An investigation of a nexus between employee skills development and competence in the Eastern Cape Department of Education

Abstract

Background: In South Africa, it has become essential to have better access to high-quality and relevant skills development to achieve the goal of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030. Therefore, employee capacity building has become a strategic priority for the national growth and development of all emerging countries.

Aim: This article seeks to investigate a nexus between employee skills development and competence.

Setting: The study was carried out in the Eastern Cape Department of Education.

Methods: The article employed an inductive research approach and an explanatory research design to achieve its desired objectives. Moreover, structured questionnaires were used as the data collection tool, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the findings.

Results: The results of the article confirmed that skills training and development ensure that staff is empowered, informed and trained, which results in improved efficiency in the workplace. In this situation, spin-offs will benefit public organisations, since employees’ increased abilities open new opportunities for long-term employment growth and organisational effectiveness. Furthermore, the knowledgeable and well-trained individual would make sound organisational decisions while competently providing a public service.

Conclusion: The article revealed that the Department of Education has a wider skill learning system that is informed by the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 and perhaps the most critical problem that has hindered the development of employee skills in the public sector. The Department of Education does not do enough to incorporate the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) learning relationships, and the system becomes highly suboptimal without doing this. Such problems have cascaded down to affect the competence of many public employees. This article on the effect of training and development on employee performance has emerged as a tool for obtaining valuable knowledge on the issue.

Contribution: This article contributed to the broader knowledge as a tool for obtaining valuable knowledge on the issues and on the effect of training and development on employee performance which has emerged.

Full text

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Africa’s Public Service Delivery and Performance Review
ISSN: (Online) 2310-2152, (Print) 2310-2195
Page 1 of 9 Original Research
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Authors:
Gcotyelwa Gcezengana1
Bathathu Peter2
Tando Rulashe1
Zimbini Coka3
Aliaons:
1Department of Public
Administraon, Faculty of
Management and Commerce,
University of Fort Hare,
Bisho, South Africa
2Department of Management
Studies, Faculty of Economics
and Informaon Technology
Systems, Walter Sisulu
University, Queenstown,
South Africa
3Department of Agricultural
Economics, Faculty of
Science and Agriculture,
University of the Free State,
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Research Project Registraon:
Project Number: PET011
SGCE01
Corresponding author:
Zimbini Coka,
zimbinicoka@gmail.com
Dates:
Received: 19 Apr. 2021
Accepted: 31 Aug. 2021
Published: 19 Dec. 2022
How to cite this arcle:
Gcezengana, G., Peter, B.,
Rulashe, T. & Coka, Z., 2022,
‘An invesgaon of a nexus
between employee
skills development and
competence in the Eastern
Cape Department of
Educaon’, Africa’s Public
Service Delivery and
Performance Review 10(1),
a651. hps://doi.org/10.4102/
apsdpr.v10i1.651
Introducon
One of the hallmarks of South Africa’s new democratic regime was the development of
public servants’ skills (Mavunga & Cross 2017). This was based on the perception that most
black people lacked the necessary competencies in many public institutions (Tembe & Sehume
2016). To overcome this perception, several programmes and frameworks were put in place to
chart the path of skills development in the public sector. According to Tshilongamulenzhe
and Coetzee (eds. 2013), the adoption of numerous statutes that relate to employee skills
development was intended to capacitate employees so that they can carry out their duties
effectively and efficiently. Notably, the shortage of skills has a devastating impact on
organisational performance and the delivery of services to citizens, and employee job
competence is jeopardised when employees are not adequately equipped to perform their
day-to-day tasks.
Background: In South Africa, it has become essential to have better access to high-quality and
relevant skills development to achieve the goal of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030.
Therefore, employee capacity building has become a strategic priority for the national
growth and development of all emerging countries.
Aim: This article seeks to investigate a nexus between employee skills development and
competence.
Setting: The study was carried out in the Eastern Cape Department of Education.
Methods: The article employed an inductive research approach and an explanatory
research design to achieve its desired objectives. Moreover, structured questionnaires were
used as the data collection tool, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the findings.
Results: The results of the article confirmed that skills training and development ensure
that staff is empowered, informed and trained, which results in improved efficiency in the
workplace. In this situation, spin-offs will benefit public organisations, since employees’
increased abilities open new opportunities for long-term employment growth and
organisational effectiveness. Furthermore, the knowledgeable and well-trained individual
would make sound organisational decisions while competently providing a public service.
Conclusion: The article revealed that the Department of Education has a wider skill learning
system that is informed by the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 and perhaps the most critical
problem that has hindered the development of employee skills in the public sector. The
Department of Education does not do enough to incorporate the National Qualifications
Framework (NQF) learning relationships, and the system becomes highly suboptimal
without doing this. Such problems have cascaded down to affect the competence of many
public employees. This article on the effect of training and development on employee
performance has emerged as a tool for obtaining valuable knowledge on the issue.
Contribution: This article contributed to the broader knowledge as a tool for obtaining
valuable knowledge on the issues and on the effect of training and development on
employee performance which has emerged.
Keywords: capacity building; competencies; education; employee; National Development
Plan; skills development.
An invesgaon of a nexus between employee skills
development and competence in the Eastern Cape
Department of Educaon
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Copyright: © 2022. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creave Commons Aribuon License.

