Rationalising the optimal minimum qualification requirements of a production shift supervisor at a Sedibeng steel company

Abstract

The Sedibeng Steel Company has been employing junior managers since 1928 in production and maintenance. These managers require a minimum qualification: a national matric certificate or equivalent for production function and an artisan TVET college qualification for maintenance function. At the beginning of 2022, the organization introduced a national diploma as a minimum requirement for junior managers. This decision was a one-sided managerial decision. This study investigates empirical evidence to justify this decision. The primary objective was to use the production shift supervisors as a reference group to rationalize the organization’s decision to upgrade the minimum qualification requirements for the production shift supervisors to a national diploma. The study first investigated if there is evidence of skills gaps among the current production shift supervisors that justifies the organization’s decision to upgrade the minimum qualification requirements to a national diploma. Secondly, the study investigated if upgrading the minimum qualification requirements for the production shift supervisors will successfully address the skills deficit. A qualitative approach was adopted. It’s a cross-sectional, inductive study that subscribes to interpretivism philosophy. Interviews with six production managers provided rich data on their working experience with the production shift supervisors. Grounded theory and thematic analysis were employed to analyse the data. The findings confirmed that production shift supervisors have skills gaps. Therefore, the organization’s decision to introduce a national diploma as a minimum qualification is justified. The consensus was that a national diploma would improve the performance of the production shift supervisors. However, the findings also showed that upgrading the minimum qualification requirements of current production shift supervisors will be challenging.