Training and development model for municipal frontline staff

Abstract

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa states that public servants must deliver services to improve the general welfare of the citizens. The public servants therefore have a duty to the citizens to deliver effective and efficient public services that will be to the satisfaction of the citizens to improve their well-being. However, this is not the case since service delivery protests have become the norm, with citizens regularly protesting about the services received from the various municipalities. Citizens are not happy about the level of service delivery received and therefore take to the streets to render their unhappiness. The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality is no exception, as service delivery protests have also plagued the municipality and during 2016, the media referred to the protests as Tshwane burning. The municipal frontline staff are at the coalface of service delivery and are often the only public servants that the citizens come into contact with. The municipal frontline staff deliver services to the public on a daily basis and should possess the necessary knowledge, skills, behaviours, attitudes and competencies to deliver professional services. This article will describe what the Customer Care Consultants think should be included in the design of an essential model for training and development for Customer Care Consultants at the City of Tshwane, as they are at the forefront of service delivery. It does so by drawing on an extensive case study using a qualitative questionnaire toexplore the views and perceptions of the municipal frontline staff. The article seeks to add to the body of knowledge by critically analysing the views provided by the Customer Care Consultants on the content for a training and development modelfor Customer Care Consultants at the City of Tshwane. This study reports on research undertaken for the author’s doctoral research conducted during 2018 and culminates in a training and development model for municipal frontline staff.

Keywords

Training training model municipal frontline staff local government municipality City of Tshwane skills development customer care consultants

Introduction

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) in Chapter 2 provides for the rights of all the citizens, and in chapter 7, it provides for the mandates of the local sphere of government which is the government closest to the people. To be succinct, Chapter 7, Section 152 (1) (b) provides that the local sphere of government must ‘ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner’. The Constitution further provides in Schedule 4 and 5 the [public] services that must be delivered by the various municipalities to the people. Some of these services are delivered in a concurrent manner, for example housing services are the responsibility of the national, provincial and local spheres of government.

The problem is that 4 years after the Constitution was passed in 1996, people took to the street protesting against poor and in some instances absence of service delivery in various municipalities. The protests against poor service delivery affected even the recently then established metropolitan government which is the locus of this article. Service delivery in municipalities has become a cause for concern in South Africa, as the employees interact with the members of the public on a daily basis and who evaluate the quality of the services that they receive (Dzansi and Dzansi, 2010: 995).

The delivery of services at local government level should be prioritised as these services touch the lives of citizens on a daily basis. Investment in the skills of the municipal frontline staff (or the Customer Care Consultants, as referred to at the City of Tshwane or CCC) (these terms will be used interchangeably) must be made a priority in order to improve service delivery. The public sector needs officials who are trained to deliver the quality services and products that citizens need and the municipal frontline staff must be enabled to adapt to the continuously changing public sector environment and should be provided with sufficient skills to perform their duties effectively.

The research conducted at the City of Tshwane demonstrates that a lack of appropriate and effective capacity building skills development programmes aimed at training and developing the competencies of the municipal frontline staff, is one of the internal factors contributing to citizens protesting against poor service delivery. It is considered that the increase in the number of protests should be intervened by an effective training and development of skills of the municipal frontline staff, who deal with the citizens on a daily basis, and who are at the coalface of public service delivery in the municipalities. This article reports on the doctoral research conducted by the author during 2018.

The need for training in the public sector

Goldstein and Ford (2002: 1) define training as the ‘systematic acquisition of skills, rules, concepts, or attitudes that result in improved performance in another environment’. Training programmes are planned to produce a more considerate supervisor or even a more competent leader of a complex institution. A training environment can look like the actual work place or could be a lecture room away from the work environment, but in both instances effective training will result from a learning environment which is intended to bring about changes in the work place.

According to van Dyk et al. (2001: 148) training is defined as an important component of the institution and is used to develop the full effectiveness of the most important resource of the institution: its people. It is evident that training must be measurable in terms of the institution’s requirements, must be task and result-orientated, must focus on improving the specific skills and abilities required to perform the job and must contribute to the accomplishment of the institution’s goals.

According to Goldstein and Ford (2002: 22) training is intentional and is conducted in order to meet a specific need to improve the individual, the team or to improve institutional effectiveness. Learning outcomes include the changes which take place in knowledge, skills or attitudes (KSAs) and improvement is measured by the changes which result from the training programmes attended, to the changes in the workplace.

Wessels (2014: 147) agrees that training is deliberate and is implemented to change certain skills, attitudes, competencies, behaviours and attitudes that will assist the institution to reach its goals and objectives, as a need has been identified for training due to a lack of skills. ‘Although training is not a panacea for all societal ills, well-conceived training programs have and do achieve many beneficial results’ (Goldstein and Ford, 2002: 10). Training cannot be regarded as a solution for all problems experienced within an institution but if implemented correctly, can improve the level of service delivery within an institution.

