ManageMent coMpetencies in higher education : perceived job iMportance in relation to level of training required

Key focus of the study In this study the focus is on the managerial competencies required by heads of departments (HODs) to function effectively in a changing higher education environment. The increasing changes and demands placed on higher education institutions in the 21st century have impacted on the roles and responsibilities of academic leaders and in particular the HODs in higher institutions (Du Toit, 2007; Greene, Loughridge & Wilson, 1996; Yang, 2003). Greene, Loughridge and Wilson (1996) posit that higher education institutions are being held more accountable in terms of financial aspects. The South African government is putting more pressure on higher education institutions to transform to business models, as universities create large turnovers, making profits that sometimes run into millions and, solely for this reason, HODs need to function more effectively on a managerial level. The era of post-apartheid has also led to major transformations in the higher education arena, requiring HODs to act as leaders of change and transformation (Simon, 2007; Smith & Hughey, 2006).


Key focus of the study
In this study the focus is on the managerial competencies required by heads of departments (HODs) to function effectively in a changing higher education environment.The increasing changes and demands placed on higher education institutions in the 21st century have impacted on the roles and responsibilities of academic leaders and in particular the HODs in higher institutions (Du Toit, 2007;Greene, Loughridge & Wilson, 1996;Yang, 2003).Greene, Loughridge and Wilson (1996) posit that higher education institutions are being held more accountable in terms of financial aspects.The South African government is putting more pressure on higher education institutions to transform to business models, as universities create large turnovers, making profits that sometimes run into millions and, solely for this reason, HODs need to function more effectively on a managerial level.The era of post-apartheid has also led to major transformations in the higher education arena, requiring HODs to act as leaders of change and transformation (Simon, 2007;Smith & Hughey, 2006).
The emphasis on the managerial role of the HOD has led to a renewed interest in the managerial competencies and values that HODs need to develop, display and practise at work.However, in spite of the changing role of HODs, very little is done to help prepare them for their roles as managers.According to Hecht (2004), little or no competency training programmes exist within higher education institutions to equip the HODs with the required managerial competencies and, therefore, no indication exists as to which competencies are important for these managers and on which level they need to function to be effective managers.Hecht (2004) found that most HODs emerge from faculty ranks.Individuals who have been in the discipline for long enough are in most circumstances nominated and appointed as the HOD.She expresses her concern, however, that although these individuals know their institutions and departments inside out, the knowledge one needs as an HOD is more complex and invites several additional competencies that are needed to function as a manager, in addition to being a faculty member.carry out specific functions within specific roles.Ivancevich and Matteson (1990, p. 271) refer to a role as 'the expected behaviour patterns attributed to a particular position in an organisation'.They state that certain activities and tasks are expected from each position in an organisation.These activities constitute the role for that position and may be unique to every particular organisation.Parker and Wilson (2002) note that it is imperative for all HODs to clearly understand what their roles entail to prepare adequately to make the transition from lecturer to academic head.
Several authors have commented on the variety of roles that HODs need to perform.Based on an extensive literature review, Visser (2009) identified four core roles that HODs appear to fulfill in the higher education environment.These roles have been labelled as: 1. academic 2. administration 3. management 4. leadership.
According to Yielder and Codling (2004), leadership and management are closely integrated in the academic context.They are of the opinion that both the academic leadership role and the management role require aspects of leadership, which in this sense cannot be written into a job description as a function.The academic leadership role is therefore regarded as a quality that an individual brings to the position.Yielder and Codling (2004), furthermore, emphasise that HODs are vested in a position and the focus should therefore be on the management role of HODs, which incorporates leadership.

