Question 1: Career development and performance

Times have changed. While our parents and grandparents typically picked one job and stuck with it until retirement, following a very straightforward career path, the modern worker is presented with a variety of new industries, jobs, and ways to prove themselves. This abundance of opportunities is amazing but can also be overwhelming. To streamline your career goals, invest in a professional development plan. A development plan is a document that outlines your current skills and knowledge, your goals, and the steps you need to take to achieve career development goals.

Step 1: Design a PDP for John, HRD administrator (by referring to the two job descriptions) which next step in career progression will be the Learning and Development Officer. (Referring to any relevant element: e.g., qualifications, skills, experience etc.) (12)

Step 2: Set goals to be able to move from the HRD administrator role to the Learning & Development officer role (12)
• Short-term goals should range from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
• Mid-term goals should range from a couple of weeks to a couple of months.
• Long-term goals can be months or even years into the future.

Step 3: Develop strategies (action plans to achieve short-, medium and long- term goals). (12)

Step 4: Add the types of resources (time, money, emotional and physical support, experiences, opportunities) that may be required.

JOB TITLE : Learning and Development Officer

Purpose of the job
To coordinate, support and maintain structured learning and development and to ensure compliance to relevant applicable legislation and policies.
Key Responsibility Areas
• Coordinate the implementation of skills audit and needs analysis to identify employee skills
• Co-ordinate the implementation of Personal Development Plans (PDPs) and relevant training programmes.
• Coordinate training and development interventions and programmed.
• Coordinate and oversee the management of internal and external bursaries
• Processing of all training requests and bursaries on the system
• Coordination of learnerships and internships
• Facilitate the onboarding and induction of interns and learners
• Monitoring and coordination of bursaries, learnership programmes and internships.
Qualifications and Experience
Required Qualification: minimum 3-year National Diploma/Degree in HR (NQF level 6) with specialisation in Training (Learning) and Development.
Experience: 3 – 5 years’ experience as Training and Development coordinator. 3 years extensive experience in Training and Development facilitation.
Technical Competencies Description
Knowledge of relevant legislation Knowledge of SITA training and development policies processes and procedures
Sound knowledge of training and development principles and practices. Skilled at developing and delivering training programs.
Extensive knowledge on use of Microsoft Office programs.
Interaction with various stakeholders, training institutions, accreditation institutions. Interpersonal/behavioural competencies: Attention to Detail, Analytical thinking, Continuous Learning, Disciplined, Resilience, and Stress Management.

JOB TITLE: Training (HRD) Administrator Purpose of the job
The training administrator is responsible for all administration of the education, training and development unit/ department, including Secretarial support to the education, training and development related Council Sub-Committees.
Key responsible Areas
• Administer training programmes and assessments.
• Manage and maintain training records.
• Assist with the administration of accreditation and certification of training programmes.
• Providing the Secretarial support to Council Sub-Committees (minute taking).
• General administration and office support.
• Assist with Ad Hoc projects.
Requirements (for this position should you apply for this position-thus previous experience relevant to this job)
• Minimum 2 years of experience as a training administrator.
• Basic understanding of training and Development Bodies environment.
• Proven MS office experience.
• Experience of minute taking.
• Matric/ grade 12 or equivalent.
• Diploma in Training & Development or equivalent.

Question 2: Management and Leadership Development case study

Emily is the associate director of a nonprofit agency that provide assistance to children and families. She is the head of a department that focuses on evaluating the skill-building programs the agency provides to families. She reports directly to the Vice President of the agency. The agency has been cautious in hiring this year because of increased competition for government grant funding. However, they have also suffered high staff turnover. Two directors, three key research staff, and one staff person from the finance department have left.

Emily has a demanding schedule that requires frequent travel; however, she supervises two managers who in turn are responsible for five staff members each. Both managers have been appointed within the last six months.

Manager 1: Kelly has a specific background in research. She manages staff who provide research support to another department that delivers behavioral health services to youth. Kelly supports her staff and is highly organized; however, she often has a very rigid approach when dealing with direct reports as she is much more task orientated than people orientated. Kelly is very motivated and driven and expects the same from her staff. The company’s leadership values Kelly’s latest research on the therapeutic division’s service and she has recently won an award for her contributions.

Manager 2: Linda has a strong background in social science research and evaluation. She manages staff that work on different projects within the agency. She is known as a problem solver and is extremely supportive of her staff. She is very organized and has a wealth of experience in providing family services. Linda is very capable and can sometimes take on too much which also has a direct impact on her direct reports.

The managers are sensing that staff are becoming overworked as everyone takes on increased responsibilities due to high staff turnover. Staff have also mentioned that Emily’s “glass half-empty” conversation style leaves them feeling dejected.
Emily mostly relies on team meetings, with minimum personal interaction. These meetings mostly happen to deal with changes within projects and are arranged on very short notice. She also regularly expects reporting on projects, but she often fails to send all relevant documentation and information to her managers.

The managers feel disempowered and not working towards a common goal as no strategic planning was done as a team. They are getting no performance feedback and both managers have requested to discuss their development plans, but Emily has been neglecting these appointments for the last 3 months, Emily has not shared budgets with her managers, so they are having difficulty appropriately allocating resources to staff. Emily said she has not received sufficient information from the finance department to complete the budgets. The finance department said they have sent her all the information they have available. As staff become distressed, the managers are becoming frustrated. They feel like they are unable to

Differentiate between the concept of management and leadership. (4)

How can Emily most effectively use both management and leadership skills in her role as associate director? What combination of the two do you think would work best in this setting?   (4)

What management steps could be taken to build staff confidence? (7)

What advice would you give Emily, to develop and improve her own leadership and management skills in supporting her two managers with their shortcomings? (6)

Suggest learning opportunities for both managers, Linda and Kelly, by referring to relevant learning programmes for their personal development and motivate the reason for your suggestion. (12)

Answers to Above Questions on Human Resource Development

Expert Answer 1:

A professional development plan is prepared for John, an HRD administrator. John wants to become a Learning and Development Officer, and this PDP is aimed at providing the qualification and experience he possesses, along with the specification of desired role, development needs and actionable steps that are required to bridge the gap.
Professional Development Plan
1) Name: John
2) Current Job Title: HRD Administrator
3) Target Job Title: Learning and Development Officer
Subscribe our services to get access to the entire PDP about John and hire our professional human resource development experts.

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