INTRODUCTION:
UNIT 9: CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT
In everyday life, individuals and organisations /institutions undertake to build their capacities towards enhanced production and productivity in the works place.
Objectives:
By the end of the session, participants should be able to: i) understand the meaning of capacity development;
ii) identify capacity development (CD) gaps/needs of individuals, the organisation/ institution
iii) deal with these identified CD gaps in terms of the following: - system processes/procedures
- rules, regulations/policies and - facilities
Capacity development, in simple terms, is understood to be the process of strengthening the ability of an individual, organisation/institution to perform task(s) more effectively and efficiently than before. It is the building of the intellectual, professional or technical strength of individual(s), organisation/institution towards enhanced work performance in order to achieve set goals. The provision of resources such as physical equipment and other facilities to be used by staff to improve work performance also comes under capacity development.
Capacity development/building is normally undertaken through the following processes or pathways:
- Further Studies
- Workshops/seminars /conferences - Practical training (i.e. hands-on-the job) - Mentorship/internship
- Provision of equipments/facilities, etc.
Identification of Capacity Development Gaps/Needs of individuals.
In the workplace, it is the responsibility of management of an organisation/ institution to use the following techniques to identify capacity development gaps/needs of staff and the institution itself if that organisation wants to meet clientele satisfaction, improve on work performance and therefore, achieve organisational/institutional goals and objectives.
In the case of the Ghana Education Service (GES), improvements in work performance of teachers and office staff at the national, regional, district and school levels to meet set standards, goals and objectives depend on identification of capacity development gaps/needs of teachers and office staff to improve their intellectual, professional, or technical expertise as well as provision of appropriate equipment/facilities.
Capacity development gaps/needs, therefore, can be identified through the following processes:
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use of staff performance appraisals use of questionnaire
conducting interviews observation
information provided by clientele, civil society and other stake holders, etc. The responses of teachers, office staff and other stakeholders to the aforementioned strategies of information seeking would reveal capacity development gaps/needs of teachers and office staff as well as the organisation as an entity. The information obtained would assist management to design appropriate capacity development strategies to improve effectiveness and efficiency of work performance of teacher and office staff. It will also assist the organisation to respond appropriately to changing demands and needs of its clientele, civil society and other stakeholders through the provision of appropriate equipment, logistics and other facilities to enhance work/service production/productivity.
Exercise 1:
What practical steps can the District Assembly and the District Education Office undertake to halt the annual poor BECE results of J.H.S.pupils in your district?
Identification of Capacity Development Gaps/Needs of Organisation / Institution. The organisation as a corporate entity needs to undertake capacity development from time to time in terms of the following:
- Redefinition of work processes / procedures;
- Rules, regulations and policies; and provision of appropriate facilities.
These issues should be revisited and redefined periodically if the organisation tends to: guarantee its continued existence;
stay in competition; meet standards; satisfy its clientele;
improve internal work effectiveness and efficiency; improve its public image, etc
To guarantee its continued existence and to meet the other issues the organisation needs to function within the law that mandated it to operate. This will necessitate the redefinition and refinement of existing internal rules and regulations, work processes, procedures and policies that will guide work behaviour, performance and relationships towards efficient functioning of the organisation/ institution. For example, the MOE and the GES were established by Act of Parliament. These institutions / organisations, therefore, need to operate within the law establishing them. Any significant deviation or departure from the law may occasion their closure.
Exercise 2:
What is the Act that established the MOE and the GES? What are the expectations/provisions of this Act in terms of the functioning of these organisations?
• • • • • • • • • • •
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Work Processes/Procedures
In order to achieve organisational capacity development, it is important that management undertakes periodic reshuffling/rescheduling of daily and routine work processes and procedures to enhance efficiency. This calls for quality improvement in how jobs are performed, engagement of new and highly qualified staff to augment the technical strength of the existing staff, undertaking of internal transfers in the organisation such that each worker is placed on the job in which he/she possesses the required knowledge ,skills and expertise/competencies.
Redefinition, refinement or changing of work processes/procedures also calls for promotion of staff to boost staff morale and motivation towards enhanced productivity. Improving organisational work processes/procedures towards capacity development also entails a critical study of work activities to identify those routines that impede progress and rather serve as obstacles to growth and development. Such impediments ought to be removed to pave the way for enhanced productivity in the organisation.
Exercise 3:
As a new district director of education, show in practical terms how you would improve on work performance of your teachers and office staff towards:
• excellence in teaching and learning in schools , • excellence in B.E.C.E results of your district; and • enhanced service delivery of your office staff. Work Rules, Regulations and policies
Organisational capacity development also calls for assessment of existing work rules, regulations and policies that regulate work performance, work behaviour and work relationships in the institution. An evaluation of work rules, regulations and policies may bring to the fore issues that are obstacles to the attainment of set organisational goals and objectives and this will call for redefinition and refinement of existing rules, regulations and policies or a complete formulation of new work rules ,regulations and policies that promises enhanced productivity towards achievement of institutional goals and objectives . For an organisation like the MOE and the GES to formulate worker friendly rules, regulations, and policies to guide work performance, behaviour and relationships, it is imperative that MOE/GES undertakes social survey to inform the formulation of rules, regulations and policies.
Exercise 4:
Identify practically oriented rules, regulations and policies of district assembly and the District Education Office which promoted basic education delivery in your district? To what extent have these guidelines promoted teaching and learning in schools as well as staff performance in the District Education Office?
Provision of Infrastructural Facilities
In order to attain excellence in work performance, work behaviour and relationships, it is crucial for the organisation to provide its workers with state-of- art technologies and facilities that will assist staff to improve on service delivery and productivity. To improve organisational capacity development of such institutions like the MOE/GES, it is important that teachers, pupils/students and office staff are provided with facilities such
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as computers, equipment and other resources to enhance teaching and learning in the schools and staff productivity in the workplace. It is also important that existing but obsolete and malfunctioning facilities and equipment are repaired or new ones are provided altogether.
It behoves management to ensure that teachers, pupils as well as office staff are trained to use the facilities effectively and efficiently. Workers should be instructed to ensure good maintenance culture of the existing equipment and other facilities. This may call for training and retraining of teachers, pupils and office staff.
Exercise 5:
What facilities should the MOE/GES/District Assembly, etc. provide to guarantee improved teaching and learning in the schools? In what practical ways should these facilities be taken good care of?
References
Bartol, K.M. and Martin, D.C (1991). Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc.
Nelson, D.L.and Quick, J.C. (1997). Organisational Behaviour: Foundations, Realities and Challenges. New York: West Publishing Company
The Fast Track Initiative (FTI) Capacity Development Task Team (2008) Guidelines for Capacity Development in the Education Sector within the Education For All - Fast Track Initiative Framework,
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