Trends from the research literature
Management competencies Botha and Camphor (2008) regard the development of management skills and competencies in higher education institutions as essential.According to these authors, the focus of management training and development should be on developing the management skills and competence required in support of the university's vision, mission and strategy.Hirokawa, Barge, Becker and Sutherland (1989) and Hecht (2004) advocate a competency-based approach to the training and development of HODs.These authors found that a competencybased approach aims at uncovering the fundamental skills that academic managerial leaders need in order to deal effectively with various task-and relation-orientated administrative problems.Gmelch (2002) also posits that, in order for HODs to perform their roles effectively, certain skills need to be present.Skills can be learnt formally either through seminars, workshops and lectures and these skills can further be practiced through simulations, case studies, role plays and action planning.Acquiring these skills will ultimately result in HODs having the necessary competencies to perform their roles effectively (Hecht, 2004).
In the context of the present study the term 'competency' is viewed as the blend of knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviours needed to carry out tasks successfully.Managerial competence depends on both skills and knowledge based on understanding.Competence includes the capacity to transfer knowledge and skills to new tasks and situations (Warn & Tranter, 2001).Visser's (2009) management competency framework for the training and development of HODs is of relevance to the present study.This management competency framework is based on an extensive literature review conducted by Visser in the South African higher education environment and describes the competencies required for effective or excellent performance on the job.
The competencies identified can be clustered into five different dimensions: 1. planning and organising 2. leadership 3. controlling 4. human resource (HR) specific aspects 5. personal attributes.
Table 1 provides a more detailed overview of the various competencies that relate to each of these five dimensions.
Based on the preceding literature review, we hypothesise the following: Hypothesis 1: Management competencies regarded as being important for the job, will be significantly related to the level of training needed.

Research objectives
To date, the development of management competencies in higher education institutions has received very little research attention in South Africa.The aim of this article, therefore, was to identify the relationship between a specific set of HOD managerial competencies identified as being important for the job and the level of training required in terms of these competencies.

The potential value-add of the study
The information obtained in this study can be of value when determining the training and development needs of HODs and may potentially serve as a foundation for the development of an HOD training programme in the South African higher education environment.

What will follow
In the next section, the research design will be elaborated on and the research approach and method will be covered.The results will then be presented and the findings will be discussed.The article concludes with a brief synopsis of the most important conclusions, limitations of the research design and recommendations for possible future research initiatives.

Research approach
A non-experimental, quantitative survey approach was followed to achieve the objectives of the study.The advantages of the survey research approach include savings of time and money, a lack of interviewer bias, accurate results, more privacy for participants and the fact that samples need not be very large in relation to the population (Salkind, 1997).The major disadvantage of this design is that findings can only be generalised to the sampled population at the time of the survey (Dooley, 1995).Primary data were used and correlational statistical procedures were performed to analyse the data.

Research participants
A stratified sampling technique was used.Babbie and Mouton (2007) describes stratified sampling as a method by which the population is organised into homogeneous subsets (with heterogeneity between subsets) and the appropriate number of elements is selected from each.They furthermore note that stratified sampling is a method for obtaining a greater degree of representativeness and to decrease the probable sampling error.Participants constituted a sample of 41 of a total population of the 52 HODs in a higher education institution from different faculties (79% response rate).The sample was represented by 66% male participants and 34% female participants.This is not surprising as the majority of participants are male seeing as gender studies and other research revealed that there were fewer women in managerial or leadership positions.The sample furthermore consisted of predominantly White males.Most of the HODs in the sample had worked in the academic environment for approximately 12 years, while the average years of service in the sample was almost 20 years in an academic environment.The average age of the participants was approximately 49 years.These HODs were representative of 37% of the departments in the higher education institution.

Measuring instrument
The Management Competency Inventory (MCI), developed by Visser (2009), was used to measure the variables of concern to this study.The MCI is a self-rated, multi-factorial measure designed to determine HOD training needs based on a set of managerial competencies identified as being a requirement for functioning effectively as a manager within the higher education institution.The MCI contains 40 items.Participants have to indicate on a 5-point Likert-type scale whether they regard the competency as being important for the job.They also have to indicate on a 4-point Likert-type scale the level or depth of training they require in terms of the specific competency (basic to advanced).An extensive literature review and panel of experts reviewed by Visser (2009) provided evidence of the content validity of the items.In terms of reliability (internalconsistency), the overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the

Research procedure
In terms of ethics, permission to conduct the research was obtained by the management of the institution.A memo was drafted to the Vice Principle of Operations Manager in order to ask permission to gather the data which he signed and returned to the researcher.The total population of HODs was invited to attend a workshop during which the purpose of the research was explained and the questionnaires completed.
Participants were invited to participate on a voluntary basis.Each questionnaire included a cover letter explaining the nature and the purpose of the study.Informed consent was obtained and confidentiality and anonymity were guaranteed.
Participants had the right to withdraw at any stage during the research process.The questionnaires were administered by a professionally registered psychometrist under the supervision of an industrial psychologist.

