SPSP018 - Strategic Public Sector People Management Assignment

Assignment Task

SECTION A

Using the internet and/or your prescribed textbook, answer the following questions. In answering questions in Sections A and B, strive to ensure you have an introduction, the body of the answer, and a conclusion for every one of the following questions. Referencing your source(s) (in the text and with a mini reference list at the end of each answer) can get you extra marks (2 marks per answer).

Note : Questions 1 and 2 of Section A provide audits of your department in terms of what strategic management of human resources (SHRM) is expected to achieve in the delivery of citizens’ services.

Question 3 of Section A requires you to reflect on what you have discovered through your audits.

Question 1

Organisational design requires that human resource (HR) employees create and maintain the best organisational structure that government can adopt to achieve its mission. Organisational design from an HR perspective must facilitate the timely flow of accurate information within government.

Government requires that government employees (the government’s human resources) understand and apply Batho Pele principles in conveying accurate information to citizens. All employees need to be part of continuously adapting the organisational design of a department, and using technologies alongside employees, to deliver timely accurate information.

For each of the eight principles of Batho Pele (Table 1) evaluate how your department/section successfully creates accurate information flow to citizens. Ensure that for each of the eight principles you present a unique answer (i.e. do not repeat what you have already written, as each of the eight principles should represent a unique strategy to ensure information flow).

In evaluating the delivery of each of the principles, clearly indicate how often the principle is applied, where it is applied, how information is updated, etc.

Question 2

The policies and procedures implemented by HR shape the employee experience. A people strategy, to transform employee skills and capabilities to manage a changing workplace environment, must explicitly connect to the overall business strategy, in order to address the multitude of 4IR challenges and changing trends as follows (SPSP01-8 Module, page 11):

• Developing new leadership capabilities for the 4IR. As government organisations develop, more business models are adopted and leaders will need to lead from the edge, adopt the right technologies, drive a new vision of organisational culture and shape innovative people strategies for the future of
• Managing the integration of technology in the workplace. A growing area of responsibility for HR is to partner leaders to achieve the optimal combination of human workforce and automation to ensure a positive impact on the future of
• Enhancing the employee experience. The increasing complexity of the workforce and the use of technology is calling for a change in the way work is experienced. HR plays a vital role in defining, measuring and enabling the meaningful employee experience in the
• Building an agile and personalised learning HR plays a leading role in fostering a culture of lifelong learning, in the context of declining demand for certain skills, the emergence of new skills and the requirement for the talent to continuously learn, unlearn and relearn.
• Establishing metrics for valuing human The mutually beneficial relationship between the workforce and society makes it essential for HR to create a compelling case for establishing viable and scalable measures of human capital as a key performance driver and continuously demonstrate the impact of its work on business performance.
• Embedding diversity and inclusion. Changing social, economic and political forces bring an opportunity for organisations to profoundly advance inclusion and diversity. HR plays a pivotal role in promoting a sense of purpose and belonging in the workforce, and equality and prosperity for the communities and regions in which they

Critically appraise the extent to which your own department/section is addressing (or not addressing) each of the six elements above. Ensure you also give an example of your department’s management, in appraising the ability of your department (or lack thereof), to deliver on each of the six.

Question 3

In answering each of Questions 1 and 2 in Section A of this assignment, you have analysed the current situation regarding technology and HR practice in your own department/section.

• Using what you have learnt about your department with regard to its adapting to 4IR, is your department sufficiently preparing employees to embrace 4IR technologies to serve citizens through its employees? (1)
• Defend your decision of 3.1 with examples from Question 1 and 2 of Section (5)

SECTION B - Case Study

Technological innovation and global competition have combined to impose a new work system that is characterized by both digital disruption and digitization of the production and service systems at the same time. The digital work system has, in turn, ignited concern among employers regarding the in-depth technical aspects and competency of their existing workforces to cope with the complex technological demands of the new work order. This reality has also stimulated the debate regarding the level of preparedness by different stakeholders in all economic sectors in South Africa to function effectively under the rapidly emerging digital work dispensation. As an emerging economy, it is imperative for South Africa to initiate and accelerate skills development strategies that would capacitate its entire workforce to function effectively in the new industrial revolution.

Employees, in the face of this technological reality, therefore, require a renewed set of skills that would enable them to remain relevant and productive within the economic system.

Industry 4.0 has been associated with a trend related to automation and data exchanges based on the use of new technologies and their interconnectivity. Therefore, the most defining characteristics of the industrial revolution include, among others, increasing automation of production systems, comprehensive integration and information transparency, self-management and decision- making by objects, digital communication and interactive management functions and flexibility in the deployment of workers. The leverages of internet connectivity have influenced both the production system and society at large. The distinguishing characteristics of this new production paradigm is the development, design and deployment of technological devices such as artificial intelligence (AI), robots, machines and systems that communicate directly with each other. The purpose of this technology is to strengthen and expand the long- term competitiveness of organisations by increasing efficiency and flexibility of the production system through intelligence, information and communication dynamics.

The World Economic Forum 2016 report indicated that approximately 7.1 million jobs could be lost as a direct result of digital transformation and innovation, with administrative and office-oriented jobs constituting two-thirds of this projection. The extent of disruption across professions such as accounting, medicine, insurance underwriting, journalism, legal practice, etc. could see their functions partially or completely automated in the very near future. In the same dimension, there is growing evidence that a large portfolio of existing jobs and professions will become obsolete by 2025. This evidence presents not just academic, but also practical demonstration of the disruptive, and at the same time, creative tendencies of innovative technologies on existing jobs.

Technological innovation has been consistently identified as a notable characteristic of industrial revolutions. It thus remains a sustainable strategy for organisational survival. Therefore, an effective approach for individuals and organisations to respond or manage the dynamics of technological innovation is through continuous skills and professional development initiatives. This includes deliberate organisation-based [internal] and, or, external skills development programs. There is a need for organisations to create opportunities for workers to upskill themselves. Companies need to create learning programs that will provide opportunity for people to master new technologies. Similarly, the argument regarding the need for employers to create innovative job environments that stimulate continuous learning for workers also exists. Companies must create methods that open up people to continuous learning in such a way that they can acquire the requisite skills to function in various [new 4IR] jobs. This must include team learning, shared vision, mental models, personal mastery and systems thinking. Organisations will need to broaden their training offerings in such a way that allow people to continuously learn and reinvent themselves as things change in the work environment.

Question 1

To build an agile and personalised learning culture requires HR to play a leading role in fostering a culture of lifelong learning in the context of declining demand for certain skills, the emergence of new ones, and the requirement of talent to continuously learn, unlearn and relearn (Milpark SPSP01-8 Module Topic 3).

• Using online resources, define a ‘learning organisation’. (2)
• Using the case study, identify seven influences found in a learning (14)
• In a table, critically appraise the extent to which each of the seven learning organisation influences, selected in 1.2 from the case study, is present as part of strategic human resource management (SHRM) in your own department/section. (14)

To do this comparison, place the case study influences identified in Q1.2 one per row, in the left-hand column of a two-column table. Please your critical analysis of each in the corresponding right hand column.

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