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According to Freeman (2015), even though many programmes
and measures have been put in place to transform labour
force skills and government service levels, the public sector
is still plagued by enormous barriers in terms of matching
theory and practice. Similarly, Mavunga and Cross (2017)
argued that several programmes have overlooked the
importance of developing a culture that encourages public
sector employees to view skills development as a continuous
process. Employees in such a situation are often not equipped
with the necessary competencies to deal with constant changes
in technology. This, among other things, has contributed to
ongoing issues such as employee underperformance.
Nkosi (2015) reported that the Sector Education and
Training Authority (SETA) scheme was implemented to
improve employee skills development in the public sector.
It is prudent to note that the scheme was launched in 2000
as part of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS)
with the goal of broadening the skill base through training
and capacity building. However, the SETA scheme has
fallen short of expectations because of a persistent gap
between available skills and job requirements (Letsoalo &
Mkhonza 2017). As a result, many people regard the system
as a waste of resources. Similarly, Tembe and Sehume (2016)
argued that the sector’s constant changes in policies and
strategies have not aided employee competence in the
public sector. As a result, the administrative system is to
blame for ‘… schizophrenic policy choices’ (Tembe &
Sehume 2016). Such policy decisions had a negative impact
on employee skills development. Based on the Human
Research Development Council of South Africa (HRDC)
(2013), low levels of skills and education are evident in
numerous South African government departments,
including the Eastern Cape Department of Education
(ECDoE).
One of the most serious threats to the public sector is its
employees’ complete formal education without the necessary
skills required by the labour market. The implication here is
that those who are absorbed into the labour market are
perceived by employers as lacking in necessary skills and
training (HRDC 2013). Employers complain that qualified
graduates are unemployed because of mismatches between
their skills and basic requirements. This is largely attributed
to the education system, which appears to prioritise
the ‘paper chase’ for qualifications (Tembe & Sehume 2016).
This misalignment has had a negative impact on employee
competence in a variety of government institutions, and the
ECDoE has not been immune to these challenges.
Considering this, the present article investigates the
relationship between employee skills development and
employee competence. Furthermore, using the ECDoE as a
case study, the article discusses perceptions about the extent
to which employee skills development programmes and
initiatives have contributed to employee competence and
performance in the public sector.
Delimitaons
The article did not consider every departmental employee,
instead relying on a representative sample using the snowball
sampling technique. It is imperative to take into consideration
that the research only focused on one departmental office
(the ECDoE). This may be insufficient to present a clear
picture of how employee skills development influences
employee performance in the province. Middle and senior
managers were frequently unavailable for data collection
purposes. Furthermore, because of limited finances, time and
mobility, the study was limited and did not manage to
collect data from every available source.
Conceptualising employee skills development
Employee skills development is an old concept that has piqued
the interest of many academics around the world (Fletcher,
Alfes & Robinson 2018). Several academics have described
and conceptualised the concept in various ways. In this regard,
it is critical to delve into its definition and meaning to arrive at
a definition that will serve as a guide for this study. According
to Hickey (2018), skills development can be seen as ‘the process
of inspiring workers so that they have the opportunity to carry
out new responsibilities and assignments in order to
accomplish appropriate performance outcomes’. This is
supported further by Fletcher et al. (2018), who stated that
employee skills development is defined as a systematic
approach aimed at advancing workers’ skills, knowledge and
abilities to achieve organisational or institutional goals.
Employee development, according to Hemeed and Waheed
(2011), is an organisational imperative that concerns the overall
growth of employees in terms of gaining new knowledge that
is compatible with the changing work environment. A
number of empirical studies have found a direct relationship
between skills development and employee competence and
performance (Hameed & Waheed 2011). The argument
presented in their work was that when employee skills are
transformed, employees are more likely to be satisfied and
committed to their jobs, which has a knock-on effect on
employee competence. Felstead et al. (2019) reported that the
concept of skills development is frequently viewed as a result
of a conglomeration or collection of numerous activities
relating to continued learning as well as job or career-related
skills. There appears to be agreement among architects and
scholars of organisational human resource management
(Dong et al. 2016; Fletcher et al. 2018; Hickey 2018; Halvarsson
Lundkvist & Gustavsson 2018) that the following elements are
central to employee skills development:
• Training: Legislation establishes procedures to ensure
that all public servants, from the highest to the lowest
ranks, have access to ongoing training as part of their
professional development.
• Mentorship or guidance: This mentorship is done to
ensure that employees are mentored, which is necessary
for skills development and the establishment of relevant
experiential knowledge. It will also provide staff with
instructions on how to do their jobs correctly. A career