The needs of adults must be taken into account and considered in the training process. When adults attend training sessions, they enter the training process with their past experiences and knowledge and the want to learn. Adults cannot be forced to learn as they control their learning process (Berman et al., 2010: 279). Adults want to partake in the planning of their own learning process and is a principle that was taken into account in this article (Knowles in Pappas, 2014). This adult learning principle was taken into account in this article, as the CCC had to provide their views and perceptions on what should be included in a training programme for CCC who are employed at the City of Tshwane (hereafter referred to as CoT).

For the purpose of this artcile, training consists of a sequence of events that is intentional, and aimed at providing the trainee with the skills, attitudes, behaviours, knowledge and competencies, to improve the performance of the individual within the work environment, that will contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the institution. Training arises from a particular need expressed by a supervisor, or a client who is served on a daily basis, could be instituted by a change within the work environment or due to a lack of specific skills. When implemented correctly, training can improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and professionalism of the services delivered to the public.

The culture of protests within South African municipalities

Deputy President Motlanthe (Polity Daily News, 2011: online) is of the opinion that in many municipalities service delivery is failing. After the local government elections in 2011, Schulz-Herzenberg (2011: 1) found that only 46% of South Africans indicated that they had faith in local government. This is disconcerting as during 2011, less than half of South Africans trusted local government, which serves them on a daily basis, as local government is responsible for the executive function of government.

The local sphere of government has not delivered on its mandate of providing basic services to the citizens such as electricity, sanitation and water that will improve and sustain the lives of its citizens. This dissatisfaction with non-delivery of services resulted in widespread protests, as the citizens became frustrated with local government (Dywili and Draai, 2019: 257, 259). Polity Daily News (Polity Daily Email Newsletter, 2012) reports that one of the reasons provided for the service delivery protests is among others, the dissatisfaction of the delivery of basic municipal services such as water and electricity.

Labuschagne (2010: 95) states that during 2010, aggrieved residents in South Africa adopted tactics such as declaring disputes, withholding rates and taxes and even taking over essential services, in protest of poor service delivery by municipalities. Mdlongwa (2014) is of the opinion that despite the African National Congress (ANC) returning to power, service delivery is the greatest challenge faced by government as violent service delivery protests across the country have intensified. Dzansi and Dzansi (2010: 995) agree with this statement and are of the opinion that this is an indication that the municipalities are not able to meet the needs of the people who it serves and Schwella (2015: 360) points out that the protests express a demand for an improvement in service delivery which Mbecke (2014: 265) states provides an opportunity to local government to improve the level of service delivery.

These protests over poor service delivery from municipalities transpired and the monitoring agency that collects data on protests against municipalities, the Municipal IQ recorded 410 major service delivery protests from 2009 to 2012, which only relates to protests against the municipalities (Saba and van der Merwe, 2013). The University of the Western Cape’s Service Delivery Protest Barometer used a broader definition of service delivery protests and from the beginning of 2009 to the end of August 2012 reached approximately 720 protests (Saba and van der Merwe, 2013). Research conducted by the Social Change Research Unit of the University of Johannesburg indicated that during 2012 there were 470 protests and that South Africa experienced 287 protests during 2013 (Grant, 2014). The Municipal IQ recorded 191 service delivery protests during 2014, which Maserumule (2016) indicates are the highest number of protests to date, a total of 164 service delivery protests during 2015 and 70 service delivery protests from January 2016 to the end of April 2016 (Steyn, 2016). An example is the protests in the CoT which erupted during June 2016 when the ANC’s Tshwane Mayoral candidate was announced. Looting, burning of busses and violent protests took place in various areas throughout the city as residents took to the streets to protest the announcement (Herman, 2016) and many referred to the protests as Tshwane burning.

According to a study conducted, Twala (2014: 163, 166) is of the opinion that service delivery protests are triggered by the municipal officials who are not responsive to the requests of the citizens. Citizens protest against poor service delivery and municipal officials who do not respond to the needs of the citizens and in this manner express their dissatisfaction with the municipality. Khale and Worku (2013: 63) add that more than 70% of officials in crucial positions do not possess the minimum skills and competencies required to perform the job and is regarded as being at the root of the challenges experienced in the delivery of services. The manifestation of these problems currently challenge the quality of service delivery within the municipalities and therefore training should be provided to improve the human capacity skills at the municipality.

Khale and Worku (2013: 64–65, 68) are of the view that the protests during 2008, 2009 and 2010 in the Tshwane District and Madibeng municipalities were initiated due to the failure of the elected officials to provide municipal services. Between 31.63% and 32.38% of citizens were satisfied with the service delivery in the two municipalities respectively and the protests are related to the dissatisfaction of poor service delivery. One of the reasons indicated by Mdlongwa (2014) is that which inhibits service delivery are the capacity and skills that are required to render the quality services expected by the citizens. Skilled and professional human resources are required in municipalities to deliver effective services (Odaro, 2012: 40). The study conducted by Wessels (2018: 10) provided evidence from the Resident Satisfaction Surveys conducted during 2013 and 2015, that poor service delivery in the CoT is as a result of poor delivery of services as queries were not resolved when the citizens visited the municipality the first time, and skilled customer care consultants are required to produce a high performing municipality.

