The Human Resources Unit plays a vital role by providing business partnering to more operational (supportive) functions, attracting, maintaining, developing, and retaining an effective workforce in the organisation.
Human resource priorities for the year under review were to:
Conduct an Employee Satisfaction Survey and implement the Action Plan to address recommendations from the survey report.
Ensuring that 70% of employees are trained to develop the skills they need to perform their duties, advance their careers and keep abreast of continually changing business operations.
Ensuring that 95% of budgeted positions on the Recruitment Plan are filled to capacitate SAHPRA in achieving its mandate.
Ensuring that the staff turnover rate is less than 10% or below to retain competent and experienced employees.
In planning workforce supply and demand, assessing gaps and determining target talent management interventions that will ensure that SAHPRA has the right people with the right skills in the right places at the right time to fulfil its mandate. Approximately 46 positions were funded to be filled for 2023/24. The entity is also reviewing its fit-for-purpose functional structure that is aligned with strategic objectives and available budget for the compensation of employees. A service provider will be appointed to conduct job analyses, profiling, evaluations and gradings. Once the project is completed, the appointed service provider to undertake salary benchmarking ensuring that salaries are market-related to attract and retain competent and experienced employees.
During the year under review, SAHPRA commissioned Enterprises University of Pretoria to conduct an Employee Satisfaction Survey. The purpose of the survey was to:
Assess the commitment of SAHPRA employees and the leadership team;
To embrace and drive the ongoing strategic direction, assess the impact and effectiveness of implemented work processes and systems;
Assessing mindsets in terms of how SAHPRA employees think, feel and their overall sense of belonging;
Gather feedback and ideas from SAHPRA employees on continued improvement; and
To identify strategic drivers for change and potential barriers.
Colleagues participated in the Employee Satisfaction Survey from 18 – 28 September 2023. Although there were only 100 respondents, the survey had many in-depth questions that allowed staff members to share their many and varied opinions anonymously.
To improve satisfaction levels in the workplace, staff and management need to work together and incorporate all the SAHPRA six (6) values of ubuntu, responsiveness, integrity, transparency, efficiency, and excellence (URITEE) in all workplace activities to achieve the vision and the mission of the entity. An Action Plan was developed, and it will be shared with staff and implemented in the new financial year.
SAHPRA has gone beyond compliance in implementing skills development initiatives, improving individual skills and areas of expertise to perform their jobs. A total of 351 employees were trained on various training interventions from April 2023 to March 2024. Most of the training was offered by various independent external industry stakeholders. Furthermore, 20 employees were provided with study assistance opportunities to enhance their knowledge and experience.
Across the entity, recruitment, selection, and retention difficulties persist. Forty-six (46) positions were funded to be filled for the 2023/24 financial year. Only 67,4% (31/46) of these positions were filled as of 31 March 2024. In this area, we have not done well in managing vacancies by filling positions within the turnaround times stipulated in the Recruitment Plan.
Delays in filling of the positions were caused by the non-availability of panel members for the selection process, completion of compulsory candidate pre-suitability checks (verification processes), re-advertising of positions because no suitable candidates were found during the selection processes or offers were declined by suitable candidates and budget cuts implemented by National Treasury. Some positions were unfunded to remain within the allocated cost of employment (CoE) budget. This resulted in serious capacity constraints within the entity and placed additional strain on the remaining employees carrying additional workloads.
In correcting the situation, business units will appoint dedicated selection committees possessing technical expertise to improve turnaround times in filling the positions and ensuring that appointed panel members are available. This will ensure that vacant positions are filled within six (6) months after becoming vacant. The HR Unit will be capacitated to deal with administrative and technical challenges related to recruitment and selection processes.
SAHPRA has made considerable progress in ensuring that its employee profile is highly representative of the demographic profile of South Africa. In achieving EE targets as set in the EE Plan, during the year (2023/24), 61% (19/31) of new appointments were women. The entity had the highest representation of Africans at 84% (259/309), followed by Indians at 6% (19/309), Whites at 5,5% (17/309) and Coloureds with just 4,5% (14/309).
