¢ Conductingresearch,enlarging,advisingonorapplyingscientificknowledgeobtainedthroughthestudyofstructuresandpropertiesofphysicalmatterandphenomena,chemicalcharacteristicsandprocessesofvarioussubstances,materialsandproducts,andofmathematical,statisticalandcomputingconceptsandmethods;
¢ Advisingon,designinganddirectingconstructionofbuildings,townsandtrafficsystems,orcivilengineeringandindustrialstructures,aswellasmachinesandotherequipment,andadvisingonandapplyingminingmethods,andensuringtheiroptimumuse;
¢ Collecting,analysingandevaluatingexperimentalandfielddatatoidentifyanddevelopnewprocessesandtechniques;
¢ Providingadviceandsupporttogovernments,organisationsandbusinessesaboutecologicalsustainabledevelopmentofnaturalresources.
Sub-major group 21: Physical, Mathematical and Engineering Science Professionals
211 Physical and Earth Science Professionals
212 Mathematicians, Actuaries and Statisticians
213 Life Science Professionals
214 Engineering Professionals
215 Electrotechnology Professionals
216 Architects, Planners, Surveyors and Designers
Notethatthe
minorgroupshave
athree-digit code,forexample,
216.Thefirstdigit
(2)denotesthe
majorgroup,the
firstandsecond
digits(21)thesub-
majorgroup,andall
threedigits(216)
theparticularminor
group.
13MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
¢ Teachingandeducating
handicappedpersons;
¢ Providingvarious
business,legaland
socialservices;
¢ Creatingand
performingworksof
art;providingspiritual
guidance;preparing
scientificpapersand
reports;
¢ Supervisionofother
workersmaybe
included
¢ Surveyinglandandseaand
makingmaps;
¢ Studyingandadvisingon
technologicalaspectsof
particularmaterials,products
andprocesses,andon
efficiencyofproductionand
workorganisation;
¢ Preparingscientificpapersand
reports;
¢ Supervisionofotherworkers
maybeincluded.
Are you beginning to see your conservation professional emerge in the OFO?
Have a look at the KPAs/KWAs of one or more of your conservation professionals and see
if a map to the OFO definitions and job tasks becomes apparent.
TASK
Look at major group 2: Professionals and complete the table below for the number
of minor groups in each sub-major group.
Sub-major groupNo. of minor
groups
21 Physical,MathematicalandengineeringScienceProfessionals 6
22
23
24
25
26
Level 4: Unit groups
Unit groups start to group together more specifically related occupations. They have a
four-digit code – see below how this code is derived from the major, sub-major and minor
groups. For example:
14 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Minor group 213: Life Science Professionals
2131 Biologists, Botanists, Zoologists and Related Professionals
2132 Farming, Forestry and Fisheries Advisors
2133 Environmental Protection Professionals
As with all previous levels of classification, the unit group also defines with a greater level
of specification a descriptor and tasks typically associated with this occupational group,
as in the following example for unit group 2133: Environmental Protection Professionals.
Environmental Protection Professionals study and assess the effects on the environ-
ment of human activity such as air, water and noise pollution, soil contamination,
climate change, toxic waste, and depletion and degradation of natural resources.
They develop plans and solutions to protect, conserve, restore, minimise and pre-
vent further damage to the environment.
Tasks include:
¢ Conducting research, performing tests, collecting samples, performing field and
laboratory analysis to identify sources of environmental problems and recom-
mending ways to prevent, control and remediate the impact of environmental
problems;
¢ Assessing the likely impact that potential or proposed activities, projects and
developments may have on the environment, and recommending whether such
developments should proceed;
¢ Developing and co-ordinating the implementation of environmental manage-
ment systems to enable organisations to identify, monitor and control the impact
of their activities, products and services on the environment;
¢ Conducting audits to evaluate the environmental impact of existing activities,
processes, wastes, noises and substances;
¢ Assessing an organisation’s compliance with government and internal envi-
ronmental regulations and guidelines, identifying violations and determining
appropriate remedial action;
¢ Providing technical advice and support services to organisations on how best to
deal with environmental problems in order to reduce environmental damage and
minimise financial loss; and
¢ Developing conservation plans.
15MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
Level 5: Occupations and specialisations
Occupations are listed in unit groups with titles, descriptors and even more specific
tasks. In the above example of Environmental Protection Professionals, Conservation
Scientist (OFO code 213301) and Environmental Scientist (OFO code 213302) are listed
– see below.
Because the OFO is a generic framework, the exact titles used in your organisation are
not likely to be found. The OFO does offer alternative and specialist titles which might
be more descriptive of the titles used in your organisation. Continuing with the example
of Environmental Protection Professionals, alternative and specialist titles offered in the
OFO include:
Classification level
OFO code
Occupation title
Major group 2 2 Professionals
Sub-major group 21 Physical,MathematicalandengineeringScienceProfessionals
Minor group 213 lifeScienceProfessionals
Unit group 2133 environmentalProtectionProfessionals
Occupation 213301
213302
ConservationScientist
Alternative Titles and Specialisations:
Animalecologist
ConservancyAdvisoryScientist
Conservationofficer
ecologicalResearcher
ecologist
FishandGamesofficer
ForestryConservationist
SpeciesProtectionofficer
FisheriesAdvisor
environmentalScientist
Alternative Titles and Specialisations:
environmentalAdvisor
environmentalAuditor
environmentalConsultant
environmentalofficer
environmentalResearchScientist
environmentalWasteofficer
environmentalist
Findinthe2013 OFOthedetails
forthesetwo
occupations.
Havealookatthe
descriptorandtasks.
Canyoumapanyof
yourorganisation’s
jobstothese
occupations?listthe
jobs.
Seeinthis
examplehowthe
occupation codeisderived,drawing
onedigitfromeach
ofthemajor,sub-
major,minorand
unitgroups,with
thelasttwospecific
totheoccupational
group.
lookatthejob tasksoftheseoccupationsinthe
2013oFo,which
arethesamefor
thealternativetitles
andspecialisation.
Canyoufindyour
Conservationand/
orenvironmental
Scientistshere?
16 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Throughout this discussion reference has been made to the KPAs or KWAs of jobs and
tasks in OFO occupation groups. It is critical, as you attempt to map jobs in your organi-
sation to the OFO codes and occupations, that you use the KPAs or KWAs and the tasks
in the OFO. The job tasks become more defined as you move from the major to the sub-
major and minor groups. The unit group is the last level at which job tasks are defined.
So, ultimately, having used the job tasks of the major, sub-major and minor groups to
direct you towards a potential OFO match, the defining link or match is done relative to
the unit group tasks.
In August 2011, a task team of professionals from conservation agencies and CATHS-
SETA convened a workshop in which conservation jobs in the sector were mapped to
OFO occupations. The intention at the workshop was to:
¢ Support colleagues in navigating the OFO, which can be an intimidating and over-
whelming framework at first sight; and
¢ Map jobs in the conservation sector to occupations in the OFO – though this ex-
ercise focused only on conservation, this resource aims to support others in the
environment sector to follow a similar exercise of mapping organisational jobs to
OFO occupations and codes.
The outcome of this workshop is a map of conservation jobs to OFO codes and oc-
cupations. Appendix A shows this map of conservation jobs and the relative OFO
occupations and codes.
Any takers for mapping other environmental jobs?
17MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
Mapping job titles to OFO codes and occupations: A Case StudyThe task team that participated in this exercise of mapping conservation jobs included
colleagues from the DEA, both the national office and Oceans and Coasts, South Afri-
can National Parks, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Gauteng Department
of Agriculture and Rural Development, Northern Cape Department of Environment and
Nature Conservation, Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency, Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal
Wildlife, Endangered Wildlife Trust and WWF-SA. The team spanned human resource
management and development professionals and operational managers in specific areas
of work. This is how the task team mapped conservation jobs:
Ste
p 1
Asfarasweknow,PreshaRamsarup,anIndependentHCdConsultantwasthefirstto
takeontheoFosfortheenvironmentsector.Preshatrawledthroughwhatwasthen
oFoversion9oftheoFoframeworkandselectedallpossibleoccupationsrelatedto
thesector.
Ste
p 2
Membersofthetaskteam,throughapre-workshopassignment,wereaskedto:
¢ listallconservation-relatedjobtitlesintheirorganisations;
¢ reviewtheKPAs/KWAsforalljobs–wealsoaskedthemtocollatethesejobtitles
intocareergroupings(e.g.conservationmanagement,conservationscientists)and
tobringthesealongtotheworkshop;
¢ reviewtheselectionofenvironment-relatedoccupations,asperPresha’s
document(seeabove),andhighlightthosethatcouldpotentiallymatchthejob
titlestheyhadidentifiedintheirorganisations;and
¢ lookmorecloselyatthetasksintheoFooccupations,identifyapotentialmatch
betweentheKPAs/KWAsoftheorganisation’sjobsandwritetherelevantoFo
codeandoccupationalongsidetheorganisationjobtitle.
Collationoftheinputwascompletedbythetaskteampriortotheworkshopto
informfurtherworkshopdiscussions.
Ste
p 3
usingthecollatedorganisationjobtitleswithsuggestedlinkstooFocodesand
occupations,andarmedwithjobtitlesanddescriptionsprovidedbythedifferent
conservationorganisations,weliterallyworkedthrougheachgroupofoccupations.
Wecollatedjobsintooccupationalgroupsof(i)executivetoseniormanagement;(ii)
conservationmanagement;(iii)conservationplanning;(iv)conservationscience;(v)
informationmanagement;(vi)communityconservation,outreachandeducation;and
(vii)lawenforcement.Insmallgroupsduringthistwo-dayworkshop,thetaskteam:
¢ reviewedoccupationtitles,descriptorsandtasksinthesuggestedoFounit
groupsinrelationtothewiderangeofjobdescriptionstheyhadonhandfrom
theirrespectiveorganisations;
Theassociated
resourceSupporting
Environment
Occupations –
Selected OFO
Codesshowingthe
selectionofrelated
environmental
occupationscanbe
foundatwww.greenmatter.co.za.
18 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Ste
p 3
(co
nt.
)
¢ identifiedjobsandoFooccupationsthathada75%matchtorelatedtasks;and
¢ recommendedamendmentstothosethatfellshortof75%toeitherchangeand/
oraddtotheoFodescriptor,tasksandalternativetitlesandspecialisations.
Fromthismappingexercise:
¢ 260organisationjobtitleswerematchedto49occupationtitlesandcodesinthe
oFo;
¢ itwasrecommendedthatjobtasksforsixoccupationsintheoFobeamended
tomoreadequatelyreflectwhatprofessionalsinthesejobsdointhefield:
ProgrammeAnalyst,ConservationScientist,environmentalScientist,ParkRanger,
urbanandRegionalPlanner,andenvironmentalManager;and
¢ twotitleswithsuggesteddescriptorsandtaskswererecommendedforaddition
totheoFo:onetoreflectprofessionalsworkingincommunityconservation,
outreachandeducation,andtheotherinlawenforcementandcompliance,two
areaswhicharenotaddressedfortheconservationcontextintheoFo.
Ne
xt s
tep
s
Asanoutcomeofthisworkshop,CATHSSeTAhasundertakentoprepareandmakea
submissiontotheQCToforamendmentandadditiontotheoFo,asrecommended
above.
TheHRdNetworkwillusethisframeworkofoFooccupationstoexploreexisting
coursesthatrespondtoskillsneedsintheseoccupationsandtoidentifygapsinand
prioritisecoursesfordevelopment.
19MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
The significance of the OFOs in skills planning SETAs draw on WSPs submitted by organisations to report on the demand for and supply
of scarce and critical skills to the DHET at a national level. SETAs are required to work
within the framework of the OFO as intermediaries in carrying this skills information
from associate organisations into the national context. It therefore makes sense to de-
scribe what we feed into the SETA as intermediaries using the same language as required
at a national level.
So, remember that…
…the OFO provides us with a common language through which to understand, de-
scribe, collate and communicate skills supply and needs across all economic sectors.
So when we talk of a Permit Officer in OFO language as a Species Protection Officer
(code 213301), the interpretation of the skills need is the same at organisation, sec-
tor and national levels.
Some pitfalls to avoid before you start work with the OFOs
¢ The biggest challenge in mapping organisational job titles to the OFO is finding ap-
propriate occupational titles in the OFO. Remember that you are unlikely to find your
organisation’s exact job titles reflected in the OFO, as this is a generic framework for
all jobs across all economic sectors. What you should aim for is to find the most ap-
propriate match, for example:
OFO code and occupation
…a single reference to…
Organisation job titles
…a variety of job titles used in different organisations
213301 Species Protection Officer
Manager:WildlifeInvestigation
MarineProsecutionofficer
Anti-Poachingofficer
Anti-Poachingunitofficer
Permittingofficer
Permitofficer
Manager:Specialinvestigation,risk,securityandlarge
mammaloperations
20 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
¢ Another common challenge in working with the OFOs is that occupations are often
confused with alternative titles and specialisations. Occupations refer to ‘the group
of jobs’ that perform the same or similar tasks. Alternative titles and specialisations
offer alternatives to describing this cluster of related jobs that might be more ap-
propriate to your organisational context and job titles. Using the same example as
before:
OFO code and occupation Alternative titles and specialisations
213301 Conservation Scientist Animalecologist
ConservancyAdvisoryScientist
Conservationofficer
ecologicalResearcher
ecologist
FishandGamesofficer
ForestryConservationist
Species Protection Officer
FisheriesAdvisor
So, the organisational job titles listed in the previous example – e.g. Manager: Wildlife
Investigations, Permit Officer, Anti-Poaching Officer – are all mapped to the occupa-
tion of Conservation Scientist (OFO code 213301) and to the alternative title of Spe-
cies Protection Officer (OFO code 213301). Although perhaps not called by either of
these titles in your organisation, the job tasks match those of these occupations in
the OFO.
¢ A further challenge is trying to find a match to the OFO using only the occupation title
and descriptor. The essence of the occupation is in fact in the tasks associated with
that occupation. So you need to compare the KPAs/KWAs found in a job description in
your organisation with the tasks defined for occupations in the OFO to find the most
appropriate match. For example:
OFO occupations Organisational job titles
213301 Conservation Scientist
Alternative Title: * Ecologist Organisational Title: Ecologist
Descriptor: †
developsandimplementsprogrammesand
regulationsfortheprotectionoffish,wildlife
andothernaturalresources.
Job Purpose:‡
Tosupportbiodiversityconservation
intheeasternCapethroughthe
provisionofsoundscientificand
ecologicaladviceandinformationto
theeasternCapeParksandassociated
stakeholders.
TheoFoworkswith
occupations,whicharegroupings
orclustersofrelated
jobsthatperform
thesameorsimilar
tasks.
21MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
Tasks include:
1. Conductingresearch,performingtests,
collectingsamples,performingfieldand
laboratoryanalysistoidentifysourcesof
environmentalproblemsandrecommending
waystoprevent,controlandremediatethe
impactofenvironmentalproblems.
2. Assessingthelikelyimpactthat
potentialorproposedactivities,projects
anddevelopmentsmayhaveonthe
environment,andrecommendingwhether
suchdevelopmentsshouldproceed.
3. developingandco-ordinatingthe
implementationofenvironmental
managementsystemstoenable
organisationstoidentify,monitorand
controltheimpactoftheiractivities,
productsandservicesontheenvironment.
4. Conductingauditstoevaluate
environmentalimpactofexistingactivities,
processes,wastes,noisesandsubstances.
5. Assessinganorganisation’scompliancewith
governmentandinternalenvironmental
regulationsandguidelines,identifying
violationsanddeterminingappropriate
remedialaction.
6. Providingtechnicaladviceandsupport
servicestoorganisationsonhowbestto
dealwithenvironmentalproblemsinorder
toreduceenvironmentaldamageand
minimisefinancialloss.
7. developingconservationplans.
Key Performance Areas:
1. developbiodiversitymanagement
policiesandprocedures.
2. Providescientific/ecological
advisoryservicetothe
organisationandotherrelevant
stakeholders.
3. develop,implementandco-
ordinateresearchprojectsto
addresspriorityinformation
needs.
