Process Overview: Recruitment and the Financed Establishment of the DCS

Branch: Corporate Services

OVERVIEW

1. Background

2. Defining the composition of the financial Establishment as on 1 April 2005.

3. Recruitment Policy

4. The Recruitment Strategy

5. Achievements

6. Impact of achievements on the establishment

7. Conclusion

1. BACKGROUND

• The White Paper on Corrections formalized the new direction of the Department and in support thereof the following major challenges relating to Human Resource functions had to be addressed:

– The revision of the Correctional Services Post Establishment Structure in line with the Restructuring of the Public Service through Resolution 7 and 8 of the Public Service;

– The phasing in of the 7 day establishment and the phasing out of weekend overtime;

– The financing of the new Post Establishment and 7 day establishment out of the approved budget of the Department; and

– Implementing a Recruitment Strategy which can secure the success of all these actions.

The financed establishment

• On 31 March 2005 the financed establishment consisted of the following:

FINANCED POSTS FILLED VACANT

36 118 33 712 2 407

• The implementation of the new 7 day establishment has been structured to create the following posts:

– 1 April 2005 : 3 057– 1 April 2006 : 2 627– 1 April 2007 : 2 627

• These posts are created in the Discipline Occupational Class on the entry levels.

• As such a major challenge the Department faced in this year was to address the existing vacant posts of 2 407 and also the newly created posts of 3 057, presenting an objective of 5 464 from 1 April 2005.

2. DEFINING THE COMPOSITION OF THE FINANCED ESTABLISHMENT AS ON 1 APRIL 2005

• The establishment of the Department consists of various Occupational Classes with posts on different levels. However, the major groupings of the establishment is as follows (1 April 2005):

GROUP FINANCED FILLED VACANT

Custodian and Support Personnel Promotion (SR 8 – 15) 2 661 2 045 616

SR: 6 – 7 20 008 19 457 551

Entry Level: SR 3 – 5 10 207 9 908 299

TOTAL 32 876 31 410 1 466

Closed Specialized Occupa-tional Classes

SR 3 - 12 3 242 2 302 940

GRAND TOTAL 3 6118 33 712 2 406

Breakdown of special closed groups vacancies 1April 2005:

Occupational class Filled Vacant

Nursing and support 680 346

Management and support 499 222

Engineering and support 4 0

Information Technology 94 21

Legal & support personnel 13 13

Medical Science & support 62 94

Chaplains 23 14

Social Workers 514 142

Educationists 413 88

TOTAL 2 302 940

3. RECRUITMENT POLICY

• The legal framework for Recruitment and Selection in Correctional Services is provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, the Labour Relations Act, 1995, the Employment Equity Act, 1998, the Public Service Act and Regulations, 1994, the Correctional Services Act, Act 111 of 1998, DCS Recruitment and Employment Policy and the Post Advertisement Procedure Manual.

• All advertised posts are subjected to a selection process where a Selection Committee compiles a shortlist, conduct a formal interview and present the candidature of the best candidates for a final decision to the Executing Authority in terms of designated delegation levels.

• The DCS requires all candidates to comply to the following minimum appointment requirements:

– Minimum qualification of NQF 3 (Matric) or a specific required qualification (NQF 6) in respect of Closed/Specialized Occupational Classes;

– Minimum age of 18 years;– A South African Citizen;– Medically fit; and – Clear criminal record

• The process for filling of vacant posts is:

- Advertising of posts internally in the Department;– Advertising externally in the National Media;– Head hunting; and – Through interim promotion arrangements.

• Posts are advertised internally in all Regions for a period of three weeks.• On the closing date a grosslist is compiled and no late applications are

accepted.• A selection committee is appointed to do shortlisting and interviews.• All processes are formally documented.• After the interview an appointed memorandum is submitted for approval.• Only after a final decision is taken the candidates are informed of the results

and a formal announcement made. • For external advertisement the same process is followed except that the

advertisement is done in the local and national newspapers.

4. THE RECRUITMENT STRATEGY

• On 1 April 2005 the Department was faced with a high vacancy rate (2 407), the phasing in of the new 7 day establishment (3 057) and concerns over allegations of corruption in recruitment. The DCS adopted the following Recruitment Strategy:

Outsourcing the advertisement and grosslisting processes

• Through the Departmental Tender Processes three (3) External Recruitment Agencies were approved to deal with external advertisement processes from 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2007.

• These Agencies are: ITP, SA Human ResourceGrey HoldingsPinpoint One

• These Agencies bid for a specific Recruitment Action and the Department approves the most viable bid for the service.

