PSTF AWARDS 2012: FINAL CITATIONS

Order of Awards:

AWARD / WINNER / PRIZES
Khaedu Team Award. / The team that worked on City of Tshwane Municipality, Emergency Service (Ms Mornay Scott and team). / Each person:
  • Plaque
  • Book voucher
  • Certificate

Dedication to Induction Training in the following categories:
  1. Best performing province.
  2. Best performing national department.
  3. Most improved province.
  4. Most improved national department.
/
  1. Free State and Western Cape
  2. SAPS
  3. North-West.
  4. Department of Agriculture
/
  • Floating Trophy each category
  • Certificates each category

Internship Award / Department of Trade and Industry /
  • Floating Trophy
  • Certificate

Training Excellence Service Medallion / Ms MotlhagoMakola. /
  • Medallion
  • Book voucher
  • e-Voucher
  • Certificate

PALAMA Director-General’s Award for Excellence in Training PALAMA Programmes / Ms BongiweNdondo /
  • Large trophy
  • iPad 16 G
  • e-Voucher
  • Book voucher
  • Certificate

Minister’s Award for Excellent Service to Public Service Training / Ms ThandiChaane
Ms Angie Ontong. /
  • Large trophy
  • iPad 32 G
  • e-Voucher
  • Book voucher
  • Certificate

In general

The PSTF conference is the only recognised and official forum where the role-players involved in training in the Public Service are represented. The PSTF provides the opportunity to recognise trainers that have worked hard to support capacity building of government officials in contribution towards the achievement of national objectives. The Achievers Awards for Public Service Trainers was created to

  • recognise practitioners from the public sector,
  • the private sector and
  • civil society in training and development.

The top achievers were determined by a committee of experts based on the nominations received, additional data collected and further enquiry.

The Adjudication Panel in essence acted like a referee at a soccer or rugby match. They had to make decisions on the basis of the information which they had before them.In some categories good nominations were received and the result was really a tough neck-on-neck affair.

Unfortunately no award could be made in the category “Excellence in Inclusivity Training”. The purpose of this award is to acknowledge exceptional and visionary trainers in the field of providing for inclusivity training for the public sector, meaning training that accommodates persons with training or learning difficulties, including specialised training for persons with physical barriers and other impairments.

Perhaps the lack of applicable nominations is indicative of the fact that considerable work still needs to be done in this sphere.

Khaedu Team Award

Service delivery remains a major challenge facing all spheres of government. As the Batho Pele Principles (meant to put people first) are often viewed as something aside from the managers’ day to day responsibilities, Project Khaedu was introduced as part of the Batho-Pele Revitalisation Strategy. Khaedu means “challenge” in Tshi-Venda.

Project Khaedu is an action learning programme that equips managers with core skills on process design, organisational effectiveness and change management, and they must participate in an appropriate service delivery assignment.

Participants visit service delivery points, where they practically apply what they learnt from the core skills modules to unblock service delivery challenges and they make recommendations to the hosting site.

A number of very good reports completed by various Khaedu teams were nominated by the PALAMA team managing the Khaedu programme. The Adjudication Panel thoroughly evaluated the nominations, considering the following fields: background information on the host site, problem identification, methodology, recommendations, results anticipated, lessons learned, conclusions, technical aspects and feedback from the host site.

The decision of the Panel was unanimous. The winning team was very good in every respect and stood out. They understood the case well, identified the problem and utilised an impressive methodology. They went to much trouble to conduct a survey;they provided their survey results in a clear and comprehensive fashion and they made clear recommendations emanating from the study.

The winners are one of the teams that worked on the City of Tshwane Emergency Services. The facilitator was Ms Mornay Scot and the team was WouterKoekemoer, SibusisuMabase, MmaselloModise, Paulina Ndobe, ChrisOpperman.

Dedication to Induction Training Award

The Dedication to Induction Training Awards is presented for exceptional dedication to induction training by national departments and provinces. It is awarded in four categories: two national and two provincial.

Best performing province: shared by the Free State and Western Cape

During 2011/12 the Free Statesuccessfully inducted 2057 new employees. The Free State Training and Development Institute coordinate and steer the process. They schedule PSI training across all departments, allocate trainers for departments, print materials and organising catering. The Free State Training and Development Institute successfully resolve many of the challenges without much assistance from PALAMA and control administrative processes. Training data is electronically captured and hard copies are nicely packaged and provided to PALAMA.

The Western Cape Province has an excellent and proven record on PSI coordination, administration and implementation. This is evident from the way in which they maintain their database and continuously provide comprehensive training records (both electronically and in hard copy) to PALAMA. The success of the Western Cape is further ensured by a comprehensive PSI database, an efficient nomination system, an online HRD system to which all training coordinators have access, and a centralised budget for PSI training located at the Provincial Training Institute. PSI training is considered as an integral part of skills development activities and are not seen in isolation.

Best performing national department.SAPS

PALAMA, in partnership with SAPS, rolled out the Public Service Induction Programme at SAPS colleges for their 2011 annual intake.