Statistical analysis
The data analysis procedures chosen for this research were based on their applicability to the exploratory nature of the research design.Pearson product-moment correlations were performed to test the research hypothesis.Although a cutoff point of p < 0.05 was set, a practical effect size of r ≥ 0.30 ≤ 49 medium effect (Cohen, 1992) was also considered for the correlational analyses to be able to interpret the practical significance of the findings.

Hypothesis testing
Hypothesis 1 was analysed by performing Pearson productmoment correlations.Hypothesis 1 proposed that management competencies regarded as being important for the job will be significantly related to the level of training needed.Pearson's product-moment correlations allowed the researcher to identify the direction and strength of the relationship between the competencies regarded as being important for the job of an HOD and the level of training required in the various management competencies.As shown in Tables 2-6, a vast number of significantly positive relationships were observed between the variables.The significant correlations range from r = 0.33 (r ≥ 0.30 ≤0.49, medium practical effect size) to 0.58 (p ≤ 0.05; r ≥0.50, large practical effect size) (Cohen, 1992).

Competencies relating to planning and organising
Table 2 shows that the management competency strategy implementation significantly and positively relates to the level of training required in terms of handling grievances and disputes (r = 0.33; p ≤ 0.05).Significant positive associations are also observed between the environmental scanning and analysis competency and the level of training required in the day-to-day management competencies: • planning (r = 0.34; p ≤ 0.05)  The competency of internal customer care and service management relates significantly to the level of: • training required in time management (r = 0.37; p ≤ 0.01) • team and individual motivation (r = 0.33; p ≤ 0.01) • task delegation (r = 0.44; p ≤ 0.01) • managing external stakeholder and supplier relations (r = 0.35; p ≤ 0.01) • creating and giving group presentations (r = 0.52; p ≤ 0.01) • creating problem-solving and decision-making (r = 0.33; p ≤ 0.01) • negotiation and conflict resolution (r = 0.35; p ≤ 0.01) • occupational health and safety awareness and management (r = 0.37; p ≤ 0.01) • external customer care and service management (r = 0.36; p ≤ 0.01) • internal customer care and service management (r = 0.37; p ≤ 0.01).
More positive significant relations have been observed between the management competency of risk identification and the level of training required in risk identification.The management competency of managing diversity and cross-cultural issues relates significantly to the level of training required in: • time management (r = 0.35; p ≤ 0.01) • monitoring and dissemination of information (r = 0.25; p ≤ 0.01) • dealing with issues of discipline (r = 0.34; p ≤ 0.01) • negotiation and conflict resolution (r = 0.43; p ≤ 0.01) • managing diversity and cross-cultural issues (r = 0.54; p ≤ 0.01).
Further positive significant relations have been observed between the management competency of rewarding own and team performance and the level of: The management competency of financial and commercial understanding relates significantly and positively to the level of: • training required in strategy implementation (r = 0.34; p ≤ 0.01) • individual and team leadership (r = 0.34; p ≤ 0.01) • handling grievances and disputes (r = 0.41; p ≤ 0.01) • dealing with issues of discipline (r = 0.51; p ≤ 0.01) • managing change and renewal (r = 0.36; p ≤ 0.01) • financial and commercial understanding (r = 0.41; p ≤ 0.01) • negotiation and conflict resolution (r = 0.58; p ≤ 0.01).