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management policy, a career pathway (or personal
development plan) and a continuous professional
development plan will provide a roadmap for progressing
through a learning band required for a specific career.
• Performance management: Employee performance is
monitored and evaluated as part of the staff development
process. Staff will always be aware of their level of
competence to improve on their weaknesses and
contribute to institutional goals.
• Information sharing: Employees must be given
information that will help them advance in their careers
and improve their service delivery. This can be accomplished
by providing employees with access to relevant databases,
research and opportunities and resources to conduct
their research. This also implies that offices must have
information and communication technology systems
(Felstead et al. 2019).
• Consultation: This emphasises the creation of an open
environment in the workplace in which employees can
consult with supervisors and other colleagues. Such
transparency should exist between the organisation and
the community, as well as other institutions relevant to
officials’ professional and career development.
These indicators play an essential role in determining the
extent to which public servants are equipped with the
necessary skills to meet the demands of their jobs. As a result,
these indicators for skills development will be considered in
the creation of the conceptual model that will guide this study.
Employee competence conceptual framework
Employee competence is the next critical component that
forms the foundation of this study. It is noteworthy that the
concept of employee performance has been around since the
dawn of time. Because of the varying degrees of work,
employee competence has been conceptualised differently in
the literature. Puteh, Kaliannan and Alam (2016) alluded that
employee competence is an organisational human resource
concept that aims to improve performance, efficiency and
effectiveness on the job. Bi, Zhou and Cai (2014), Puteh et al.
(2016) and Ochioiu and Varnelyte (2013) supported that
employee competence refers to a collection of factors,
including intellectual skills and theoretical knowledge, that
are used to advance job performance.
Yang, Lee and Cheng (2016) outlined that employee competence
is used in institutions and organisations to represent
employee skill adequacy, essentially to provide ability and
knowledge that would enable an employee to execute job
tasks assigned. Competence, according to Jackson (2021), is
defined as an individual’s ability and capability to perform a
role through sharing of knowledge, expertise and abilities,
which leads to the actions needed to complete a task
as per prescribed and expected performance levels.
Furthermore, the concept is viewed as denoting an employee’s
ability to perform specific knowledge and skill to perform the
task that has been assigned to him or her in an expected and
professional manner (Alsabbah & Ibrahim 2014). As a result,
for organisational employees to demonstrate competency at
work, institutions must develop long-term mechanisms for
fast-tracking employee skills development if they are to
improve overall performance.
Based on the conceptualisation of the two main building
blocks guiding this study, it is critical to investigate the type
of relationship that exists between the identified indicators.
Figure 1 presents a proposed framework for enhancing
employee skills and competence within organisations and
institutions.
The notion presented in the framework above is that
employee skills development indicators play an influential
role (positive or negative) in the elements of employee
competence. A correlation among these indicators will be
tested using quantitative methods.
Praccal approaches to employee skills
development and employee competence
Even though most developing countries have made progress
in matching skills and required day-to-day tasks, most
South African public sector departments continue to face
challenges related to mismatches between employee skills
and skills required to perform. According to Du Plessis
(2006), employee skills development is a critical component
that must be prioritised in both developed and developing
countries as part of efforts to increase employment,
economic growth and competitiveness. At this point, it is
important to note that this field of study has piqued the
interest of several renowned scholars who have conducted
empirical studies to investigate how countries around the
world have navigated the terrain of skills development in
relation to employee competence. As a result, it is critical to
delve into these studies and analyse their potential
applications in the current study. The study analyses the
path taken by Australia and the United Kingdom in
developing and institutionalising mechanisms to align
skills development and employee competence through case
studies. This subsection also extends to South Africa and
provides an assessment of employee skills development
and competence in the public sector.
FIGURE 1: A proposed framework for skills development and employee
competence for public sector instuons.
Elements of skills
development
Training
Mentorship
Performance management
Informaon sharing
Consultaon
Compleon of tasks
Meeng meframes
Quality work output
Timely feedback
Employee competence
indicators

