Assessing the impact of service benefits on employee performance in Gauteng Department of Education / T.J. Poopa

• Main Author: Poopa, Thabang Johannes
• Language: en
• Published: North West University 2014
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10394/12802

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) is powered by the Public Service Regulations Government Notice No R441 of 25 May 2001 (as amended) chapter 1, Regulation VIII, Section A, that outlines the principles of managing performance stating that Departments shall manage performance in a consultative, supportive and non-discriminatory manner in order to enhance organizational efficiency and effectiveness, accountability for the use of resources and the achievement of results. It is witnessed through personal observation and personalized interviews with some of the employees that supervisors and managers of the delegated units within the GDE does not take initiative to guide, inform and aware their subordinates regarding the availability of services benefits within the organization. It is furthermore related to the challenge regarding lack of training and informative sessions within the organization. In order to improve these challenges, the hypothesis for the study was formulated as 'the effective service benefits may improve employee performance at Gauteng Department of Education'. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents from senior management, employees and officials. This included qualitative questionnaires to obtain their opinion on the impact of the service benefits for enhanced employee performance at GDE. The convenient sampling was utilized to approach target population in order to obtain responses. The findings explored that the GDE needs to facilitate information sessions guiding the employees at lower management levels regarding the job description and job specification requirements of the top and middle management levels. The information regarding the tasks and responsibilities associated with the position/rank are linked with remuneration packages and service benefits. The GDE furthermore needs to inform employees that the service benefits are equally considered at different levels of management horizontally. The service benefits differ at different levels of management on vertical basis based on job requirements in the organization. The study concludes that the GDE needs to understand that there are implications of salary levels to employees' performance at the workplace. Employees who are not financially secured and satisfied with service benefits are concerned regarding the cost of living. This concern may have negative impact on employees' motivation and morale to reflect better productivity in the organization. It is recommended to further explore the possibility of establishing a macroanalytical correlation between 'service benefits of employees' and 'organizational efficiency' for improved delivery of services. === M. Development and Management, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012