From the above it is clear that service delivery and professionalism in municipalities is unfortunately not a priority, even though it is important to the South African Government. This has been enacted in various pieces of legislation such as the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service (Department of Public Service and Administration, 1995) and the White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery (Department of Public Service and Administration, 1997a). Legislation has also been enacted to encourage the development of skills and competencies of the South African workforce and include the Skills Development Act, 1998 (Act 97 of 1998), the White Paper on Human Resource Management in the Public Service (Department of Public Administration, 1997b) and the White Paper on Public Service Training and Education (Department of Public Service and Administration, 1997c). By doing this, Government has specified the importance of the delivery of efficient, effective and professional service delivery to the people of South Africa within the various municipalities and has indicated the essential role that training will play, that was highlighted earlier.

Research design and methods of data collection

The research objective of this article is to provide an essential model of training and development for the municipal frontline staff, for their continuous training and upskilling in order to provide professional customer service and effective delivery of municipal services. In order to reach the aim and objective of the study, a qualitative research design was used to collect data. Within this design, the methods used were meetings and a survey questionnaire designed to collect data from the respondents. The meetings method was used to effectively determine the extent to which the public sector and the CoT has progressed with capacity development of public servants in South Africa and the City. The method was used at the CoT to conduct a qualitative needs assessment of the readiness to design the training and development model for its municipal frontline staff. Therefore, the unit of analysis for this article was the training programmes for the CCC at the CoT and formed the focus of the study.

The survey questionnaire was designed and would be completed by the municipal frontline staff to obtain their views on the substantial content of the skills programmes attended for their continuous training and upskilling, in order to be effective in providing customer services and delivery of municipal services. The total population consisted of 112 customer care consultants and were approached to complete the questionnaire, as the views of the CCC in the various regions had to be obtained to provide a representative view for the CoT, for robust data collection and analysis. All the CCC were approached, and 77 CCC agreed to complete the questionnaire. The full population of the CCC was used as the guiding principle for the research and the CCC could decide whether or not they wanted to complete the questionnaire. The census method was employed (Farooq, 2013) whereby the full population was targeted and the CCC who wanted to be part of the research, completed the questionnaire.

The questionnaire consisted of semi-structured, open-ended questions that were administered to the CCC. The qualitative approach was followed which allows for objectivity, generalisability, reliability, the collection of rich and detailed data and the provision of an insider’s perspective on the data and, by extension, on the content of a training and development model for customer care consultants.

Municipal frontline staff completed the survey questionnaires to ascertain their views on what should be included in a training model for municipal frontline staff. Consent was obtained from each of the participants prior to completion of the questionnaire. The participants signed a section in the questionnaire that indicated their willingness to participate in the research process. Ethical clearance was obtained from the CoT and the University of Pretoria for the data collection processes. The data collection instrument was compiled and approved during the ethical clearance process. Data was collected and analysed and will be reported on in this article. Data saturation was reached as the 77 questionnaires were completed and upon analysis, it was found that no new information was provided by the respondents.

The CoT is divided into 7 regions with 21 walk-in centres across the City. All 21 walk-in centres were visited during the data collection process and customer care consultants completed the questionnaire at each walk-in centre. This ensured that the study guaranteed representatively of all the different types of offices, namely urban and rural areas, and small and large staff complement offices. All the customer care consultants at the various walk-in centres were approached and requested to complete the questionnaire.

The research methodology involved the completion of a qualitative questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of three sections that had to be completed by each customer care consultant, who agreed to participate in the research. The first section consisted of the informed consent information letter that provided the participant with an introduction to the researcher and the study, as well as the ethics and research principles that would be observed during this study. The participant had to sign and date the letter to indicate that the information was understood and that participation in the study was voluntary. The second section of the questionnaire consisted of the biographical details and five questions were asked relating to the location of the walk-in centre, the respondent’s highest qualification, length of employment and training programmes attended. The third section consisted of the questionnaire and comprised various questions, including the types of skills required to be effective as a customer care consultant, specifying the training programmes that to be attended by customer care consultants and the type of content that should be included in a training programme for customer care consultants.

The questions posed in the biographical details section will be dealt with individually in the subsequent section and the biographical profile of the respondents will be described. The results reported on in this article are from the study conducted by Wessels during 2018.

Findings from the empirical research conducted

The findings from the empirical research conducted will be indicated in graphs for each of the two aspects employed in the questionnaire. Firstly, the biographical details of the respondents will be provided and secondly the responses to the 10 questions posed will thereafter be illustrated in graphs, analysed, and discussed.

Biographical profile of the respondents

The biographical profile of the respondents will be dealt with in this section.

Question 1: Name of the Walk-In Centre

In this question, the customer care consultants revealed at which one of the 21 customer care walk-in centres they were employed. All seven regions of the CoT were included in the data collection process. Figure 1 provides information on the number of customer care consultants at each of the various walk-in centres.

Figure 1.

Number of respondents per Walk-In Centre.

Question 2: Highest qualification

In this question, the respondents provided information about their highest qualification which is indicated in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2.

