The Department of Labour is on a change management rollercoaster ride that will eventually ring fence public entities like the Compensation Fund (CF) and Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) as part of the drive to create one organisation geared towards world class service delivery, a meeting was told in Turfontein, Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
The meeting was the last leg of Director-General, Nkosinathi Nhleko’s Shanduka roadshow at which he reports to staff about the organisational review being undertaken by the department. The roadshows emanate from the country-wide consultations conducted by Nhleko in 2011 to enquire on issues of concern to staff.
Among issues raised at the time were that the workload was perceived to be unbalanced at various service delivery points, staff not being afforded equal training opportunities and a general mistrust between staff and management.
“When we have a single, seamless Department of Labour allows us to deliver on our mandate in a focused fashion. As things stand, we have entities such as the UIF and CF operating as separate agencies from the mother organisation. This introduces inefficiencies and different cultures in the same organisation," Nhleko said.
Lerato Molebatsi, Deputy Director-General Corporate Services told the meeting attended by about 600 staffers from Gauteng South that at the centre of the DG’s road show was to improve services for the people, particularly at labour centres – the epicentre of service delivery. She said there was need to treat clients with respect – affording them the dignity they deserve. “Equally important is to move with the times and remember that our clients could either be sitting at home or in taxis and electronically communicating with us about UIF of CF and we should be ready," Molebatsi said.
Nhleko said a critical aspect of the Shanduka process was communication. “Communication only means we should be able to disseminate information better. Communication is the key in any battle. It’s not possible for the DG to be everywhere and to communicate with everybody. What’s key is that management at labour centre level should undertake to update staff regularly about developments," he said.