Competencies relating to human resource specific aspects
Evident in Table 5 is that the management competency of handling grievances and disputes indicates a positive and significant relationship to the level of training required in negotiation and conflict resolution (r = 0.47; p ≤ 0.01).Dealing with issues of discipline relates significantly to the level of: • training required in strategy implementation (r = 0.40; p ≤ 0.01) • day-to-day planning (r = 0.34; p ≤ 0.01) • dealing with issues of discipline (r = 0.45; p ≤ 0.01).
Further positive and significant relations have been observed between the competency of attracting talent and the level of: Positive significant relations have been found between the management competency of employment and HR policy awareness and management and negotiation and conflict resolution (r = 0.40; p ≤ 0.01).Lastly, the management competency of occupational health and safety awareness and management relates significantly to the level of:

Competencies relating to personal attributes
Table 6 shows that the management competency of time management indicates a positive and significant relationship to the level of training required in time management (r = 0.37; p ≤ 0.01).Positive and significant relations have also been found between the management competency of business writing and the level of: • training required in day-to-day planning (r = 0.38; p ≤ 0.01) • time management (r = 0.47; p ≤ 0.01) • team and individual motivation (r = 0.34; p ≤ 0.01) • planning and running meetings and effective follow-up • (r = 0.34; p ≤ 0.01) • business writing (r = 0.32; p ≤ 0.01) • creating and giving effective group presentations (r = 0.43; p ≤ 0.01).
Lastly, the management competency of emotional intelligence relates significantly to the level of: • training required in day-to-day planning (r = 0.38; p ≤ 0.01) • time management (r = 0.42; p ≤ 0.01) • negotiation and conflict resolution (r = 0.49; p ≤ 0.01).
Based on the results, Hypothesis 1 ('Management competencies regarded as being important for the job will be significantly related to the level of training needed') is accepted.

DISCUSSION
The study explored the relationship between the perceived importance of a managerial competency for the position of an HOD and the level of training required in the various management competencies.Overall, various significant associations of practical significance were observed between the variables.More specifically, certain observations were made.

Competencies relating to planning and organising
The results suggest that the participants regarded it as important for HODs to have comprehensive specialist knowledge and skills in the implementation of strategies, conducting environmental scanning and analysis, delegating tasks and project management planning.The significant relationship observed between strategy implementation as an important job competency and the level of training required in handling grievances and disputes suggest that HODs need additional skills to implement grievance and dispute policies outlined in the strategic plan.
The results further suggest that in order for participants to be able to conduct environmental scanning and analysis, they will also require an advanced level of training in daily planning and project management activities, including the prioritisation and organisation of cost-and quality-related tasks and activities, leading and motivating individuals and teams, monitoring and dissemination of information by means of group presentations and communication, managing external relationships with key external stakeholders and suppliers as external customers.Choo (1999) emphasises this link in his article, 'The Art of Scanning the Environment', in which he stated that environmental scanning is the acquisition and use of information and the ability to understand outside factors, such as stakeholders and suppliers.A manager needs to lead his subordinates in the right direction and on the right time resulting from information gathered outside of the organisation.Participants also seem to require an advanced level of training in time management to effectively delegate tasks and manage cost-and quality-related projects.Bluedorn (1992) also states that a manager needs to delegate some tasks so as to gain some time to manage one's organisation effectively.

Competencies relating to leadership
The results suggest that the participants regarded it as important for HODs to have comprehensive specialist knowledge and skills in individual and team leadership, motivating individuals and teams, managing change and renewal, managing external stakeholder and supplier relations, both internal and external  customer care and service, risk identification and managing diversity as well as cross-cultural issues.
According to the results, participants require extensive training in motivating their teams and individual members in order to successfully execute their skills as a leader.These results are in agreement with the literature which emphasises that a key trait of leaders is to motivate their staff (Ellemers, De Gilder & Haslam, 2004).The significant relationship observed between managing change and renewal as an important job competency and the level of training required in negotiation and conflict resolution suggest that HODs need additional skills to ease the implementation of change into an organisation.The results further suggest that HODs might need extra skills in excellent service delivery to enhance external relationships.According to Slater and Narver (2000), the management of customer services is a key driver for the cultivation of satisfactory stakeholder relationships.This might be due to the fact that employees (as internal customers of an organisation) are also viewed as stakeholders of the organisation.Studies have also shown that satisfied customers (as key stakeholders) have a positive effect on external stakeholder and supplier relations (Oliver, 1997).
The results also suggest that in order for participants to be able to manage diversity and cross-cultural issues within their teams or departments, they will also require an advanced level of training in managing time to make enough opportunities to handle such sensitive issues.Information, such as the institution's policy regarding discrimination and grievance procedures, needs to be disseminated throughout the organisation.A manager also needs extensive training on emotional intelligence so as to have self-control, display humanity and to take responsibility for dealing with sensitive issues such as managing diversity and cross-cultural issues; feelings have been shown to influence judgements that people make.George (2000) states that managers need to display emotional intelligence to enhance their ability to deal with such challenges and issues in a professional and humane way.