Highest qualification.

The results obtained were as follows:

47% (36) of the respondents obtained a matric certificate

27% (21) had completed a degree or diploma

8% (6) had a post-matric technical qualification

6% (5) had a postgraduate qualification

12% (9) had other qualifications that were not specified.

The advertisement placed for customer care consultant positions indicated that to be eligible to apply, applicants should be in the possession of an NQF 3 qualification or a matric certificate. A 3-year applicable career-related tertiary qualification (degree or national diploma) would be an added advantage. The data showed that 88% (68) of the respondents complied with the advertisement and were in the possession of a matric certificate. The data indicated that 6% (5) of the respondents were in possession of a postgraduate qualification that meant that they were overqualified for the customer care consultant position. Bar the 12% (9) of respondents who had indicated ‘Other’ as their highest qualification, the respondents were all qualified according to the minimum requirements specified in the advertisement to be appointed as customer care consultants.

Question 3: Number of years employed at the CoT

The respondents had to indicate the number of years that they had been employed at the CoT, which will be shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3.

Number of years employed at the CoT.

The data obtained specified the following:

47% (36) of the respondents were employed for more than 10 years

19% (15) had been employed for 7 to 8 years

10% (8) had been employed for less than 1 year

8% (6) had been employed for 3 to 4 years

8% (6) had been employed for 9 to 10 years

7% (5) had been employed for 5 to 6 years

1% (1) had been employed for 1 to 2 years.

From the data gathered, it can be inferred that most of the customer care consultants were employed at the CoT for more than 1 year, to more than 10 years. This demonstrates that there exists different levels of experience in the municipality. More than 70% of the customer care consultants were employed at the CoT for a period longer than 7 years, which means that the customer care consultants were knowledgeable of the CoT and the practices that should be taken into account when dealing with the citizens on a daily basis. The customer care consultants have been in the employ of the City for a long period that indicates familiarity and knowledge of the processes and procedures. This means that the customer care consultants know what is expected of them when dealing with the citizens.

Question 4: Number of years employed as a customer care consultant

In this question, the customer care consultants had to specify the number of years that they had been employed as customer care consultants at the CoT. The findings are indicated in Figure 4.

Figure 4.

Number of years employed as a customer care consultant.

The findings demonstrated that the customer care consultants were appointed for the following period:

27% (21) were appointed for more than 10 years

13% (10) were appointed for 9 to 10 years

24% (18) were appointed for 7 to 8 years

9% (7) were appointed for 5 to 6 years

8% (6) were appointed for 3 to 4 years

5% (4) were appointed for 1 year to 2 years

14% (11) were appointed for less than 1 year.

From the data obtained and provided above, it can be inferred that 73% (56) of the customer care consultants had been appointed in this position for over 5 years. The remaining 27% (21) were in this position for less than 5 years. The results specify that more than 70% of the customer care consultants had been employed in the position of customer care consultant for longer than 5 years, so it can be presumed that they are capable of performing the work, and would possess the necessary skills, competencies, knowledge and attitudes to serve the citizens in an effective manner.

Question 5: Training programmes attended by the customer care consultants at the CoT

The purpose of this question was to establish whether the customer care consultants had attended the Care for Customers training programme and the Batho Pele Train the Trainer training programme. The customer care consultants were expected to attend both these training programmes in order to perform their daily duties effectively and efficiently as both these training programmes were directly linked to the activities that had to be performed on a daily basis.

Figure 5.

Customer care training programmes attended.

The questionnaires yielded the following results, as seen from Figure 5 (a) and 5 (b) above :

67 customer care consultants out of the 77 respondents attended the Care for Customer training programme (Figure 5 (a)).

53 customer care consultants attended the Batho Pele Train the Trainer training programme (Figure 5 (b)).

More of the customer care consultants should have attended these two training programmes as it was in the best interest of their jobs to do so. 81% (62) of the customer care consultants were appointed in this position for 3 years to more than 10 years and should therefore have been available at some point to attend these two training programmes, as prescribed by the CoT. It should be mandatory for all customer care consultants to attend these training programmes once a year. Customer care consultants should be updated annually on the new trends available in customer service and they should be kept abreast of these changes, developments and trends. Service delivery provided to the customers should be professional, efficient and effective and of a high standard. This is what is expected of the customer care consultants, according to the legislative requirements that have been stipulated in the Batho Pele White Paper (WPTPSD) (Department of Public Service and Administration, 1997a).

It was also expected of all the customer care consultants to attend the following computer training programmes, as these skills would equip the customer care consultants to provide excellent service: MS Windows, MS Outlook XP and SAP training programmes (daily operating system). Figure 6 depicts the number of customer care consultants who had attended the MS Windows, MS Outlook XP and SAP training programmes.

Figure 6.

Computer skills training programmes attended.

This question generated the following results:

From the total of 77 respondents who completed the questionnaires, 36 customer care consultants had attended the training on MS Windows

33 respondents had attended the training on MS Outlook XP

67 customer care consultants had attended the training on SAP (the operating system that the customer care consultants used to perform their daily activities).