4. develop,implementandco-
ordinatebiophysicalmonitoring
programmestoaddresspriority
informationneeds.
5. Contributetoreserve
managementplanning.
6. Contributetowardsthe
implementationofintegrated
environmentalmanagement
affectingthereserves.
7. Contributetoregionaland
nationalbiodiversityconservation
initiatives.
8. datamanagement.
9. Manageandco-ordinateexternal
researchprojects.
10.engageininstitutionaleducation,
trainingandmentorship.
Notes:
* Ecologist is an alternative title in the Conservation Scientist occupation of the OFO.
† Tasks are defined for the unit group of Environment Protection Professionals (2133),
within which the Conservation Scientist occupation and alternative and specialist title
of Ecologist fall (213301).
‡ The descriptor can be matched to the defined job purpose on a job description, as in
this example.
¢ Another challenge to keep in mind when mapping job titles to the OFO is the differing
skills levels of occupations in the major groups. For example, managers and profes-
sionals are probably qualified at a post-graduate level with extensive experience and
a complex series of job tasks. Other job titles linked to professional qualifications
and job tasks with greater complexity are those in major groups 3, 4 and 5. Job titles
that require lower levels of qualification and involve less complex job tasks would
22 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
be linked to major groups 6, 7 and 8. So one is likely to find a match for a Botanist –
professionally qualified at a post-graduate level with a high degree of complexity of
tasks – in major group 2. A Groundsman, where a relatively lower level of qualification
is demanded with less job task complexity, is likely to be found at major group level 8.
For example:
OFO code and occupation Organisation job titles
112101 Director director:NatureConservation
GeneralManager:PeopleandConservation
Chiefdirector:oceansandCoastalResearch
213107 Marine Biologist MarineBiologist
CoastalandMarineecologist
Marineecologist
314101 Life Sciences Technician PrioritySpeciesTechnician
ResearchAssistants
BioregionalPlanningTechnician
611304 Nursery Worker NurseryWorker
NurseryAttendant
TreeBreeder
821203 Game Farm Worker AnimalAttendant
Mapping your organisation’s job titles to the OFO
The DHET provides guidelines for mapping your organisation’s job titles to the OFOs,
which have been adapted for the purposes of this resource. The guidelines herein simi-
larly draw on the case study of mapping conservation job titles to the OFO.
1. G
etti
ng t
he r
ight
to
ols
¢ ThefirststepinmappingjobtitlestooccupationsintheoFoframeworkisto
familiariseyourselfwiththe2013version.Wehavepostedacopyofthisonwww.greenmatter.co.za.
¢ Youmightalsowanttoworkthroughthefirstpartofthismoduletobetter
understandhowtheoFoisstructuredandyouroptionsformappingjobtitlesto
occupations.
¢ Thesectionaboveonavoidingthepitfallsmightalsobeusefultoconsiderasyou
goalong.
¢ Asinourcasestudyabove,someinitiallegworkhasalsobeendoneinAppendix
A:Conservation Jobs Mapped to OFO Occupations andtheresourceSupporting
Environmental Occupations: Selected OFO Codesonthewebsitewww.greenmatter.
co.za.
SeethedHeT’s
Guide to Using
the Organising
Framework of
Occupations
atwww.greenmatter.
co.za.
23MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
2. S
urve
ying
the
land
scap
e¢ listalljobtitlesinyourorganisation.
¢ Removeallindicatorsofsenioritywherethisdoesnothaveabearingon
qualificationlevels,experienceandcomplexityofjobtask.Forexample,inthe
caseofaSeniorecologistandecologist,thelattermightreporttotheformer,
andthetasksmightdifferintermsofsupportandoversight,butultimatelythe
jobtasksthattheyengagewitharelikelytobesimilarorthesame.Thesame
applies,forexample,tothePrincipalorSeniorFieldRanger.However,whereyou
haveaResearchProgrammeManager,aResearcherandaResearchAssistant,you
mightwanttoretainindicatorsofseniority,asthelevelsofcomplexityofthejob
intermsofengaginginresearchcouldbedifferent.However,youcanonlyassess
thisbyknowingthejobdescriptionsintimately.Thisexercisewillservetoreduce
thelistoforganisationaltitlesyouultimatelyneedtomaptotheoFo.
¢ Clusterrelatedjobtitles.Inthecasestudyofconservationjobtitlesabove,we
used:conservationmanagement,conservation,science,conservationplanning,
informationmanagement,communityconservation,outreachandeducation,
lawenforcementandstrategicmanagement.Thiswilldifferdependingon
yourorganisationalcontext,butagoodindicatorcouldbeyourorganisational
(departmental/unit/programme)structure.
¢ Withineachclusteryoumightalsowanttocreateasub-clusteratdifferentskills
levels–seetheindicatorsinthesectiononmajorgroupsabove.
¢ Collectandcollatejobdescriptionsandorganisetheserelativetothelistofjob
titlesforeasyreference.
3. F
ind
ing
a m
atch
¢ Workthroughoneclusteratatime.Inthecasestudy,westartedwithexecutive
andSeniorManagementinmajorgroup1formanagers.Wethenmovedon
topotentialmatchesinmajorgroup2,i.e.jobtitlesforwhichprofessional
qualificationsarerequired,suchasscientistsandconservationmanagers.
¢ useatwo-columntableasbelow.Workdowncolumnonefirst,drawingfromyour
jobdescriptions,andwhenyouhavefoundamatchtotheoFo,completecolumn
two.Followtheexamplebelow:
Organisation Job Title:
executivedirector:Conservation
OFO Occupation and Code:
112101executivedirector*
Job Description/Purpose:
Todevelopafunctional,competentand
sustainableorganisationwithparticular
emphasisontheefficientandeffective
implementationofbestpractice
biodiversityconservation.
Occupation Descriptor:
determines,formulatesandreviews
thegeneralpolicyprogrammeandthe
overalldirectionofanorganisation,
withintheframeworkestablishedbya
boardofdirectorsorsimilargoverning
body.†
Tasks include:
¢ Managethebiodiversityconservation
teaminsupportofthestrategicplan;
¢ Co-ordinatethebusinessplanning
andreportingoftheBiodiversity
Conservationdivision;
Tasks include: ‡
¢ establishingandmanaging
budgets,controllingexpenditure
andensuringtheefficientuseof
resources;
24 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
3. F
ind
ing
a m
atch
(co
nt.)
¢ ensureappropriateandeffective
planningoftheactivitiesofthe
BiodiversityConservationdivision;
¢ developbiodiversityconservation
policiesanddecision-making
proceduresandsystems;
¢ Managethebiodiversityknowledge
systems;
¢ ensurecompliancewithbiodiversity
legislationandpolicy;
¢ ensureanefficientandeffective
operationoftheBiodiversity
Conservationdivision;
¢ Contributetowarddevelopingthe
strategicdirection;
¢ RenderRiskManagementServices;
and
¢ PerformeXComembershipfunctions.
¢ Authorisingmaterial,humanand
financialresourcestoimplement
organisationalpoliciesand
programmes;
¢ Consultingwithsenior
subordinatestaffandreviewing
recommendationsandreports;
¢ determiningobjectives,strategies,
policiesandprogrammesforthe
enterpriseororganisation;
¢ ensuringtheorganisationcomplies
withrelevantlegislationand
regulations;
¢ Monitoringandevaluating
performanceoftheorganisation
orenterpriseagainstestablished
objectivesandpolicies;
¢ Planning,directingandco-ordinating
thegeneralfunctioningofan
enterpriseororganisation;
¢ Providingoverallleadershipand
managementtotheenterpriseor
organisation;
¢ Representingtheorganisation
atofficialoccasionsandboard
meetings,innegotiations,at
conventions,seminars,public
hearingsandforums;
¢ Reviewingtheoperationsandresults
oftheenterpriseororganisation,
andreportingtoboardsofdirectors
andgoverningbodies;and
¢ Selectingorapprovingtheselection
ofseniorstaff.
Note in the second column that:
* Executive Director is an alternative
title for the occupational group Director.
† This is the descriptor for the
occupation Director and not the unit
group 1121 for Managers and Directors.
‡ This is the level at which the match is
found, drawing on the tasks included for
the unit group 1121 for managers and
directors.
REMEMBER: You are not looking for a
perfect one-to-one match. you’re not
likely to find it. The best you can do is
look for a near or nearest match.
4. K
eep
ing
rec
ord
¢ Rememberthatallskillsplanningandreportingmustbedoneaccordingtothe
oFo.WerecommendthatyourmatchesfromjobtitlestotheoFooccupationsbe
recordedforfutureuse.
¢ Weusedanexcelspreadsheetforthisrecording,listingtheoFocodeand
occupation(usingthealternativeorspecialisttitlewherethiswasavailable)inone
columnandintheotherlistingallorganisationaljobtitlesthatwerematchedto
aparticularoFocodeandoccupation–seeAppendixA:Map of Conservation Job
Titles to OFO Occupations.
25MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
Using the OFO codes in workplace skills planningCATHSSETA’s Skills Development Facilitators’ Guide states that ‘the content of a WSP is
governed by law and, as such, the provision of some information is mandatory and in-
cludes’, among others, (i) the employment profile split per job type (i.e. OFO code), per
race, per gender, and (ii) the number of people planned to be trained in the organisation
by job type (i.e. OFO code), per race, per gender. It further states that ‘the SDF must iden-
tify both scarce and critical skills at the OFO six-digit occupational level and scarce skills
should be considered against the occupation itself’ (i.e. OFO code); ‘critical skills should be
reflected as specific skills within the occupation’ (i.e. OFO code).
From this it is evident that CATHSSETA, as with all other SETAs, defines skills needs rela-
tive to the OFO occupational codes. That means that WSPs similarly have to be done
relative to the OFO occupational codes. And to do this, skills needs have to be identified
and described relative to the OFO occupational codes, which requires a mapping of your
organisational job titles to the OFO codes.
So what happens if I can’t find a match for one or more of my job titles?
You might find that in one or more cases you are unable to find a match to the OFO.
When mapping the conservation job titles this was the case for:
¢ Compliance-related jobs, such as Field Ranger, Compliance Officer, Staff Sergeant,
Park Wardens and District Conservation Officials.
¢ Community and socially related jobs, such as Social Ecologists, Manager: Social Science
Research, Community Conservation Manager, People and Parks Manager, Co-ordina-
tor: Social Planning, Community Conservation Officer, Community Outreach Officer
and Community Facilitator.
¢ Education-related jobs, such as Environmental Educator, Environmental Education Of-
ficer and Interpretation Officer.
The DHET facilitates an annual process of amendment to the OFO. The 2013 version is
currently being used. SETAs interact with their constituencies and then make recommen-
dations to DHET for additions of titles. Through the mapping of conservation job titles,
CATHSSETA, in collaboration with the sector, is supporting submissions for the inclusion
of occupations related to compliance, community conservation and education. In these
submissions:
¢ The submission has to go to DHET via a SETA and cannot come from an individual or-
ganisation as it has to be a representative of the sector as a whole;
CATHSSeTA’s2010
Skills Development
Facilitators’ Guide
describestheoFoas
askills-basedcoded
classificationsystem,
encompassingall
occupationsin
theSouthAfrican
context.Itreplaces
thepreviousStandard
occupational
Categories(SoC
codes).Thisguidealso
providesguidelines
formappingjobsto
theoFo–seewww.cathsseta.org.za.
Asasectorwe
havestartedtodo
someofthiswork.
Youmightfindthe
guidelinesaboveand
themethodology
usedformapping
conservationjob
titlesusefulto
completethemap
foryourorganisation.
26 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
¢ The development of the submission must be done through a consultative process
across constituent organisations, as it is similarly a sector-based submission;
¢ A case must be made for this inclusion based on scope of occupations in organisations,
and significance and relevance of this occupation to the core business of organisations
across the sector;
¢ An individual organisation’s needs are unlikely to be entertained;
¢ Submissions should ideally include the suggested occupation, descriptor and tasks,
which we have done drawing on job descriptions across conservation organisations .
Ultimately, befriend and work with your SETA of registration to bring about any
additions to the OFO!
Almost, but not quite…
You might discover in some cases that you cannot find an appropriate match for your
organisational job titles, for example where the job descriptor doesn’t quite capture
the essence of the job or there are glaring gaps in the tasks. In the conservation job
titles mapping exercise, we agreed that:
¢ We won’t get caught up with trying to get the titles of occupations amended as
these serve mainly as a reference. So, for example, Park Ranger is not a job title
typically used for our conservation managers and professionals, but we felt it
more important to focus on an amendment to the descriptor and tasks in submis-
sions via CATHSSETA to DHET. We agreed as a group to live with the title of Park
Ranger, since our submissions cannot work towards a grand-scale revision of what
is a generic framework, but need to focus on what is most important in the frame-
work. So think about what you are able to comfortably ‘live with’ in the OFO.
¢ Where we found glaring gaps in descriptors and tasks, and where we thought it
important to recommend additional alternative and specialist titles, recommen-
dations were made in this regard. For example, a recommendation was made to
amend the descriptor of Park Ranger (code 213307) to include greater emphasis
on reserve management and other conservation areas, such as botanical gardens,
not currently accommodated in this descriptor. The submission will also include
recommendations for three additional tasks that speak to managing assets in the
conservation space, and managing the necessary infrastructure, for example in
tourism and financial and human resource management, felt to be key work areas
in this job. A suggested addition is also being made to alternative and specialist
titles in this occupation to include more emphasis on reserve or conservation es-
tate management, such as Garden Curators in SANBI.
27MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) undertook an analysis of skills demand
through a review of newspaper advertisements over a three-year period. Three na-
tional newspapers were analysed and 125 000 jobs identified. These 125 000 jobs
were categorised into 28 000 unique jobs that were being advertised. Using the OFO,
the HSRC identified 1 200 occupations from these 28 000 jobs and 125 000 adverts.
The 125 000 jobs in this example were developed in diverse contexts, but could be
reduced to 28 000 unique jobs. Further classified using the OFO occupational catego-
ries, these 125 000 jobs were reduced to 1 200. This example reflects the potential of
the OFO to work towards job categorisation and greater standardisation. In a small
organisation this is perhaps not that significant. But think of its significance in an
organisation with between 500 and 1 000 employees. How much more significant at
sector level, where millions are employed, and in a country where multi-millions are
employed in diverse sectors.
Some advice from the experts:
¢ don’taimtorewritetheoFotosuityourownorganisationalcontext.Bearin
mindthattheoFoisagenericframeworkforalljobsacrossalleconomicsectors
inSouthAfrica.Worktowardsacomfortablematchofabout75%andlivewiththe
difference.
¢ Trytoaimforinclusionofanadditionaltitleinthealternativeorspecialisttitleas
afirststepintotheframework.
¢ Iftherelevanceandsignificanceofthetitleisrealised,itwillgrowfromthereinto
anoccupation.
Again, befriend your SETA, a good ally in working with the OFO.
28 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Working with the OFO in human resources managementThe OFO is also useful in profiling and describing labour needs in an organisation and
provides a useful framework for human resource management. Providing a generic
framework that requires contextualisation at the organisational level, the OFO can be
used for the following:
Aligning job profiles
One of the key challenges in human resource management is the misalignment of jobs
within and across the sector, and sometimes even within an organisation itself. The OFO
provides the framework for greater standardisation within and across organisations in
a sector through aligning job profiles to the OFO descriptors and tasks. For example, all
organisational job profiles in the job examples below could be aligned to the descriptor
and tasks for the Data Management Manager (code 133103) in the OFO. The BGIS Man-
ager in SANBI will have a similar job profile to the Biodiversity Information Manager in
Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency and the IT 4 Conservation Manager at the Endan-
gered Wildlife Trust, each contextualised to the specific organisation’s needs.
OFO code and title Organisational jobs
133103 Data Management Manager
BGISManager
SABIFManager
SIBISManager
BiodiversityInformationManager
BiodiversityKnowledgeManager
BiodiversitydataManager
BiodiversitydatabaseManager
IT4ConservationManager
eco-AdviceCo-ordinator
eco-Advice–CoastalSystemsManager
PlantRecordsofficer
WildlifeCrimedatabaseController
Developing contextualised job advertisements
As above in aligning job profiles to the occupation titles, descriptors and tasks of the
OFO, these standardised job profiles provide the basis for advertising jobs relative to the
generic skills defined in the OFO. These then need to be contextualised into the specific
organisational context in which the job is being advertised. This could aid the reading of
and responses to various advertisements through a standardised and clearer articulation
of job requirements.
29MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
Guiding performance management
The occupation descriptor and tasks outlined in the OFO unit groups could provide use-
ful guidelinesfor developing key performance indicators in performance management
systems. This could improve standardisation of performance management across similar
positions in the organisations and potentially minimise subjective assessments, a com-
mon challenge in performance management processes. See Module 6 for more on Per-
formance Management
Guiding career development
You will find in mapping jobs to the OFO that related jobs at different levels often fall
into the same occupational grouping. This could facilitate vertical and horizontal career
progression within a specific occupational grouping. It could similarly enable the move
from one occupational grouping to another, for example from major group 3 to major
group 2 and onto major group 1. This framework could make more explicit the opportuni-
ties for career growth across occupational groupings. See for example Appendix A: Map
of Conservation Jobs to the OFO and below.
Example 1:
2133
07
Par
k R
ang
er
Conservation ManagerCurator – Gardens National Stewardship
Policy Manager
Integrated Coastal
Management
Protected Area Manager Estate Manager Stewardship Manager
Reserve ManagerUrban Conservation Area
Manager
Assistant Reserve Manager
Nature Conservator
Assistant Nature Conservator
Regional Ranger
Ranger Corporal
Ranger Sergeant
Senior Section Ranger
Assistant Section RangerBiodiversity Conservation
Co-ordinator
Section Ranger
Duty Ranger
VER
TICA
L CA
REER
PRO
GRE
SSIO
N
HORIZONTAL CAREER PROGRESSION
30 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
OFO codeOrganisation
job titleOFO code
Organisation job title
OFO codeOrganisation
job title
112101
executive
director
executive
director:
Biodiversity
Management
112101
director
GeneralManager:
Biodiversity
Conservation
213307
ParkRanger
Conservation
Manager
213301
Conservation
Scientist
Nature
Conservator
314101
lifeSciences
Technician
Biodiversity
officer
Example 2:
31MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
The Occupations Qualification FrameworkThree qualifications sub-frameworks have been defined in the revision of the NQF:
¢ General and Further Education Qualifications Framework (GFEQF), which is the respon-
sibility of the Umalusi Quality Council and spans education and training in schools and
further education and training institutions;
¢ Higher Education Qualifications Framework (HEQF), the responsibility of the Higher Ed-
ucation Quality Council and spans academic training at university level from advanced
certificates through bachelors’ degrees, post-graduate diplomas, master’s and doc-
toral degrees; and
¢ The Occupations Qualifications Framework (OQF), the responsibility of the QCTO and
focuses on occupationally directed learning.
Though this module focuses only on the OQF, the following diagram provides a frame-
work within which to understand its role and function in skills development relative to
general, further and higher education.
QU
ALIFIC
AT
ION
LEA
RN
ING
C
ON
TE
XT
S
QU
ALIFIC
AT
ION
LEA
RN
ING
C
ON
TE
XT
S
QU
ALIT
Y
CO
UN
CIL
NQ
F LEV
EL
QU
ALIT
Y
CO
UN
CIL
LEA
RN
ING
C
ON
TE
XT
S
QU
ALIFIC
AT
ION
Doctoral Degree
UN
IVER
SITIES
HIG
HER
EDU
CA
TION
QU
ALIT
Y C
OU
NC
IL
NQF10
QU
ALIT
Y C
OU
NC
IL FOR
TRA
DE A
ND
OC
CU
PATIO
NS
WO
RK
PLA
CE B
ASED
NA
TION
AL SK
ILLS CER
TIFICA
TES NQ
F LEVELS 1 TO
10
Master’s Degree
NQF9
NA
TION
AL O
CC
UPA
TION
AL A
WA
RD
S NQ
F LEVELS 1 TO
9
Post-grad Diploma
NQF8
Bachelors Degree
NQF7
Adv. Certificate
NQF6
NQF5
Adv.NC (V) FET C
OLLEG
ES
NSC Grade 12
SCH
OO
LS
UM
ALU
SI
NQF4 FO
UN
DA
TION
AL LE
AR
NIN
G
CO
MP
ETENC
E
NC (V)Level 3
NSC Grade 11
NQF3
NC (V) Level 2
NSC Grade 10
NQF2
ABET4
WO
RK
PLA
CE
GETC Grade 9
NQF1
ABET1 to 3
Grades 1 to 8
Adapted from The National Skills
Development Handbook 2010/2011
32 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Qualifications and certificates in the OQF
Qualifications and certificates in the OQF span the full spectrum of NQF levels 1 to 10.
Learning through the OQF is occupationally directed, as opposed to the GFEQF which
provides for foundational learning and the HEQF, which focuses on academic and disci-
pline-based learning.
The Skills Development Act (1998) defines an occupational qualification as one ‘…as-
sociated with a trade, occupation or profession, resulting from work-based learning and
consisting of knowledge, practical and work experience standards’. Qualifications or
part-qualifications are awarded on the basis of competence to perform within and rela-
tive to a specific occupation. This ability to perform competently is described as applied
competence – sometimes also referred to as occupational competence – and integrates
three components:
¢ Conceptual knowledge, theory and information specific to a particular occupation;
¢ Practical and applied skills as they relate to a specific occupation; and
¢ Workplace-based experience within the specific occupation.
Learning in the OQF, as is evident from these three competences, is strongly occupation-
ally directed and workplace based and culminates in three kinds of qualifications and
certificates.
The National Occupational Award (NOA)
The NOA certifies that a person is competent to perform an occupation in its totality,
with understanding, the requisite practical skill and workplace-based experience. NOAs
are recognised by their title, which is made up of, for example:
NOA + OFO occupational title + NQF level + specialisation and context
National Occupation Award: Park Ranger Level 6
Specialisation: Reserve Management
The National Skills Certificate (NSC)
The NSC responds to the need for smaller units of competence other than the full occu-
pational award. The NSC certifies a practitioner competent for an occupationally related
set of skills (not the entire occupation). Some contexts in which the NSC is more effective
than the NOA include:
33MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
¢ Responding to a particular specialisation in an occupation, for example, Geographic In-
formation System skills in conservation planning or environmental impact assessment
training for Environmental Managers;
¢ Innovation and development might require the acquisition of a new set of occupa-
tionally related skills, for example social learning processes for Stewardship Extension
Officers or Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement training for Environmental
Educators;
¢ NOAs might be cumbersome and less effective for lower level occupations where an
NSC might provide a more focused approach in responding to skills needs;
¢ Regulatory authorities might require some form of licensing for which practitioners
would be required to demonstrate competence, for example firearms licensing for
Field Rangers or first aid training;
¢ Some jobs are made up of a group of discrete job tasks and the NSC could respond to
very specific training needs within a job task.
Foundational Learning Competence (FLC)
FLC is standardised ‘learning assumed to be in place’ for all occupational qualifications
from levels 2 to 4 of the NQF and addresses communications and mathematical literacy
required within an occupation. FLC focuses on foundational learning competence to ac-
cess and progress through occupational learning.
Learning components in the OQF
The occupationally directed curriculum in the OQF has three learning components re-
lated to the three areas of competence described above. In qualifications development
processes these learning compo-
nents are also referred to as cur-
riculum components. Together
these learning or curriculum com-
ponents specify requirements to
be covered in a qualification or
certificate. Each learning compo-
nent must constitute at least 20%
of the full curriculum. The balance
of 40% can be allocated across the
three curriculum components as
deemed appropriate by the Com-
munity of Expert Practitioners
(CEP – see below).
Learning components in occupational qualifications and certificates
Conceptual
knowledge,
theory,
information
Minimum
20%Balanceof
40%allocated
acrossthe
threelearning
components
asappropriate
anddecidedby
CeP
Practical and applied
skills
Minimum
20%
Work experience
Minimum
20%
34 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
¢ Knowledge components must be addressed in the curriculum through identifying
knowledge and theory general to the occupation, as well as specialised and contextual
knowledge and theory.
¢ Practical skills development can be enabled in a simulated work space and focuses on
the practice/practical skills associated with work in this occupation.
¢ Work experience must be undertaken in a real and authentic workplace and provides
an opportunity for integrating knowledge and practice and applying it in the real work
context.
Learning in the OQF is therefore a combination of learning in the formal context and
learning in the workplace.
Developing qualifications in the OQF
Qualifications are developed by a Development Quality Partner (DQP). The DQP is drawn
from a Community of Expert Practitioners (CEP) and can be professional bodies, occu-
pational institutes and associations, employer associations, trade unions, research insti-
tutes or the SETA. CATHSSETA, for example, could register as a DQP for the development
of qualifications related to conservation occupations through the Conservation Cham-
ber.
The DQP leads the process of qualifications development, drawing on the CEP through
the process for consolidation and validation of developments and decisions made in de-
veloping qualifications and certificates. Generally the process involves:
Activity Output Consultations
Ste
p 1
Identifytheoccupation
forwhichaqualification
orskillsprogrammeis
needed
oFotitleandcodeidentified,
descriptorandtasksverified
Community
ofexpert
practitioners
Ste
p 2
Profiletheoccupation
intermsofapplied
competence(knowledge,
practicalskillsandwork
experience)
occupationalprofileinline
withtheoFounitgrouptitle,
descriptorandtasks
Knowledge and theory Practical skills Work experience
General,specialisedandcontextual
Applyingknowledgeandtheoryanddevelopingskills
Integratingknowledge,theoryandpracticeinan
authenticworkenvironment
Formal learning context Workplace-based learning
CEP:Agroupof
practitioners
inaspecific
occupationwhoare
knowledgeableabout
currentpractices
intheoccupation
–forexample,
conservation
professionals,
environmental
educators,
information
managers,scientists,
etc.
35MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
Qualifications and standards development
with opportunity for participation at
Ste
p 3
designlearningprocess
andidentifysubjects
andtopicsnecessaryfor
knowledgecomponent
learningframeworkand
subjectsandtopicsfor
knowledgecomponent
lecturers,
trainersand
providers
Ste
p 4 Validatelearning
processwithbroader
constituency
Approvedlearningframework Community
ofexpert
practitioners
Ste
p 5 developassessment
guidelines
Sampleassessmenttasksand
exemplars
lecturers,
trainersand
providers
Ste
p 6 Qualificationand
certificatesdeveloped
Registeredqualificationsand
certificates
Qualification
development
Facilitator
The development of qualifications is a broadly consultative process and requires ongo-
ing interactions with the CEP, who are the occupational practitioners familiar with the
intimate details of the job. It is, however, not feasible for all practitioners to be involved
all the time. The following diagram shows the various points in the process that require
inputs from the broader constituent CEP. These are points at which practitioners in the
field can make their inputs into qualifications development processes.
Steps Participants
8 Qualificationsandstandards
developmentandregistration
Qualificationsdevelopment
Facilitator(QdF)withQCTofor
registration
7 developtheoccupational
assessmentspecification
AssessmentQualityPartner
togetherwiththeQdF
6 Consolidatingandverifying
thecurriculumframework
relativetooccupationalprofile
CePfacilitatedbytheregistered
QdF
5 defininglearningprocessand
curriculumframework
Workinggroupnominatedby
dQPandwithinCeP
4 Consolidationandverification
ofoccupationalprofile
CePfacilitatedbytheregistered
QdF
3 Profilingoccupationforwhich
qualificationwillbedeveloped
Workinggroupnominatedby
dQPandwithinCeP
2 Qualificationsscopingmeeting CePdirectedbyaregisteredQdF
1 dQPappliesforregistrationto
developqualification
Forexample,CATHSSeTAor
professionalbodyappliesto
QCTo
36 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Appendix A:
Conservation Jobs Mapped to OFO Occupations – 2012
OFO title Organisational title
112101 Chief Executive Officer Chief Executive Officer
112101 Managing Director Managing Executive: Conservation Services
112101 Executive Director Executive Director: Biodiversity Conservation Operations
Executive Director: Biodiversity Management
Chief Director
Chief Negiotiator
Executive Director: Operations
Chief Operations Manager
112101 Director General Manager: Veterinary Services
General Manager: Land Estate Management
General Manager: Savanna Ecology
General Manager: Park Planning and Development
General Manager: People and Conservation
General Manager: People and Parks
Regional General Manager: Parks
General Manager: Operations
General Manager: Park Planning
Senior General Manager: Planning and Wildlife Management
Senior General Manager: Science and Research
General Manager: Scientific Services
General Manager: Environmental Management
General Manager: Corporate Environmental Investigations
General Manager: Policy and Governance
General Manager: Biodiversity Conservation
General Manager: Conservation Management
General Manager: Planning and Environment Co-ordination
General Manager: Protected Areas
Director: Biodiversity Management
Regional Manager
Chief Director: Conservation, Gardens and Toursim Management
37MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
112101 Director (cont.) Chief Director: Biodiversity Planning and Mainstreaming
Director: Biodiversity Mainstreaming
Director: Managed Network
Chief Director: Sustainable Use of the Environment
Director: Nature Conservation
Chief Director: Oceans and Coastal Research
Chief Director: Oceans Conservation
Chief Director: Integrated Coastal Management
Chief Director: Biodiversity and Conservation
Chief Director: Transfrontier Conservation
Director: Oceans Conservation
Director: Biodiversity Education and Empowerment
Director: Ocean and Coastal Research
Director: Integrated Coastal Management
Director: Oceans Research
Director: Biodiversity Conservation
Director: Resource Use
Director: Biodiversity Risk Management
Director: Regulatory and Monitoring Services
Director: International Biodiversity Services and Heritage
Director: Transfrontier Conservation Areas
Director: Planning and Development
Head: Scientific Services
Head: Biodiversity Research and Assessment
Director: Climate Change
121905 Programme or Project Manager
SABIF Manager
Deputy Director: Resource Protection
Deputy Director: ICM
Deputy Director: Estuary Management
Scientific Manager: Oceans and Coastal Research
Scientific Manager: Biodiversity Research
Programme Manager: Grasslands / Freshwater / Fynbos / Invasives / GMOs
Head: Conservation Partnerships and Projects
Stewardship Programme Manager
121301 Policy and Planning Manager
Senior Manager:Policy Research and Development
Manager: Policy Research and Development
133101 Chief Information Officer Director: Biodiversity Information Management
Manager: Science Support
38 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
122301 Research Manager / Research Director
Chief Director: Applied Biodiversity Research
Chief Director: Climate Change and Bio-adaptation
Director: Zoological Systematics
Chief Director: Biosystematics and Collections
Deputy Director: Oceans and Coastal Research
133103 Data Management Manager BGIS Manager
SIBIF Manager
Biodiversity Information Manager
Biodiversity Knowledge Manager
Biodiversity Data Manager
Biodiversity Database Manager
Biodiversity information management and dissemination
IT 4 Conservation Manager
Eco-Advice Co-ordinator
Eco-Advice - Coastal Systems Manager
Plant Records Officer
Wildlife Crime Database Controller
251202 Programmer Analyst
– with suggested amendment to the descriptor and tasks and recommended change to spelling of GIS in the OFO – see report, section 6