Motivation for outsourcing

• The independent and impartial service which can be rendered by the Agencies will eliminate the basic forms of corruption experienced by the Department.

• To deal with the backlog of existing vacant posts(2406) and the expansion with the 7 day establishment(3057).

• The capacity of the Department’s Human Resource components is not sufficient.

• To deal with the time consuming tasks of verification of qualifications

Advertisement of promotion posts internally

• The internal post advertisement processes were also activated and the vacant promotion posts in especially the Discipline Occupational Class were internally advertised.

Implementing Scarce Skills and Rural Allowance for Health Workers

• To combat the outflow of skilled Professionals, the Department implemented the Scarce Skills and Rural Allowances for Medical Doctors, Pharmacists and Psychologists as well as the Rural Allowance for Professional Nurses.

• The upliftment of the salaries for the Social Workers were also implemented as approved by the DPSA.

Utilization of Community Service Pharmacists and Psychologists

• The vacant posts of Pharmacists and Psychologists were identified and registered with the Department of Health for filling with Community Services allocations.

DCS involvement in the monitoring of the Agencies

• The Agencies can not advertise before DCS requests them to tender for a specific service.

• DCS approves the most viable tender.• DCS approves the concept advertisement.• DCS present stipulated delivery dates for specific actions.• Frequent site visits are undertaken by DCS.• Formal meetings are held to address progress and challenges experienced.• The grosslists and preliminary shortlists are verified by DCS.• The recruitment Agencies are excluded from the final shortlists, interviewing

and final selection.

5. ACHIEVEMENTS

• During March 2005 the first appointments were successfully finalized by the Department as part of the phasing in of 7 day establishment totaling 1 032 appointments.

• With the assistance of the Recruitment Agency the Department succeeded in filling 2 014 entry level posts within a period of five (5) months.

• The turnaround time was dramatically shortened from twelve (12) months to five (5) months.

• The external and internal advertisement process from 1 April 2005 - October 2005 involved the filling of 378 posts for the specialized and promotional positions.

• The opportunity to utilize Community Service officials as Pharmacists and

Psychologists was grasped and had the following impact:

PharmacistsPsychologists

Posts identified for Community Service 16 34

Filled with community 15 23

Service officials

6. IMPACT OF ACHIEVEMENTS ON THE ESTABLISHMENT

• With the success of the appointments on the Discipline Entry Level (3 057) and the Promotion/Closed Occupational Classes the Department’s establishment is as follows as on 30 October 2005:

GROUP FINANCED FILLED VACANT

Custodian and Support Personnel Promotion (SR 8 – 15) 2 671 2 121 550

SR: 6 – 7 20 007 18 920 1 087

Entry Level: SR 3 – 5 13 069 12 053 1 016

TOTAL 35 747 33 094 2 653

Closed Specialized Occupa-tional Classes

SR 3 - 12 3 232 2 234 998

GRAND TOTAL 38 979 35 328 3 651

Breakdown of special closed groups vacancies 31 October 2005:

Occupational class Filled Vacant

Nursing and support 638 389

Management and support 499 211

Engineering and support 3 1

Information Technology 94 21

Legal & support personnel 15 11

Medical Science & support 64 92

Chaplains 20 14

Social Workers 487 169

Educationists 414 87

TOTAL 2234 998

• The vacant posts for the Discipline Promotion Level and Closed Occupational Classes has been advertised and are addressed on a continuous basis.

• The vacant posts for the Discipline Levels, Salary Range 6 and 7 (Correctional Officers Grade II and I) will be addressed through the implementation of the interim promotion arrangement process which has been recently announced.

• The vacant posts for the Discipline Occupational Class and Entry Level has been externally advertised from 14 October 2005 till 4 November 2005 and will be filled on 1 March 2006.

• The Department is still experiencing a normal personnel turnover rate of + 82 terminations on a monthly basis and this also impacts on the retention of skilled personnel.

7. CONCLUSION

• The impact of the restructuring of the Department, the phasing in of the 7 day establishment and the implications on the personnel turnover has been well absorbed by the Department.

• The implications of the White Paper, the requirements of restructuring, the fazing in of 7day establishment and the implications of the personnel turnover have been managed on a continuous basis.

• Issued currently been addressed are the finalization of the recruitment and retention strategy, improvement of conditions of service and improvement of turn-around time on the filling of vacancies.

Thank you

Building a caring correctional system that

truly belongs to all