The roles of the supervisor in the performance management of office-based educators in the North West Province

Abstract

The study investigates the roles of the supervisor in the performance management of officebased educators in the North West Province. The main aim of the study is to determine the views of first level supervisors and their staff members on what the roles are and which skills accompany such roles in order to ensure that the supervisor effectively implement the Performance Management and Development Scheme (PMDS) for office-based educators. A qualitative research design and an interpretive approach are adopted to tap into the practical experiences of the participants in the study. The study focuses on the five Chief Directorates that make up the Corporate Centre of the North West Department of Education namely Quality Assurance, General and Further Education and Training Services, Human Resource, Adult Education and Training Services and Auxiliary Services Chief Directorates. Five first level supervisors and ten staff members were sampled as participants in the study by making use of purposive criterion sampling methods. The research methods used to gather data included indepth face to face interviews with the supervisors, open-ended questionnaires completed by staff members and document analysis where the PMDS policy, namely Collective Agreement (3 of 2002) and completed upward feedback forms were analysed. The major findings of the study indicate that the main roles of a supervisor in the performance management of office-based staff are: performance planning, conducting performance reviews, ensuring the successful implementation of the PMDS policy, providing ongoing support to improve the performance of staff members, evaluating performance in a fair and transparent manner, reporting on performance and motivating staff to perform better. The study further reveals that the supervisor needs to have management and leadership skills, communication skills, conflict management skills, time management skills, delegation skills, good interpersonal relations with staff and should be knowledgeable about the PMDS policy to successfully implement it. Recommendations that emanate from the study suggests that the roles of the supervisor be specified and unpacked in the policy document, that supervisors be trained on the roles and skills identified and that PMDS activities should be scheduled and integrated as part of the daily activities of the supervisor and staff members.