From the results obtained above, it can be noted that less than 50% of the customer care consultants attended the MS Windows and the MS Outlook XP training programmes, which is unacceptable. The expectation is that all the customer care consultants have to attend all the computer training programmes, as they will obtain the necessary skills to be able to perform their job effectively and improve the level of service delivery provided to the citizens. The rate of attendance of the training programmes must be increased, and therefore the training programme attendance should be mandatory for attendance for all the customer care consultants.

Discussion, analysis and implication of findings

The findings discussed in this section relate to the responses of the customer care consultants and their views and perceptions to each of the 10 open-ended questions. An open-ended qualitative questionnaire was used to obtain the responses from the 77 customer care consultants who agreed to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire was self-administered by the respondents, in the presence of the researcher or a field worker, in case of any uncertainties or questions which could arise from completion of the questionnaire. The goal of the study was to establish what the customer care consultants think should be included in a training framework for customer care consultants, since they are the ones who are involved with the members of the public on a daily basis and are aware of the skills, knowledge, competence, attitudes and behaviours that customer care consultants should possess to carry out the job effectively.

A discussion will be provided of the each of the 10 questions and the themes that appeared in each of the questions. In some cases, more than one theme could emerge, which means that the total number of comments received could be more than 77, being the total number of respondents who completed the questionnaires. A graph is provided for the analysis of each of the questions that will indicate the different themes and the number of respondents who mentioned the specific themes in their responses. A description of all the responses will be provided below the graph. The process of qualitative thematic content analysis was employed to categorise and code the data obtained from the questionnaires that resulted in patterns and frequency of words used, and was categorised into themes. The responses to the questionnaire will contribute to the establishment of a training and development framework for the customer care consultants at the CoT.

The analysis of the findings will be dealt with in this section. As noted in the research methodology section, 77 customer care consultants completed the questionnaire. All 22 walk-in centres in the seven regions of the CoT were represented in the completion of the questionnaires, which means that all the various biographical aspects and differences between the CCC will be included in the analysis of the data obtained. The data obtained was divided into themes and each of the questions will be discussed according to the themes that emerged.

Question 1: What do you like most about the training programmes which you have attended as a Customer Care Consultant at the City of Tshwane?

Figure 7 provides a description of the qualitative analysis of the answers provided by the respondents.

Figure 7.

What do you like most?

When asked what the CCC liked most about the training programmes attended at the CoT, an overwhelming response was obtained and it was found that irrespective of location of walk-in centre, highest qualification, number of years employed at the CoT, number of years employed as a CCC, the vast majority enjoyed the training on how to treat and handle customers. This indicates that the CCC realise that this forms a very important part of their job and they enjoy learning how to treat customers with respect and in a friendly and polite manner and how to handle customers, taking into account the Batho Pele principles. This could also relate to the fact that they are cognisant of the fact that customer care is an integral part of their daily activities.

The CCC also most liked that they could develop skills and gain knowledge from attending the training programmes and they enjoyed attending the training sessions. The CCC enjoyed gaining skills that could assist them to improve their level of service delivery to their customers. The CCC gained knowledge and were reminded that the customer is always right, that the Batho Pele principles should be borne in mind when dealing with customers on a daily basis, and that training improved the way in which the CCC dealt with the customers. The training programmes that they attended were informative as they gained knowledge that was valuable to their day to day activities in the walk-in centres and they learned how to implement the knowledge that they gained. The CCC also mentioned the improvement of service, as the training programmes equipped them to serve the customer better, taught them more about their job and how to deal with their daily challenges in a more constructive manner, and also finding different ways of how to improve service delivery.

Some of the respondents indicated that they liked certain aspects of the training sessions, namely the training content, the training strategies used, the excellent trainers and the use of practical examples during the training programme. A few of the CCC specified that the training motivated them and provided them with a means of self-introspection on how they could improve service delivery and it assisted them to become better employees.

Question 2: What do you like least about the training programmes which you have attended as a customer care consultant at the CoT?

The responses to question 2 are depicted in Figure 8.

Figure 8.

What do you like least?

Question two related to what the CCC liked least regarding the training programmes attended at the CoT as a CCC. Most of the CCC indicated that there was nothing that they did not like about the training programmes, while a few CCC indicated that more time was needed for the training, while still others pointed out that the training was non-informative. Some of the CCC were of the opinion that regular training was not provided as training was only provided once a year and in some cases every second year. Still others observed that the number of days allocated to training were too few as the trainer tried to fit the information into the limited number of days provided, which seemed rushed. A few respondents mentioned that they experienced problems with management, as they brought problems to the attention of the trainer and unfortunately, nothing was done about the issues raised with the trainers. Therefore, management should be made aware of the issues faced in the office environment and management should take cognisance of these daily challenges faced by the CCC, as these challenges present a quagmire and can delay the improvement of service delivery.

Question 3: What is your overall impression of the training programmes presented by the City of Tshwane for customer care consultants since you have been employed?

The responses of the customer care consultants to this question are given in Figure 9.

Figure 9.

Overall impression of training programmes.