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Employee skills development and competences
in the Department of Educaon
Following the first democratic elections and the country’s
independence in 1994, South Africa’s new administration
was determined to face a slew of challenges in public
administration and management (Tembe & Sehume 2016).
One of the major legacies of apartheid that continues to
impede effective and efficient service delivery today is a
severe shortage of skills. The performance of various
government departments and public sector institutions is
directly related to skill shortages. Mavunga and Cross (2017)
alluded that the South African context’s skills gap is
demonstrated by the Department of Higher Education’s
(DHET) continued existence and publication of a critical
skills list (DHET):
[T]he South African labour force consisted of 15 million
employed and 7.5 million unemployed people. Three-quarters of
the working and 90% of the unemployed are Africans.
Approximately half of the workers do not even have a grade
12 certificate, while 20% of the working population has a higher
education certificate, and 32% have completed senior secondary
education. Almost two-thirds of the unemployed have less
than a matric certificate. This equates to 11.75 million people in
the labour force who do not have a high school diploma.
(Powell, Reddy & Paterson 2014:4)
This is a clear indication of the countrywide skills gap.
Based on Chelechele (2009), apartheid policies regarding
human resource growth also created a trail of a poorly skilled
foundation and gross inequality in terms of workforce
development in South Africa. The government of South
Africa adopted a series of laws and measures aimed at
improving the expertise of officials to remedy past injustices
and disparities and standardise the situation (Nkosi 2015).
This is further elucidated by Mavunga and Cross (2017), who
argued that the country’s development agenda will fail if
public servants lack the necessary skills to do their jobs.
Marock (2010) confirmed that skills shortage in the
South African public sector has become one of the most
important issues in debates about service delivery,
economic growth and productivity. Apart from the fact
that labour shortages are at the core of several policy
decisions, the press refuses to focus on how severe such
deficien cies are beco ming and how they are affecting growth
and innovation (Marock 2010). As a result, the country has
put in place several frameworks intended to capacitate
public servants to improve the way they carry out
assigned tasks while also improving organisational
performance (Felstead et al. 2019).
One of the hallmarks of South Africa’s new democratic
regime was the development of public servants’ skills.
This was based on the perception that most black people
lacked the competencies required in many public institutions.
According to Tshilongamulenzhe and Coetzee (eds. 2013),
the adoption of legal statutes such as the Skills Development
Act of 1998; the Skills Development Levies Act of 1999; a series
of National Skills Development Strategies; Adult Basic
Education (ABET) programs, and the establishment of
structures such as SETA’s was intended to capacitate the
public sector.
Instuonal framework for employee skills
development in South Africa
South Africa currently has a transforming employee skills
development management framework (Reddy et al. 2018).
Notably, the country has made efforts to ensure the institutions
establish employee skills development framework that
would improve employee competence in various sectors and
government departments. Since 1994, various institutions
and authorities have been responsible for the development
of employee skills in South Africa. Mummenthey (2010)
focused on the ‘institutionalisation’ and organisation of the
core agencies tasked with implementing the new skills
development legal statutes. Table 1 summarises the functions
of various institutions in South Africa tasked with skills
development.
The establishment of skills development agencies in the
country has aided in the formulation and implementation
of several initiatives and programmes aimed at improving
employee skills in both the public and private sectors. Several
TABLE 1: Skills implementaon agencies and their funcons.
Agency Funcons and authority
Department of Labour and
Department of Educaon
These are the key departments that oversee and drive skills development, educaon and employee training in South Africa.
The responsibility of the DoL is training and implemenng all the iniaves for the labour market. Conversely, formal educaon
lies within the jurisdicon of the DoE.
South African Qualicaons
Authority
This is South Africa’s main ‘standard authority’ for both educaon and training. The South African Qualicaons Authority’s primary
mission is to provide high standards for training and educaon by ensuring that the Naonal Qualicaon Framework is developed and
implemented successfully.
Educaon and Training Quality
Assurance
The responsibility for ensuring important reforms has been assigned to ETQA enes that have been authorised and cered by the
SAQA for a specic eld (i.e. economic sector, educaonal instuons and bodies, social sector). Sector Educaon and Training
Authories have also been given the status of an ETQA for all sectors of the economy and thus for quality control in skills development.
Sector Educaon and Training
Authories
Sector Educaon and Training Authories are the major planning bodies for developing and maintaining quality workplace educaon and
development and are regulated by the regulaons of the Skills Development Act and the Skills Development Levies Act No. 9 of 1999.
Naonal Skills Authority The NSA is a primary stakeholder that informs the DoL on naonwide capacity-building policy and strategy execuon, NSF allocaons and
SETA Sector Skills Plans approval.
Naonal Skills Fund All training is funded by a levy-based system governed by the Skills Development Levies Act (Republic of South Africa [RSA] 1996).
The sum that can be levied is 1% of the total employee salary. The levy raised goes to the NSF, which is supervised by the Treasury
Department (NSA)
Source: Author’s illustraon of Mummenthey, C., 2010, Skills development in South Africa: A reader on the South African skills development arena, German Development Service
DoE, Department of Educaon; SAQA, South African Qualicaons Authority; ETQA, Educaon and Training Quality Assurance; SETA, Sector Educaon and Training Authority; NSF,
Naonal Skills Fund; NSA, Naonal Skills Authority; DoL, Department of Labour.

