ABSTRACT
The high crime levels in South Africa necessitated the establishment of Metropolitan Police Departments in South Africa, a new phenomenon, starting with the Durban Metropolitan Police Department in March 2000, followed by the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) in March 2001. Since their establishment, Metropolitan Police Departments have not escaped criticism that they are underperforming, specifically on their ability to reduce crime. The JMPD is not exempted from these criticisms, and doubts started mounting on its ability to sustain the City of Johannesburg’s (CoJ) objective of becoming a world class city by the year 2030.
Criticism by the public through the media necessitated research into their recruitment and selection processes in order to understand how these are undertaken. This would assist in improving the performance of police officers and the department as a unit. This research targeted police officers within the JMPD on operational and management levels as respondents with the objective to investigate and gather information pertaining to their perceptions on recruitment and selection within the department. A research questionnaire that focused on gathering information was developed and classified into four sections. Section A focused on biographical information of respondents, race, gender, occupational rank and number of years of experience in the JMPD. Section B gathered data on respondents’ perceptions on recruitment. Section C gathered data on selection processes, and Section D sought to gather information that is more general in nature.
It is evident from the findings of the biographical data in Section A that despite legislative requirements contained in the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 that requires public institutions to be representative of race and gender, that progress in this regard is slow. The findings in Section B paint a picture that points to the discontent of police officers regarding the manner in which the recruitment and
selection processes are undertaken, and point to police officers within the JMPD being unfamiliar with the Talent Acquisition Policy (TAP, 2010). It was found that more than half of the respondents perceive that recruitment and selection within the JMPD does not consider skills and experience during selection, which could mean that the JMPD tolerate favouritism and nepotism, a situation which if not prudently attended to could lead to low employee morale and subsequently brain drain.
Last, the findings of general comments were dominated by references to the formal requirements that applicants need to acquire in order to be appointed either as sergeant or inspector. These skills include written, decision-making and communication and academic qualifications. Applicants with necessary skills can perform better as opposed to those that do not possess these skills. The research concludes by offering recommendations for each of the four sections of the research.
CHAPTER 1 GENERAL OVERVIEW
1.1 Introduction and background statement…………..…………………. 1
1.2 Problem statement…………………………………………………… 3
- Research scope and objectives…………………………………….. 4
- Significance of the study…………………………………………….. 4
1.5 Terminology……………………………………………………………. 5
1.6 Research methodology………………………………………………. 7
1.6.1 Literature review……………………………………………. 7
- South African government legislation…………………….. 7
- Empirical investigation…………….……………………….. 7
1.7 Units of analysis and observation..…….…………………………… 8
1.8 Layout of chapters…………………………………………….……… 8
CHAPTER 2
THEORY OF RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESSES
2.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………. 10
- The concept of ‘recruitment’…………………………………………………………………… 10
- Factors influencing the recruitment process……..………………….. 12
- Internal factors that affect recruitment……………………… 12
- Factors influencing the recruitment process……..………………….. 12
2.3.1.1 Strategic plan………………………………………. 12
2.3.1.2 Policy and legislation…………………………….. 13
2.4 Sources of recruitment………………………………………………. 15
2.4.1.2 Former employees………………..……………… 16
2.4.2.1 Advertisement ……………………..…………….. 17
2.4.2.4 Walk-ins…………………..………………………. 18
2.5 Selection………………………………………………………………. 18
2.5.1 The concept of ‘Selection’…………………………………. 18
2.5.2 The selection process……….……………………………… 19
2.5.2.1 Initial screening……………………………………. 19
2.5.2.2 Interviews……………………..…………………… 20
2.5.2.3 Reference checks…………………………………. 20
2.5.2.4 Selection tests……………….……………………… 21
2.6 The impact of recruitment and selection on performance……..…. 21
2.7 Conclusion………………………………….…………………………… 23
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction………………………………………………………… 24
- The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD)… 24
- Recruitment and selection in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department………………………………………………………… 26
3.4 Research design………………………………………………….. 28
3.5 Research methodology………………………………………………. 30
3.5.1 The research questionnaire……………………………….. 30
3.6 Adherence to ethical guidelines…………………………………….. 31
3.7 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….. 32
4.1 Introduction………………………………………..…………………… 33
- The findings of the research……………………..………………….. 33
- Section A: Biographical data………………………………. 33
- The number of years of experience of respondents. 35
- Section B: Responses about the recruitment process…. 37
- Circularisation and advertisement of vacant posts. 38
- The CoJ’s Talent Acquisition Policy guidelines
- Section A: Biographical data………………………………. 33
on the recruitment process…………………………………………………. 38
recruitment process ………………………………………. 39
- Internal and external recruitment………………. 39
- Pool of applicants from which the selection
process can be made…………………………………….. 40
4.3 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….. 47
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUDING REMARKS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
| 5.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………. | 48 |
| 5.2 Concluding remarks………………………………………………….. | 49 |
| 5.3 Recommendations…………………………………………………… | 50 |
