The City of Tshwane in partnership with Enterprises University of Pretoria have embarked on a three-year skills assessment drive with a view to equip municipal employees with new skills sets to improve service delivery.
More than 20 000 municipal employees were expected to undergo the assessment aiming at reviewing the skills and capacity of the City’s workforce.
MMC for Corporate and Shared Services, Kingsley Wakelin, said the comprehensive skills assessment will also assist the City with the long-term goal of knowing what skills it has and which skills are needed to deliver quality services to all residents.
The exercise, Wakelin said, envisaged that employees performing various tasks at different levels would be capacitated with the necessary skills to excel in their respective roles.
“This is not only a legal requirement but is part of our proactive strategy to grow our own timber and develop internal talent,” he said.
He cited challenges faced by the City as being ageing infrastructure and water and electricity networks that need continuous maintenance and repairs.
“This makes technical and engineering positions critical for the City, therefore, we will prioritise training and development to achieve this,” he said.
According to him, the skills assessment drive was not only about developing our current employees, but also about keeping an eye on the future.
“We face a constantly changing world with new technologies which will require new skills. Employees who will be with us in 20 years’ time will need training and development to face future challenges and deliver services for modern future communities,” Wakelin said.
The skills assessment project’s initial focus is on senior management, which phase is at 99% completion.
Another key phase is assessing all employees in group financial services and the phase is currently at 62% completion.
Wakelin said: “The focus on group financial services is due to the critical nature of the department in turning the City’s financial health around. Assessments are based on best practices in the private and public sector, and all data gathered is confidential and will be kept secure. The skills assessment project is part of our commitment to developing a professional and capable civil service.”
Pretoria News