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initiatives, including the NSDS II (for the period 2005 to 2010)
and the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition Elliot
(2009), have been implemented with varying degrees of
success in this regard. The most intriguing aspect, however, is
that there appears to be a consensus among various scholars
(Chelechele 2009; Mavunga & Cross 2017; Mopeli 2014) that
the majority of South African skills development initiatives
have failed to live up to expectations in terms of improving
employee competence in the public sector. Literature evidence
indicates that South Africa’s path to employee skills
development and competence has never been easy. This means
that a variety of factors have hampered the efficient and
effective implementation of skills development and training.
As such, it is imperative to analyse the challenges that have
hampered the development of skills and competence.
Research methodology
Research paradigm
The two commonly used paradigms are positivism
and interpretivism. The study adopted an interpretivist
paradigm. Saunders and Bezzina (2015) purported that the
study of social phenomena in their natural environment
relates to interpretivism. The theory of analysis adopted in a
study involves imperative assumptions regarding how the
researcher sees the world. The goal here is that the analysis
should apply to the questions of the report. To this end, this
study warrants the adoption of an interpretative paradigm
to provide an interpretation of the nexus between employee
skills development and competence in the ECDoE In this
regard, the nexus between employee skills development and
competence in the ECDoE was examined based on the
interpretative model that seeks to gather the perspectives of
respondents based on their experiences.
Research approach
The research is focused on an inductive approach consistent
with the interpretivist paradigm. The inductive approach,
according to Bryman and Bell (2015), involves the creation of
a theory by which data collection is first carried out by
different methods such as interviews, and then new
hypotheses are developed based on the results. The gathering
of practical knowledge required for the creation of new ideas
is encouraged by interviews. Bryman and Bell (2015)
continued to argue that this kind of method helps researchers
to evaluate different things that happen concerning the
subject of study. In this regard, abduction merges these
weaknesses by adopting a pragmatist view in evaluating the
significant contribution of skills development to employee
competence in the ECDoE.
Research methods
In this article, a phenomenological qualitative research
method was used to get an in-depth understanding of the
factors that hinder employee skills development in the
Eastern Cape region and strategies that could be put in place
to align skills development and employee competence.
Research strategy
The selection of a research strategy is usually driven by study
objectives and goals, the degree of established expertise, the
length of time and other resources available and the
theoretical frameworks, according to Saunders et al.
(2015:135). This research adopted a case study approach
because the research questions were rooted in qualitative
methods.
Populaon and sampling methodology
Target populaon
The findings of the article were derived from a mixed
population of 90 respondents involving people of all races,
age groups and educational statuses in the ECDoE. In this
regard, the study target population was represented as
follows: departmental line managers (2) and general
departmental employees (10). It is imperative to note that the
selection of these units of analysis was because they have
experienced the processes that are involved in employee
skills development and their contribution to employee
competence. It is noteworthy that this study did not consider
every employee of the ECDoE, and therefore a representative
sample was used to generalise the findings to the entire
department.
Sampling techniques
This research used purposive and random sampling
techniques to ensure that the sample was representative of
the study population. These are briefly explained below.
Data collecon procedures and methods
At the core of the research onion presented by Saunders,
Lewis and Thornhill (2012) are data collection procedures
and techniques essential in gathering credible data. In
consideration of the pragmatic paradigm, this study made
use of abductive approaches and mixed research. Primary
and secondary data were collected. In-depth interviews were
used to collect information from the employees of the ECDoE.
Open-ended questionnaires were asked face to face with the
study respondents. To support the findings from primary
sources, secondary sources such as published books and
journals were also used.
In-depth interviews
Face-to-face interviews were done with the selected employees,
and the study utilised open-ended questions to solicit a wide
range of responses. This allowed the respondents to share their
views, attitudes, beliefs, experiences and perceptions on
employee skills development and its contribution to employee
performance.
Documents
The research used secondary or precollected data to gather
information to cross-check the validity and reliability of
primary sources. Information from Internet sources