| 5.3.1 The recruitment process…………………………………… | 51 |
| 5.3.2 The selection process……………………………………… | 53 |
| 5.4 General comments …………………………………..……………….. | 54 |
| List of references ……………………………………………………….. | 57 |
| LIST OF TABLES | |
| Table 4.1 Race, gender, rank and number of years of experience…. | 36 |
| Table 4.2 Responses about the recruitment process……………….… | 37 |
| Table 4.3 Respondents’ views on the selection process …………….. | 41 |
| Table 4.4 Respondents’ views on general questions…………………. | 44 |
| LIST OF FIGURES | |
| Figure 3.1 Regions within which the JMPD operates…………………. | 25 |
ANNEXURES
Annexure A: Research questionnaires……………………………… 67
Annexure B: Letter of permission to conduct research………….. 71
- INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND STATEMENT
Changes in the South African political landscape, from being characterised by racially polarising apartheid policies to a democracy, heralded the adoption of, amongst others, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 (hereafter referred to as the Constitution) and the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (hereafter referred to as Employment Equity Act). The Constitution legislatively enshrines equal rights for all South Africans citizens, and the Employment Equity Act necessitated the implementation of affirmative action measures that forbid unfair discriminatory labour practices in the public and private sectors. These acts had a significant influence on recruitment and selection practices in both the public and private sectors.
The recruitment process is the first step in the employment process and its main purpose is to ensure that institutions employ applicants that meet the appointment and placement requirements. Applicants can be recruited using internal or external source (Singer, 1990:168). Regardless of the recruitment source utilised, applicants should adhere to all the requirements of the job that they apply for. Public sector institutions (in this case the JMPD) that administer protection services compete with other institutions and agencies for employees, examples of which include the South African Police Service (SAPS), South African National Defence Force (SANDF), South African Secret Services (SASS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), other metropolitan police and traffic departments around the country as well as private security companies in and outside South Africa. Because of the competition amongst these institutions and agencies, it is necessary for human resources departments that usually engage in recruitment and selection processes to be capacitated with suitably qualified employees who will be able to identify and select the most suitable applicants.
Institutions that administer protection services have to ensure that they employ suitably qualified employees, especially in operational ranks such as sergeant and inspector, whose roles are mainly to undertake operational duties such as to patrol high crime areas and enforce by-laws and traffic regulations. This requirement is consistent with the constitutional obligation regarding public institutions, that they have to be developmental and career orientated and to institutionalise effective human resource management practices.
The White Paper on Human Resource Management in the South African Public Service (1997) brought in a new human resource management framework that emphasises the development of human resources for the successful delivery of quality services. This emphasises the need for public institutions at all spheres of government to attract competent employees and to place them in positions where they can improve service delivery. Cappelli (2008: 27-37) argues that competency becomes a focus when the complexity of the institution changes. This means that the ability of public institutions to deliver quality services is largely dependent on whether they are able to recruit and select competent job applicants. Similarly JMPD’s success in the reduction of crime levels depends on competent sergeants and inspectors. The promulgation of the White Paper on Human Resource Management in the Public Service, 1997 as compelling public institutions to conceptualise human resource practices that will be able the recruit and retain competent employees.
Recruitment and selections are two different processes that are important for the appointment of suitably qualified candidates. Because the two processes are interlinked, a successful recruitment process makes it easier to achieve success with the selection process. For the selection process to be successful, selectors should collect as much relevant information as possible about applicants, the same information that should be sought through the recruitment process. According to Marvin (2007:24), the success of any operation depends on the skills, abilities and competencies of employees appointed to undertake them. Recruitment and selection processes are deemed successful only if they lead to the appointment of competent candidates who will successfully execute their duties and keeping abreast of an ever changing environment proactively.
PROBLEMS STATEMENT
The establishment of municipal police departments is a fairly new phenomenon (Newman, Masuku & Gomomo, 2002:1) which in South Africa started in March 2000 with the Durban Metropolitan Police Services and the JMPD in March of 2001. There is limited research that is conducted to assess how they undertake their responsibilities, in particular, to reduce the levels of crime and to improve the safety and security of the communities in their municipal areas of jurisdiction. Public human resource management research, essentially the recruitment and selection processes, as the main dependent variables through which the performance of these institutions can be improved, is lacking (Tompkins, 1995:184). The JMPD is not an exception to the criticism that these institutions are underperforming, moreover on its ability to attain the CoJ’s objective of becoming the world class crime free city by the year 2030.