Systems Analyst
251202 GiS Specialist / … / Technician
GiS Research Technician
Senior GIS Analyst
Marine GIS Analyst
213105 Cell Geneticist Quantitative Geneticist
213107 Marine Biologist Marine Biologist
Coastal and Marine Ecologist
Marine Ecologist
213202 Agricultural Scientist Reproductive Biologist
263203 Geographer Geographer
213302 Environmental Auditor Environmental Health Scientist
213305 Air Pollution Analyst Atmostpheric Modeller
211201 Meterologist Meteorologist
Climate Scientist
211402 Geophysicist / Hydrologist Hydro-geophysicist
Hydrologist
Geohydrologist
39MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
213301 Ecologist Ecologist
Park Ecologist
Regional Resource Use Ecologist
Eco-Advice
Eco-Advice Coastal Systems
Freshwater Ecosystems Ecologist
213106 Botanist Botanist
213108 Microbiologist Microbiologist
213109 Zoologist Zoologist
Mammologist
263101 Environmental Economist Environmental Economics
211401 Geological / 211402 Physical Oceanographer
Oceanographer
213102 Biologist Biologist
213304 Soil Conservationist Soil Scientist
213105 Biotechnologist Biotechnologist
263202 Archaeologist / 211401 Palaeontologist
Archeologist
216501 Cartographer Cartographer
Chief Cartographic Information Manager
213106 Plant Biologist / Ecologist Threatened Plant Ecologist
Plant Ecologist
Alien Species Ecologist
213301 Animal Ecologist Threatened Animals Ecologist
Animal Ecologist
314101 Life Sciences Technician Marine Research Technicians
Ecological Technician
Priority Species Technician
Resource Use Research Technician
Aquatic Technician
Terrestrial Technician
Research Assistants
Biodiversity Officer
Environmental Officer
Nature Conservation Technician
Planning Technician
Protected Area Planning Technician
40 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
314101 Life Sciences Technician (cont.)
Bioregional Planning Technician
Integrated Environmental Management Technician
213301 Conservation Scientist
– with proposed amendments to the tasks list to capture monitoring and evaluation of resarch programmes and adding an alternative title – see report, section 6
Field Officer
Senior Field Officers and Project Executants in specific contexts
Nature Conservation Scientist
Specialist Scientist
Production Scientist
Protected Area Audit and Expansion Scientist
Co-ordinator: Integrated Environmental Management
213302 Environmental Scientist
– with proposed additions to the task list and alternative titles – see report, section 6
Remote Sensing
Data Encoding and Georeferencing Supervisor
Environmental Chemist
Agro-meteorologist
Waste Management Specialist
Coastal Engineer
225101 Veterinarian Wildlife Veterinarian
213307 Park Ranger
– with addition to unit groups tasks, amendment to occupation descriptor and addition to alternative titles – see report, section 6
National Stewardship Policy Manager
Protected Area Manager
Urban Conservation Area Manager
Conservation Manager
Estate Manager
Reserve Manager
Curator - Gardens
Stewardship Manager
Integrated Coastal Zone Manager
Assistant Reserve Manager
Biodiversity Conservation Co-ordinator
Nature Conservator
Assistant Nature Conservator
Section Ranger / Section Head
Senior Section Ranger
Regional Ranger
Duty Ranger
216401 Urban and Regional Planner
– with suggested amendment to unit group title, descriptor, tasks, occupation and descriptor – see report, section 6
Principal Planner: Integrated Environmental Management
Alien Species Threat Planner
District Conservation Officer
Planner: Environmental Management Systems
Protected Area Planner
41MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
216401 Urban and Regional Planner (cont.)
Biodiversity Planner
Conservation Planner
Bioregional Planner
Systematic Conservation Planner
IEM and Standards Planner
Development IEM Planner
Impact Assessor
Protected Area Planning Co-ordinator
Senior Conservation Planner
611304 Horticulturist Horticulturist
821402 Nursery Assistant /
611304 Nursery Person /
611302 Landscape gardener /
821401 Garden Workers
Groundsman
Nursery Worker
Nursery Attendant
Tree Breeder
134904 Museum Manager Museum Manager
262102 Curatorial Services Manager
Curator
213302 Environmental Officer Environmental Officer
134901 Environmental Manager
– with amendment to title, descriptor, tasks and alternative titles – see report, section 6
Environmental Manager
Programme Managers in different conservation contexts, eg. carnivore, birds of prey, wildlife
Head: Biodiversity Research and Assessment
Head: Landuse Planning and Integrated Environmental Management
Manager: Conservation Planning
Manager: Biodiversity Planning and Management
Co-ordinator: Integrated Environmental Management
Scientific Authority Co-ordinator
134901 Wild Life Management Services Management
Head: Game Capture
Officer in Charge
Capture Officer
Wildlife Case Manager
Hunting and Extension Manager
Law and Policy Enforcement Manager
Law and Policy Manager
Permit Manager
Boma Supervisor
213301 Species Protection Officer Permitting Officer
Permit Officer
42 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Community Conservation
– see report, section 7
Wildlife Investigation Officer
Marine Prosecution Officer
Anti Poaching Officer
Anti Poaching Unit Officer
Field Ranger
Compliance Officer
Staff Sergeant
Nature Conservator Assistants
Park Wardens
Ranger Corporal
Ranger Sergeant
Assistant Section Ranger
Marine Ranger
821203 Game Farm Worker Animal Attendant
Social Ecologist
– see report, section 7
Head: Socio-ecological Science
Social Ecologist Scientist - Research
Chief Technician: Social Ecology
Social Ecologist Scientist - Assessment
Social Ecologist: Environmental Awareness
Social Ecologist: Land Claims
Manager: Social Science Research
Community Conservation
– see report, section 7
Community Conservation Manager
People and Parks Manager
Co-ordinator: Social Planning
Community Conservation Officer
Community Outreach Officer
Economic Empowerment Officer
Community Facilitator
People and Conservation Officer
Manager: Awareness and Outreach
Regional Co-ordinators: People and Conservation
Manager: People and Conservation
Manager: Community Based Conservation
Manager: Youth Development
263206 Heritage Consultant Cultural Heritage Officer
Manager: Cultural Heritage
Environmental Education
– see report, section 7
Environmental Education Manager
Manager: Environmental Education
Environmental Education Officer
Interpretation Officer
43MODULE 3 – The Organising Framework for Occupations
Environmental Education (cont.) Interpretive Officer
Cultural Heritage Site Interpretation Officer
235101 Education and Training Advisor
Conservation Leadership Programme Manager
Conservation and Leadership Training Manager
Environmental Leaders Programme Manager
BHCD Programme Director
Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Module Relevant and Quality
Training
Skills Planning and Development for Biodiversity
Contents
Introducing relevant and quality training 2
Training programmes for the environment 4
Training needs in the sector 7
Respondingtotrainingneeds 10
Evaluating quality and relevance of training 11
evaluationbeforetraining:toinformthechoiceoftraining 11programme
evaluationduringthetraining 16
evaluatingtheimpactofthecourse 18
Planning an evaluation 19
2 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Introducing relevant and quality trainingVarious approaches are used in organisations to address skills needs. These include
coaching, mentoring, learning exchanges, peer learning and the all-time favourite – train-
ing. Training is by far the most common response to skills needs and has become almost
synonymous with skills planning and development. Workplace skills plans and Sector
skills plans show evidence of this overemphasis on training in response to skills needs.
However, in many organisations training budgets are limited and if budget cuts are
implemented, the training budget goes first. Yet we also hear stories of unspent training
budgets being reallocated, or of organisations scrambling to use unspent budgets (often
less effectively) as the end of a financial year approaches.
To summarise, in the skills planning and development space there is often an overempha-
sis on the need for training coupled with financial challenges linked to limited budgets,
the threat of budget cuts or the reallocation of funds.
A first response to this challenging scenario is perhaps to consider alternative approach-
es to skills development, such as coaching, mentoring, counselling and peer learning, as
noted in Module 2: A Guide to Improved Workplace Skills Planning. However, it is impor-
tant to recognise that training does have its place in response to some skills needs. For
example, as environmental impact assessment legislation evolves, training could support
practitioners to explore this evolving policy framework and its implications for develop-
ment and conservation. Similarly, ongoing GIS refresher training might keep practitioners
abreast of the latest software advances to enable their work in conservation planning
and management.
Training can also complement other approaches to skills planning. For example, a junior
Community Conservation Officer may benefit from training in community-based natural
resource management, while at the same time working closely with his/her manager
in a mentoring relationship. In the same way, participating in an e-learning platform to
explore developments in the field of agriculture extension might support an understand-
ing of extension approaches used by a senior staff member.
Given the significant role that training does play in skills planning and development, how
then do we ensure that the training is relevant and of a quality appropriate to justify
the investment of time and resources? This module aims to assist you in developing a
framework for assessing the relevance and quality of training offerings, to help you:
¢ Decide beforehand which programme is most appropriate to the skills development
needs in your organisation;
¢ Evaluate the training as it unfolds; and
¢ Evaluate the impact of the training back in the workplace.
3MODULE 4 – Relevant and Quality Training
Before addressing these guidelines, however, we briefly look at common challenges as-
sociated with accessing quality and relevant training; at training programmes available
for conservation, environment and natural resource management; and at the ongoing
skills needs experienced by organisations and the ways in which some of them are re-
sponding to these needs.
KEY CHALLENGES IN ACCESSING
RELEVANT AND QUALITY
TRAINING
There are no providers in the
field dealing with recognition of
prior learning in relation to Field Ranger training
Needs are not always
appropriately prioritised
Some short courses are particularly
expensive, and unaffordable for
restricted training budgets
Some short courses are
pegged at an inappropriate
accreditation level for the potential
participants
Mentoring to support an
application of learning in context
remains a key challenge
There is sometimes little
management support for skills
development
No local training for specific skills
requirements,for example,
managing a World Heritage Site
Too few accredited
providers and at times also
geographically inaccessible
4 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Training programmes for the environmentA review of training programmes for conservation training was commissioned in 2010 by
GreenMatte r, a sector-wide partnership programme aimed at supporting skills develop-
ment for biodiversity. The review reflects a range of training programmes to support
skills development for biodiversity, ranging from shorter, very specific courses to longer-
term, full qualifications. The analysis offers an initial list of skills training programmes for
regular updating and classifies the programmes according to:
¢ Name and type of training service provider
Universities and private and public providers are listed in this resource. Trends show
that most longer degree and diploma courses are offered by universities or univer-
sities of technology, whereas short courses are offered mainly by smaller private
providers. These providers appear to be mostly private consulting firms and NPOs.
¢ Course title
All skills programmes have relatively explicit titles and address specific skills. One
key trend emerging from these course focus areas, as reflected in the titles, is that
all short courses speak mainly to a very specific skills set, rather than to a particular
occupationally related set of skills. For example, some short courses listed are those
for Organic Vegetable Gardening, Horticulture, Wild Flower Identification, Climate
Change Adaptation and Mitigation, and Best Practice in Sewerage and Waste Water
Management. These courses appear to have developed in relation to a specific indus-
try need and within a specific organisational context, defined either by the provider
or by associate organisations.
The longer courses offered by universities are those traditionally focused on foun-
dational knowledge around a key area of focus, for example Nature Conservation,
Bachelor of Science and other traditional pre-service qualifications. Courses related
to specific functional areas that are emerging include that of Field Ranger and Guide.
¢ Frequency in offering
Most courses are offered either annually (in the case of longer courses) or on demand
(in the case of shorter courses). Some short courses are offered more frequently, for
example two or three times a year, and in one case – the Global Carbon Exchange – of-
ferings are on a monthly basis.
¢ Prerequisites for participation
All long courses define prerequisites as per the traditional university entrance require-
ments, for example matriculation pass for undergraduate diplomas or degrees and
Thelistofskills
trainingprogrammes
isavailableinan
excelspreadsheet
atwww.greenmatter.
co.za.
Seeadviceonthe
reputation of the providerin
relevanceandquality
indicatorsbelow.
Interestingly,despite
thevariousofferings
ofField Ranger and Guiding,thisskillsneedremainsin
manyorganisations.
Akeychallengeis
theaccessibility ofthesecourses.It
isworthpondering
whythisisso,given
thewidearrayof
offerings,manyon
demand.
5MODULE 4 – Relevant and Quality Training
the traditional first degree or diploma, honours and master’s for entry into honours,
master’s and doctorate studies respectively. Many short courses have no prerequi-
sites other than literacy, cited in a few cases, although some require a matriculation
certificate.
¢ Duration of course
Long courses have the traditional university-based minimum duration, for example
three to four years for undergraduate, one year for honours, and two for master’s and
doctorate studies. Shorter courses generally last between one and five days although
a few are of longer duration, for example two months.
¢ Course site
Many skills training programmes are off-site, which might have implications for the
practical application of learning in context. Some providers offer on-site training. How-
ever, consider whether this on-site training is in fact in relation to workplace-based
practices or simply a training venue on site, which might have the same challenges as
off-site training.
¢ Costing of courses
Course costs generally range from R5 000 to R10 000, with some short courses on
offer for under R1 000.
¢ Accreditation status
Longer courses in the database are registered within the university accreditation sys-
tem and so carry accreditation levels from six through to nine. A trend in short courses
is that they are either not accredited – posing a key challenge as many organisations
require some form of accreditation to secure an investment in training – or they are
accredited at levels one through five, perhaps inappropriate for the level at which the
training is required.
¢ Contact details of provider
The database provides users with the contact details of the respective providers.
Towhatextentis
anapplication of learning facilitated?
doesthecourse
structure(including
duration)enable
anappropriate
applicationof
learningincontext?
Costisoften
associatedwith
quality,butyoumaywantto
considerother
qualityindicators
whenselecting
appropriate
trainingforyour
organisation’sneeds.
Howimportantis
accreditationin
yourorganisation?
Whatlevels of accreditationarerequiredtomeet
yourtrainingneeds?
doyoufindanyof
theseoptionsinthe
database?
6 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Think about the skills needs in your organisation. Are there any learning programmes
in the list that might address these needs? Write down the skills needs in the left-
hand column and the learning programmes that might be appropriatein the right-
hand column.
Skills needs Learning programmes
7MODULE 4 – Relevant and Quality Training
Training needs in the sector
Following the exercise of mapping job titles for biodiversity to the OFO, as outlined
in Module 3 and contained in the Final Task Team Report for Mapping Conservation
Occupations (posted on www.greenmatter.co.za and available from the Conserva-
tion Chamber of CATHSSETA), our next job was to consider qualifications and skills
programmes available to meet the skills needs across each occupational group. The
ultimate intention of this exercise was to inform possible processes of qualifications
development in the sector and in collaboration with CATHSSETA. Taking one occupa-
tional group at a time, and considering the specific skills needs related to that group,
it became evident as participants in the HRD Network Workshop V worked through
the list that there is a wide spectrum of existing learning programme options to
meet the particular skills needs at different occupational levels.
In reviewing training programmes in relation to the occupations defined in the OFO,
there doesn’t appear to be a shortage of programmes responding to some of the scarce
and critical skills needs in the sector.
Scarce skills: insufficient people qualified and experienced for required occupations.
21 scarce skills identified in the environment sector
¢ Agriculture Extension professionals
¢ Curators for biodiversity collections
¢ Ecologists, especially for marine and aquatic environments
¢ Engineers with a biodiversity specialisation
¢ Geneticists, Genomic Investigator, Molecular Biologist, Molecular Geneticist
¢ GIS Specialists and Technicians
¢ HCD Specialists, Biodiversity Education and HCD Specialists, Human Resource and
Training Professionals
¢ ICT Specialists and Technicians with biodiversity skills: Service Managers, Systems
Analysts, Web and Multimedia Developers, Applications Programmers, Database
Designers and Administrators
¢ Lawyers with an environmental specialisation
¢ Monitoring Specialists, Species Protection Officers and Inspectors
¢ Policy Developers and Analysts, Urban and Regional Planners with biodiversity
insight
(continued overleaf)
Scarce skills refertooccupations/
competent
professionalsfor
jobsthatareinshort
supply,forexample,
Taxonomists,
ecologists,
Biodiversity
Information
Managers,etc.See
thePrioritySkills
Report2012fora
comprehensivelist
ofscarceandcritical
skillsforbiodiversity
atwww.greenmatter.co.za.
8 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
¢ Resource Economists with biodiversity-related specialisation
¢ Social Scientists specialising in environment, intellectual property and Indigenous
Biodiversity Knowledge Specialists
¢ Soil Scientists
¢ Statistical Ecologists and Modellers
¢ Taxonomists, Systematists for marine and terrestrial systems
¢ Biodiversity Monitors in marine and other ecosystems
¢ EIA Practitioners
¢ Protected Area Managers
¢ Social Ecologists
¢ Wildlife Veterinarians
As noted, there are enough training programmes for most of these scarce skills or occu-
pations. The challenge appears to be that not enough people are trained in these areas,
and if they are, few have an interest in these particular job profiles or the necessary
experience to perform optimally in the job.
