Skills development in the agricultural sector : a multiple case study approach

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Skills development is a crucial element in improving the effectiveness with which organisations operate in the current global arena. The level of skills of employees in any organisation should be of significant managerial concern. The principal aims of this study is firstly to investigate the success achieved in skills development initiatives in the agricultural sector in South Africa and secondly to develop a theoretical framework of important individual and organisational variables for skills development in agriculture.Management on farms need to develop the skills of their employees in order to ensure effective adaptation to changes in the sector. A strong need for development also exists among South Africans working in the agricultural environment, as the sector is rapidly modernising and the people employed in this sector often possess low skill and literacy levels. The key question is whether the skills development strategies and initiatives of farms are conducive to successful human resource development, in light of the specific individual and organisational context.A multiple case study research design was used, exploring the various ways in which six different farms approach skills development and the variables which impacted on the success thereof. These approaches and effects are compared to the literature and across cases to move towards the development of a skills development framework applicable to the unique agricultural context in South Africa. Data collection included primary (semi-structured interviews with employees and management) and secondary (background and administrative) information to comprehensively describe each case. Pattern matching was used to determine common trends between the cases and illustrate them in terms of a conceptual framework.General support was found across the six cases for the complex and extensive framework of variables. The following individual variables were found to have an impact on the effectiveness of skills development: ability to learn, motivation to engage in and transfer training, attitude to skills development, locus of control, and perceived ability to learn. Organisational variables which affected the effectiveness of skills development included the following: labour relations, organisational strategy, culture, climate, and systems. Many of these variables comprised a number of sub-variables, which were also shown to be relevant in the framework. Variables in the individual and organisational frameworks were also found to demonstrate interactive effects within and across framework boundaries.The results of the study serve as thought provoking reading for managers, which could stimulate critical thought and an inquisitive attitude to skills development on their farms. In general, training and development was approached in a very informal manner in terms of strategy, goals, and practice. Managers can surely benefit from adopting greater formalisation in these aspects as it would ease the process of planning, implementing, and evaluating training.In certain instances additional variables or interrelationships were identified for future study. The establishment of the framework of variables serves to inform future research: it represents a point of departure for research in a critical field where little recent research has been published.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University