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(which mostly constituted electronic material) was carefully
selected according to its relevance in the study. Archival
data played a cardinal role in providing a review of
previously researched data on employee skills development
in South Africa. This information provided the baseline for
literature review and offered an opportunity of learning
from others.
Firstly, the data were carefully scrutinised for reliability
and accuracy, since enumerators were used for data
collection. Secondly, the study selected sources relevant to
and considerate of the period (timeline) of the undertaking
of the research to avoid obsolete, old and irrelevant
data. Finally, the study had to reduce bias by employing
special care in amending and modifying the collected
secondary data (Johnston 2014) to serve the purpose of the
study from the vast voluminous archival data. Table 2
summarises the study population, size of the sample and
methods for data collection relating to this article.
Data analysis technique
The research used thematic analysis to analyse the qualitative
data. Based on Clarke and Braun (2013), the method of
finding trends or themes within qualitative data is thematic
analysis. In this regard, thematic analysis proved to be useful
in summarising key characteristics of a broad data set, as it
required the researcher to take a well-structured approach
to data handling, helping to generate a consistent and
organised final report.
Ethical consideraons
Ethical clearance to conduct this study was obtained
from the University of Fort Hare Research Ethics
Committee (UREC) (reference number: REC-270710-028-RA
Level 01).
Results
Demographic data
The researcher initially targeted 15 participants to
participate in the study. Because of challenges posed by
the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions, only
12 participants were available for face-to-face in-depth
interviews. However, the data gathered from respondents
are verifiable and trustworthy because of their experience in
the education sector and the qualifications they hold. The
respondents had institutional memory because they were
permanently employed, as opposed to many employees
who worked in contracts for 3–5 years with the Department
of Education.
Age of respondents
Age is a very prudent aspect of research because different
age groups represent different views and opinions about
employee skills development in the local government sector.
Age could come in as a factor in understanding the dynamics
related to HRD and how this impacts employee competence in
the ECDoE. Table 3 describes the age distribution of
interviewed respondents.
Table 3 illustrates participants according to their age.
This is important as people of different ages usually
behave and respond to questions differently. In this case,
there are young persons who in their responses might
represent the aspirations of young people. In addition, the
middle age group has been more willing to participate,
thus assisting the researcher to balance views according
to age.
Work experience
Work experience is also important because respondents
share their experiences and opinions based on the experience
they have. In assessing the nexus between skills development
and employee competence in the department of education,
respondents provided their work experiences, which are shown
in Table 4.
As shown in Table 4, most respondents had 10–20 years of
service in the public sector. This is significant as it is a
well-known fact that an experienced respondent is the best.
The researcher was able to delve deeper into their experiences
with regard to the role skills development play on employee
competence in the Department of Education. It is against
this background that the researcher is of the opinion that
the data collected are credible and trustworthy.
Levels of educaon
Education is broadly used as an instrument for organisational
change because it increases the stock of human resources,
which in turn increases organisational or institutional
performance (Hickey 2018). This is essential for this study
because the level of literacy of the people involved in skills
development and employee competence generally affects
the outcome of these processes. The educational levels of
respondents are therefore shown in Table 5.
TABLE 2: Summary of populaon, sample size and data collecon methods.
Populaon Sample size Data collecon method
Department line managers (ASD, DD, D) 2In-depth interviews
Department employees 10 In-depth interviews
Total 12 -
ASD, assistant directors; DD, deputy directors; D, directors.
TABLE 4: Work experience of study parcipants in years.
Experience of parcipants (years) Number of parcipants
5–10 04
10–20 08
20–25 00
TABLE 3: Age distribuon of parcipants.
Age distribuon Number of parcipants
25–35 04
35–45 06
54–55 02