For example, Ecologists are trained through a Bachelor of Science degree with a spe-
cialisation in Ecology, Zoology and/or Botany. However, to become a fully trained and
competent Ecologist requires a considerable amount of mentoring in the practical work
environment to apply learning and gain the necessary experience. A Taxonomist similarly
trains through a Bachelor of Science degree, with Taxonomy as a major, but this occupa-
tion appears to attract little interest in the academic world. Veterinarians tend to prefer
domestic animals to wildlife, rendering this a scarce skill in our sector.
A Biodiversity Information Manager, on the other hand – like a number of other scarce
skills such as Biodiversity Engineers, Social Ecologists and People Development Practitio-
ners – requires the linking of two or more academic disciplines. For example, a Biodiversity
Information Manager requires both ICT skills and a Natural Science background, which
traditionally do not complement each other at universities. Similarly, the disciplines of
Engineering and Natural Sciences needed by the Biodiversity Engineer seldom co-exist
at universities. And People Development Professionals are trained in disciplines far re-
moved from Biodiversity Professionals.
The challenge is then not always to develop specific learning programmes to meet these
needs, but to encourage entry into and specialisation in these scarce fields of study, as
well as to explore ways to bring certain disciplines together in the workplace. Respond-
ing to specific learning programmes needed, for example in the mixed disciplines needed
for the Biodiversity Engineer or the Biodiversity Information Manager, requires more of
a systems response through engaging with higher education institutions for curriculum
reorientation or innovation.
Anecdotalinsights
suggestthatittakes
up to 12 yearstotrainafully
competentecologist
afterfoundational
learningthrougha
B.Scdegree.
9MODULE 4 – Relevant and Quality Training
Critical skills: the absence of a specific skills set in an occupation.
Critical skills are a required competency set/set of skills within a particular job. A com-
mon challenge in our sector is that natural science professionals are often promoted into
management and leadership positions based on their natural science competence. This
creates a gap in leadership and management capacity among some management staff.
Similarly, skills such as social learning facilitation, stakeholder engagement, advocacy
and lobbying are rarely taught at training institutions and often require training in the
field rather than through a skills programme. This is also the case for integrative and
adaptive skills.
Five sets of critical skills identified for biodiversity
Leadership skills Management skills Enabling skills Integration skills Adaptive skills
Leadership for
senior and enabling
managers in
organisations and
the sector as a
whole, towards
organisational
and sector-wide
innovation
Often used
interchangeably
with leadership skills
but are a distinct
yet related set of
skills for effectively
managing resources
to deliver on
organisational
strategy
Social learning,
facilitation and
communication,
knowledge
brokering and
advocacy, mentoring
and role modelling
Working across
fields, disciplines,
sectors and interests
Working in contexts
of uncertainty and
complexity through
critical and systems
thinking
What are the scarce skills in your organisation?
How can you respond to these scarce skills in your organisation?
Critical skills refertoarequired
competencyset,for
exampleGISskills
foranAgriculture
extensionofficer
ormanagement
skillsforaReserve
Manager.
10 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Responding to training needs
Despite these common skills challenges in organisations, responses appear to be organi-
sation specific. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, for example, has a training academy through which
it tries to respond to internal scarce and critical skills needs. Other organisations, such
as CapeNature, engage private training providers to address the leadership skills needs
specific to their particular organisation. Some use in-house specialists to train others,
such as Scientists in GDARD train others in GIS skills. Other approaches include bursary
programmes to address scarce skills, such as in the case of Eastern Cape Parks and Tour-
ism Agency awarding bursaries to members of communities adjacent to their reserves.
These are only some examples, with many more organisation-specific responses across
the sector. In this broad context of skills needs, some of which persist despite extensive
organisational investment, common questions among managers and learners are:
How do we choose quality and relevant training relative to our training needs and
organisation?
How do we ensure this quality and relevance through the offering of the course?
How do we know that the training has had its intended impact for the learners, the
work they do and, ultimately, the organisation?
These questions point to the need for closer evaluation of the following: the wide
spectrum of training programmes on offer to address specific skills needs, the training
programme as it rolls out and the impact of this training on the developing skills of indi-
viduals, how this translates into improved performance in their respective jobs and how
this contributes to effective and efficient organisations. In the next section we explore
some guidelines in the hope of answering these questions.
What are some of the critical skills in your organisation?
In which job function do you find them?
What are some of the ways in which you can address them?
11MODULE 4 – Relevant and Quality Training
Evaluating quality and relevance of trainingIt is useful to evaluate training at three levels, each of which has a different focus. Although
there are many training programmes on offer to meet the training needs in institutions,
some are of a better quality and more relevant than others. The first level of evaluation is
to choose a particular course. Once the course has been chosen, you might want to evalu-
ate its roll-out to get an
idea of how the train-
ees engage with the
learning strategies and
content of the course.
This is your second level
of evaluation. Once
the course has been
completed, the third
level of evaluation is to
determine what the im-
pact of the course has
been for the individual,
their job performance
and the strengthening
of the organisation.
Evaluation before training: to inform the choice of training programme
Why do we do training in our organisations? Almost always, the ultimate objective is
to strengthen the organisation and the work it does within the sector. However, to do
this, we need to work on the competence of individual employees and the work they
do. The objective then of training is often broader than only the skills needs of individu-
als, though this is the starting point. Training also aims to strengthen the functional and
professional performance of individuals in the workplace.
As reflected in the database, there are many training programmes to choose from. How
then do you know which programme would be most suitable? The first step is to clarify
the objectives of the training, focusing not only on the skills needs of the individual, but
also more broadly on the implications of this training for improved performance towards
organisational and sector strengthening.
Aftertraining
Beforetraining
Duringtraining
Impact oftraining
Trainees’ engagementwith the training programme
Choosing a training programme
12 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Think of a particular skills need that you have identified in your organisation.
Describe the
skills need of the
individual here.
How would addressing
this need improve the
individual’s performance
and the function/unit/
department’s performance?
How does this
improvement in
performance support
the strengthening of
your organisation?
Write down the objectives of your training.
13MODULE 4 – Relevant and Quality Training
Now that you have established the objectives of your envisaged training, how do you
choose the best option to meet these needs? We suggest using two key aspects to guide
your decision making, i.e. the quality and relevance of training.
The quality of training
When deciding on the quality of a training programme, you have to know what you are
looking for. What defines the quality of training?
The things that you listed above start to define your understanding of what constitutes a
quality training programme. In effect, what you have done is to start defining quality indi-
cators for training in your organisation. These might include, for example, the content of
the training programme, the training site, the
experience and qualification of the facilitators,
the way in which training is conducted or the
learning methodologies used, and possibly the
link between the training and the requirements
of the workplace. These quality indicators can
be useful in assisting you to select training pro-
grammes and motivate your choice, for example
to your Executive Committee, line managers or
human resource development manager.
Think of a course that you recently participated in, selected for learners in your
organisation or recommended to your executive for use in your organisation.
Name and describe the
course briefly here.
What are some of the things in this course that
shaped your choice? What indicated its quality or
lack thereof? Write some of these aspects in the
space below.
Eureta Rosenberg, formerly the Strategic Advisor to the GreenMatter Programme,saysthatqualityintrainingrefersto‘…thestrengthofthecontentandthe
educational(delivery)aspectsofthecourse…’
14 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Colleagues in the Organisational and Human Resource Development Networkoffersomeadditionalindicatorswhichmighthelpyourdecisionwhenchoosingaqualitytrainingprogramme.
Indicators for quality training
Credibility of training provider
¢ Accreditation of provider with relevant skills training authority
¢ Programme approval with relevant skills training authority to offer the suggested training
¢ Qualifications of trainers and assessors
¢ Experience of trainers and assessors
¢ Profile of provider in terms of experience of offering and reputation as training service provider
Course details
¢ Extent to which aims and objectives align to specified training needs and the organisational development requirements
¢ Responsiveness to training needs and organisational-specific contexts
¢ Level of course (e.g.. NQF level) relative to level of learners’ qualification
¢ Programme of delivery
¢ Site of delivery
¢ Learning methodologies used
¢ Level of engagement of learners through tasks and on-course interactions
¢ Costing structure of the course
Course evaluation
¢ Existing ethos of evaluation on the course
¢ Roll out of theory of course into practice
¢ Relevance of learning to workplace training needs
¢ Providers open and responsive to engage through formative evaluation
¢ Learner feedback
¢ Organisational feedback
SAQA accreditation isnotsynonymouswithquality.Neitherare
qualificationsandexperience.You
mightneedtousemorethanonesetof
indicatorstoassessqualityoftraining.
Aproviderconfidentoftheirquality
offeringwouldnothesitatetoshare
previous evaluations withapotentialclient.Youcouldalsofollow
upwithsomeofthereferences
offered.
Thetheoryofthetrainingprogramme
mightnotmatchitspractice.You
havethefullrighttointerrogate a programmebeforecommitting
yourorganisation.Askcriticalquestions
aboutthecourseanddetails,e.g.on-
sitetrainingdoesnotmeanthesameas
workplace-basedtraining.Theformer
couldsimplyuseatrainingvenueinthe
workplacewithverylittlelinkbetween
learningandtheworkofthelearner.
15MODULE 4 – Relevant and Quality Training
A s
yste
ms
app
roac
h t
o t
rain
ing
¢ Learners are part of the course system. They
bring much that is positive and challenging to
a course.
¢ The learners’ workplace is a system which
needs to interact effectively with the course
and the learner.
¢ The course itself is an activity system of
interacting factors and processes/flows;
focus on the interaction between elements as
much as, or even more than, on the elements
themselves, e.g. a knowledgeable presenter
will not necessarily engage the learners. Think
of the coherence within and across the course.
¢ Course delivery and design should take all of
the above into account, e.g. selection of
students (how they will relate to the purpose
and content), articulation with the workplace, a
course co-ordinator to hold the course together conceptually and logistically.
Ad
ult
le
arn
ing
¢ Content cannot be simply and neutrally transmitted – learners need to actively
make meaning.
¢ Applied – learners must see the relevance of content and activities.
¢ Learners need opportunities to interact (with others, ideas, tasks) in order to
learn actively.
¢ Acknowledge power relations and diverse backgrounds and ensure that all
have access/suitable learning opportunities.
¢ Engage diverse language styles.
¢ Language use is not neutral, but a critical element of teaching.
¢ Resources must support and/or extend taught content.
¢ Learning arises from doing.
¢ Work from what learners already know but also present new knowledge.
En
viro
nm
en
tal
lear
nin
g
¢ Open-ended outcomes to learning – often seeking new solutions and practices.
¢ Participatory and egalitarian processes – we are all learners and teachers.
¢ Critical thinking – not to take information at face value.
¢ All knowledge is open to review, but not all knowledge is equally valid (test
and seek reality congruence).
¢ Foreground values and ethics and probe underlying assumptions.
¢ Explore deep transformation in social, organisational and personal values and
practices.
¢ Reflexivity – cycles of personal and social learning – acting – evaluating –
further learning.
¢ Positive – from action to better action (personal, organisational).
¢ Place current issues in historical context.
¢ Apply principles of holism, integration, even when teaching within a discipline.
Eureta Rosenberg, formerly the Strategic Advisor to GreenMatter,offersthefollowingadditionalquality
indicators:
¢ Asystemsapproachtotraining
¢ Adultlearningtheory
¢ environmentallearningtheory
Thesethreepointsmightbeuseful
ideastotakeintoyourengagementwith
potentialtrainingproviders.
16 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
The relevance of training
The relevance of training is included in considering the quality of training, but merits
reflection in its own right as well. When thinking about relevance, the question is –
relevant to what? If training is aimed at improving skills and performance, as well as
contributing to organisational strengthening and the work of the sector, then training
must be relevant to the individual trainee, the work they do with the organisation and,
more broadly, the organisation’s contribution within the sector. The following diagram
illustrates the need to consider the relevance of training to the individual, the organisa-
tion and the sector.
Areviewofthese
aspectsatthethree
levelswillprovide
indicatorsbywhichtoevaluate
therelevanceofa
trainingprogramme
–forexample:
doesthewayin
whichstewardship
isreflectedinthe
trainingaligntothe
organisation’svision
andstrategy?Isthe
trainingpitchedat
therightlevelfor
Stewardshipofficers
qualifiedatlevel6?
doesthetraining
contentaddressthe
skillsneed?doesit
locatestewardshipin
asectorcontext?
Evaluation during the training
Once an appropriate training programme has been chosen, you may be required to report
on the outcomes of the training to managers, executive committees or the respective SE-
TAs. It is therefore useful to evaluate the roll-out of the course by defining key indicators
that will answer some of the questions you might have, such as:
¢ Could the trainees relate to the content of the training?
¢ Were they able to relate the content to their workplace-based function?
¢ Were the trainees simply passive recipients of the training or did they actively engage
with the trainer?
¢ Were the trainees able to engage with the assignments they were given?
¢ What were the outcomes of these assignments, and did they relate to their work?
¢ Did the trainees manage the pace of training?
sectormandate
organisationalstrategy
traineeprofile
organisational contribution to mandate
sector skills need
function role tasks skills needs at a broader scale
qualifications and experience job profile current skills skills needsTR
AIN
EEFUN
CTIO
N&
ORG
AN
ISAT
ION
SECT
OR
17MODULE 4 – Relevant and Quality Training
You might also want to ask some questions of the training provider, for example:
¢ Was the course organised well?
¢ Was there a clear programme of work and was this managed in the time frame of the
training?
¢ Were the materials used suitable and relevant to the training and the needs and expe-
rience of the trainees?
¢ What was the quality of presentation, and did the presenter give attention to the
needs of the trainees?
¢ Did the course encourage active participation from the trainees?
¢ Was the assessment meaningful and did trainees learn from it?
Bydoing the evaluation yourselfyouoftengaingoodinsightinto
thelearningtaking
place,challenges
thetraineesare
facedwith,etc.
Theseinsightsare
thenusefulwhen
youneedtoplan
furthertraining
interventions.
These kinds of observations often require you to be a part of the course – sitting in on
one or more training sessions, talking to the trainees during tea and lunch breaks and/or
talking to the presenter. During your planning processes you might want to allocate time
to undertaking these observations yourself, or plan for a colleague to do the evaluation
or factor in the cost of a consultant to undertake the evaluation.
What other questions would be useful for your reporting?Write them down below as it might be a useful reference when you plan your
evaluation – more on this later.
18 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Evaluating the impact of the course
What validates and justifies our investment in training? We don’t just train for the sake
of it; we have a bigger purpose in mind when we motivate for and initiate training. To
answer this question, we need to understand what the impact of the training was for the
individual, the organisation and the sector.
Exam
ples o
f imp
act indicato
rs
Increased involvementin relevant projects
Improved job performance
Stronger funtional team
Increased partici-pation in sectoraladvisory forum
Improved employeemorale
Increased targetsdefined and met
Skills needsno longer
defined in SSP
organisation
sector
individual
Our colleagues in the HRD Networkhavedefinedthe
followingbroadandthen
morespecificindicators
forahypotheticalproject
managementcourse.
Relatedto
organisational
strategy
Inhousetraining
andrefreshercourses
forallstaff
Projectsaresuccessfully
implemented
sustainability
effectiveness
impact
relevance
efficiency
¢Highperforming
projectmanagers
¢Increasing
projects
completed
¢Progression
tootherprojects
¢ontime
projectdelivery
¢Costsavinginprojectdelivery
19MODULE 4 – Relevant and Quality Training
Planning an evaluation The following framework is useful to plan your evaluation and outline the details through
which to collect data to inform it. Work through these details to develop your evaluation
plan.
What is the overall evaluation question that you need to answer?
definetheoverallquestionthatyouwanttoanswer.Itcouldbeasbroadas:Whathasbeentheimpactofthetraining?
Whatcoursewouldbestsuitourtrainingneeds?Howarelearnersengagingwiththecourse?Isthecontentofthecourse
relevanttoourneeds?etc.Itisimportanttostartplanningandundertakingyourevaluationatthispointasitwillhelpyou
tokeepfocusthroughouttheprocess.
