Page 49 - Transformation Report 2023
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8 TRANSFORMATION

 GOAL







 ENSURE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAMMES AND MEASURES   Implementation of affirmative action measures is ongo-
 DESIGNED TO ACCELERATE FOCUSED RECRUITMENT, CAPACITY   ing. The barriers and affirmative action measures reflect-
 DEVELOPMENT, GREATER REPRESENTATION AND RETENTION OF   ed in the report submission is reflected in Table 26. These
 DESIGNATED AND UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS, INCLUDING   barriers and measures remained unchanged relative to
              the previous year’s submission. The effectiveness of these
 PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, IN UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT AND   measures needs to be assessed to minimise the impact of
 PROFESSIONAL, ADMINISTRATIVE, AND SUPPORT SERVICES   the revolving door of Black employee turnover on achiev-
 EMPLOYEES    ing the set targets.

 Goal 8 should be read in conjunction with Goal 5, relating   Table 25 below provides the workforce profile submitted   Workforce Profiling and
 to diversification of the Academy.  in the above report.
                         Talent Management
 The  total  number  of  permanent  employees  increased
 Employment Equity Plan   by 2 from 2 609 in 2022 to 2 611 in 2023, while tempo-  The compilation of an Integrated Talent Management
 Implementation  rary staff increased by 125, from 2 040 in 2022 to 2 195 in   Strategy, which is informed by the Institutional People
 2023. The overall increase in the total employee number
 is primarily due to a higher number of temporary staff ap-  Strategy, is currently underway.
 pointments. The proportion of permanent Black (African,
 In April 2023, the Employment Equity Amendment (EEA)   Coloured  and  Indian)  employees  increased  from  73.4%   The Integrated Talent Management strategy will focus on
 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   all the components of talent management, inclusive of
 (Act No 55 of 1998), which introduced EE sector targets   of temporary Black employees increased from 64.8% (1   Strategic Workforce Planning and its dovetailing with the
 and proposed that current EE plans of institutions should   322) in 2022 to 69.1% (1 517) in 2023, pointing towards the   annual budget process, further guided by the strategic
 come to an immediate end. As a designated employer,   casualisation of Black labour. The casualisation of labour   and operational needs of the University. This will result in
 the University will prepare and implement a new EE plan   within the higher education sector is concerning, espe-  the updating of job descriptions, its integration with per-
 to demonstrate reasonable progress in achieving its eq-  cially with increased student enrolments and increased   formance contracts, people capability acquisition plans,
 uity targets. A plan to co-create the new Employment   student:staff  ratios.  This  sectoral  trend  may  be  fuelled   against competency matrices and the commensurate
 Equity Plan for 2024 – 2029, with relevant stakeholders,   by the reduced subsidy levels resulting from a lower in-  proficiency  levels  for  these  capabilities  thus  advancing
 has commenced. While the new plan is being developed,   come tax base due to high unemployment rates and the   people and institutional capabilities. It is envisaged that
 the University started implementing the final year (Year   poor economic conditions within our country. Despite the   this will be supported by an automated integrated end-
 5) of the 2019-2024 EE Plan as from 1 October 2023 and   need for expansion of the permanent workforce, the lack   to-end HR technological system.
 tracked progress against the Economically Active Popu-  of adequate funds deters the permanent appointment of   Table 26: Summary of Barriers and Affirmative Action Measures in the
 lation (EAP) targets. The Annual Employment Equity Re-  employees whose contracts have been annually renewed   In addition to crafting and finalising the abovementioned   2022/2023 Employment Equity Report.
 port (EEA2) and the Income Differentials (EEA4) Report,   over several years. The recurring renewal of such short-  strategy, HR is implementing mechanisms, such as “Stay
 for the period ending September 2023 and which is part   term contracts poses a risk to the University. The provi-  Interviews”, which will give insight into what the push fac-
 of the 2019 – 2024 Employment Equity Plan, was success-  sion of longer fixed-term contracts of three to five years   tors are for academics. The revision of HR policies will im-  Furthermore, as part of the implementation of Perfor-
 fully submitted online in December 2023.   may provide workplace stability to the University and the   pact our ability to attract and retain academics.  mance Management, the skills assessment will help to
 contracted employees.                                         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.




 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).

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