Competencies relating to controlling
It seems as if participants regard performance management, rewarding performance, the effective use of IT, financial and commercial understanding, planning and running meetings and follow-ups, as well as the administration of above concepts, as important managerial competencies for their role as HOD.
The results suggest that for participants to execute performance management as a managerial competency effectively, they need advanced training in leading and motivating their subordinates to be able to perform and buy into the performance management system as well as to implement performance management effectively.As far back as 1971, House (1971) concluded that leading and motivating staff to perform effectively is a key trait of performance management.Van Knippernberg ( 2001) confirmed this link when he stated that managers needed to lead outcomes.Outcomes are specifically measured by means of performance management.Seeing as motivation is a key aspect of leadership, managers therefore need to motivate their staff to achieve their outcomes during the performance management process.Mahoney and McGagan (2007, p.83) also stated that 'leadership and motivation are distinctive skills and both are crucial to the performance of the firm'.Negotiation and conflict resolution also needs to be included in a training programme to enhance an HOD's ability to successfully execute performance management.The participants, furthermore, regard training in project management in terms of planning, scope, time and quality awareness and management, according to quality standards and policies as an important requirement to link the desired performance to the project and expected results.
It seems as if environmental scanning and analysis is an important training requirement for managers to successfully reward themselves and team members.Rewards and standards need to comply with competitors and the labour market.Various companies conduct pay surveys to benchmark and compare their compensations and standards to those of other companies (Mathis & Jackson, 2004).The results further suggest that in order for participants to be able to make effective use of IT, they will require extensive training in day-to-day planning and time management and task delegation so as to prioritise and organise their tasks effectively.The results also indicated that the participants require advanced training in the utilisation of IT to give effective presentations.(1991) correctly noted that learning how to delegate tasks is an important competency for any leader.Furthermore, leaders need to implement creative problem-solving and decisionmaking to overcome administrative issues.

Competencies relating to human resource specific aspects
It is evident from the results that the participants regard handling grievances and disputes, dealing with issues of discipline, attracting talent, employment and HR policy awareness and management and occupational health and safety as important managerial competencies.The significant relationship between the importance of the handling of grievances and disputes and the extensive training required in dealing with issues of discipline might indicate that the participants need additional skills to execute sensitive labourrelated issues.The results, furthermore, suggest that in order for them to effectively deal with issues of discipline they need advanced training on how to align their way of dealing with discipline to the strategic plan, as well as planning it and making time for dealing with such issues on a day-to-day basis.Deeds (2010) confirms that time management is of utmost importance when dealing with sensitive issues, such as a disciplinary hearing.Managers need to make time to deal with the issues as effectively and thoroughly as possible and also to make sure that the issues are dealt with as soon as possible.
According to the findings, for participants to effectively attract talent, they appear to require additional skills and knowledge to include talent management in their strategic planning.Talent management needs to be closely aligned with a company's strategic plan (McGarrity, 2007).This effort needs to be managed on a daily basis.Tasks could be delegated to attract the right talent via the use of IT to advertise and source the correct candidate for the position.Portals such as careerjunction and Pnet can be utilized.When the candidate is selected, to induct and orientate the new staff member effectively.HODs further require training in managing external stakeholder and supplier relations and negotiation and conflict.This might suggest that when HODs make use of head-hunting, they still need to maintain their relationship with external competitors and stakeholders.