In question three, the respondents were asked to indicate their overall impression of the training programmes that they had attended. The respondents specified that most of the training programmes taught them how they should treat and handle customers. The customer care consultants were of the view that the training programmes helped them to get to know their customers and how to deal with them on a daily basis. One of the respondents indicated that the training was important as he learned how to communicate with the customers and how to promote the image of the CoT, which is an important aspect of customer service. The customer care consultants indicated that the training programmes provided them with skills and knowledge that assisted them to conduct their daily duties independently and they learned a lot and learned something new at every training session attended. The training programmes were well researched, informative and improved their level of efficiency and their quality of service delivery in the work environment. The respondents were impressed by the trainers and thought that the training programmes were good overall and they were generally happy with the training provided. However, a very small percentage of the respondents were not happy with the training programmes attended as they were of the opinion that the same information was presented and no new information was offered at these training programmes. This information lends itself to the fact that information should be updated constantly in the training manuals and the information presented should also be updated. Different levels of the same course should also be provided, possibly on a beginner’s level, intermediate level and an advanced level. These refresher courses will assist in keeping the CCC updated on all the different changes and trends within the customer service environment and also agile and able to adapt to a changing local government environment.

Question 4: How does the CoT encourage continuous learning to improve the skills, competencies and knowledge of customer care consultants?

In Figure 10, the responses of the customer care consultants to this question are summarised.

Figure 10.

Encourage continuous learning.

The purpose of question four was to ascertain whether the CoT had put measures in place that encouraged continuous learning and found that overall the CCC were of the view that this was the case within the municipality. Examples were that the respondents were encouraged to register for further study at universities and colleges, more training opportunities were provided at the CoT to increase skills, competence and knowledge development in the form of workshops and training programmes, and the CCC were encouraged every year to attend training programmes and workshops. The respondents were of the view that continuous learning was encouraged by communication via email from the CoT of training opportunities available, and continuous learning also included self-enrichment and self-development.

Question 5: How does the current content of the training interventions help you to improve your skills, competencies and knowledge as a customer care consultant?

In Figure 11, the numbers of respondents who mentioned the themes that emerged are depicted.

Figure 11.

Does training improve skills?

Question five was asked in order to establish how the current content of the training interventions help the CCC to improve their skills, competencies and knowledge as a CCC. The results revealed that the majority of the CCC indicated that the training programmes improved their skills, competencies and knowledge as they learned how to understand and treat the customers, they gained skills, they learned how to work with the system and they were kept updated of changes. Most of the skills that were honed, according to the responses of the CCC, were related to the Batho Pele principles. These are the skills that are needed to provide excellent customer service and form part of their job description. Other comments included that training should be provided every 3 months as it improved skills and motivated the CCC to continuously aspire to improve their skills, it taught them how to work independently, training improved their thinking skills when solving problems, and taught them to be more productive in other areas of their life other than the work environment. One respondent indicated that the Customer Care Training programme was valuable but no refresher programmes had been provided. Another respondent found that the information should be provided over a longer period, as the 2 days were not sufficient to learn all the information that had to be implemented in a high-pressure work environment. The comments made were that sharing work-related scenarios, group discussions, group presentations, group activities, sharing ideas and group participation assisted with the learning process as they learned to solve problems with limited resources and by thinking out of the box. The content of the training programmes ensured that they were kept abreast of changes and new developments that affected their work environments and daily activities.

Question 6: Which training courses do you think should you attend as a customer care consultant at the City of Tshwane?

The responses of the customer care consultants to this question are portrayed in Figure 12.

Figure 12.

Training courses to be attended.

The purpose of question six was to ascertain which training programmes the CCC think they should attend. The majority of the CCC were of the opinion that they should attend the Customer Care training programme, followed by courses on Computer skills (including MS Excel and MS Outlook), Communications skills, SAP training (daily operating system used), Batho Pele principles, Stress Management and Time Management. According to the job description of the CCC, the skills required for a CCC are as follows (City of Tshwane, Job Description: Tshwane Job Evaluation Region [sa]: 3–4): be computer literate; possess good written, verbal, listening and communication skills; very good reading ability; ability to work under pressure; good problem solving skills and a good customer service orientation.

Question 7: Which skills, competencies and knowledge should you possess to be an effective customer care consultant at the City of Tshwane?

The themes mentioned by the respondents and the numbers who mentioned them are given in Figure 13.

Figure 13.

Skills customer care consultants should possess.

The purpose of question 7 was to establish the skills, competencies and knowledge the CCC thought they should possess to be effective as a CCC at the CoT. An overwhelming majority of the CCC indicated that communication skills is a very important characteristic that a CCC should possess to be effective in their job. The skills, competencies and knowledge indicated in order of priority are customer care, professionalism, Batho Pele, computer skills, listening skills, time management, problem solving skills, interpersonal skills, and stress management skills. An analysis of question six and seven indicates that the CCC are of the view that similar training programmes should be attended and similar skills are required to be an effective CCC at the CoT. A correlation thus exists between the responses on both these questions.