Sub-question Indicator Evidence Timing
Fromyourbroaderquestion
above,startdefiningmorespecific
questionsthatwillleadyouto
answeringthebiggerquestion,
suchas:Istheprovideraccredited
toofferthistraining?What
experienceandqualificationsdo
thetrainershave?Whatisthetrack
recordoftheprovider?etc.
Foreachsub-
question,definewhat
theanswerwould
beanindication
of,suchas:course
accreditation,relevant
experienceoftrainer,
credibilityofprovider.
Foreachsub-question
andindicator,askwhat
andwhereyouwouldfind
evidencetosupport/answer
thisquestion,suchas:SAQA
websiteandprogramme
approvalforms,CVof
trainer,websiteoftraining
provider.
Foreachsub-question
andindicator,define
anappropriatetimeto
accesstheevidenceand
evaluatethequestion,
forexamplepriorto
contractingthetraining
provider.
Below is an example of an evaluation plan for each of the suggested stages in evaluating
training.
Evaluation before the training
What is the overall evaluation question that you want to answer with regard to this training?
Whatisthequalityofthetrainingandhowrelevantisthistothetrainingneedsofourorganisationandsector?
Sub-question Indicator Evidence Timing
Isthetrainingprovideraccredited
andregistered?
Credibilityofthe
provider
¢ SAQAwebsite
¢ Provideraccreditation
certificate
Priortocontractingthe
provider
Howlonghasthisproviderbeen
offeringtraininginthesector?
experienceintraining
andinthesector
¢ Providerwebsite
¢ Providerportfolio
¢ References
Priortocontractingthe
provider
Whoarethetrainingfacilitators
andassessorsandwhat
experienceandqualificationsdo
theyhaverelativetothetraining
andcontentrequirementsofthe
training?
Qualificationand
experienceofthe
trainersandassessors
¢ Curriculumvitaeof
alltrainingfacilitators
andassessorstobe
involvedinthetraining
Priortocontractingthe
provider
20 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Whatisthecontentofthis
trainingandisitrelevanttothe
individual,theirfunction,our
organisationalmandateand
trendsinoursector?
Relevanceofcontentto
thetrainingneedsofthe
individual,organisation
andsector
¢ Trainingmaterialsand/
orcontentframework
¢ organisational
strategy
¢ Function/unitmandate
¢ WSPandSSP
Priortocontractingthe
provider
Whatarethekeylearning
strategiesusedandarethey
appropriatetoadultlearning?
Relevanceoftraining
tothelearnersand
workplace-basedtraining
¢ Trainingframework
¢ Interviewwithtraining
provider
Priortocontractingthe
provider
Whatopportunitiesarethere
forlinkingtrainingtoworkplace
focus?
Relevanceoftraining
tomeetingskillsneeds
andworkplace-based
improvement
¢ Trainingframework
¢ Interviewwiththe
trainingprovider
Priortocontractingthe
provider
Whatisthetotalnumberof
traineeswhocanattendacourse
atatime?
Focusontheindividual
trainee
¢ Interviewwiththe
trainingprovider
Priortocontractingthe
provider
Whatisthecostofthecourseper
trainee
Affordabilityandvalue
formoney
¢ Trainerprofile Priortocontractingthe
provider
During the training
Now complete this framework using the example as a guide:
What is the overall evaluation question that you need to answer during the training?
Whatisthequalityandrelevanceoflearningduringtheprogramme?
Sub-question Indicator Evidence Timing
Arethelearnersengaged
activelywiththecontentofthe
programme?
Relevanceoftraining ¢ Assignments
¢ observations
ofinteractions,
commentsand
questions
¢ Afterfeedbackon
firstandsubsequent
assignments
¢ duringtraining
sessions
Arethelearnersactive
participantsintraining
interactions?
doesthepresenterensurethatall
areengaged?
dothetraineeshavean
opportunitytorelatethelearning
totheirworkplace?
21MODULE 4 – Relevant and Quality Training
doactivitiesflowaccordingtothe
predefinedprogramme?
Isthelanguageusedbythe
presenterappropriatetotheage
andexperienceofthetrainees?
After the training
Here is another example and exercise to explore the details of your evaluation.
What is the overall evaluation question that you need to answer after the training?
Whathasbeentheimpactofthetrainingfortheindividual,theunit/functionandtheorganisation?
Sub-question Indicator Evidence Timing
Howmanytraineesparticipated
inthetraining?
Fromwhichunits/functionsare
they?
Arethetraineesabletoapply
theirlearninginthework
environment?
Isthereanimprovementintheir
individualperformance?
Isthereanimprovementinthe
overallperformanceoftheunit/
function?
Isthereevidenceofimprovement
intheorganisation’sperformance
evaluationrelatedtothis
function?
And finally, for clarity:
Monitoring Evaluation
ongoing¢
Keepingrecords¢
oftenquantitative¢
¢Fromtimetotime
¢Analysingrecords
¢Quantitativeandqualitative
M&
E C
om
par
iso
n
Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Module Engaging Diversity
and Inclusivity in the South African Workplace
Skills Planning and Development for Biodiversity
Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Contents
Diversity and inclusivity in the South African workplace 2
Thedarkerandbrightersidesofdiversity 2
Thescopeofdiversityintheworkplace 4
Engaging diversity in the South African workplace 7
Thebenefitsofadiversestaffcomplement 7
Whatofyourownresponsetodiversity? 8
Akeyrequirement–aseasoned,competentfacilitator 10
Creatingasafespaceforreflectionandengagement 10
Beyondhearingtoreallylistening 11
Whatthenofinclusivity? 12
2 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Diversity and inclusivity in the SA workplaceSouth Africa is known for its diversity and is commonly referred to as the rainbow nation.
This rich diversity is similarly evident in our colourful nationa l flag. Our colourfulness, our
diversity, is perhaps what sets us apart from other nations.
South Africa’s diversity comes in many shapes and sizes. In some cases diversity is derived
from our ancestry – from the many indigenous people of South Africa, as well as the
many settlers over time, including British, French, Belgian, Dutch, Chinese, Indian and
Malaysian, amongst others. With 11 official languages and some unofficial, South Africa
is amongst the most diverse nations in the world. Diversity also derives from a colourful
array of cultures, religions, customs and beliefs.
This level of diversity in the South African nation is paralleled in our work in the environ-
mental sector, where we engage with one of the highest levels of biological diversity in
the world through a number of diverse professions. It would seem that in our sector we
cannot but recognise and work towards embracing diversity at the many different levels
at which it presents itself.
However, the environmental sector continues to suffer the consequences of the coun-
try’s political past, where diversity and difference were not necessarily embraced or en-
couraged to co-exist in any contexts. The sector has a related history of exclusion and
elitism in our work in conservation, which exacerbates the challenges of bringing togeth-
er diversity and difference to the benefit of both individuals and organisations as a col-
lective in the sector.
Despite the sensitive nature of the topic of diversity in the South African workplace, we
have included this module in the hope of opening up thinking around the benefits for
individuals and organisations of engaging with issues of diversity. We hope too that this
will stimulate thinking and action around how to turn what is often presented as a chal-
lenge into a positive opportunity.
All inputs – both individual and organisational – in this module are offered anonymously,
unlike in the other modules in this toolkit series. However, they are all true reflections of
experiences in the workplace as individuals and organisations struggle to move beyond
the negative perceptions of diversity. We hope they provide an opening for you and your
organisation to engage around the critical theme of diversity.
The darker and brighter sides of diversity
Asked in a workshop to reflect on some of the challenges associated with diversity in the
workplace, most respondents point to the lack of mentoring and support in the work-
place, seen as a consequence of employment equity policies and some staff feeling less
3MODULE 5 – Engaging Diversity and Inclusivity in the South African Workplace
secure as promotional positions open up in organisations. This invariably leads to a lose-
lose situation: experienced and long-standing staff leave the organisation, taking their
wealth of experience with them, and new entrants are left to flounder in the dark in
the absence of support. This severely affects morale and can lead to high staff turnover
rates, consequently affecting the performance of the organisation as a whole.
Workshop participants identified ways in which to engage diversity to the benefit of indi-
viduals and organisational performance. Some of these ideas include:
Positive rather than negative approach to dealing with diversity
Ratherthanapproachingdiversityasachallengeinthe
organisation,itmightbeusefultoframediscussionswithinthe
frameworkoforganisationalperformanceanddevelopment,
focusingontheadvantagesandstrengthstotheorganisation.
Start with self
Throughanexercise(discussedlaterinthemodule),participants
wereencouragedtofirstreflectontheirownthinkingand
actionsrelatedtodiversity,andthentoembracediversity
andattempttounderstandtheothers’fears,reservations,
etc.Suggestionsincludedstartingwithreflectionsand
acknowledgementofone’sownprejudices,racism,trust(or
mistrust)andthenbeingwillingtoengagewithothersaround
theirswithoutpersonalisingtheencounters.
Shared space for dialogue
Createaspaceatanorganisationallevelforreflectiononhow
peopleunderstanddiversityanditspotentialbenefitsand
collectivelyexplorewaystoembraceandengagediversityfor
individualandorganisationalbenefit.Suggestionsincluded
workshopspacesandsafedialogues.
Openness
Whenembarkingonthisjourneyallparticipantsneedtoknow
thatitrequiresopenengagementaroundhowdiversitycanbe
harnessedtobenefitallindividualsintheworkplaceandthe
organisationasawhole.Thismightrequiresomeexploration
ofemotionalintelligenceandhowthiscanbecollectively
harnessedtoachievetherequireddialogueamongstaff
members.
Building a culture of learning
Mostdiscussionsaroundthechallengesassociatedwith
diversityfocusedonthelackofwillingnesstoshareinsights
andexperiences.Ratherthanapproachingthisasanegative
issue,perhapstackleitfromthedesiretostimulateacultureof
learningbyencouragingsharingandlearningacrossfunctions
andlevelsintheorganisation.
Given the sensitivities of our past, these approaches require strong and empathetic
facili tation in safe social spaces. We return to these aspects after first exploring what is
meant by diversity in the workplace.
4 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
The scope of diversity in the workplace
In South Africa, because of our political past diversity is often reduced to a distinction
between different race groups, most notably black and white. In some cases gender is in-
troduced into the equation, expanding the diversity to four distinct groups: black, white,
male, female. These four groups are sometimes expanded to eight groups when the
race classifications of our past are introduced, to include coloured and Indian. In thinking
about diversity, perhaps the first place to start is to critically interrogate our own under-
standings of diversity in the South African workplace.
Write down in this space the first words that come to mind when you think about diversity.
Diversity in any workplace is a lot richer than simple reference to race and gender. Diver-
sity is also shaped by:
AG
E
In any workplace you will find different generation groups, from the fast-moving,
microwave-era techno junkies like the Millennials (born from 1990 onwards) to the
more conservative, slower-paced, all good things take time, techno-averse Boomers
(born in the fifties and sixties), and everything in between. Members of these
different groups think, behave and exist in the world in different ways. For example
from good old in depth literature review to answer a work related question to the
more common quick paced google searches of the day. Even within generational
groups, for example the generation Xers born between 1972 and 1989, you would
probably find extensive diversity. Most of those born in the latter five years of this
group are unlikely to have experienced the protest actions of the mid-eighties that
preceded democracy in South Africa, and that shaped the identity and relations of
those who were at school in the heat of the 1976 to 1985 school protests.
oftheBoomers(1953to1969),Xers(1972to1989)
andMillennials(1990to2004)…
¢ Whichisthelargestgroupinyourorganisation?
¢ Generallyspeaking,whatistheattitudeofeach
groupto:¢ engagingchange;¢ Relationshipsintheworkplace;¢ ethicsintheworkplace?
¢ Howcanyoumakeoptimaluseoftheagediversity
inyourorganisation?
5MODULE 5 – Engaging Diversity and Inclusivity in the South African Workplace
LA
NG
UA
GE
South Africa’s eleven official languages reflect a very broad diversity. The language
diversity in any given organisation is likely to be affected by the region or province
in which the organisation is situated. Although it is unlikely to include all 11 official
languages in communications in the workplace, it is still likely to reflect a fairly wide
scope of diversity. And this is without taking into account the ‘unofficial’ languages
like Chinese, Italian and Russian.
¢ Howmanylanguagesarespokeninyour
organisation?
¢ Whataresomeofthebenefitsofthislanguage
diversityforyourorganisationandtheworkyou
do?
RE
LIG
ION
Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism are some of the religions of
South Africans. All of them help shape individuals’ beliefs and traditions.
¢ Howmanyreligiousgroupsarethereinyour
organisation?
¢ doyouhaveapolicythatrecognisesthisreligious
diversityinyourorganisation?Ifso,howisthis
done?
¢ Howmanyofthesereligionsdoyouknow
somethingabout?
¢ Wouldyoubeinterestedinknowinghowthese
religionsshapethebeliefsandtraditionsofyour
colleagues?
¢ ofwhatvaluecanthesereligionsand
theirimpactsbetoyouandallstaffinyour
organisation?
PR
OF
ES
SIO
NA
L B
AC
KG
RO
UN
D
There is also a diverse range of professional backgrounds in organisations: from
Field Rangers and Nature Conservators working in protected areas, to Community
Conservation Officers and Stewardship Officers working in communities,
Biodiversity Planners and Biodiversity Information Officers informing our
conservation approaches, Taxonomists, Ecologists, Botanists and Zoologists – to
name only some of those trained specifically in the natural sciences. There are also
those who trained in the social, economic and legal sciences, like Social Ecologists,
Resource Economists, Environmental Lawyers and Environmental Educators. A
further layer trained in the corporate services, like Financial Directors, Human
Resource Development and Management professionals, communications staff and
so on.
Youmighthavethisinformationfromyourmost
recentskillsaudit,butreflectagainonthisfroma
diversitypointofview:
¢ Howmanyprofessional(job)groupingsdoyou
haveinyourorganisation?
¢ Howmanypeoplestaffeachgrouping?
¢ Whatdothesegroupingsshowaboutthe
diversityinacademicbackgroundofyourstaff
complement?
6 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
AC
AD
EM
IC B
AC
KG
RO
UN
D
Diversity in academic background can be broken down even further when
considering the institution from which the professionals come. Not all universities
engage particular disciplines in the same way. For example, traditional universities
are considered to be more theoretically inclined than universities of technology,
with stronger emphasis on integration into the workplace in the latter, for example
through work-integrated learning. These different approaches are likely to shape
professionals differently, for example a Stewardship Officer with a Bachelor of
Science degree majoring in Botany will have a different background to a National
Diploma graduate in Nature Conservation or a Stewardship Officer who works with
agricultural land owners and graduated with a Bachelor in Agricultural Sciences.
Similarly, the nature and structure of the Bachelor of Science degree at the Nelson
Mandela Metropolitan University might be different to that of the same degree at
the University of Limpopo. In certain cases you might not even find a match for a
course offered by one university at another university, for example the Bachelor of
Science Conservation Ecology degree offered at Stellenbosch University. In addition,
teaching and research practices differ from one university to another, resulting in
extensive difference in the workplace.
Thislevelofdiversityinacademicbackground
isalmostinevitable,giventhatthereare23
universitiesinSouthAfrica.Howcanthisbenefityour
organisation?
These are just some areas of diversity. List any others you can think of in your organisation.
7MODULE 5 – Engaging Diversity and Inclusivity in the South African Workplace
Engaging diversity in the South African workplace Those in the environment sector in South Africa work tirelessly and passionately towards
a common goal of securing and/or restoring the diverse ecological assets of the world,
and of South Africa specifically. We do this because we know that our collective well-
being is dependent on this diverse ecological base that supports all life on Earth. Ecologi-
cal or biological diversity is therefore central to the work we do in the sector – the more
diverse, the better.
Ironically, the same cannot be said for the way we treat our social diversity. We tend
to shy away from any discussion or engagement with the topic of diversity, and many
regard these discussions as synonymous with changing the race demographic of our
organi sations. Admittedly, in many organisations this is one of the transformation priori-
ties – though not always the only one. It might be useful to reflect on the advantages and
strengths of having a diverse staff complement in our organisations.
The benefits of a diverse staff complement
QuotingHellriegel,d.,
Jackson,S.e.andSlocum,
J.W.(1999),acolleaguesharesthesebenefitsofa
diverseworkforce.
