Cats, part of the training division of Abraxas Technologies, has trained more than 1 000 employees of the Gauteng Department of Welfare and Population Development as part of the department`s drive to computerise its operations.
The project is aimed at improving the department`s productivity. Gauteng, the busiest of the nine provincial departments, focuses on community development and comprises a number of service offices that are the first line of contact for communities to determine their rights and to source funding for community development projects. Much of its budget is directed at poverty prevention.
The department pays out R2 billion a year in pensions, foster care grants, disability grants and the new child-support grant. It has gained international recognition for its successful youth centre projects for rehabilitating juvenile offenders.
The department aims to maximise services to the community through modern management trends. "Staff should spend time interacting with the community and not working on administration," says Ignatius Jacobs, Gauteng MEC for Welfare and Population Development. "The PC is key, taking staff beyond office productivity to online connectivity where staff can interact with other government departments via e-mail, and enter into discussions with interest groups via the Internet. This will be important as we need to act in partnership with private enterprise."
In 1996, few departmental staff were computer-literate. People spent much of their time performing menial tasks that could easily be computerised. "We felt PC training would advance staff`s core functions and help them provide a better service to the community."
A need to remove paper from the loop, and a decentralisation drive that led to service centres taking responsibility for their own budgets, meant staff needed to use spreadsheet systems, says Eugene Wilsenach, assistant director, HR management of the department.
The department is moving towards a situation where all staff can act as frontline managers. As a result it has taken a broad-based approach to training. "We want to empower all staff to fill in for one another on basic tasks, such as sending an e-mail in an emergency."
The contract went out on tender in November last year. "We sought a company that could provide functional training at different sites: training to the staff and not staff to the training," says Jacobs. "The applicant needed to supply its own computers. We supplied the venues in Pretoria, Sebokeng, Johannesburg, Krugersdorp, Germiston and Benoni.
"We chose Cats because their courses are internationally accredited. This is important in terms of the NQF and skills development bill and the political drive towards a different dispensation where the emphasis is on skills rather than qualifications."
Training began in February and 1 200 of the 2 000 staff have been trained. Each staff member will have attended six courses when the contract ends in February 2000.
The department has standardised on Corel WordPerfect Office and training has been conducted on Quattro Pro, WordPerfect and Corel Presentations. Staff brought work they would normally do manually to training so they could be shown how their tasks could be done on PC. Cats` manuals were customised to meet this requirement.
An obstacle was the belief that PCs were for secretaries or people who can type. "To convey the point that computers are not about typing, but about information, we undertook a roadshow with Cats to each service office to promote the training," says Jacobs.
"Training has changed the department`s mindset. Previously staff felt insecure, partially because of the introduction of a new stream of staff from previously disadvantaged community sectors. Because we have invested in them they now feel more valued and inclined to commit to the department. Productivity is up. Training is an investment in the staff and in the community. As a bonus, staff gain skills they can pass onto their children."
A visible benefit has been enhanced team spirit. "The PCs we have are made accessible to all staff. People are happy to help each other on the PC and to work together at a workstation to get up to speed after training. We are now working towards providing a PC to everyone who has been trained."
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