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As shown in Table 5, there are two participants with Diplomas
in Education as a qualification. However, the in-service
training skills imparted to them assisted with the knowledge
and understanding required for interviews. In certain
instances, these interviewees responded in their mother
tongue; as a result, the interviewer had to interpret and
translate their responses into English. Most of the interviewees
have postdiploma qualifications; this made it easy for the
researcher to interpret their responses.
Understanding employee skills development
and its role in employee competence
Employee skills development, or HRD, is critical in
addressing the skills gaps that exist in the public sector. This
is largely because of several studies indicating that South
African public institutions are plagued by skills shortages.
As a result, in this section, participants’ understanding
of employee skills development in relation to employee
competence was questioned. The opinions expressed on this
subject were diverse. This is reflected in the following excerpt,
in which one respondent during an interview expressed
the following sentiments:
‘[…S]kills development encompasses a number of strategies,
ranging from in-service training and ensuring that the employees
are capacitated with knowledge that will help them perform
their tasks.’ (Respondent 3)
In addition, one other key informant pointed out that:
‘To improve the efficiency of employees and their impact on the
job, training on that particular job is very important, as many of
the employees have been found wanting in terms of the relevant
skills.’ (Respondent 7)
What can be deduced from the above remarks is that HRD or
employee skills development is perceived to be a precondition
for the efficiency of tasks that are usually assigned to
employees by their superiors. This is in line with Hickey’s
(2018) assertion that employee skills development relates to
the process of empowering employees so that they possess
the abilities to carry out new roles and tasks to achieve
required performance outcomes. More so, it can be deduced
that in the ECDoE, skills development is seen to move
beyond empowering employees to contribute towards the
delivery of services offered by the department. Concerning
the skills gaps in the department, some of the study
respondents had divergent views because they felt that the
gap was marginal in the department. One respondent
reiterated that:
‘Unlike a number of public institutions in the country, the
education department is known for recruiting qualified staff …
the majority of the employees we have hold degrees, and this is
a sign that the skills gap has not been an issue in our department.’
(Respondent 1)
Despite the fact that the department boasts about having
qualified staff, the above assertion was criticised by one
respondent, who argued that the possession of qualifications
by staff has not yet translated to an efficient performance by
the employees. The respondent argued that:
‘[…E]mployee skills development remains important in our
department because you will find out that even degreed
employees need some in-service training because of the
technological advances that have taken place …’ (Respondent 1)
In line with the assertion above, Fazekas and Burns (2011)
elucidated that skills development is a process that seeks to
help employees acquire relevant information, technical
know-how and expertise on the job. The notion presented
here is that employees need to have access to new
technological advancements and information and understand
how to use this technology in relation to their tasks. As such,
a consensus was reached among the respondents that
employees need to engage in lifelong learning so that they
remain relevant with regard to technological advancements.
The eects of training and mentorship on
employee competence
The conceptualisation of employee skills revealed that in-
service training and mentorship are the key components that
can be used to test the impact of employee skills development
on the competence of staff. In a number of settings, many
strategies to enhance employee competence have been
attempted. A number of initiatives and programmes have
centred on financial rewards such as outcome-based support
or pay-for-performance but have seen little success in
improving the competence of staff in the public sector
domain. Hoover et al. (2020) ruled that traditional training
systems have positioned employees during brief training
sessions in structured environments, which are not successful
in developing durable skills that are necessary for employee
competence. In relation to the effects of training and employee
mentoring, the respondents shared the same sentiments that
it is seminal in imparting the skills required in the performance
of tasks. One key informant pointed out that:
‘Although a number of our employees are qualified for the job,
we have noted some gaps between the qualifications and the
requirement for the job; as such, we have had a number of
interventions to bridge that gap.’ (Respondent 8)
What can be deduced from the above remarks is the
realisation that qualifications have not automatically
translated to job competence, and in-service training and
employee mentoring have been used to ensure that the
skills possessed by the employees are in tandem with what
they actually need to do. An employee in the department
reiterated that:
‘[…W]hen I first arrived here, I realised that despite having the
qualifications, I did not possess the necessary skills. However,
the in-service training programmes helped me a lot, and the
TABLE 5: Classicaon of respondents according to educaonal qualicaons.
Qualicaons Number of parcipants
Diploma in Educaon 02
BA degree in Educaon 06
Honours or master’s degree 04
BA, bachelor of arts.

