An analysis of the human resource development strategies for local government: a case of Buffalo City Metropolitan municipality.

Abstract

Human resources are the most important resource in an organisation; they are the ones that provide talent, skills and effort that make organisations what they are. The same applies in local government, even more so because, without human resources the government cannot carry out its mandate. An organisation’s success and effectiveness therefore lies in the people that make up and work in the organization. This study sought to review the human resource development strategies and their impact on local government performance with specific focus on the Buffalo City Metropolitan municipality. The study had an analysis of the legislative framework that gives guidance to the development of skills in local government. It also went on to look at the strategies that are used in local government for human resource development and the challenges that local government municipalities face when it comes to development and implementation of their strategies. The challenges were varied and seem to undermine their efforts; from failure to develop municipal HRD strategies to issues of implementation such as inadequate budgets. The study revealed that the BCMM is one of the municipalities that do not have a specific human resource development strategy but uses a variety of HR strategies to develop its workforce. It was also found that even though the municipality has adequate budgets to implement HRD programs it does not have a mechanism for assessing the impact of these programs on performance. Their performance management system is under the process of implementation hence it is not yet fully functional, so the municipality implements a number of programs but is lacking in terms of return on investment. The study employed the qualitative research approach, which comprised of the use of the analysis of official municipal documents and interviews with key informants from the human resource development personnel as a method of study. The researcher went to greater depths in analysing documents that contained the relevant information to answer the research questions and objectives.