The entity has exceeded the economically active race representation targets on Africans by 4% and Indians by 3%. The under-representation of Coloureds and Whites will be addressed in the new EE Plan for 2024/ 2027 (Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period.
The overall female representation is at 62%, and 52,6% of females occupy senior and executive positions.
Disability representativity is currently at 2% which has been maintained from the previous reporting year.
During the recruitment and selection processes, SAHPRA will attempt to pursue a 50/50 gender representation across all occupation levels, even though it will be challenging because the health sector is a female-dominated sector (industry).
Exit interviews offer a deeper look at your workplace culture, day-to-day processes, management solutions, and employee morale. These interviews were conducted to identify areas of improvement that can assist in establishing SAHPRA as an employer of choice and, where possible, reduce staff turnover.
With a staff turnover rate of 9,4%, SAHPRA intends to prioritise the development of a Retention and Succession Strategy that will contribute toward retaining critical skills. In the new financial year, jobs/job descriptions will be reviewed to address salary disparities. HR policies are being reviewed, and a Remuneration Policy will be developed. The entity will continue to implement the Action Plan to address the issues that were raised from the Employee Satisfaction Survey.
SAHPRA has an approved Performance Management System (PMS) Policy for all employees, which requires that all employees enter into performance agreements yearly and within three months of appointment.
Mid-term reviews for 2023/24 were submitted in October 2023. Of 258 employees eligible to submit, only 217 were submitted.
Annual performance assessments for 2022/23 were conducted, moderated, and concluded. Two hundred forty (240) employees who are eligible for performance incentives were paid. The results of employees in level 05 – 14 were communicated and paid in October 2023 and EXCO in December 2023, respectively.
The HR Unit hosted a well-attended Wellness Day on 29 November 2023 at Head Office while the Cape Town Office had their day on 13 December 2023. HR’s drive to host this event was to allow staff members to apply some self-care in today’s demanding work environment. Many staff members participated and engaged with the various service providers in attendance. The service providers that participated in this Wellness Day were:
Attendance was very good, especially with an increase in male participation. The service providers also commended the participation of SAHPRA employees, with the majority of them sharing that they will avail themselves for future wellness events.
Some colleagues shared with HR that “they were happy about the wellness event because of the various service providers that were available”, and most of the colleagues consulted with more than two health professionals. In addition, regular health and wellness-related desk drops were also shared with staff.
The entity is in the process of reviewing HR policies to ensure that policies are aligned to relevant prescripts as well as the latest best practices. The reviewing of policies will ensure that policy processes are implemented to prevent and detect non-compliance. The following reviewed/new policies were consulted with Organised Labour:
In November 2023, Picketing Rules were signed.
On 08 August 2023, organised labour held an illegal protest. They went to the offices of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), while singing. Five (5) shop stewards were charged as they were involved in the illegal protest. A meeting was held with the CEO and the chief negotiator of the Public Service Association (PSA). PSA acknowledged that it was an illegal protest that was conducted and that it would never happen again. CEO requested that charges be withdrawn and the shop stewards be given final written warnings. Counselling was provided, and the chief negotiator indicated that there will be training provided for shop stewards in October 2023 to upskill shop stewards on how to deal with issues of displeasure.
The reviewing of policies will ensure that policy processes and controls are transparent and implemented to prevent and detect non-compliance with legislations and processes. Empowerment sessions to capacitate employees and management on policy processes will be conducted to lay guidance in policy implementation, procedures, and processes to accomplish day-to-day operations. Non-compliance with any of the provisions of the policies shall constitute misconduct which may lead to a disciplinary action being instituted against any person in contravention of these policies.