Question 8: What do you think should be included in a skills and development training programme for customer care consultants at the City of Tshwane?

In Figure 14, the numbers of respondents who mentioned the themes that emerged are depicted.

Figure 14.

What should be included in a training programme.

The intention of question 8 was to establish what the CCC perceive should be included in a skills and development training programme for the CCC at the CoT and found that the following themes emerged. An overwhelming majority of CCC indicated that personal skills development should be included in a training programme. From their comments, this included team building, motivation, diversity management, organisational and personal goal achievement, interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, time management, stress management and self-management. The second aspect in order of priority indicated by the CCC was communication. The third aspect indicated was training system and their comments included the following: more training should be made available to the CCC, rotation of staff between the different walk-in centres to expose the CCC to the diverse needs of the various centres, the duration of the training programmes should be increased to allow for more time to learn skills, training programmes should specify the learning objectives to ensure that the content of the training programmes are not the same and training programmes should be updated regularly.

Practical examples were specified by the CCC as the fourth important aspect and were of the opinion that the actual scenarios faced by the CCC from their work environment should be shared during the training session, as these real examples would highlight the reality faced on a daily basis. CCC also identified the involvement of management in the training process and Batho Pele skills should also be included in the training programmes.

Question 9: What do you think are the most important aspects of training which need to be focussed on for customer care consultants at the City of Tshwane?

Figure 15 displays a summary of the responses of the customer care consultants to this question.

Figure 15.

Most important aspects of training.

The intention of question 9 was to elicit views as to what the most important aspects of training are that the CCC think they need to focus on. From the responses, it was clear that the CCC had varied views as most of the respondents indicated, in order of significance, that they had to focus on customer care, skill development and Batho Pele. The following aspects were indicated in order of importance: a good trainer with good training skills, the logistics of training such as issuing certificates and the accreditation of training, training content, motivation, communication, stress management, SAP training, use of practical examples during training, diversity management, interpersonal skills training, counselling of CCC, and project management.

Question 10: Is there anything else which you would like to add?

The responses to this question, which are given in Figure 16, were interesting and varied.

Figure 16.

Additions or comments.

The purpose of question 10 was to ascertain whether there were any additional comments or points that the questionnaire did not cover. Comments made by the CCC were interesting and diverse as most of the CCC indicated that team communication was important and that they should work in teams and communicate with each other. The second most important aspect specified was that good customer care is key to the success of the daily tasks of being an effective CCC. A need for resources was indicated as they are of the opinion that if they had sufficient resources, they could provide a more professional service to the citizens. Some of the respondents indicated that they were demotivated and that rotation should be considered so that they could perform different functions, as they felt negative in the work environment, received no motivation, there was no teamwork, their suggestions are never implemented, they do not feel appreciated and are seldom praised yet quickly reprimanded, and they are never rewarded.

The following aspects were mentioned by the CCC: more training opportunities should be provided, standardised procedures when dealing with customers, emotional intelligence, involvement of management, team building, motivation of CCC, rotation of the CCC, raising the motivation levels, and more time should be made available for training.

The questions provided information on what the CCC think should be included in a training model for CCC, namely content and the manner in which a training programme should be implemented for CCC at the CoT. The CCC enjoy attending the training programmes as they realise that the training programmes provided them with skills, knowledge, competencies, attitudes and behaviours that they require to be more efficient, effective and professional as CCC at the CoT, and improved their level of service delivery to their clients. The information provided by the CCC will assist to design the training and development model for the CCC at the CoT that will be discussed in the next section.

Proposed training and development model for municipal frontline staff

The proposed training and development model for municipal frontline staff was constructed from the information collected from the questionnaires that were completed by the municipal frontline staff at the CoT. This model consists of three aspects, namely the training programmes that should be attended by the municipal frontline staff, the qualities that should be possessed by the trainers employed to train the municipal frontline staff and lastly the logistics of training that should be taken into account with the training process. See the discussion of each of these aspects in Figure 17 below.

Figure 17.

Training and development model for municipal frontline staff.

Conclusion

This article contributes to a discourse on the competencies, skills, attitudes, knowledge and behaviours that CCC should possess to be effective within the municipal environment, dealing with the citizens on a daily basis. The study was conducted and questionnaires were completed at all the different walk in centres by the municipal frontline staff, to obtain the views and perceptions from the municipal frontline staff on what they think should be included in a training and development model for municipal frontline staff at the City of Tshwane. Being adult learners, the CCC contributed to the training and development model to be used for training the CCC.

The CCC were cognisant of the fact that training improved the manner in which they dealt with their customers as they gained knowledge, skills, competencies, behaviours and attitudes that were required to be professional CCC at the CoT, as they could serve the customer better and in a more professional manner. Training of the municipal frontline staff can therefore improve the level of service delivery at the CoT. From the study, it was concluded that the training and development model for municipal frontline staff should include the following three aspects: training programmes that should be attended by the CCC, qualities that trainers should possess to be effective and the logistics that should be taken into account when training.

