The Effectiveness of Clinical Associates in Addressing the Human Resources Challenge of Skills Shortage : A Case Study of Tshwane District Hospital ( South Africa )

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (9) ◽  
pp. 41-83
Author(s):  
N. Cassim ◽  
Makgai Dilatlheng Monicca ◽  
Anis Mahomed Karodia
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
District Hospital ◽  
Skills Shortage

scholarly journals The International Information Consultant: A Primer on Avoiding Potholes, Perils, and Pitfalls

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-240
Author(s):  
Catherine Lemmer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Change Management ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
The Law ◽  
Problem Solvers ◽  
Law Library

Consultants are retained to assist libraries in identifying, designing, and implementing solutions to a wide variety of strategic, management, operational, and human resources issues. The goal of the library-consultant relationship is to improve the operations of the organization. Although often unrecognized as such, law librarians are natural consultants. Librarians are problem solvers, and as such develop and use many of the same skills as consultants in their everyday roles in the law library.For those versatile librarians skilled in change management and interested in pursuing these challenging professional opportunities, this article discusses best practices for library consultants and provides advice on how to avoid pitfalls in the context of an international case study. Part I of the article provides an introduction to professional consulting. Part II discusses the author's case study, a six-month fellowship with the Legal Resources Centre of South Africa. Part III then concludes the article with an articulation of the skills and talents exhibited by successful consultants to enable interested readers to better understand if consulting is an opportunity matched to their professional interests and skills.

scholarly journals Ubuntu in the Engineering Workplace: Paying it forward through Mentoring

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fouzia Munir
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
African Philosophy ◽  
Mutual Respect ◽  
Skills Shortage ◽  
Critical Skills ◽  
Personal Interests

Research reveals that South Africa is facing a critical skills shortage. Companies are struggling to source engineering professionals for their ongoing operational success. In order to retain critical engineering skills, young engineers should be provided with inspirational mentorship. Despite South Africa’s move to a democracy, its workplace is still mired by social inequalities. Organisations aiming to harness diversity should create a culture of respect and accessibility so that all employees can reach their full potential. While many studies focus on the importance of mentorship, little has been said about the value of Ubuntu in mentor-mentee relationships. The paper argues that for an inclusive workplace, the answer lies in Ubuntu. By practising Ubuntu, mentor engineers can contribute to the direly needed professional development of young engineers. Ubuntu is an African philosophy which acknowledges that one’s own humanity is interlinked with the dignity and humanity of others. Ubuntu is forgoing one’s personal interests for the benefit of people around you, while growing together as a community. The study aimed to establish that instead of looking at individualistic solutions, we should embrace mutual growth and empowerment. The author used questionnaires with closed and open-ended questions to collect data. Fifty engineering professionals in different fields and from different cities in South Africa participated in this case study. The data were analysed inductively as well as deductively. Mentorship was identified as an important aspect of Ubuntu. It was recommended that engineers practise Ubuntu in their workplace to cultivate an ethos of community and mutual respect.

scholarly journals Gendered health care labour markets? A case study of anatomical pathologists and haematologists in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suveera Singh ◽  
Shaun Ruggunan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Human Resources For Health ◽  
Laboratory Medicine ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Medical Laboratory ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Preference Theory ◽  
Kwazulu Natal

This study qualitatively explored the role of gender and related factors that influence medical doctors’ decisions in selecting a specialisation within medical laboratory medicine. This study is novel in that it disaggregates doctors by specialisation. It further focuses on non-clinical medical specialists who have been ignored in the global human resources for health literature. Hakim’s preference theory as well as socialisation theory is adapted to explain some of the reasons female doctors make certain career choices regarding specialisation within the medical field. The study focused on laboratory doctors in the public and private sector in KwaZulu- Natal. A qualitative approach was adopted given the small population size and the need for an interpretive approach to the data. The research design was an exploratory case study and thematic analysis was used to discover the relevant themes. The non-probability purposeful sample comprised a total of 20 participants, of which 11 were anatomical pathologists and 9 were haematologists, all based in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Data collection was performed via in-depth interviews. Trustworthiness of the data was ensured through methods of credibility and triangulation. The key finding is that although gender is a significant factor in career choice (for specific disciplines), it is one of many factors that determine self-selection into a specific medical laboratory specialisation. The conclusions, although not generalisable, have implications for human resources for health policies targeted at achieving higher levels of recruitment in laboratory medicine as a profession.

scholarly journals Scarce skills expatriates in South African universities: Rhetoric and realities of the “Messianic” academics

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mokoko Sebola
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
South African ◽  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
Monitoring Tool ◽  
Monitoring Instrument ◽  
Skills Shortage ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
A Performance

This article investigates the reason for the continued scarce skills shortage, despite the recruitment of expatriates in academic institutions as an intervention measure. It argues that while the Human Resources Departments in South African universities motivate for the appointment of expatriates in the development of scarce skills, little monitoring is done to determine the effectiveness of this objective and, often, no performance instrument exists for such personnel. As such, the scarce skills to be developed continue to be wanting in the country. This article is conceptual and uses literature to argue about the hypothetical relation between the lack of a monitoring tool for expatriates and the continued scarce skills problems that universities cannot address. It concludes that the continued lack of a performance-monitoring instrument in South African universities for contracted expatriates will not solve the skills shortage problem experienced in South Africa.

scholarly journals National Scarce Skills within the Professional Chef’s Sector in South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 209-213
Author(s):  
Rishidaw Balkaran ◽  
Andrea Giampiccoli
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
Skills Shortage ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hospitality Sector

Since 1994, South Africa has witnessed an exceptional growth of the tourism sector. The hospitality sector is following a same positive trend however, there is not an appropriate growth of its human resources. South Africa, as many other countries, suffers a skills shortage of catering employees such as executive chefs and cooks. In addition, the historical context of South Africa has produced a specific skewed demographic picture of kitchen staff that now needs to be rebalanced. The skills shortage of kitchen staff could seriously affect the quality of service of the growing hospitality sector. This paper intends to investigate the context and problems related to kitchen staff shortages in South Africa. A literature review of factors such as low wages, unsociable and long hours will be outlined. Thereafter, the specific context of South Africa will be investigated. The specific history of the country has influenced also the hospitality (and kitchen staff) milieu, thus issues in the transformation of the sector will need to be put forward. The paper will conclude with some possible suggestion to decrease the skill shortage in kitchen staff in South Africa.

Social Design for Services Framework

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie SARANTOU ◽  
Satu MIETTINEN
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Research Group ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Service Design ◽  
Social Design ◽  
Practical Action ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

This paper addresses the fields of social and service design in development contexts, practice-based and constructive design research. A framework for social design for services will be explored through the survey of existing literature, specifically by drawing on eight doctoral theses that were produced by the World Design research group. The work of World Design researcher-designers was guided by a strong ethos of social and service design for development in marginalised communities. The paper also draws on a case study in Namibia and South Africa titled ‘My Dream World’. This case study presents a good example of how the social design for services framework functions in practice during experimentation and research in the field. The social design for services framework transfers the World Design group’s research results into practical action, providing a tool for the facilitation of design and research processes for sustainable development in marginal contexts.

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