Competencies relating to personal attributes
The participants regarded time management, business writing, creating and giving effective presentations to groups, creative problem-solving and decision-making, negotiation and conflict resolution and emotional intelligence as important competencies for their role as managers.The positive relationship between business writing as a managerial competency and the requirement of additional skills in planning regarding daily activities, meetings and time might suggest that the participants need to participate in advanced time management training so as to plan and make time for executing all the necessary administration and documentation required from a HOD.The results, furthermore, suggest that for the participants to create and give effective presentations, they once again require skills in managing their time and daily activities.They also need training in monitoring what information is released so as to maintain a good external relationship with their stakeholders and suppliers as well as skills in making use of technology effectively to give professional presentations to groups.
For the participants to effectively implement creative problemsolving and decision-making, it seems as if they require extensive training in making time to come up with the best solutions and to motivate their teams to think outside the box so as to come up with more creative alternative solutions.They, furthermore, seem to require training in monitoring information from conducting environmental analyses.This might suggest that they need guidance on how to scan the environment and competitors to find better solutions to current problems as well as to delegate these tasks and trust their subordinates to make creative decisions.It could also suggest that managers need guidance in disseminating the information concluded from environmental scanning and analysis.
The results suggest that in order for participants to negotiate and resolve conflict as a managerial competency they need advanced knowledge on planning the task, making efficient time for executing this task and implementing the correct communication skills during negotiation and conflict resolution in terms of active listening, questioning, building trust, empathy and mutual understanding.HODs furthermore, require training in motivating their subordinates as well as maintaining external relationships during conflict resolution procedures.In addition, they need to be able to delegate the task of handling these issues to others, should the need arise.
The results further suggest that the demonstration of emotional intelligence is important to be able to plan and make time for selfdevelopment, personal growth and self-control.It appears from the results that the participants, furthermore, require training in negotiation and conflict resolution on an intrapersonal level to seek responsibility and to show compassion and humanity.
In summary, it seems as if most of the participating HODs require extensive training on day-to-day planning with regard to prioritising tasks and activities, time management, motivating their teams and individual team members, delegation of tasks, creating and giving effective presentations to groups and negotiation and conflict resolution in order to execute most of their managerial tasks successfully.Visser (2009) also found that HODs regard leadership, financial management and project management as the three most important managerial competencies for the role of a HOD.

Limitations and recommendations
Seeing as the present study was limited to a group of predominantly White HODs in a particular higher education institution, the findings cannot be generalised to other occupational, institutional and race contexts.Furthermore, given the exploratory nature of the research design, this study cannot yield any statements about causation.Associations between the variables have therefore been interpreted, rather than established.These findings, therefore, need to be replicated with broader samples across various occupational, age and race groups and economic sectors before more extensive conclusions can be drawn about the relationship between the constructs of concern to this study.