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mentoring by my supervisor also assisted, and I can say
I am efficient and competent in performing the tasks that are
allocated to me.’ (Respondent 2)
Evidence from texts reveals that in-service employee
training and mentoring in the Department of Education has
been provided in two types: that is, face-to-face and online.
Face-to-face schooling is the most popular mode.
Respondents revealed that the face-to-face mode refers to a
scenario in which department and resource people sit and
talk with each other on selected job problems or issues.
These have included the face-to-face mode such as lectures,
workshops, conferences and short-term training. These
have been lauded as key in transforming employee
competence. This is justified by one respondent, who
pointed out that:
‘[…T]he training and mentorship we get help us to keep in touch
with the advancements especially technological ones and this
has improved our performance in terms of completion of tasks,
provision of timely feedback and quality output.’ (Respondent 2)
Based on the above views, it can be confirmed that there is
a positive correlation between in-service training or
employee mentoring and employee competence.
Conclusion and recommendaons
The goal of this research was to investigate and analyse
the role employee skills development plays towards
employee competence within the ECDoE. An analysis of
the role skills development plays in the Department of
Education context has been carried out in this study. A
critical feature of such an analysis was the understanding
that all levels of expertise, particularly ‘high skills’,
intermediate skills and ‘low skills’, are essential. In
essence, the article concentrated on the role of skills
development in the competency levels of the employees,
based on the findings from the ECDoE.
The article revealed that institutions such as the Department
of Labour (DoL), Department of Education (DoE), Department
of Science and Innovation (DST) and Department of Home
Affairs (DHA) are joined by the wider skills learning system.
At this point, the lack of communication between the DoL
and the DoE is perhaps the most critical problem that has
hindered the development of employee skills in the public
sector. The insinuation presented here is that different state
organs do not do enough to incorporate the National
Qualifications Framework (NQF) learning relationships, and
the system becomes highly suboptimal without doing this.
Such problems have cascaded down to affect the competence
of many public employees.
This article on the effect of training and development on
employee performance has emerged as a tool for obtaining
valuable knowledge on the issue while understanding the
challenges faced by the ECDoE. In this case, public institutions
will be motivated by the research results to make employee
skills development a vital and strategic necessity to preserve
the productive efficiency and organisational growth of such
institutions. In praise of Mansour (2013), it is emphasised
that the cultivation of a creative, competent, versatile and
elevated staff has become essential for organisations that
aspire to succeed in the public sphere.
Findings also revealed that when implemented by
institutions such as the SETA, higher education institutions
and other private players, the skills training and
development approach would ensure that employees are
empowered, informed and trained, which translates into
greater efficiency and effectiveness. In this case, public
entities will benefit from spin-offs, as employees’ elevated
skills open up possibilities for job development and
organisational performance in the long run. More so, the
competent and trained employee would take decisive
organisational decisions, successfully listening to the
concerns of the clients. The advantages will trickle down to
the communities where these organisations are based, and
the greater image is the development that will be the
ultimate for the government.
Elnaga and Imran (2013) observed, in confirmation of the
findings of the present study at hand, that successful employee
skills development programmes not only serve to improve the
person but also enable public institutions such as the DoE to
appropriately use their human capital to gain a competitive
edge. Evidence from the conducted interviews showed that
employees are required to respond efficiently and adequately
to the requirements or concerns of a client. Furthermore,
Elnaga and Imran (2013) mentioned that it would seem
essential for organisations to prepare for employee training
programmes to develop the skills and skills needed in their
workplace. What is presented here relates to the fact that
employees will gain access to professional opportunities in the
workplace, providing innovation and fulfilment across a much
wider reach. In this regard, this study concludes that the future
success in every organisation eventually depends on the
number of individuals in jobs and how productive they are.
Acknowledgements
Compeng interests
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal
relationships that may have inappropriately influenced
them in writing this article.
Authors’ contribuons
G.G. is the main author, and this manuscript is part of her
original research for her master’s degree. She was mainly
responsible for writing the literature and data analysis.
B.P. was mainly responsible for data mining, analysis and
drafting the article. T.R. provided guidance, wrote the
discussion and edited the manuscript. Z.C. is the corresponding
author; she contributed towards editing the contents of the
manuscript and was mainly responsible for identifying and
submitting the work to the journal of choice.

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Funding informaon
This research received no specific grant from any funding
agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Data availability
Where applicable, a list of figures that have associated raw
data is made available.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those
of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official
policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.
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