Page 48 - Transformation Report 2023

8 TRANSFORMATION
GOAL
ENSURE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAMMES AND MEASURES
DESIGNED TO ACCELERATE FOCUSED RECRUITMENT, CAPACITY
DEVELOPMENT, GREATER REPRESENTATION AND RETENTION OF
DESIGNATED AND UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS, INCLUDING
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, IN UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT AND
PROFESSIONAL, ADMINISTRATIVE, AND SUPPORT SERVICES
EMPLOYEES
Goal 8 should be read in conjunction with Goal 5, relating Table 25 below provides the workforce profile submitted
to diversification of the Academy. in the above report.
The total number of permanent employees increased
Employment Equity Plan by 2 from 2 609 in 2022 to 2 611 in 2023, while tempo-
Implementation rary staff increased by 125, from 2 040 in 2022 to 2 195 in
2023. The overall increase in the total employee number
is primarily due to a higher number of temporary staff ap-
pointments. The proportion of permanent Black (African,
In April 2023, the Employment Equity Amendment (EEA) Coloured and Indian) employees increased from 73.4%
Bill of 2020 was signed into law to amend the EEA of 1998 (1 915) in 2022 to 88.7% (1 946) in 2023. The proportion
(Act No 55 of 1998), which introduced EE sector targets of temporary Black employees increased from 64.8% (1
and proposed that current EE plans of institutions should 322) in 2022 to 69.1% (1 517) in 2023, pointing towards the
come to an immediate end. As a designated employer, casualisation of Black labour. The casualisation of labour
the University will prepare and implement a new EE plan within the higher education sector is concerning, espe-
to demonstrate reasonable progress in achieving its eq- cially with increased student enrolments and increased
uity targets. A plan to co-create the new Employment student:staff ratios. This sectoral trend may be fuelled
Equity Plan for 2024 – 2029, with relevant stakeholders, by the reduced subsidy levels resulting from a lower in-
has commenced. While the new plan is being developed, come tax base due to high unemployment rates and the
the University started implementing the final year (Year poor economic conditions within our country. Despite the
5) of the 2019-2024 EE Plan as from 1 October 2023 and need for expansion of the permanent workforce, the lack
tracked progress against the Economically Active Popu- of adequate funds deters the permanent appointment of
lation (EAP) targets. The Annual Employment Equity Re- employees whose contracts have been annually renewed
port (EEA2) and the Income Differentials (EEA4) Report, over several years. The recurring renewal of such short-
for the period ending September 2023 and which is part term contracts poses a risk to the University. The provi-
of the 2019 – 2024 Employment Equity Plan, was success- sion of longer fixed-term contracts of three to five years
fully submitted online in December 2023. may provide workplace stability to the University and the
contracted employees.
Table 25: Employee Profile according to Occupational Levels, Population Groups, Gender and Employment Status as at 30 September 2023 (according
to the 2022/2023 Employment Equity Report).
41 TRANSFORMATION REPORT
Implementation of affirmative action measures is ongo-
ing. The barriers and affirmative action measures reflect-
ed in the report submission is reflected in Table 26. These
barriers and measures remained unchanged relative to
the previous year’s submission. The effectiveness of these
measures needs to be assessed to minimise the impact of
the revolving door of Black employee turnover on achiev-
ing the set targets.
Workforce Profiling and
Talent Management
The compilation of an Integrated Talent Management
Strategy, which is informed by the Institutional People
Strategy, is currently underway.
The Integrated Talent Management strategy will focus on
all the components of talent management, inclusive of
Strategic Workforce Planning and its dovetailing with the
annual budget process, further guided by the strategic
and operational needs of the University. This will result in
the updating of job descriptions, its integration with per-
formance contracts, people capability acquisition plans,
against competency matrices and the commensurate
proficiency levels for these capabilities thus advancing
people and institutional capabilities. It is envisaged that
this will be supported by an automated integrated end-
to-end HR technological system.
Table 26: Summary of Barriers and Affirmative Action Measures in the
In addition to crafting and finalising the abovementioned 2022/2023 Employment Equity Report.
strategy, HR is implementing mechanisms, such as “Stay
Interviews”, which will give insight into what the push fac-
tors are for academics. The revision of HR policies will im- Furthermore, as part of the implementation of Perfor-
pact our ability to attract and retain academics. mance Management, the skills assessment will help to
advance the capability of the University by identifying
The process of developing a staffing model for academic growth steps as part of the employees’ personal learning
and PASS employees still needs to be completed, and journeys as they set goals for career advancement.
will involve the following activities:
An ICT Workforce Plan was compiled, where IT skill re-
• Source benchmarking data from other universities, quirements for employees have been identified as part an
global and sector ratio resources upskilling intervention.
• Assess the gap between “As is” and “To Be”
• Source ratios for: Taking into consideration the Hybrid/Flexible Work en-
• Academic to student ratio vironment, requirements for sourcing immediate and
• Academic to PASS employees ratio short-term positions were identified and the type of em-
• PASS employees to total employee ratio. ployment contracts required for filling the positions.
A skills audit will be conducted in quarter two of 2024 as A Strategic T-shaped Professionals Competency Frame-
part of the broader Integrated Talent Management Strat- work and Proficiency Levels, as it pertains to digital skills,
egy to help employees understand where they excel and has been circulated to key stakeholders for consideration
where they may need improvement, based on the knowl- as these skills sets are further defined.
edge and skills required for each job.
TRANSFORMATION REPORT 42