The benefits of a diverse workforce
¢ Improves corporate culture
¢ Improves employee morale
¢ Leads to a higher retention of employees
¢ Leads to easier recruitment of new employees
¢ Decreases complaints and litigation
¢ Increases creativity
¢ Decreases interpersonal conflict between employees
¢ Enables the organisation to move into emergingmarkets
¢ Improves client relations
¢ Improves productivity
¢ Improves bottom line
¢ Maximises brand identity
¢ Reduces training costs
Use a colour highlighter to mark the benefits that you can most relate to in your
organisation. What evidence of this do you/would you like to see in your organisation?
Write this in the adjacent space.
8 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
What of your own response to diversity?
One of our colleagues in the HRD Network led us through the following exercise to
reflec t on our own diversity within a group. From this he demonstrated our individual di-
versity, as well as our various memberships of certain groups. You might want to try this
with groups in your organisation. See the side notes on how to facilitate these conversa-
tions in a diverse South African workspace.
Amomentfor
self-reflection
STEP I Your response
Name
Designation
Age
Education
First language
Gender
Religion
Race
Sexual orientation
Nationality
Social class
Physical health
Mental status
Marital status
No. of children
Residential area
Notethattheaspectsin
theleft-handcolumnare
simplylistedaspoints of reflectionandarenot
posedasquestions.
Thesearejustsome
examplesofour
individualitythatcanreflect
bothdifferences from
othersANdsimilaritieswithothers.Youmightwant
toplayaroundwithand
revisetheseaspects.
Havingexperiencedthe
exercise,itisusefulnot to explainanyofthe
aspects,forexamplesexual
orientation,butratherto
allowpeopletorespondas
theywill.
15minutesareallocated
forcompletingthis
‘questionnaire’,and
itshouldbedone
individually withoutdiscussion.
STEP II: We reflect on our responses to STEP I by considering the statements below:
The one aspect we are most proud of
The one that we are least comfortable with
The one thing we feel is most interesting about ourselves
9MODULE 5 – Engaging Diversity and Inclusivity in the South African Workplace
STEP III: We are encouraged to share our reflections as in Step II with the group, in no order of preference
THE GROUND RULES FOR SHARING
Welistenwhiletheotheristalking,withnocomment
Weuse‘I’statementstocentreourpersoninthesereflections
Wegroundourselvesphysicallyinthespacewithourfeetflatontheground
Wefocusstronglyonbeingpresentwithourcolleagues
Weareseatedinacircletoemphasisethecommunitywithinwhichweshare
Beawitnesstoyourself
Avoidreassuringothers
Maintainconfidentiality
Takeresponsibilityforhowyouarefeeling
Recogniseandusethesafetyofthespaceinsharing
Reflectontheinsightsandlearning
STEP IV: Reflections on our experience of the exercise
InterestingtoseediversityinourownindividualityANdalsoinourmembership
withothers eveninagroupthatwethinkissimilar,diversitystillcomes
through
Givenanearwiththerighttoolsandsentimentprovidesasafespaceforexpression
Throughexpressioninthis
safespaceweareabletoseeintoourownvulnerabilitiesandthoseofothers
elicitsafeelingofconnectednesstoothers,aswellaswithinthegroup
Verylittleinhibitionandthoughagroupofpersonal
strangers,awillingnesstoshareabitof
ourselves
Providesalessoninourownresponse
todiversity
learnhowtoappreciateand
understandyourowndiversityandthatof
othersevenina
collective,IstillamANdalsoexistinrelationtoothers Asafeforum
encouragesdialogueandallowsustoletourguarddown
somewhatCreatesasignificantself-awareness...of
whatdiversityis...‘I’statementsare
profound
Perceptionsarejustthatandare
notnecessarilytrue,particularlyinrelationtohowweperceive
others
diversityrunsverydeepandoftenbroaderthanour
initialconceptionsofdiversity
10 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
A key requirement – a seasoned, competent facilitator
The role of a Process Facilitator is a diverse one that will be important during the diver-
sity process. The facilitator uses a variety of skills in order to motivate people and help
the process move forward.
Creating a safe space for reflection and engagement
It is important for the individuals in a group process to feel safe. The facilitator plays an
important role in co-creating this safe environment. Individuals in the group feel safe
when they can freely express themselves without fear of being judged or condemned. To
assist in creating this safe space, centring exercises helps the group to connect both with
their inner self and with each other to allow the flow of the process.
Credibleandtrustworthy
Strongprocessfacilitationskills
Sensitivetoemotionalneeds
ofparticipants
Sensitiveinknowing
andrelatingtogroup
dynamics
doesnotholdjudgment
Awareofownroleand
impactwithinagroup
Cansubmergeintothe
vulnerabilityofthegroup,
butalsoholdthedistanceto
seeandmanagetheoverall
process.
Sensitiveandempathetic
Abletoholdthe
confidentialityandthe
sensitivityofgroup
sharing
Strongsocialskillsanda
people’sperson
opentomanypossibilities
11MODULE 5 – Engaging Diversity and Inclusivity in the South African Workplace
Beyond hearing to really listening
Another prerequisite for encouraging dialogue around a sensitive issue such as diversity
is to encourage people to really listen to one another, as they would expect others to
listen to them. Drawing on the exercise above:
STEP V: Reflecting on our own ability to really listen
In random pairs, share and reflect on one thing that you heard your colleague offer in STEP II of the exercise: (i) one thing you are most proud of; (ii) one thing you liked least in your profile; (iii) the most interesting aspect of your reflection.
Howdidthis
reflectionand
hearingfromyour
partnermake
youfeel?Some
colleaguesshare
theirreflections.
A colleague sharessomepointersto
creatingasafespace
forexpressionofself.
Reflect on experiences
of the space to improve this
in future
Share the ground rules
Allow everyone some time to settle
Guide the group
through settling physically
Guide the group
through settling psychologically
Open up the space with a time of quiet
reflection
Be clear in communicating
the activity instructions
Ensure the silence
is maintained during individual
inputs
Ensure all ears are
present when others have the
floor
Provide reassurance
where needed
Allow sharing without comment
Open up the space for comments by invitation to
do so
SOMEGROUND RULES
Sit square in your seat, feet flat on the ground and hands in the lap, with palms facing
upward to create a physical openness
Seat participants in an open circle with no inner obstructions such as desks, bags, etc.
Keep the circle only as big as it needs to be, eliminate all open spaces to create a closeness in the group
Turn all cell phones off or leave in a place where they cannot be heard
Close windows, doors and blinds or curtains to eliminate all outside
distractions
Anotherexercise
thathighlightsthe
significanceofbeing
heardbytheotheris
sharedbytheHRD Network.
Heard and felt that my contribution
was significant in process
Reinforced the safe space to openly reflect
COMINGTOGETHER
12 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
What then of inclusivity?
During our deliberations around diversity, we explored inclusivity as a way of opening
ourselves up to diversity, difference and change in our work spaces.
STEP VI: Inviting diversity, difference and change into our spaces
Inthesameopencircleasearlier,usingthesamerulesandfacilitatorbutthistimestanding,
extendyourrighthandandplaceitontheupperarmofthepersontoyourright.Pushinto
themwithafairamountofforce.everyoneatthisstageisbeingpushedandispushingagainst
another.Resistthepushfromthepersonnexttoyou.Considerthefeeling.
In the same circle as above and still standing, repeat the exercise, but this time embrace the
push rather than resisting it. Follow the movement of its force.
Reflect on your observations of the two actions and share with the group what you learnt
from this.
‘leaningintothepushofmy
partnerlessenedthepressureI
felt…thisinturnpromptedmeto
softenmyownpush…’
Soperhapsifweopenourselves
uptoengagingwithdiversity
asapositive–aswedidwhen
wewentwiththeflowofthe
push–wemightexperiencethe
engagementpositively,learning
andgrowingthroughitandsotoo
lesseningtheimpactofwhatwe
feelandexperienceasanintrusive
discussion,thoughtandaction!
EMBRACINGDIVERSITY WITH
INCLUSION
13MODULE 5 – Engaging Diversity and Inclusivity in the South African Workplace
Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Module Managing
Performancefor Growth and Development
Skills Planning and Development for Biodiversity
Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Contents
Introducing performance management 2
ourcommonthorn 3
What is performance management? 4
Performancemanagementatanorganisationallevel 6
organisationalstrategy:thepivotalpointforperformance 7management
Theresponsibilityoforganisationalperformance 7
Fromorganisationtoindividualperformancemanagement 8
The Employee Performance Management and 10
Development System: friend or foe?
Step1—enteringintoaperformanceagreement 12
Step2—Performancereviewandassessment 14
STeP3—Managingtheoutcomesofthereview 16
Life after performance management 19
2 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Introducing performance management
Performance management is a natural part of the workplace. For many it is a dreade d,
administrati ve-intensive event that happens at least once a year, very often twice. Usuall y,
it involves a discussion with line management on
how we have performed over a period of time
relative to our key performance areas. The out-
comes of these discussions generally include be-
ing assigned a rating, for example a 4 – described
as performing above average – or a 2 – described
as below average performance. A 3, even though
described as performance on target, is ofte n not
considered good enough.
So why do we need these ratings? Is it to strut
our stuff, full of pride, down the corridors of the
workplace as a ‘4’ employee? Or is it perhaps so that we can judge ourselves and even
others against these benchmarks? To complicate matters further, we may be told that,
on average, a certain percentage of employees must be rated as high performers, a cer-
tain percentage as average and a certain percentage as underperforming, not on the
basis of their actual performance, but based on norms derived in a very different con-
text. And so the infamous bell curve
enters into the equation, to distrib-
ute our performance according to
the norm. Once our performance
has been moderated and amended
according to the norms of the bell
curve, the reward system enters the
stage. What bonus is linked to our
assigned rating and does it really re-
flect reward for good performance?
Although this may read like a horror
story, many can surely relate to it. However, does performance management have to be
like this? Or should we work towards reorienting our conceptions of performance man-
agement, our engagement with the processes and ultimately the outcomes thereof? This
module encourages a reorientation of performance management. Firstly, a reorientation
that shifts performance management into the realm of organisational performance as
well as individual performance, and not only the latter. Secondly, a reorientation away
from performance management as primarily for recognition and reward, and towards
this as a secondary outcome after individual, organisational and sectoral growth and
develop ment.
3MODULE 6 – Managing Performance for Growth and Development
Our common thorn
In the scenario described above, many challenges are experienced in performance man-
agement. We itemise these below to remind ourselves of the context from which we
should be proactively moving away – what we call ‘our common thorn’.
In your organisation…
…which of these can you recognise? …how can you turn this around?
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Lack of courage to deal with
underperformance
Lack of compliance
Changing mandates
Disjuncture between
organisational development
and performance management
Dependent on capacity of all
to engageApproached as punitive
measure
Inconsistency and lack of uniformity
Lack of job descriptions
and weighting
Minimal or no buy-in at
all levels
Hierarchical vs egalitarian
approach
Disparity among
individuals
Association with recognition, rating and reward
Appraiser bias
Poor or no follow-up
Frameworks for rating
and reward
Rating and weighting
Constraintsof bell curve
4 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
What is performance management?
In one sentence, write down your understanding of performance management:
Now ask a few of your colleagues to share their understandings of performance
management in one sentence.
What are some of the similarities and differences in your own and that of your
colleagues’ descriptions of performance management?
Similar Different
Professor Sangweni, former chairperson of the Public Service Commission,describedperformancemanagementasaleadershipand
managementtool(2003),andasbeing“asystematic processthatinvolves all
employeesin improving organisational effectiveness and performancetoachieve
theorganisational strategy.”
This description of performance management highlights some key aspects that might
start to challenge how we think about and act within performance management pro-
cesses:
5MODULE 6 – Managing Performance for Growth and Development
Implied by What it is not What it is
A systematic process
Aonce-offeventthathappens
inthemiddleandattheend
ofafinancialyear,involvinga
discussionandconsequentfilling
outofadministrativetemplates.
Asystemembeddedwithina
numberofrelatedanddiverse
processesofengaginginthe
workplaceinanongoingmanner.
Involves all Anindividuallyfocusedevent
atthemercyofabiasedline
managerorappraiser.
Acollectiveandcollaborative
processthatseestheindividual
inrelationtothecollective
staffcomplementandthe
organisation’sperformance.
Improving organisational effectiveness and performance
Focusedontheindividual’sjob
separatefromtheorganisation
andworkenvironmentwithin
whichtheindividualfindshim-or
herself.
Focusedoncollectivestriving
towardsabetterorganisation
throughthecollective
contributionsofallemployees.
Organisational strategy
Focusedononlytheindividual
andtheirindividualplaceinthe
organisation.
Focusedonsupportingthe
organisationtoachieveits
strategicobjectives.
The ultimate purpose of performance management is therefore to monitor and appraise
how the organisation is doing in relation to the objectives it has set through its strateg y
and through the contributions of its various employees. The process of performance
management therefore includes defining and understanding the organisational strategy,
planning how to delive r on this strategy, appraising progress towards achieving the strat-
egy and reporting on the process in order to further improve individual and organisational
performance.
AT AN ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL
AT AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
3Appraising
performance against strategy
and plans
4
Reporting for further planning
2
Planning to deliver on strategy
1
Strategy definition
6 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Performance management is often focused only at the level of appraisal (step 3 in the
process), which is conflated with performance management in its entirety, and at the
individual level (the bottom half of the diagram). But we need to develop a broader per-
spective on performance management and see it in the context of this bigger picture.
This requires a breakthrough at two levels:
Thinking about performance management in this broader context could perhaps take
away the associated anxiety. It is no longer about me but about my contribution, togeth-
er with that of many others, to achieving the vision of our organisation. And it is no lon-
ger a dreaded event, but a moment in a longer process.
Performance management at an organisational level
The starting and pivotal point of performance
management at both an organisational and an
individual level is the organisational strat-
egy. It might be useful to frame organi-
sational performance in the framework
of your organisation’s mission and vi-
sion. Your organisational strategy is
supported by a range of systems,
structures and processes that
support working towards and
achieving its strategic ob-
jectives – of which perfor-
mance management is
one.
Organisational performance
Individualperformance
Performance management
Performance appraisal
Breakthrough from performance appraisal
to performance management
Breakthrough from individual performance
to organisational performance
Mission
Vision
STRATEGY
Processes and systems
Performance management
An organisation’s performance is reviewed or appraised against these benchmarks
7MODULE 6 – Managing Performance for Growth and Development
Organisational strategy: the pivotal point for performance management
Organisational strategies are normally expressed as longer-term goals, most often for
five-year periods. Performance management over the five-year period would then be
benchmarked against the strategic goals. Some examples might include: securing eco-
logical integrity of biological resources, and ensuring that ecosystem services support
the socio-economic well-being of all. These goals are quite vague, but provide a longer-
term vision for where the organisation sees itself in the future. They are also often de-
fined in relation to the employment and performance contract of the head of the organi-
sation and provide a basis for reviewing his/her performance.
Within strategic goals, key strategic objectives are often defined for shorter periods of
time, generally for one year to match the organisation’s financial year. The strategic ob-
jectives clarify what needs to be done and how over the shorter period of time, in sup-
port of achieving the organisational goals.
Organisations define strategies in various ways. Some simply define their organisational
goals and strategic objectives in relation to legal mandates. A more common trend, used
mostly but not exclusively in the corporate sector, is the balanced scorecard approach to
defining strategy.
The balanced scorecard is a performance management tool for describing, measuring
and reporting organisational performance. It provides a framework within which to
define, plan, measure and report on:
¢ Financial goals;
¢ Customer-related goals;
¢ Internal process-related goals;
¢ Goals related to growth and development.
The organisational strategy provides the road map towards achieving the vision of the
organisation. The performance management process assesses how an organisation is do-
ing en route to realising this vision.
The responsibility of organisational performance
Organisational performance is usually the management and leadership responsibility of
the Executive Committee, accountable to a board of directors or shareholders. A CEO,
director or the highest organisational authority is generally the person responsible for
performance at this level.
South African National Parkshasbeenusingthe
balancedscorecard
approachtomanage
organisational
performancefora
numberofyears.
Recently,WWF-SAadopted
thebalanced
scorecardapproach
tomanaging
organisational
performance.
