The human resource department as a strategic business partner in organisations
- Authors: Sakonda, Archford
- Subjects: Human capital -- Management , Strategic planning , Employment agencies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9431 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020178
- Description: The human resource department in many organisations is at a crossroad of relevance, constantly being faced with the challenge to prove that it can add value towards the objectives of the business. The Human Resource (HR) department is also faced with a reality that, if the department does not add value to the organisation, it will be farmed out to independent contractors, who can deliver the HR functions at a more efficient and cost effective way. However, organisations have a great opportunity to achieve excellence and competitive advantage through the utilisation of the organisation‟s human resources. Many scholars and authors argued that organisations can achieve the most out of its human resources if the HR department is a Strategic Business Partner (SBP) in these organisations. A thorough literature review has led to the discovery that, despite the appraisal of the Strategic Business Partners (SBP) approach to the management of human resources, little progress has been made with the reinvention of the HR departments from support function towards being a SBP (Lawler & Morhman, 2003; Keith, 2007). The slow progress in the transformation of the HR department was attributed to a wide range of factors including the lack of competencies to take up Strategic Business Partnership roles, lack of management support, and incongruent organisational cultures (Keith, 2007; Sanders & Frenkel, 2009; Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with HR professionals, Managing Directors and other Directors, who sit on a strategic table, to identify the challenges and opportunities the HR department faced as a SBP in organisations. A self-administered questionnaire, based on an existing questionnaire (Ulrich & Cornell (1997) HR role assessment survey) was used to gather the perception of employees regarding the roles the HR departments play in organisations. In this study organisational culture was identified as having a huge impact towards the implementation of HR departments as SBPs. The study also identified the competencies needed for the effective execution of SBP roles, the challenges HR departments may face in the process as well as the important roles the HR department should be devoting most of its time and resources to.
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- Authors: Sakonda, Archford
- Subjects: Human capital -- Management , Strategic planning , Employment agencies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9431 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020178
- Description: The human resource department in many organisations is at a crossroad of relevance, constantly being faced with the challenge to prove that it can add value towards the objectives of the business. The Human Resource (HR) department is also faced with a reality that, if the department does not add value to the organisation, it will be farmed out to independent contractors, who can deliver the HR functions at a more efficient and cost effective way. However, organisations have a great opportunity to achieve excellence and competitive advantage through the utilisation of the organisation‟s human resources. Many scholars and authors argued that organisations can achieve the most out of its human resources if the HR department is a Strategic Business Partner (SBP) in these organisations. A thorough literature review has led to the discovery that, despite the appraisal of the Strategic Business Partners (SBP) approach to the management of human resources, little progress has been made with the reinvention of the HR departments from support function towards being a SBP (Lawler & Morhman, 2003; Keith, 2007). The slow progress in the transformation of the HR department was attributed to a wide range of factors including the lack of competencies to take up Strategic Business Partnership roles, lack of management support, and incongruent organisational cultures (Keith, 2007; Sanders & Frenkel, 2009; Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with HR professionals, Managing Directors and other Directors, who sit on a strategic table, to identify the challenges and opportunities the HR department faced as a SBP in organisations. A self-administered questionnaire, based on an existing questionnaire (Ulrich & Cornell (1997) HR role assessment survey) was used to gather the perception of employees regarding the roles the HR departments play in organisations. In this study organisational culture was identified as having a huge impact towards the implementation of HR departments as SBPs. The study also identified the competencies needed for the effective execution of SBP roles, the challenges HR departments may face in the process as well as the important roles the HR department should be devoting most of its time and resources to.
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The perceptions of educators, in the Queenstown education district, of the labour dispute resolution system
- Authors: Rataza, Themba Theophilus
- Subjects: Labor disputes -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9434 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020542
- Description: The objective of this study is to conduct a survey concerning the perceptions of educators in the Queenstown education district of the labour dispute resolution system. The education department is one of the biggest departments in the Eastern Cape’s Provincial Administration system. The likelihood of disputes is high when there are many employees. The focus of the study therefore is on how educators perceive the role of the department in terms of ensuring that labour disputes with the department are resolved efficiently and speedily. The advent of a democratic dispensation resulted in the ushering in of progressive labour legislation such as Labour Relations Act 55 of 1995. The objective of this Act is to facilitate economic development, social justice, labour peace and democratization of the workplace. In other words this Act gave birth to the manner in which labour disputes should be resolved. The study was carried out not only to explore the perceptions of educators but also with a view to making recommendations on the findings in order to help contribute towards labour peace and productivity in the workplace. The attitudes of one hundred and forty-one educators were surveyed via questionnaires and six educators who have had labour disputes with the department were interviewed. The key findings of the study revealed that both the educators who were surveyed and those interviewed lack confidence in the effectiveness of the labour dispute procedures in the district; they perceive the system as being inaccessible to them; time taken to resolve disputes is too lengthy; the system lacks necessary independence from the department of education or government and the department is seen as not adhering to its own policies and legislation. Hence there are many disputes and there is a great need for more awareness and for improved training in handling labour dispute resolution systems for district officials and educators. The study recommends more awareness and training sessions for both district officials responsible for labour relations and educators at large. It also calls for an increasingly proactive role by teacher unions in partnership with the department of education to avoid labour disputes. Although the findings cannot be generalized toother districts of the province, they do however highlight critical areas in labour dispute resolution where attention can be paid and focus made in order to ensure labour peace in the workplace for improved productivity and effective teaching and learning.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Rataza, Themba Theophilus
- Subjects: Labor disputes -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9434 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020542
- Description: The objective of this study is to conduct a survey concerning the perceptions of educators in the Queenstown education district of the labour dispute resolution system. The education department is one of the biggest departments in the Eastern Cape’s Provincial Administration system. The likelihood of disputes is high when there are many employees. The focus of the study therefore is on how educators perceive the role of the department in terms of ensuring that labour disputes with the department are resolved efficiently and speedily. The advent of a democratic dispensation resulted in the ushering in of progressive labour legislation such as Labour Relations Act 55 of 1995. The objective of this Act is to facilitate economic development, social justice, labour peace and democratization of the workplace. In other words this Act gave birth to the manner in which labour disputes should be resolved. The study was carried out not only to explore the perceptions of educators but also with a view to making recommendations on the findings in order to help contribute towards labour peace and productivity in the workplace. The attitudes of one hundred and forty-one educators were surveyed via questionnaires and six educators who have had labour disputes with the department were interviewed. The key findings of the study revealed that both the educators who were surveyed and those interviewed lack confidence in the effectiveness of the labour dispute procedures in the district; they perceive the system as being inaccessible to them; time taken to resolve disputes is too lengthy; the system lacks necessary independence from the department of education or government and the department is seen as not adhering to its own policies and legislation. Hence there are many disputes and there is a great need for more awareness and for improved training in handling labour dispute resolution systems for district officials and educators. The study recommends more awareness and training sessions for both district officials responsible for labour relations and educators at large. It also calls for an increasingly proactive role by teacher unions in partnership with the department of education to avoid labour disputes. Although the findings cannot be generalized toother districts of the province, they do however highlight critical areas in labour dispute resolution where attention can be paid and focus made in order to ensure labour peace in the workplace for improved productivity and effective teaching and learning.
- Full Text: