An assessment of the home management training needs of domestic workers in selected regions of the Ethekwini Municipal Area

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Domestic workers form an integral part of many South African households and enabletheir employers to be economically productive. Most employers are dissatisfied withtheir employees' performance, while domestic workers accuse their employers ofinsensitivity.Work-related conflict between these parties occurs as a result of domestic workers' lackof knowledge and skills on various aspects of home management. It was essential todetermine the level of domestic workers' knowledge on various home managementaspects. This would indicate how to intervene in order to increase their productivity andto promote harmonious working relations between them and their employers.The purpose of this research was to assess the domestic workers' learning needs inhome management. Employers' views were also sought regarding both the homemanagement skills they required of their domestic workers and their expectations withregard to a proposed domestic workers' home management training programme, withthe aim of determining whether there is a need for a training programme. The datagleaned in this manner would ensure that the ensuing intervention strategy would berelevant to the needs of both groups.A survey was carried out for the needs assessment process. The research instrumentsused for data collection from 100 domestic workers, were interviewing schedules usinga tape recorder and incidental observation and questionnaires for 100 employers. TheSPSS Win programme was used to analyze the data. Conclusions drawn indicated that all domestic workers involved were females who wereheterogeneous in age and levels of education. Most were from impoverished rural areasand were single parents with many dependants. Numerous problems experienced in theworkplace had led to a high turnover.All domestic workers lacked knowledge and skills in various home managementaspects. Domestic workers and the majority of employers felt that training in all aspectsof home management was essential.Recommendations based on these conclusions were the following:• The state should establish and subsidize comprehensive domestic workers' trainingprogrammes in order to empower domestic workers with skills, which would ensureincreased productivity and reduce unemployment.• Government officials should facilitate workshops for the employers of domesticworkers in South Africa to ensure that all such will apply the relevant laws. This willresult in reduced turnover and less conflict.• The state should make adult basic education and training programmes accessible toall, in order to address the problem of illiteracy, which impacts negatively on thedomestic workers' job performance.Based on the findings, it can be concluded that domestic workers are ignorant ofvarious aspects of home management. To address this problem, a holistic homemanagement- training programme is regarded as a solution by both domestic workersand their employers.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University