Good cooperation occurred during the planning phase and trainers were trained at the various SAPS colleges.

During the process the SAPS demonstrated that

  • they could conduct the training of large numbers
  • they kept excellent and precise electronic records during the training process and provided it to PALAMA which facilitated the certification process.

The result of this commitment was 5532 new SAPS members completed the PSI training which constitutes a quarter of the total number that underwent Induction training during 2011-2012.

Most improved province: North-West

Up to 2011 the coordination of Induction Training in the North West was largely decentralisedand PALAMA often interacted directly with departments. During 2011/12, the Office of the Premier became the coordinating department which resulted in a marked improvement in Induction Training in the province.A total of 924 officials participated in PSI in 2010/11 which more than doubled to 1910 in 2011/12.

The Office of the Premier coordinates training interventions amongst provincial departments and has trainers that conduct training. Most of the departments in NW, (specifically Health, Social Development, Education and Treasury) captured their training data electronically before providing it to PALAMA. Due to the improved administrative processes the issuingof certificates occurs on schedule.

Most improved national department: Department of Agriculture

During the 2010/2011 financial year the Department of Agriculture experienced a high attrition of PSI trainers. PALAMA convened a Training of Trainers programme which increased the pool of trainers and made it possible to conduct monthly training sessions around the country in 2011/2012.

The Department of Agriculture was the first department to conduct PSI training for their own learners as well as learners from other departments. Their record keeping was also very good and they submitted training registers within a month of training interventions occurring.

Internship Award

The Award is in recognition of the most successful internship programme and it is open to all national and provincial departments.

The DPSA provided inputsfor this award as they drive compliance with the national targets for implementation of the learnership, internship and artisan programmes in the Public Service. Such programmes are regarded as important as it provides for future capacity needs, and contributes towards achieving the objectives of the national development plan with regards to reducing unemployment, the eradication of poverty and closing the inequality gap.

The Department of Trade and Industry is the most deserving of this award as the 58 interns they recruited amounted to 4,5% of their total staff establishment (this excludes learnerships). They permanently appointed 34 of these interns (this translates to 58.6%), while the remaining 24 resigned to take up posts in the private sector. The interns the DTI recruited

  • was placed in the various specialisations and support services within DTI,
  • they participated in a departmental mentorship programme, and
  • some interns were even posted to foreign missions to assist with promoting SA as an investment destination.

Training Excellence Service Medallion

The Training Excellence Service Medallion is presented to a public service trainer for dedicated and meritorious service to public service training over a period of at least five years.

The best nomination received, based on the criteria, is that of Ms Motlhago Florence Makola. She submitted a very comprehensive POE and has worked with the Free State Training and Development institute since 2002. She is currently the Provincial Coordinator for the PSI and has contributed fundamentally to the efficient functioning of PSI training in the Free State Province.

Her peers described her “as a professional loyal and hardworking lady … that goes the extra mile and …. assist with a smile”.

PALAMA Director-General’s Award for Excellence in Training PALAMA Programmes

This award is presented to an individual trainer that provided excellent service in training PALAMA courses. It is open all trainers.

Ms BongiweNdondo has worked with dedication towards ensuring quality training and skills development in the public service. She has also contributed much towards the design and delivery of M&E courses. M&E has increasingly become an important part of government policy and programmes and the outcomes approach is anchored in a strong M&E foundation. This contribution to M&E capacity building in the public service is therefore valued.

Ms Ndondo has vast experience in assisting businesses, NGO’s and the Public Service in a training capacity and also has considerable experience in public health training and research.

Minister’s Award for Excellent Service to Public Service Training

This award is presented to an individual trainer that provided excellent service in public service training. It is open to all trainers and we have a runner-up as well as a winner.

The runner-up is Ms Angie Ontong.

Her nomination impressed as it was supported by a detailed and well-structured POE that supported the merit of the nomination very clearly. Ms Ontong has contributed significantly to training and development at National Treasury and boasts very high approval ratings as trainer.

She has also been involved with the development of an HRD Strategy and provided excellent service delivery based on the Batho Pele principles. Her contribution centred on identifying development needs, designing applicable training initiatives and the sourcing of service providers. She provides training, monitor and evaluate training programmes and reports on training results. In addition she has provided HRD support to other government departments.

The winner is Ms ThandiChaane.

Comes from a family of teachers and was a teacher for ten years.

She has worked with the SA Council of Churches and was the co-founder of READ (Read Education and Development), a literacy programme and the first in the country to introduce libraries into schools throughout the country.

She also had a long career in Human Resources and became the first femaleDeputy Director General of the Gauteng Provincial Government (in 1999). She subsequently successfully entered business, is involved with a wide range of foundations and consultancy structures and is a member of a number of Boards (amongst others Juta and Soul City). She also focusses on woman’s rights and diversity management.

As a trainer she is well recognised and highly appreciated. Besides training she also contributes towards curriculum development for new programmes and in this capacity her vast experience and insight is of crucial importance.