These unresolved grievances are one of the reasons for the high prevalence of recurrent and violent community protests in different parts of South Africa.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Rochelle G Wessels

References

Berman

Bowman

West

, et al. (2010) Human Resource Management in Public Service. Paradoxes, Processes, and Problems, 3rd edn. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. [Sa]. Job Description: Tshwane Job Evaluation Region. Pretoria: City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

Dywili

Draai

(2019) Citizen engagement to foster inclusive development planning in local governance. Administratio Publica 27(3): 256–272.

Dzansi

(2010) Understanding the impact of human resource management practices on municipal service delivery in South Africa: an organizational justice approach. African Journal of Business Management 4(6): 995–1005.

Farooq

(2013) What is census method of data collection, advantages and disadvantages. Available at: http://www.studylecturenotes.com/social-research-methodology/what-is-census-method-of-data-collection-advantages-disadvantages (accessed 10 July 2017).

Goldstein

Ford

(2002) Training in Organizations. Needs Assessment, Development, and Evaluation, 4th edn. Canada: Wadsworth Group.

Grant

(2014) Research shows sharp increase in service delivery protests. Available at: http://mg.co.za/article/2014-02-12-research-shows-sharp-increase-in-service-delivery-protests (accessed 23 November 2015).

Herman

(2016) Looting, burning of buses continues in some Tshwane townships – as it happened. Available at: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/live-tshwane-protests-20160621 (accessed 5 August 2016).

Khale

Worku

(2013) Factors that affect municipal service delivery in Gauteng and North West Provinces of South Africa. African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development 5(1): 61–70.

10.

Labuschagne

(2010) Local government and service delivery in South Africa: an investigation into the defence of necessity. Administratio Publica 18(4): 93–107.

11.

Maserumule

(2016) What rising protests say about our attitudes towards local government. Available at: http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/opinion/2016/06/21/What-rising-protests-say-about-our-attitudes-towards-local-government (accessed 5 August 2016).

12.

Mbecke

(2014) Resolving the service delivery dilemma in South Africa through a cohesive service delivery theory. Problems and Perspectives in Management 12(4): 265–275.

13.

Mdlongwa

(2014) Local government at the heart of poor service delivery. Available at: http://reference.sabinet.co.za/webx/access/electronic_journals/rujr/rujr_n34_a14.pdf (accessed 23 November 2015).

14.

Odaro

(2012) Causes of poor service delivery in Africa and their impact on development. Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development 7(1): 34–45.

15.

Pappas

(2014) Nine tips to apply adult learning theory to elearning. Available at: https://elearningindustry.com/9-tips-apply-adult-learning-theory-to-elearning (accessed 30 March 2017).

16.

Polity (2012) Policy brief: lack of capacity is crippling delivery of services in municipalities. Available at: http://www.polity.org.za/article/policy-brief-lack-of-capacity-is-crippling-delivery-of-services-in-municipalities-october-2012-2012-10-16 (accessed 17 October 2012).

17.

Polity Daily News (2011) Lack of involvement hampers delivery. Available at: http://www.polity.org.za/article/lack-of-involvement-hampers-delivery-2011-03-22 (accessed 22 March 2011).

18.

Saba

van der

Merwe

(2013) SA has a protest every two days. News24, 31 January 2013. Available at: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/SA-has-a-protest-every-two-days-20130121 (accessed 23 November 2015).

19.

Schulz-Herzenberg

(2011) Rising opposition partisanship indicates shift in politics. Available at: http://www.polity.org.za/article/rising-opposition-partisanship-indicates-shift-in-politics (accessed 3 June 2011).

20.

Schwella

(ed.) (2015) South African Governance. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.

21.

South Africa, Republic. Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Pretoria: Government Printer.

22.

South Africa, Republic. Skills Development Act, 1998 (Act 97 of 1998). Pretoria: Government Printer.

23.

South Africa. Department of Public Service and Administration (1995) White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service. Pretoria: Government Printer.

24.

South Africa. Department of Public Service and Administration (1997a) White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery. Pretoria: Government Printer.

25.

South Africa. Department of Public Service and Administration (1997b) White Paper on Human Resource Management in the Public Service. Pretoria: Government Printer.

26.

South Africa. Department of Public Service and Administration (1997c) White Paper on Public Service Training and Education. Pretoria: Government Printer.

27.

Steyn

(2016) Service delivery protests set for new highs this election year. Available at: http://mg.co.za/article/2016-05-18-service-delivery-protests-set-for-new-highs (accessed 4 August 2016).

28.

Twala

(2014) The causes and socio-political impact of the service delivery protests to the South African citizenry: a real public discourse. Journal of Social Sciences 39(2): 159–167.

29.

van Dyk

Nel

Loedolff

PvZ

, et al. (2001) Training Management. A Multidisciplinary Approach to Human Resources Development in Southern Africa, 3rd edn. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.

30.

Wessels

(2014) Training in the public sector. In: Mello

(ed.) Managing Human Capital in the Public Sector. Pretoria: Van Schaik.

31.

Wessels

(2018) The establishment of a skills and development training framework for municipal frontline staff: the case of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. Unpublished Thesis, University of Pretoria, UK.