Level 05 – 12 salary negotiations for 2023/24 were concluded in November 2023. The parties agreed that the salary increment is for a single term for the 2023/24
financial year. The final agreed salary adjustment for salary levels 5 to 12, effective from 01 April 2023 were as follows:
For levels 05 to 08, there will be a 6% increase and for level 09 to 12, there will be 5.5% increase. The increase will be applied to the basic salary, 13th cheque, pension, medical aid, housing, and cash gratuity.
With regards to the employees on Total Cost to Company, the 6% for the employees on levels 05 to 08 and the 5.5% for the employees on levels 09 to 12 were applied to their total package.
By October 2023, employees of SAHPRA on salary levels 05 to 12 received a one-off cash payment of R10 000.
Payback on salary increment for salary levels 05 – 12 was paid in November 2023.
The salary adjustment and payback on salary increments for employees on salary level 13 and upwards were paid in December 2023. The Senior Manager salary adjustment was 4.5%, and for EXCO, it was 4%.
In March 2024, a SAHPRA Bargaining Forum (SBF) meeting was held wherein the following issues were discussed:
Capacitate the HR Unit by appointing an HR Executive and two (2) Human Resource Business Partners.
Conducting a skills audit within the HR Unit to identify competencies and experience and ensure training and development where gaps will be identified.
Addressing outstanding staff grievances and training all staff on the Labour Relations Act and procedures and various SAHPRA policies.
Filling critical positions in the core business units as per the recruitment plan.
Review and evaluation of all SAHPRA jobs/job descriptions to address salary disparities.
Continue with the review of the HR policies, including the development of a SAHPRA Remuneration Policy.
Implement the Action Plan to address the issues raised from the Staff Satisfaction Survey.
The financial amounts disclosed in oversight statistics were discussed and agreed with Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
All funded and vacant positions (newly created and vacated) for senior management and highly skilled supervisors are advertised immediately to ensure that they are filled within six (6) months after becoming vacant. As SAHPRA is a newly created entity operating in a scarce skills health environment, it has limited capabilities and resources internally. As we are on a journey of growth and continuous transformation, we advertised our position nationwide to enhance the ability to attract skilled and competent employees from all sectors, particularly in the health sector, to improve the competitiveness in attracting critical and scarce skills in the market.
Human Resources, in consultation with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and line managers adopted a proactive approach in identifying critical vacant positions earmarked for filling. The staff establishment was audited and 139 positions were vacant. Due to budget cuts implemented by National Treasury, 62 positions were unfunded to remain within the allocated cost of employment (CoE) budget, while the vacancy rate was 19.3% excluding unfunded positions.
Staff turnover rate for the 2023/24 financial year was 9.4%, a decrease of 0.39% compared to last year. SAHPRA continued to experience a turnover in critical and scarce positions, resulting in instability and a lack of continuity at management and operational levels. The turnover is attributable to termination reasons related to job security, career growth, work-life balance, remuneration and benefits, retirement, and contract expirations were reasons why employees leave the organisation.
SAHPRA will focus on filling critical and scarce positions in the core business units as per the Recruitment Plan and filling all vacated funded positions within six (6) months of becoming vacant. The average age at SAHPRA is 43, and 40.1% of employees are between the ages of 40 and 49. This impacts manpower planning, as well as employee benefits and retention strategies.
Explanations for major variances between target and current and attempts made by the public entity to address the variances.
The entity exceeded the economically active race representation targets for Africans by 4% and Indians by 3%.
The underrepresentation of Coloureds and Whites will be addressed in the new EE Plan for 2024/ 2027 (Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period and during recruitment and selection processes.
The overall female representation is 62% and 52.6% of females occupy senior and executive positions. The under-representation of males will be addressed in the new EE Plan for 2024/ 2027 MTEF period.
Disability representativity is currently at 2% maintained from the previous reporting year.
During the recruitment and selection processes, SAHPRA will attempt to achieve a 50/50 gender representation across all occupation levels, even though it will be challenging because the health sector is the most female-dominated sector (industry).