8 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
The responsibility for organisational performance is structured differently in differ-
ent organisations. In some bigger organisations, dedicated units with several people
are designated to implement, review and report on organisational performance. Some
organisations designate a Chief Operations Officer to hold the portfolio of organisa-
tional performance. In smaller organisations, this function is often included in the human
resource function. The latter does however hold a potential risk. By virtue of its organi-
sational profile, human resource management focuses more on the individual than the
organisation. This could result in organisational performance falling by the wayside and
not getting the attention it deserves , if linked to human resource management.
Whereas
organisational
performancemight
resideinaparticular
unitorperson’s
portfolio,we all have a role
to playintheperformanceofour
organisation.
What does your organisation’s organogram look like and where does the
organisational performance portfolio sit? Use this space to outline this positioning
and to comment on the effectiveness of this placement.
From organisation to individual performance management
Organisational performance management processes are often disaggregated to in-
dividual units or directorates. There they are further disaggregated into different
programmes or components of the units and these are ultimately disaggregated into
individual performance management processes. It is useful to consider individual per-
formance management frameworks in the context of the broader programme, unit/
directorate and organisational framework. This provides an understanding of where an
individual fits into the organisation and what contribution they make to the organisa-
tional strategy.
9MODULE 6 – Managing Performance for Growth and Development
Managing individual performance
An individual’s performance is managed for two purposes:
¢ To support his or her contribution to organisational performance; and
¢ To facilitate career growth and development.
Individual performance management can be reflected in relation to organisational per-
formance management as shown in the following diagram.
Performanceis
alsomanagedto
correct under-performance.Thisisdealtwith
separatelyas
weencouragea
positiveapproach
toperformance
management.Mission
Vision
STRATEGY
Processes and systems
Performance management
Work-related behaviour and actions
Work-related outcomes translating into organisational outcomes
Planning • Review • Reporting
Organisational performancemanagement
Individual performancemanagement
WWF-SAusesabalancedscorecardapproachtoorganisationalperformance.Scorecardshave
beendevelopedagainstwhichtoassessperformanceatdifferentlevelsintheorganisation.
Organisationscorecard
CEO
Unitscorecard
Unit Heads
Programmescorecard
Programme Managers
Individualscorecard
IndividualStaff
TRANSlATIoN TRANSlATIoN TRANSlATIoN
FRAMEWORK FOR ORGANISATIONAL REVIEW
FRAMEWORK FOR INDIVIDUAL REVIEW
10 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
The Employee Performance Management and Development System: friend or foe?
The Employee Performance Management and Development System (EPMDS) offered by
the Department of Public Service and Administration (2007) defines the aim of perfor-
mance management as
planning, managing and improving employee performance … to optimise employees’
output in terms of quality and quantity, thereby improving … overall performance.
This aim resonates with the approach to performance management taken in this module,
which is to improve individual performance to in turn improve organisational perfor-
mance. We could extend this further to see the process as supporting an improvement in
sector-wide performance.
The EPMDS provides a standardised framework for employee performance management
across the public sector. The intention of this framework is to standardise performance
management approaches for increased effectiveness and efficiency in the public service.
Guidelines are provided on:
¢ the development of performance agreements;
¢ developing strategy-based work plans;
¢ assessing generic assessment factors;
¢ personal development plans; and
¢ assessment.
TheePMdSis
availableonwww.dpsa.gov.za.
EPMDS OBJECTIVES
¢ Establish a performance management culture in the public service
¢ Improve service delivery
¢ Ensure that all jobholders know and understand what is expected of them
¢ Promote interaction on performance between jobholders and their supervi sors
¢ Identify, manage and promote jobholders’ development needs
¢ Evaluate performance fairly and objectively
11MODULE 6 – Managing Performance for Growth and Development
Though developed specifically for the public service, this framework provides useful
guidance for a performance management process in other sectors as well.
EPMDS PRINCIPLES
¢ Departments shall manage performance in a consultative, supportive and non-
discriminatory manner to enhance organisational efficiency, effectiveness and
accountability.
¢ Performance management processes should link to broad and consistent
development plans and align with the department’s strategic goals.
¢ Performance management processes shall be developmental and shall allow for
recognising effective performance.
¢ Performance management procedures should minimise the administrative
burden on supervisors while maintaining transparency and administrative justice.
Read through the EPMDS and the appendices and identify what aspects of this
framework will be useful to strengthen your performance management approaches.
List the relevant EPMDS guidelines in the left column below, and in the right column
reflect on the aspects of your current process that these guidelines will address.
12 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
The individual performance management process flows out of the organisational
manage ment framework as follows:
This leads into three critical steps in the process:
Step 1 — Entering into a performance agreement
The performance agreement is a critical step in the performance management process.
The absence of such an agreement in many organisations is where the process unravels.
The performance agreement clarifies, through agreement between the employee and
the line manager, what the benchmark of performance is against which the employee
will be assessed for a specified period.
As noted, individual performance must be framed within the organisational strategy. It is
currently common practice for the employee and the line manager to enter into a signed
performance agreement that outlines the employer’s expectations for the period and
the employee’s agreement to meet those expectations.
planningand agreeing on
performance
review andassessment
managingassessment
outcomes andreporting
strategydefinition
planningto implement
strategy
reviewingachievementof strategy
reportingand managing
outcomes
13MODULE 6 – Managing Performance for Growth and Development
Box 1: Affirming an employee’s role and identity
Box 2: Performance agreements and strategy
The point has been made that an individual’s performance is managed relative to the strategy for the organisation and the work plans through which to achieve that strategy. The work plan of the individual therefore needs to be defined relative to the broad organisational strategic plan.
Work plans should include:
¢ Key performance indicators (KPIs)
¢ Weighting of various KPIs
¢ Specific measurables, translated into outcomes, outputs and time frames
¢ Resource requirements
EPMDS makes provision for recognising an employee’s attributes that are less easily quantified and which fall outside of the spectrum of the KPIs. These are referred to as Generic Assessment Factors and include:
¢ Job knowledge ¢ Technical skills¢ Acceptance of responsibility¢ Quality of work ¢ Reliability¢ Initiative¢ Communication¢ Flexibility
¢ Interpersonal relationships¢ Team work¢ Planning and execution¢ Leadership¢ Delegation and empowerment
¢ Management of financial
resources¢ Management of human
resources
morality, creativity,
spontaneity, problem solving, lack of
prejudice, acceptance of facts
self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect for others, respect from others
friendship, family and sexual intimacy
security of body, employment, resources, morality, the family, health, property
breathing, food, water, sex, homeostasis, excretionPHYSIOLOGICAL
LOVE / BELONGING
LOVE / BELONGING
ESTEEM
SELF-ACTUALISATION
The workplace and how the individual feels in relation to the workplace contribute to self-actualisation and esteem. The performance discussions and agreement provide a good opportunity to affirm the individual in relation to the workplace.
OrganisationUnit /
Directorate Programme Individual
ORGANISATIONAL STRATEGY AS OVERARCHING GUIDE TO WORKPLANNING
WORKPLANS
14 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Box 3: Professional development plans
The professional development plan, or PDP, identifies particular skills needs of the
employee and formulates a plan to respond to these needs. Two comments bear
mention here:
Which skills would assist you in doing your job more effectively and aid your career development?
When identifying skills needs,
we tend to focus on only generic
workplace-based skills, like computer
skills, financial management, report
writing, project management, etc.
Very seldom do we consider other
skills that would help us to do our
particular job more effectively, for
example a course in Community
Based Natural Resource Management
or Environmental Impact Assessment,
or assessors training or GIS training.
What skills are specific to your particular job profile?
There is more to skills development than training
In most organisations, training is
overrated as a response to skills
needs. Training has its purposes,
but so too do other development
processes, like mentoring, learning
exchanges, group interactions,
coaching and counselling. See Module
4 for more detail on these options.
What other learning processes could you integrate into your skills development plan?
The performance agreement provides the basis for a review of performance in a given
cycle. However, it also provides a framework for self-management by the employee,
in terms of specifying exactly what must be achieved within the organisation’s perfor-
mance period. It must therefore be put in place at the start of a performance manage-
ment cycle.
Step 2 — Performance review and assessment
The term ‘performance review’ is used interchangeably here with ‘performance apprais-
al’. This is the dreaded ‘event’ to which we referred earlier – the moment when all in an
organisation fervently complete the necessary forms. However, this module argues for a
different way of thinking about performance management and appraisal/review.
15MODULE 6 – Managing Performance for Growth and Development
Most organisations use an annual performance management cycle that
corresponds to its financial year. This makes sense, as it links strategy
planning to financial planning for the year. Most often performance
agreements are negotiated before the start of the financial year,
reviews are done mid-term through the year and a final assessment
completed prior to the end of the financial year. And so the cycle
begins again… PROCESS, PROCESS, PROCESS
Most organisations use a 5-point rating scale, as
proposed also in the EPMDS, with 1 being consistent
underperformance and 5 being consistently excellent.
See Box 4
Ideally, both employee and line manager should
prepare for the review discussions timeously.
This allows time to reflect on performance over
time and engage in the discussions from a more
informed perspective. Line managers are not
preoccupied with performance management
on a day-to-day basis so these preparatory
discussions could be prompted by HR through a
simple reminder.
Some review and assessment basics
Choose an appropriate venue that allows for
privacy.
Ensure sufficient time to allow for effective
preparation.
Consider a portfolio of evidence that substantiates
performance ratings.
Provide constructive feedback and objective
assessment.
Emphasise task and performance above ratings, as
they can be a big distraction.
Be explicit about a development orientation.
Start with an overview of the organisation’s
performance to contextualise the discussions.
Most organisations use a process of moderation to ensure consistency
across the organisation and to eliminate any possible bias in the
process.
Some important considerations in the review and assessment process
Performance review
intervals
Rating scales
Preparation for the review
discussion
The review discussions
Moderation
16 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Box 4: The evil of the rating scale
Rating scales were most likely developed to assist in the review and assessment
of performance. However, in many organisations the rating of performance has
taken over from the actual performance being assessed. So the rating becomes the
primary aim of the review and assessment and the performance shifts to second
place, only recognised in as far as it informs the rating. This is a great loss for
performance management, review and assessment.
‘…we have made performance
management about rating
and reward and lost sight of
performance…’
A fair reflection?
‘… how does the rating scale
serve us in performance
management?’
Any ideas?
The lighter side of rating performance
According to the EPMDS, a rating of 3 means you are simply doing your job, on
target, nothing more, nothing less – what you should be doing to earn your salary.
There are many jobs that allow for over-performance and we should motivate
employees towards these benchmarks.
However, there are also jobs where over-performance isn’t desirable. For example,
over-performance for a Firefighter at an airport is only possible in the context of an
air emergency.
Number-based rating scales trigger thoughts of a school report card. Are we not
past that already? How about a colour-based rating scale that simply indicates
over, average and underachievement to alert one to the need for strengthening
performance?
STEP 3 — Managing the outcomes of the review
Performance management is not a once-off annual event, but is preceded by much
plannin g over time and linked to the organisational planning processes. Once the perfor-
mance reviews and assessments have been completed, line managers need to provide
feedback to employees and manage the outcome of the review process.
17MODULE 6 – Managing Performance for Growth and Development
Managing performance outcomes of the…
Overachiever
Overachievement is what most of us hold up as an example in an organisation, and rightly
so, as we work towards stronger, more effective organisations. There are, however, some
challenges associated with overachievement as an outcome of the performance review:
¢ Ensure that the achievement still delivers on the strategy of the organisation. Some
overachievers go off on their own tangent separate from the organisational goals, which
could cause consequent challenges.
¢ Overachievers very often need to be stimulated in the work environment in an ongoing
way. When planning performance for the overachiever, try to identify an area that would
sufficiently stretch the employee.
¢ Sometimes it is important to recognise when overachievers have reached their ceiling in
the organisation and when it is time to let them go. Many believe that all the investment
in the person while they were with the organisation will be lost when they leave.
But rather consider this a contribution to strengthening the sector, albeit in another
organisational context.
Average achiever
This is the ‘3’ in the workplace, the person just doing the job to the expected level of
performance. Do we leave them in the complacency of average performance? Some might
choose to, but this does nothing to encourage new and innovative ways of working. It also
adds little to the growth and development of the organisation. Stretch targets are used
to nudge individuals beyond their average performance in the workplace. These targets
are defined precisely to egg people on towards a ‘4’ or better than expected performance.
Employees are not disadvantaged in performance reviews if these stretch targets have not
been met.
Underachiever
This is no doubt every line manager’s biggest nightmare. Most organisations have policies
and procedures for dealing with under performance. However, before engaging in any of
these processes, it might be useful to explore the reasons for under performance, as they
may not always lie with the employee. Other reasons for under performance might include:
¢ Poorly defined roles and responsibilities – highlighting the importance of the performance
agreement;
¢ Poorly defined or structured business processes;
¢ Inhibiting work structures and flows;
¢ Lack of technology;
¢ Bureaucracies, team dynamics, organisational politics, etc.;
¢ Skills gaps.
Thesereasonsfor
underperformance
couldbeestablished
throughthe
performance agreement and review processes.
18 Human Resource Development Toolkit for Biodiversity
Performance Management Barometer
Rate your organisation, with 5 being the top score
Reflect on the reasons for your rating
5 4 3 2 1
Performance contracting and reviews are an
inherent part of the organisational culture
Performance management is an organisational
and not only an HR matter
All performance contracts in the current cycle
have been completed and are on file
Performance reviews are completed for and by
all employees with a smile
There is always follow-up on performance
reviews
Individual performance management is clearly
linked to organisational performance
Score total:
19MODULE 6 – Managing Performance for Growth and Development
Life after performance management
Organisations should be striving to inculcate a culture of performance management for
growth and development of both individuals and the organisation.
Phiwa Zulu, a Management Consultantwhoguidedourdiscussionsaroundperformancemanagement,suggestssharingthefollowinganalysesinthe
organisationtostimulatethisculture.ThisshouldbedoneatexecutiveCommittee
level,amonglinemanagersandalsoamongallemployees.
Thisanalysiscouldbe
placedontheexecutive
Committeemeetingagenda
toexplorereasons for non-compliance with the process,coupledwithanappealto
thehighestmanagement
leveltosupportits
implementation.
Thisanalysisclearly
showsthelinkbetween
organisationalandunit
performance.Italsohelps
toplaceperformance
managementinan
organisationalcontext,
andprovidesthebasis
forastructuredand
informedconversation
onhow to improve organisational and unit performance.
Whatdoesyourexecutive
committeethinkofyour
analysis?
Department Headcount Agreements Outstanding 1st Review 2nd Review
Conservation Management
14 9 5 6 0
Marketing 4 4 0 4 0
Human Resources 9 7 2 5 0
Finance 10 0 10 0 0
TOTAL 37 20 17 15 0
Business Targets (Planned)
Targets Achieved (Actual)
Aggregate Performance Scores
Comments (Correlation: Yes/No)
Increaseparkvisitsby10%from10,000to11,000perannum
Visitsdeclineby5%from10,000to9,500
Marketing&Sales(3.6)GuestServices(2.9)
No.xxx
100%completionofallunitorganograms,jobdescriptions,per-formancecontracts
only30%ofunitshavecompletedor-ganograms,50%Jds,10%contracts
od&PMTeam(3.9)unitheadsscoreavgof3.5onpeoplemanage-mentKPA
No.xxxx
Increasecustomersatisfactionindexfrom4.0to7.0(on10pointscale)
Customersatisfactionremainsunchangedat4.0
unitswithdirectandindirectinfluence:¢ Catering(3.3)¢ GuestServices(4.2)¢ FacilitiesMngt(2.5)¢ Reception/ Check-in(3.5)
Problemareashigh-lightedbycustomersurveyswerexxx.Teamsresponsiblexxx.Scoresobtainedinkeeping/notinkeeping.KPAs&KPIsdonotaddress...
Performance Management Compliance Report: Example
Performance Analytics (Example)Business Performance vs Individual Score Aggregates
Contributing partners
First published by GreenMatter in 2014
Editor: Dr Glenda Raven
Design: Dudu Coelho