CONCLUSIONS
The results provide evidence of the relationship between important managerial competencies for HODs and the level of training required.The associations found focused attention on the practical importance of utilising management competency frameworks for the identification of training needs of HODs in the higher education environment.Considering the large amount of significant relationships that exist between the perceived importance of the competencies and the level of training required, the findings seem to be in agreement with the assertion of Lyons (2008) that very little and inadequate training exists to sufficiently prepare HODs for their managerial role.It seems imperative to train the HOD on the most important managerial competencies and couple it with the level of training required on the specific competency.The overall results suggest that every higher education institution should consider identifying the competencies they deem necessary for their HOD development and balance it with individual and team leadership (r = 0.51; p ≤ 0.01) • motivation of individual or team (r = 0.39; p ≤ 0.05) • communication skills (r = 0.41; p ≤0.05) • monitoring and disseminating information (r = 0.41; p ≤ 0.05) • environmental scanning and analysis (r = 0.40; p ≤ 0.05) • rewarding performance (r = 0.36; p ≤ 0.05) • managing external stakeholder and supplier relations (r = 0.48; p ≤ 0.01) • planning and running meetings and follow-up (r = 0.46; p ≤ 0.01) • creating and giving effective presentations to groups (r = 0.47; p ≤ 0.01) • external customer care and service management (r = 0.48; p ≤ 0.01).Competencies relating to leadership:In Table3 itis evident that the management competency of individual and team leadership relates significantly and positively to the level of training required in terms of individual and team motivation (r = 0.39; p ≤ 0.01).Significant positive relations are also found between the management competency of individual and team motivation and the level of training required in individual and team motivation (r = 0.34; p ≤ 0.01).The management competency of managing change and renewal also relates significantly to the level of training required in terms of negotiation and conflict resolution (r = 0.35; p ≤ 0.01).Managing external stakeholder and supplier relations relates positively and significantly to the level of training required in external customer care and service management (r = 0.34; p ≤ 0.01).The management competency of external customer care and service management furthermore relates significantly to the level of: • training required in strategy implementation (r = 0.34; p ≤ 0.01) • time management (r = 0.36; p ≤ 0.01) • team and individual leadership (r = 0.41; p ≤ 0.01) • team and individual motivation (r = 0.42; p ≤ 0.01) • task delegation (r = 0.41; p ≤ 0.01) • managing external stakeholder and supplier relations (r = 0.36; p ≤ 0.01) • creating and giving group presentations (r = 0.43; p ≤ 0.01) • external customer care and service management (r = 0.35; p ≤ 0.01) • internal customer care and service management (r = 0.34; p ≤ 0.01).

TABLE 1
Overview of head of department management competency framework Visser, I.L. (2009)ser, I.L. (2009).Development of a proposed management competency training framework.Unpublished Master's dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa MCI job importance and level of training required scales were 0.97 (high) and 0.98 (high) respectively.

TABLE 2
Pearson product-moment correlations: Competencies relating to planning and organising † Vol. 8 No. 1 Page 5 of 10

TABLE 3
Pearson product-moment correlations: Competencies relating to leadership

TABLE 5
Pearson product-moment correlations: Competencies relating to human resource specific aspects Strategy implementation; 3 , Day-to-day planning; 4 , Time management; 12 , Dealing with issues of discipline; 15 : Delegation of tasks; 16 , Effective use of IT; 18 , Managing interdepartmental peer relationships; 19 , Managing external stakeholder and supplier relationships; 24 , Effective induction and orientation of new staff; 26 , Creating and giving effective group presentations; 28 , Negotiation and conflict resolution; 30 , Employment and human resources policy awareness and management; 31 , Occupational health and safety awareness and management; 33 , Customer care and service management.N = 41; *p ≤ 0.0001; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p ≤ 0.05; † r ≥ 0.30 ≤ 0.49 (Medium practical effect size); ‡ r ≥0.50 (Large practical effect size).

TABLE 6
Pearson product-moment correlations: Competencies relating to personal attributes , Day-to-day planning; 4 , Time management; 6 , Team and individual motivation; 7 , Communication skills; 8 , Monitoring and dissemination of information; 9 , Environmental scanning and analysis; 15 , Task delegation; 16 , Effective use of information technology; 19 , Managing external stakeholder and supplier relations; 21 , Planning and running meetings and follow-up; 22 , Business writing; 26 , Creating and giving effective group presentations; 28 , Negotiation and conflict resolution; 31 , Occupational health and safety awareness.N = 41; *p ≤ 0.0001; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p ≤ 0.05; † r ≥ 0.30 ≤ 0.49 (Medium practical effect size); ‡ r ≥0.50 (Large practical effect size). 3 This might suggest that HODs need extra training to execute plans set out in the strategic plan and to lead and direct their subordinates to successfully comply with what is set out and changed in the strategic plan.The results further suggest that planning one's daily activities, the organisation's strategy and implementing the changes are regarded as important training requirements to successfully plan and run meetings.The significant relationship observed between administration, reporting performance and financials, monitoring, maintaining and developing reporting systems and the level of training required in day-to-day planning, time management and task delegation might suggest that managers once again need to distinguish between what they need to plan to do themselves and what administration tasks they should delegate to their subordinates.In this regard, Swierczek